Where are we in missions to the Muslim world on this twentieth anniversary of 9/11? If we look only at surface realities, we may easily lose hope.

Just recently, of course, Afghanistan was completely overrun by the Taliban. Missionaries fled the country — if they could. America’s poorly considered and poorly executed departure resulted (and will result) in untold numbers brutalized at the hands of the Taliban. These tragedies mark an ironic and sad anniversary to 9/11, especially for Afghani Christians. Afghanistan alone seems to give reason to lose hope for missions in the Muslim world.

But Afghanistan is hardly alone. The Muslim world is known for head fakes of hope: the Arab Spring promised to move the Muslim world into a free society; the seeming openness of Saudi Arabia gave hope for a less medieval country; street protests in Iran offered light against the cruel and oppressive government. Yet all of these movements were crushed or discredited or snuffed out.

The list goes on: economic ruin in Lebanon, dystopian landscapes in Iraq, sectarian conflict in Egypt, refugee horrors in Syria, oppression of Christians in Turkey and Indonesia, ever-more-brutal sectarian conflict in Africa.

Even the most progressive and open countries of the Muslim world foster such unimaginable violations of human rights that most Westerners scarcely have a category to understand them or even believe them to be true. These realities make missionary-minded people feel like grasshoppers before giants.

Gardening One Fateful Day

I know such feelings well. I remember a day that threatened to crush my hope for missions in the Muslim world. What a day it was: clear skies and perfect temperature — just right for working in the yard. But my yard work wasn’t merely yard work; it was part of a vision for the Middle East.

We desired to do something not done before: develop student ministry on the new universities in the Arabian Peninsula. So a year before, after much research, we had set our course for Dubai, a gleaming modern city springing up out of the desert of the United Arab Emirates. We recruited a team of like-minded couples. They were skilled, gospel-centered, committed. We shared a long and deep friendship developed over the years in ministry together. We garnered financial support. We set up a business. We saw God’s favor all around us. I’m still astonished with how everything fell into place.

The last step before buying our plane tickets was to sell our house. “Let’s put it on the market mid-September,” I said. “How about the 12th?” my wife said. Done.

Thus, I was sprucing up the yard on 9/11 before hammering in a for-sale sign.

Falling from Buildings

That same clear-blue day, planes fell from the sky, ramming home death and destruction on unsuspecting victims going about their work.

I remember not quite believing the reports. I remember the rush to the TV and seeing the unbelievable. I remember the copper taste in my mouth as the world changed before our eyes. Not that we had any understanding of the implications, but we sensed it. The events made regular life feel small and insignificant — much like the discovery of a serious illness, or the sudden death of a close friend.

As I prayed with my young sons at bedtime that night, my oldest, fourteen at the time, said, “Daddy, I close my eyes, but I keep seeing people falling from buildings.” I so wished he hadn’t seen that. Yet it marked the horror of the day, and as I closed my eyes that night, I saw them too. I still do.

Following Jesus’s Words

As the story of 9/11 unfolded, it became apparent that this was a premeditated Islamic attack, carried out by men mostly from the United Arab Emirates. So we faced some questions. Chief among them was this one: “Since the terrorists came from the very place we intend to live, should we go at all?”

I felt the temptation to give in to fear and lose hope. And there were deeper questions.

Do we believe that Jesus has “all authority on heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18)?
Do we believe that, in the same breath he spoke of his power, he said, “Go” (Matthew 28:19)?
And most of all, do we cling to his promise to be with us always (Matthew 28:20)?

Yes, yes, and yes. The house sold on 9/13.

Later that year, we went to make our life in the Middle East, where we would live for the next twenty years through fears, war, threats, death, and great joy. We lived first in the Arabian Peninsula, and then later in Iraq.

It could not have been a better time to go. Going when circumstances looked so dark made a statement to our new neighbors: we weren’t afraid because we knew Jesus went with us. It also bore testimony that we loved the people of the Arabian Peninsula, and that we had something important to share with them.

