ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK

Sharing the Gospel with a Muslim is often disheartening because of the time it takes. While we hope for swift transformation, we invest in deep transformation, which generally takes a long time with few visible rewards.

Muslims appear to move away from the Gospel before they move toward it. Often, those hearing the Gospel seem to retract and become more faithful to Islam instead of less so. They appear to reject the Truth of Jesus and cling more tightly to their religious faith and practices. They still engage in spiritual conversations, but in ways that look like one step forward, two steps back.

This happens because, when Muslims are met with Christians who live out their faith in a meaningful way, when they are introduced to the person of Jesus and confronted with the Truth in the Gospel, they return to what they’ve always been taught to regain equilibrium. What is truth? Can this Christian who lives a good, righteous life, really be assured they will go to heaven when I am not sure myself? Are there things I’ve been told that aren’t true? What does this mean for all the good Muslims I’ve ever known?

We must be patient and perseverant. Those who are quick to accept Christianity are sometimes quick to reject it later because the roots don’t go deep.

Read Galatians 6:9. Pray for workers serving in Qatar and other Muslim areas, that they would be encouraged even when they don’t see evidence of progress.

Tags: believers, change, islam, missionaries, religion