Part Three: The Message… Worshipers in Spirit and in Truth
Seeking to have peace with God is at the heart of Islamic faith. Throughout the day, many Muslims pray for God to bless them in a variety of ways: providing the necessary food, strength or health for the day; granting good crops or success in business affairs; helping keep them and their families on the right path. For most Muslims, what they seek after for themselves and their family is noble and good.
It is important to understand that there are some significant differences between the Christian and Muslim beliefs about God: His character, role in daily life, and our relationship to Him. However, our ultimate goals of correctly worshipping Him and finding ourselves following His will place us in similar situations. Christianity’s relation to Islam is strikingly similar to that of the Jews and Samaritans in Jesus’ day. The story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well in John chapter 4 teaches us some very important truths concerning a right relationship with God.
The Samaritans, like Muslims today, worshiped the God of Abraham. Like the Samaritans, Muslims “worship what they do not know.” Because of the negative history between the Jews and the Samaritans, the woman was shocked that Jesus would even ask her for a drink of water. And when Jesus originally offered her eternal life, she turned it down because she knew that her people could never join the Jewish religion (nor would they want to).
The same problem exists for us today. Almost all Muslims would turn down flat an invitation to salvation through Jesus Christ simply because they could not imagine joining the Christian religion, its supposed enemy for hundreds of years. The thought of any Muslim going to “Church” is equated with apostasy. But Jesus has taught us how we can remove this barrier.
When the Samaritan woman pointed out that her fathers said they must worship on this mountain, but the Jews said the place of worship was Jerusalem, Jesus confronted the heart of the matter. He told the woman, “A time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.” The issue is not about changing religious forms, Jesus clarified that, “A time is coming and has now come when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers God seeks.” (John 4:23)
The message for Muslims today is that it’s not about trading sides, turning against their cultural norms to become a part of the enemy, but worshipping God in spirit and truth within their own cultural context. You don’t have to go to “Church” (their negative idea of an “outsider” hostile religion with different forms) to become a disciple of Jesus Christ. Worshipping in spirit and truth doesn’t mean having to get all the forms done exactly right, but getting your heart right and dealing openly and honestly with God.
The essential truth is that none of us can seek out and find God through our “good works,” because we can never find Him through them. But thankfully He has sought us out as the good shepherd searching for his lost sheep and the Father waiting for his lost son to return home. (Luke 15) Salvation is found through Jesus Christ His Son. And Following Christ and worshipping God can be done in any cultural context. After all, God can speak and understand Arabic too.
(*I must ackowledge Tim and Rebecca Lewis for their article on Church Planting in Muslim contexts in the Jan./Feb. 09 issue of Mission Frontiers. Their pratical experience and insights helped me developed some of the themes in this three part series.)