And unquestionably, it has been the greatest privilege of our lives.

‘Give Me Nineteen Men’

We never expected to see the kind of fruit God granted.

On the plane to Dubai in 2001 (which was completely empty except for our family), I prayed, “O God, if you would allow me to see nineteen young men come to you, and have a heart for you, and be a part of more change than those nineteen young men who flew planes into buildings, I would be ever so grateful.”

“O you of little faith.” We will not know the number God provided this side of heaven, but it surpasses nineteen. Students came to faith — a trickle at first, then many, and then entire fellowships of believers, formed on campus. We discipled and evangelized and recruited more workers to join us. Many of those who came to faith on campus came on our staff team to be campus ministers themselves.

The staff and students were tightly integrated into churches that were rapidly being revitalized. We didn’t do all the work of church planting and revitalization, but our team helped see it happen. God was pleased to grant fruit that may grow until Christ’s return.

Reasons for Hope

So how about today? Where are we in Muslim missions as we mark the twentieth anniversary of 9/11?

To talk of the “Muslim world,” of course, is a bit misleading. Muslims do speak of an Ummah, much like Christians speak of the body of Christ or the church universal. But in reality, the Muslim world is an incredibly diverse global community that is often at odds. So, we can speak of the “Muslim world” only in the broadest of terms. With that said, a survey of this diverse world offers reasons for hope.

Indigenous Christians

First, many deeply committed indigenous Christians live all over the Muslim world. They give great hope for the future, and we have much to learn from them. Some come from historic Christian communities. Others have converted. Still others are members of evangelical churches. But for all, the boot of Islam rests on their necks. They need love and support from believers around the world.

Conversions

Perhaps the greatest myth held by Christians in the West is that Muslims don’t come to Jesus.

People in the Muslim world are much more willing to talk about spiritual life than those in the West. They are more willing to read the Bible with a Christian than unbelievers in the West are. They feel drawn to genuine Christian community.

“Perhaps the greatest myth held by Christians in the West is that Muslims don’t come to Jesus.”

Furthermore, the harsh application of Islam does not help its cause. Thoughtful Muslims see the brutality of ISIS and Boko Haram and the Taliban, and they want nothing to do with this form of traditional Islam — but where do they turn? In my experience, many Muslims who hear of the love of Christ find faith in Jesus compelling.

Many people from Muslim backgrounds come to faith in Christ. Their stories are not trumpeted on social media: the death penalty for conversion in some Muslim communities is real (as prescribed by the Quran). But those who think about missions in the Muslim world need to remember that God will call to himself those he wills as we are faithful to proclaim the gospel.

Cross

Finally, remember the way of the cross.

The Christian faith shines bright to a world in despair. We have much to say to people who are brutalized by wicked religious men, because Jesus was brutalized by wicked religious men. Who would have foreseen that the Roman gibbet — an instrument of torture and death — would be the very tool God would use to offer peace and love and forgiveness to an evil world? What men intended as supreme evil, God used for supreme good.

In the same way, the horror of 9/11 was an evil event, coordinated by evil actors perpetrated on unsuspecting people who did not deserve to die at the hands of such a wicked plan. Yet it too has been and will be used by God for his higher purposes.

Ways Forward

Over my twenty years in the Muslim world, I’ve also learned several lessons, lessons to know and remember when we think about missions in the Muslim world today.

Workers

There are more Christian workers in the Muslim world than ever before. Some are tentmakers, others are full-time workers with churches or agencies, some are on short terms, and many are with aid and relief NGOs. But the need is for even more Christian workers of all stripes in the Muslim world — and for all of us to be bold and clear about our commitment to Jesus and the gospel.

Do we have any choice but to obey the Great Commission? God does not rescind Matthew 28:18–20 in hard times. He never promises to spare us from difficulties. Actually, he promises difficulties. At the same time, he promises his presence.

“God promises difficulties. At the same time, he promises his presence.”

