Many people don’t know where to begin when sharing the gospel with a Muslim. Muslims’ potential responses fill them with fear. Or maybe they desire to share but don’t know how to transition the conversation to a spiritual conversation which leads to sharing the gospel. This is a brief overview of the Any 3 tool (which was developed in Indonesia) used to share the gospel with Muslims.

Muslims want to talk about Jesus

It is so natural to get into a spiritual conversation with a Muslim. Islam permeates their culture so deeply that people discuss religion as a normal part of everyday conversation. They talk about praying, fasting, and religious holidays all the time. If you bring up a spiritual topic they will be eager to talk about it because it won’t feel forced.

Muslims love Jesus. They believe He is one of the 5 main prophets. They have no problem talking about Jesus and most of them (as you will come to find out) don’t actually know much about Him. As you ask questions about what they believe, they will be more inclined to hear what you believe. So it gives us an opening to share the truth about Jesus and the hope we have in Him.

Many Muslims are afraid of dying

Muslims do not know if they will be in heaven or not. They try to be the best person they can be, do the 5 pillars of Islam and hope they will be with God in eternity but they cannot know for sure.

We get to share the beautiful news with them that Jesus has already done the work for them! He lived the perfect life we couldn’t live and became the perfect sacrifice for us on the cross paying the debt for our sins. He rose three days later and conquered death for us! God’s wrath, that we deserve, was poured out on Jesus (Rom 5:8-9). Now we who hope and believe in Him are forgiven and set free from the bondage of sin! We know we will be with Him forever because we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13-14).

This is the Good News we are sharing to a lost world with no hope. God loves the 1.8 billion Muslims and desires for them to know the Truth that will set them free. He is using His children to spread the gospel to all the nations and make disciples who will love and obey Jesus (Matt 28:18-20). Let’s go make disciples of Jesus!

First get to know them and show the love of Jesus

We want to show our genuine love to each person we encounter and not view them as a “project.” The Holy Spirit is the one changing hearts. He just calls us to be faithful and share the gospel. He will do the work. When you meet a Muslim, get to know them by asking questions about their family, where they work, where they are from, etc. Show them you care about them and truly want to get to know them.

Bring up spiritual topics and pray for an opening

As stated earlier it is pretty easy to bring up spiritual conversations with a Muslim. You can ask them if they pray 5 times a day or fast during Ramadan. During religious holidays like Ramadan (Eid al-Fitri) or Eid al-Adha (Idul Adha in Indonesia) you can ask what they do to celebrate.

Ask the “why” questions as well to understand why they do what they do. Many will probably say they do it because they have to. During this time, pray for the Holy Spirit to give an opening to share the gospel. Pray for the person’s heart to be open and receptive to the good news. 

Steer the conversation to talk about our sin debt

After getting to a spiritual topic and hearing a little about what they believe, next steer the conversation to talk about lostness. You can say something along the lines of “There are a lot of similarities among all the religions. People often desire to please God and seek forgiveness for their sins, don’t they? But we still sin all the time even though we try to do good. How are you seeking forgiveness for your sins?”

We want people to start thinking about their sin problem and understand they can’t erase sins by doing good works. Muslims usually say they perform good deeds, pray, fast, and fulfill their religious obligations to seek forgiveness for their sins.

Next, ask them:
“Do you know if God has forgiven your sins? When will God forgive your sins? Will God forgive them on Judgment Day?”

These questions seem a little redundant but they are actually very helpful to get Muslims thinking about sin debt. We want them to understand that they don’t know whether God has forgiven their sins, and their good deeds do not erase their sins.

Share the Hope we have in Christ by using the sacrifice stories

From here we can transition to what we believe and share the hope of Jesus. You can start by saying “What I believe is different. I know my sins are forgiven not because of what I do, but because God has already made the way for the forgiveness of sins through Jesus.”

You can then share about Jesus’ life, death and resurrection with them. Use the Adam and Eve story to talk about the first sacrifice and connect it to Jesus’ sacrifice. The first and last sacrifice story is a great way to help Muslims understand why Jesus had to die on the cross. They understand about sacrifices because one of their major holidays, Eid al-Adha, recalls the story of  when God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son as a test of faith.

Ask them their thoughts, questions and if they believe

After sharing the gospel with them, ask them if they have ever heard this story before. Get their thoughts on it and ask if what you shared makes sense. Next you can ask if they believe that Jesus died for their sins and was raised from the dead three days later. You will be surprised at people’s answers! Many may politely say they believe in something different and will change the subject. Some might have heard the gospel for the first time and would like to learn more. You can offer to study the Bible with them to help them learn more. There also may be some who are ready to believe and would want to start following Jesus!

Follow up with those who believe

If you shared the gospel with a Muslim and they make the decision to follow Christ, now it is time to disciple them! 

‘Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”’

Baptize this new brother and sister in Christ and begin teaching them to obey Jesus! Read the word together regularly. Ask them to invite their family and friends to study with you. Train them to share the gospel with others and make disciples of Jesus. You can use the 7 Commands of Christ lessons to disciple them by reading scripture and obeying the Word together.

The post How to Share the Gospel with a Muslim first appeared on Pray For Indonesia.