Missionary Says Only the Holy Spirit Can Convince Muslims About Christ
by Allie Martin
November 26, 2003
(AgapePress) - A Christian missionary stationed in Jordan, a predominantly Islamic area of the world, says sharing the gospel with Muslims is not difficult. But getting them to accept it, he says, is another matter."Mike" cannot reveal his real name or which mission organization sent him to the Middle East, but he and his family have been serving in that part of the world for 11 years. And Mike says, despite what Christians might think, it really is not that hard to talk about Jesus over there.
"Religion is wound up in everything, so to talk about religion is simple," Mike says. But he notes that the snag comes in just where the Bible says it will, on Christ and his crucifixion.
The missionary says most Muslims grow up being taught that Jesus never died on the cross, and it is a hard untruth to topple. "You can talk, and you can discuss religion, and you can discuss Jesus. But unless the Holy Spirit moves in their heart, they're not getting past that," he says.
Rather than a presentation problem, Mike contends that it is a spiritual one. He says all the books in print combined would not be enough to convince a Muslim about the truth of Jesus and the falsehood of Islam, because only the Holy Spirit can change the entrenched thinking that people have been brought up with.
"I've never seen anybody debated over that, never seen them given enough books, never seen all the contradictions in the Koran presented to them so that all of a sudden the light comes on, and they say, 'Oh, yeah, you're right.' No; it's a Holy Spirit thing that has to change them from what they have grown up believing ... to accepting [the gospel's] truth," Mike says.
But according to the missionary, ministry begins with striking up a conversation. And it is easy for a Christian in a predominantly Islamic land to strike up a conversation about Christ, Mike says, because Muslims talk about religion all the time.
