What “Unreached People” Wish Christians Understood
I’ve spent years befriending unreached Muslim people in Africa and New York City. This is what they wish Christians understood about them.
By Chris Clayman
The following is adapted from an interview with Chris Clayman, which can be found in Crescent Project’s podcast episode “Joining God’s Superplan: Part Two”. Listen to the full two-part interview with Chris Clayman on our Podcast.
Many Americans, including Christian Americans, are afraid of Muslims.
We live in a world of fear, where it’s easy to make an enemy of someone you don't know. The good news is that today we have abundant opportunities to know Muslims personally and overcome fear.
Muslims and unreached peoples are everywhere in North America, and they’re easy to access. Even small towns are home to some of the most unreached people groups of the world. If you are a follower of Jesus seeking to share the hope of Christ with Muslims or unreached people, find them in your community and get to know them. That's where everything starts.
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of engaging personally with hundreds of Muslims. This experience has brought about certain observations – some obvious, some counter-intuitive – that I believe have significant implications for Christians. Here are just four to consider:
Muslims – Like Everybody – Want to be Treated Like Humans, Not Tasks
We Americans are workaholic, task-oriented people. And because of that, when it comes to sharing Jesus with the unreached, Americans tend to think, “I've got to go give them something, I have to minister. I have to share this canned gospel presentation.”
But often, we're not actually wanting to have a relationship with unreached people. We’re not ready to hear from them or learn from them.
So a simple thing I tell Christians to do is listen to their Muslim friend’s story. Listen first, then tell your own story. The unreached typically become interested in the Bible or in Jesus through relationships – through something they see in you, and in stories from your life.
A benefit of sharing in this way is that people can't really fight with your story. They can fight and argue about doctrine, but they're not going to argue with your story.
People can fight and argue about doctrine, but they're not going to argue with your story.
Talk about something relevant to Muslims from your own life. Even if you grew up in church and came to faith in Christ at seven years old, and you think your story isn’t going to relate well to Muslims, you can still talk about how God helped you through a difficult time in your life (or something else that Muslims could relate to). Share that story.
By listening carefully to their story, and telling your own story, you'll often have an opportunity to share God's story, the Jesus story. For example, you’ll find as you listen that most Muslims are seeking God and trying to make sure they're doing the right things. They’re trying to be on “the straight path to God” – a desire many Muslims express in their daily prayers.
This desire to be as good as possible can open doors to share the story of Jesus in a relevant way, by asking simple questions. You might ask, “Do you know for sure that you’ll go to paradise?” Often Muslims will answer, “Well, no, nobody can know that; only God knows that.” You can respond, “You might be a better person than me, I don’t know. What I do know is that God desires all of us to go to paradise. But we can't do that in our own way. He does give assurance, but it has to be done in His way. Here's what I've learned…”
You're really just having a conversation that comes out of a posture of personal concern and love, instead of “here's my doctrine, here's your doctrine,” and having a heated back-and-forth debate – which is usually not a great introduction to Christ!
Muslims Will Happily Discuss Topics You’re Accustomed to Avoiding
Muslims, maybe more than any other group in America, love to talk about religion. In America we say, “Don’t talk about religion, don't talk about politics.” But among the unreached people groups of the world, there are two things that they almost always love to talk about: religion and politics!
So if spiritual conversations aren't happening with Muslims you’ve met, the issue is on our end. It's not on their end. It’s our own hesitancy and fear. They'll respect you more if you openly and confidently share what you believe!
If spiritual conversations aren't happening, the issue is likely on our end. It’s our own hesitancy and fear, not theirs.
Muslims are also open to prayer. I don’t know if I’ve ever experienced personally a Muslim refusing my offer to pray for them in Jesus’ name. I’ve heard of cases where Muslims have refused, but in my own experience, Muslims actually want to pray in Jesus’ name. They see the power of Jesus in the Quran itself – they know Jesus as a miracle worker, one who heals and who even raises the dead. They've seen and heard the testimonies of God answering Christians' prayers.
