WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN? WHAT IS A MUSLIM?

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What a Christian is and is not

These are some of the common Muslim understandings about Christians-

Christians are:

1. Unclean—they eat pork and drink wine and their woman dress in a loose and seductive way.
2. Western—the word “Christian” is synonymous with the West.  America is thought of as a Christian nation just as Egypt is a Muslim nation.
3. Unbelievers—there is a standard for belief and true surrender and the “Christianity” that is seen through TV and the news reeks of hypocrisy.
4. Corrupt—since most of the quality TV programs & movies come from America they are broadcast all over the world and the lifestyles and actions and attitudes of the actors are thought of as “Christian” behaviors.
5. Zionist—favoritism for Israel is seen not only through US government policy, but also comes across loud and clear from the theology that many Evangelicals have where they equate the modern political state of Israel to biblical prophecies.
6. Crusaders—the atrocities of the past are still a reality that gets reinforced by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
7. Polytheistic—Christians believe in three gods.
8. Infidels—because of the beliefs and practices of Christians they are the enemy.

Some of these common understandings Muslims may have about Christians are based in truth.  Most Christians for instance do eat pork based on the Scripture (Injil, Acts 10:9-48).  In this passage it is believed that God called all foods clean just as He declared that all people could enter the Kingdom of God.  The Kingdom is not just for the Jews, but also for the Gentiles (all non-Jewish peoples). 
However, some of these common understandings are not based in truth.  Most of the actors on TV and movies, for instance, are not Christians nor are they depicting what Christians believe or live out.  In fact, many TV shows mock the way true Christians believe.  These actors and these programs do not at all represent Christians, nor does the American government.  These things must be seen as completely separate from the faith and belief of true believers in Christ.

What is a Christian?

The word Christian literally means “Christ-one” or a follower of Christ.  While this is a beautiful way of describing a true Christian, this word only appears in the New Testament (Injil) three times.  There are other ways of describing a follower of Jesus Christ as used in the New Testament (Injil) such as a believer or a disciple. 

The word “Christian” was intended to describe a person who has surrendered their life to the One God by trusting in and following the example of Jesus (Isa al Masih) as revealed in the Bible (Tawrat, Zabur & Injil).  Unfortunately, many people throughout history have called themselves “Christians,” but they did not follow the example of Christ (al Masih) who healed the sick, raised the dead, loved his enemies and thus showed the world how to live in the present reality of the Kingdom of God.  Therefore, there is a big difference between someone who calls himself or herself a “Christian” but doesn’t follow Jesus, and someone who has surrendered their life to God through the example of Jesus.  Only this person is a true believer, while the other person would be called an unbeliever.  Many of the above examples of common Muslim understandings about Christians are based on the actions of unbelievers who call themselves Christians.  True believers who follow Jesus reject things that do not honor God.  A true believer studies the Bible (Tawrat, Zabur & Injil) and seeks to live a life honoring to God based on all the teachings of the Scriptures.

Conclusion:

If a true follower of Jesus (Isa) understood that Muslims had all these misunderstandings about them their proper response would be to build a friendship with a Muslim so that they could begin to tear down these walls of misunderstanding and they could talk in person about all the things they share in common.  They could look at their respective Holy Books and begin talking about the things that are most important in life.

 

What a Muslim is and is not:

These are some of the common Christian understandings about Muslims-

Muslims are:

1. Terrorists—the events of 9/11 and other terrorist attacks done in the name of Allah and “true” Islam make the rest of the world think that Islam=Terrorists.
2. Jihadists—history has shown that despite some peaceful Islamic rulers there have been many who have conquered with the sword and persecuted Christians and other non-Muslims.
3. Deceptive—based on the news reports and other sources Muslims are either actively radical in their faith or subversively radical with underhanded power agendas for world dominance.
4. Cowardly—the peaceful majority of Muslims are unwilling to speak out against the atrocities of the minority of radical Islamicists.
5. Abusive—they treat their women as sub-human by making them cover or not letting them vote or receive education.  The pinnacle of their abuse of power is seen in their so-called honor killings where fathers will murder their daughter because she has brought shame on the family.
6. Pagans—since Muslims talk so much about Muhammad as their prophet many Christians think that he is worshipped not just revered.
7. Idolaters—Allah is viewed by many Christians as a false-god or even an idolatrous moon-god and therefore is not the One God of Christians.
8. Infidels—because of the beliefs and practices of Muslims they are the enemy.

