Simple Ways to Reach Out to Muslims (Ebook Shorts) by Medearis Carl

Author:Medearis, Carl [Medearis, Carl]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: REL030000, spiritual conversations, Muslim, Christianity, Koran, Muhammad, Christian–Muslim relations, middle east, Qur’an, Islam, Eastern culture, Evangelism, Christians, cultural studies
ISBN: 9781441260628
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2012-04-01T05:00:00+00:00

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THOUGHT FIVE: BE YOURSELF

This one is tougher than it looks. It’s amazing how much time we spend being someone else. I’ve done it much of my life. Even in our attempt to be like Jesus, we’re asked to be “like” him in our own skin. We’re all uniquely created to act and think in different ways. It’s part of God’s beautiful mosaic of the world.

One of the things I love most about Jesus is that he wasn’t phony. It almost sounds funny to say it—but he was himself. And he’s not that easy to define. We should also be multidimensional. Deep. Full of integrity and with many sides.

Have you ever noticed that people have incredible phony-o-meters? They can smell a charlatan one thousand miles away. That’s why we don’t like phony salespeople. It’s not that they’re selling us something. The whole world is doing that. And maybe we even need what they’re selling. It’s that they don’t believe in their product. They talk fast. Have way too many facts lined up. And they’re not even sure we really need their product.

We’re automatically suspicious of salespeople because we know it’s their job. They’re paid to convince us. But what if they were doing it for no money? We’d be more apt to buy. Wow, they must really believe in this if they’re doing it on their own time, we’d think.

I was with a friend from Sudan the other day. He was visiting me here in Denver, and we got to talking about the usual stuff. Jesus and . . . well, I can’t remember the other stuff. Our conversation in my pickup truck went something like this:

“Carl, I love introducing you to my other Muslim friends because they always leave feeling encouraged. You’re just so natural with them.”

“Well,” I said, trying to look deep and thoughtful, “I don’t know what else to do but be myself. If I can encourage them and talk about the things that matter most in life, then that’s awesome.”

“Yeah, but I’ve been around a lot of people who are trying to convert me to their way of thinking, and it just turns me and my friends off. Somehow you don’t do that, but we still always end up talking about Jesus and reading the Bible. You’re either good or very sneaky.”

“I’ve tried being sneaky and it just didn’t work for me. I’ve tried being someone else and that didn’t work either. So I thought I’d just be myself and see how that goes.”

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