And so you can say to Muslims, “How can I pray for you? If you could see God really work in your life right now, what would you like to see?” Through that prayer, spiritual conversations begin in which you can drop the stories of God's word into their lives.
Muslims Would Like to See You More
For spiritual interactions to happen with Muslims and unreached peoples, you need to enter into their world. A simple way to do this is to intentionally create opportunities for connection in your existing routines. For example, if you currently buy rice from Walmart or Target, why not go instead to a Pakistani place or a small international grocery store that sells the same thing?
Instead of going to Target for rice, why not go instead to a small Pakistani place that sells the same thing?
This is especially helpful if you don’t have a Muslim coworker or neighbor. These settings create natural opportunities in areas that need the light of Christ. You get to know people, and you get opportunities to drop nuggets of spiritual truth, to share stories, and to offer to pray.
You’d be surprised at the opportunities God opens up, simply by choosing to be in places that Muslims frequent.
Once when I was eating at a Muslim restaurant, a man approached me and I greeted him in his native language. He said, “Oh, this is so great. You know my language! I wish I could learn English. It would just be so much easier if we could all speak the same language.”
I replied, “Oh, that's interesting, do you know why there are many languages?” What started as a simple interaction ended up with me telling the story of Babel to a group of 10 Muslim men that had gathered around my table!
The point is, as you enter their world, you’ll find situations open up to share stories from God’s word in a natural way.
Muslims are Moved By Love More Than Logic
There are some Muslims who come to faith through apologetics – by a reasoned case made against Islam and for Christianity. But the truth is thousands of Christians from a Muslim background around the world have been interviewed, and when asked about how they’ve come to faith, do you know what’s not at the top of that list, ever? Apologetics!
Usually what’s at the top of the list is a relationship with a Christian. The Muslim will share that they saw something different in their Christian friend and wanted to know more about it. Or they admit to trying to antagonize a Christian friend, but the Christian kept on responding in love and forgiveness, causing the Muslim to be deeply intrigued.
Yusuf, whose story I tell in Superplan, gives this account of coming to Christ:
“I went to a boarding school and was placed in a room with a Christian guy. Now I came from a Muslim village, and I'd never heard of a Christian. And I tried to get him upset and angry, to get him to react just like I would react. But instead his love conquered me.”
What a great way to word it – “his love conquered me.” Muslim-background Christians often come to faith because of an initial interest in the lives of Christians.
Another reason they come to faith in Christ is because they experience healing through prayer in the name of Jesus or they have a miraculous dream about Jesus that points them to a Christian to tell them the truth. I've known hundreds of Muslim-background Christians, and I’d guess at least half of them have had some sort of dream or vision about Jesus.
And then there are some that have a dissatisfaction with Islam, and that's one of the main reasons they're interested in becoming a follower of Jesus. The best evangelists and missionaries I've ever met aren't the ones that talk a lot or are experts in apologetics. They're the ones that ask the best questions.
The best evangelists I've ever met are the ones that ask the best questions.
The best evangelists are able to see how God is at work in someone's life and how God's word speaks into their lives and their current situation. They’re able to recognize areas of dissatisfaction with Islam and what their Muslim friend is searching for, and to make the connection to how God meets these concerns.
In short, be a good question-asker as you reach out to Muslims, and look for how God's word speaks to them.
God is at work redeeming a multitude from every tribe, tongue and language on earth. And for whatever reason, He invites us to be a part of that. He doesn’t need us, but He chose us. And so ask God to help you take whatever next step is needed to orient your life around His story and to follow Him wherever He asks you.
Looking for a next step? Go to thesuperplan.com and navigate to Resources › Next Step Ideas for practical guidance on moving towards unreached people.
Chris Clayman is the Co-Founder of Global Gates (globalgates.info), a mission organization focused on reaching the ends of the earth through global gateway cities. He has been involved in pioneer church planting in West Africa and in New York City among unreached Muslim peoples. Chris is the author of ethNYcity: The Nations, Tongues, and Faiths of Metropolitan New York (unreachednewyork.com) and most recently of Superplan: A Journey Into God’s Story.