Missions as "one beggar telling another beggar..."

One beggar telling another beggar where to find food.
Have you ever thought of that as describing missions or evangelism or interfaith dialogue?


Probably not.  I never did.
But now I do a little bit more.
Here is why? 


Before coming to Indonesia, I had never meaningfully meet and conversed with a Muslim. How that has changed!


One such occasion was earlier this month when I had the honor of joining an interfaith dialogue.  An interfaith dialogue is basically where 2 or more religious groups come and understand what makes each other "tick".  By understanding each so much happens.  Stereotypes end. Common ground is found. Friendships are formed.  Action on poverty and peace is taken together.


This time around, dialoguing with a group of  Muslims took a different direction.  The place that this dialogue ended up is not the goal of dialogue, neither is it a common occurrence.  But it can happen when the Spirit moves and doors are opened.      


The group that I, along with some others, engaged with, was not your ordinary group of Muslims.  They were ordinary Muslims in the sense that they were caring and warm people.  But they were not ordinary in what they believed and in how they practiced it.


They described themselves as "followers of Isa."  Isa is the Arabic word for Jesus.  They no longer attend a mosque, nor do the Muslim daily prayers.  Rather they gather on Friday night for worship.  


They believe that Jesus as God and Savior.  However, they do not know about the crucifixion and resurrection.  


They only read the Koran and the Jesus they depict is entirely from the Koran.  They have not read the Bible, but claim that the Jesus of the Bible and the Koran are the same--so there is no need to read the Bible.  


Why are they doing this?


1. Most likely they would become followers of the Biblical Jesus and go to church if it was not for the alienation that they would experience from their community if they did this.  There is a huge gap between a mosque/muslim culture and the church.  There needs to be a gap in belief and some practice, but the gap between the is often unnecessarily large. I really do not blame them for not wanting to join church in Indonesia, its forms of worship are just so different than a Muslim's forms of worship.  The Gospel is concerned about content and meaning, not the forms of worship.   


2. Every person, culture and religion have some of Light's shining in them, none of them are complete darkness.  God's Light shines everywhere on earth, nothing is left untouched by it. This is the same for the Koran.  I have learned so much from Muslims about this, especially this group I meet with recently.  There is so much to talk about with Muslims because there is so much in common with Christians.


Take this for example, Muslims and Christians share the Torah.  Both Muslims and Christians therefore agree on two central things:  "Love God" and "love your neighbor."  A few years ago over 100 muslims leaders wrote this to you and me.


They wrote this to us "rather than engaging in polemic, the signatories [ global muslim leaders] have adopted the traditional and mainstream Islamic position of respecting the Christian scripture and calling Christians to be more, not less, faithful to it."  That is amazing!


Signs abound within the Koran that provoke questions to which the Gospel is the answer.  
What the Muslims I met taught me was this:
I do not posses the Truth.  I can never claim that.  


What I can claim is to know where the Truth is.  I can point to Jesus and say "there."  


Muslims do not point to Jesus and say "there", that is Truth.  They point to a book and say "there", that is Truth.  But their book, the Koran, gives clues that Jesus is Lord and could lead a Muslim to embrace Jesus as Truth, at which they would deny the Koran as the Truth.  


The Muslims taught me the Truth that is shown in God's Light or His Presence shining in and through the world is beyond something I will every understand fully.  Beyond something that I can posses.  Beyond something I can claim.  


Rather I am pointed by my Muslims friends to find God's Light shining in all the world.  Not limited to one religion, or a certain people.  


It is like a am a beggar alongside my Muslim friends who are beggars, and we are telling each other where to find food.  
Therefore, I have learned that evangelism, missions and interfaith dialogue, done right, is as much witness as it is discovery.  


As I discovered that God was revealing himself to these Muslims and pointing them towards Jesus, I along with a few other Christians were also able to witness by pointing to Jesus. 
I have a video of that. 


I took a video of a prayer and then the Bibles that we offered this group.  Please remember while watching this that this is not a "day in the life of Jason", neither is the way we are going about it imposing or coercive.  Rather the hours that preceded this footage were respectful discovery and witness for both the Muslims and Christians.  The man who is praying is David Shenk an author, professor and practitioner of interfaith dialogue that was visiting Indonesia.

And a picture for those still using dial-up internet.  This picture is with a number of Muslims we meet along with some of the Christians.