Some of these common Christian understandings about Muslims are based in truth.  For instance, the reason Muslims might be seen as cowardly is because Danish cartoons of Muhammad (pbuh) cause international outrage and riots while there is no significant public denunciation of catastrophic acts of terror.  Terrorists claim to represent the “true” religion of Islam and if that is a false statement the 1.3 billion Muslims worldwide should stand up and say these lunatics do not speak for the rest of us.  They need to stand up and be counted so that they can represent the true face of Islam and not let their religion be hijacked by a radical vocal minority.
However, some of these statements are not based in truth.  For instance, Allah is the Arabic word for “The One God.”  There is no historical evidence that Allah is tied to any moon-god or any other idolatrous false-God.  In fact, Arabic speaking Jews and Christians for hundreds of years prior to Islam called the One True God “Allah,” and Jesus (Isa) speaking Aramaic would have called Him “Alaha.”  We are all referring to the One True God, we just misunderstand each other because of the cultural and linguistic gap that exists between us.

What is a Muslim?

A Muslim is literally “one who is surrendered to God (Allah).”  While this is a beautiful way to describe a true Muslim, the word “Muslim” only appears in the Qur’an eight times.  The word that is used most often in the Qur’an to describe a person who is following God in the way that is right is a believer (it occurs more than 100 times). 

The word “Muslim” was intended to describe a person who has surrendered their life to the One God and is committed to following the teachings of Muhammad as found in the Qur’an.  Unfortunately many people throughout history have called themselves “Muslims” but have not chosen to surrender themselves before God (Allah) nor follow the teachings found in the Qur’an. Therefore, there is a big difference between someone who calls himself or herself a “Muslim” but doesn’t follow the teachings of the Qur’an, and someone who has surrendered their life to God and is actively submitting to Him in holiness.  Only this person is a true believer, while the other person would be called an unbeliever.  Many of the above examples of common Christian understandings about Muslims are based on the actions of unbelievers who call themselves Muslims.  True believers who follow the straight path reject things that do not honor God.  A true believer studies the Holy Books of Islam (Qur’an, Tawrat, Zabur & Injil) and seeks to live a life honoring to God based on all the teachings of the Scriptures.

Conclusion:

If a true Muslim understood that Christians had all these misunderstandings about them their proper response would be to build a friendship with a follower of Jesus so that they could begin to tear down these walls of misunderstanding and they could talk in person about all the things they share in common.  They could look at their respective Holy Books and begin talking about the things that are most important in life.

 

Final Thoughts:
Notice that point #8 in both of the above lists say the exact same thing:  “Infidels—because of the beliefs and practices of Christians /Muslims they are the enemy.”  Isn’t it interesting that the 1.3 billion Muslims and the 1.6 billion Christians on planet earth see each other as the Enemy?  This means that half of the world’s population is in a deadly vice-grip of deception of seeing each other as the enemy.

Let’s look at what the Bible and Qur’an say:

The Bible:

“You are of your father the devil (Satan), and your will is to do your father’s desires.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (Injil, John 8:44)

“The thief (Satan) comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I (Isa) have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (Injil, John 10:10)

“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Injil, Romans 16:20)

 

The Qur’an:

“He said, this is a work of Satan; he is a clear, misleading enemy” (Qur’an, Qasas 28:15)

“And don’t follow the steps of Satan; he is a clear enemy to you” (Qur’an, Baqara 2:168)

“Since we told the angels to bow down to Adam, and they did, except for Iblis (Satan), who refused and was proud and was an unbeliever” (Qur’an, Baqarah 2:34)

“O sons of Adam, don’t let Satan trick you as he expelled your two ancestors from the garden, stripping their clothing from them to show them their shame.” (Qur’an, Aaraf 7:27)

 

The Bible talks about Satan as being:

1. A murderer
2. A liar
3. The father of lies
4. A thief
5. Destructive
6. One who must be crushed by God
7. The deceiver of the whole world
8. The continual accuser of the brothers

The Qur’an talks about Satan as being:

1. Misleading
2. A clear enemy
3. Proud
4. An unbeliever
5. A trickster who brings shame
6. One who incites evil between groups of people who are like brothers
7. One who lies in wait to attack humans from all sides and divert them from the straight path
8. The one who blocks people from the straight path

 

Conclusion:

Satan is the enemy of both Christians and Muslims!
Doesn’t it make sense that the villain who lies, destroys, brings shame, blocks people from the straight path, incites evil between groups of people and deceives the whole world has pitted Muslims and Christians against each other as the enemy?  This is the Grand Deception so that no one is focused on the real enemy, Satan, and so that half of the world’s population is so busy hating each other such that no real dialogue and friendship happens.

NOW IS THE TIME…
STOP LISTENING TO THE LIES OF THE ENEMY…
WE ARE THE GENERATION TO BRING CHANGE!