We can’t just be in this for good news stories

Update #26 for August from the Mahabba Network

At Mahabba we love to share stories of God working in the lives of Muslim people – that’s what our heart and vision is all about! But the reality is that most of the time it’s really hard work. There aren’t always many stories of Muslims coming to faith. We don’t even always know if what we’re doing is making an impact.

So how do we keep going when we can’t always see ‘the fruit’?

This month we hear from some of our local Mahabba coordinators about how they persevere with loving Muslim people where they are.

 

Whose harvest is it?

For many across Mahabba there is work going on every day, visiting people, running ESOL classes and other groups, connecting with Muslims in our local areas, schools or workplaces. But when we’re not necessarily seeing people coming to faith regularly, it’s important to remember who we are sent by and why we do this work.

One of our local coordinators shared this reflection:

We are often like the prophets in the Old Testament. Look at how God called Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel – he said “I’m sending you to people with hard hearts”. We might wonder why God would want to do that, but that’s what he did! And so for us, we remember that just because people aren’t responding, it doesn’t mean God wouldn’t call us to share his message of good news with them.

In Matthew 9:38 Jesus declares that God is ‘the Lord of the harvest.’ A great reminder that he is Lord over his kingdom, not us. Our responsibility is to simply be obedient to what he has given into our hands.

We might want it to be more like the apostles in Acts, where many came to faith in great crowds, but perhaps our calling is more like the Old Testament prophets.

If we’re sharing goods news but not getting any response, that’s ok. Because we’re doing what he calls us to do.

 

What has God given into our hands?

The opportunities he gives us are still something to celebrate!

We can’t just be in this for good news stories … but we can rejoice in every single conversation.

We can really celebrate the opportunities we have because there are so many Muslim people near to us. Muslim people are often very open to talking about faith:

It can sometimes actually be much easier to talk to a Muslim about faith than a white British person. Because Muslim people are interested in prayer and faith and who God is. They might not want to hear about Jesus, but there are so many things we do share in common that we can talk about together.

 

How can we take hold of these opportunities?

Sowing grace and truth into the lives of Muslim people often involves committing to grow relationships over the long term and to really be in their spaces with them, rather than expecting them to come to us.

Being interested in the person for themselves, rather than just looking to download our faith onto them is really important.  There is an opportunity to be interested in how they see God. We want to know how they see God, what are their thoughts about him? This is much more helpful because we can then reflect and see the differences and speak into that, rather than just sharing our message of the gospel that might not be relevant to their context at all.

It’s just about being in that space where Muslims are and listening to God – then responding to the opportunities he gives us.

Most of us don’t feel skilled for apologetics, but we can be interested in people and share our experiences of faith together.

Opportunities for this can come through ESOL classes, women’s groups, or using tools like Prophet Stories for a structured group.

But another aspect our coordinators highlighted was that this can also look like the normal, everyday relationships we have with Muslim people.

A couple of evenings last week I spent time with a woman we’re connected with, simply helping her in the garden with another friend. It was just time spent together, chatting and helping her with something she wanted to do. There wasn’t a faith conversation – there have been conversations about faith before and I’m sure there will be again – but sometimes it’s just about choosing to want to grow a relationship with that person and seeing the kingdom value in that.

I’m reminded of the importance of God’s character being faithful. We are called to be like him and show faithfulness in our commitment to continue to show love, even when there aren’t signs of progress. This is one way we can express God’s faithfulness to our Muslim friends.

Choosing to do this is often sacrificial, giving time to Muslim friends instead of being with others, or even being unable to commit to as many other activities (including church ones!).

 

Do you need to remember who the Lord of the harvest is?

How are you celebrating the opportunities he has given?

How are you expressing his faithfulness with those he has placed in your hands?

If you’re not connected to one of our local Mahabba groups, why not get in touch to find out what’s happening near you.