The fact is, if we wait to obey Christ’s commission until circumstances in the Muslim world are safe or calm, no one will ever go or speak. But we need to go and speak. We want to alleviate suffering, and even more importantly, we want to warn of the eternal suffering to follow death without Christ.

Endurance

The Muslim world needs mature believers, who have years of ministry experience, to come and stay for decades, not months. The great need is for missionaries to focus less on technique or the latest missiological trend, and rely more on the ability to adapt and grow and share our faith while overcoming obstacles in a cross-cultural environment. This comes only from experience and maturity.

Our team left for the Middle East when I was 45 years old. Our combined ministry experience totaled forty years. We were at the top of our game in ministry. Our combined insights on ministry and missions proved invaluable for the work.

Churches

Though many may come to faith in Christ, if they do not become part of a healthy church, we might as well throw them to the wolves. Yet indigenous healthy churches are a rarity in the Muslim world. So, planting healthy churches is a first priority.

Surprisingly to many in the West, the Quran actually prescribes that Christians be allowed to establish churches as “people of the book.” (Anyone who is in a position to do so should press this truth home with Muslim friends or Muslim government officials.)

By healthy church, I mean a cross-focused, gospel-proclaiming, Bible-drenched church of baptized believers, covenanted together to care for each other in gospel love as a display of God’s glory under the leadership and teaching of the elders, who studiously practice the commands of the Bible for the church.

Their Only Hope — and Ours

So, are these dark days for missions in the Muslim world?

Nothing could be further from the truth. There have never been more opportunities for the faithful to follow the Great Commission in the Muslim world. Does doing so involve sacrifice and risk? Of course — what important pursuit doesn’t? But is it worth it? Unquestionably.

The hope of the Muslim world is not economic development, or military might, or political will, or better education. The hope of the Muslim world is Jesus. He is the only one who can transform a world locked in darkness into a place of marvelous light.

Audio Transcript

#blessed — It’s a social media tag for when someone feels blessed and who has, or is getting, everything they’ve dreamed of getting. It can range from getting a new girlfriend, a new job, or a pay raise, to finding a ten-dollar bill on the sidewalk or getting surprisingly good news. But what does it mean to truly be blessed according to Scripture? Now that’s a different discussion, one initiated by a discerning listener to the podcast named Jordan.

“Pastor John, hello! Of late I have been having discussions with my friends around what it means to be blessed. The term blessed is thrown around in our culture today, and it’s all over our Bibles too. To me, it seems like the way God uses blessed or blessings in the Bible is very different from how it’s used now. I see the term blessed associated with material possessions or family or health. These can all be good things, but I think you could also argue that if these blessings lead us further away from God, they are not truly blessings at all.

“On the other hand, Jesus said, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit’ (Matthew 5:3). And he said, ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake’ (Matthew 5:10). And he said, ‘Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account’ (Matthew 5:11). Rarely, if ever, do I see people posting about how blessed they are as ‘poor in spirit’ or ‘persecuted’ like we read about in the Beatitudes. With that in mind, what is a biblical definition of what it means to be truly blessed?”

Jordan puts his finger on the nub of the issue, I think, by referring to the Beatitudes in Matthew 5. And I’m going to circle back and probably end there and affirm what he sees and show why it is such a great answer to his own question.

Showcase of God’s Blessing

But first, let me lay down a principle that has helped me grasp why there is such a preponderance of earthly blessings promised in the Old Testament — like the inheritance of land (Psalm 37:22), deliverance from our enemies (Psalm 41:1), fruitfulness in our families and in our fields (Genesis 17:20; 48:3–4) — while in the New Testament, there are very few earthly blessings promised, but rather afflictions are promised, with the material, physical blessings largely postponed until the resurrection.

Here’s the principle: in God’s wisdom, the Jewish religion of the Old Testament was largely a “come and see” religion. Israel was the showcase of God’s blessings among the nations.

Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions. . . . And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more breath in her. (1 Kings 10:1, 4–5)

I call that the showcasing of the blessing of God on the people of God in the Old Testament.

Into All the World

There’s nothing like that in the New Testament. In God’s wisdom, the church of Jesus Christ is not an ethnic or geographic or political or national entity. It cuts across all ethnicities, all geographies, all politics, nationalities.

There is no geographic center for Christianity.
There’s no great temple-like edifice in Christianity.
There are no places to do pilgrimages in Christianity.
There are no priests or saints through whom we have to go to God, but only Jesus Christ.

“Put all the billionaires together. They are paupers compared to the lowliest Christian.”

And instead of telling the world to come to us — “Come see how I bless my people”; God never says that — he says, “Go — go to the world. And if it costs you your life, lay it down.” Jesus says very plainly, “Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). “Put it at the disposal of me and my mission.” That’s the kind of radical life we’re called to live in the New Testament.

So there’s the principle. And the failure to recognize this distinction between God’s plan for Israel in the Old Testament and God’s plan for the church in the New Testament has caused a lot of people to put way too much emphasis on earthly blessings today.

Eternal Happiness

And I think one of the most illumining texts about how we are blessed as Christians — which we are; I would say we are infinitely blessed — is 1 Corinthians 3:21–23.

Let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future — all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

Let that sink in. What a verse! I love it. To belong to Christ is to belong to God as our Father and to be heirs of all that God owns — that is, everything. Paul says, “The world is yours. All things are yours.” Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). You cannot be richer than a Christian. Put all the billionaires together. They are paupers — I mean, poverty-stricken paupers — compared to the lowliest Christian.

But notice that in the list of things that belong to us is death. That’s in the list: “All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death.” Death is yours. This means that you do not get all your blessings in this life, but that death itself belongs to you as a gift, as a doorway to infinite, eternal, immeasurable blessing. Death becomes your servant because of Christ’s triumph over death. The apostle John heard a voice from heaven saying, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord” (Revelation 14:13). Why is that? Paul answers in Ephesians 1:3: God “has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing” — every blessing that heaven can conceive for the eternal happiness of God’s people will be ours.

“In God’s wisdom, the church of Jesus Christ is not an ethnic or geographic or political or national entity.”

But Jesus taught us explicitly not to expect them now. For example, in Luke 14:13–14, he said, “When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you.” I love Jesus’s logic: “You will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” That’s the orientation of Jesus Christ the king. That’s the New Testament pattern: sacrificial generosity and service now; spectacular blessing later at the resurrection. Or here’s the way James puts it: “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12).

First the trial, then the blessing, the crown.

Our Great Reward

Let’s circle back now to Jordan’s reference to the Beatitudes. I think the Beatitudes, taken together, provide a beautiful summary of the blessings promised to the followers of Christ: six immeasurable blessings are sandwiched between the summary promise “Theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3, 10).

These six blessings summarize what it means to live forever under the kingdom, the heavenly rule of God:

We will see God: “They shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). The pure shall see God.
We will be shown mercy: “They shall receive mercy” (Matthew 5:7).
We will be part of God’s family: “They shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9).
We will experience God’s comfort: “They shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).
We will be co-owners of the whole world: “They shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5).
We will be satisfied with personal and universal righteousness: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6).

So in summary, (1) the presence of God seen and enjoyed in the face of Christ, (2) covering us with mercy because of all our sins, (3) calling us his children, (4) comforting us for all pain and loss in this world, (5) bequeathing to us the universe for a familiar homeland, and (6) everything set right in our souls and in the social order of the new world — this is our great reward. This is what it means to be truly blessed.

Audio Transcript

God was at work in my life when he saved me. Amen! But was God at work in my life before I came to Christ? And if so, how should we talk about God’s work in our lives before conversion? What does that season of my life before Christ tell the world about who God is? I’ve never really considered this, to be honest. And I suspect most of us haven’t really given it that much thought either. Well, the apostle Paul did. And he spoke with specificity about what his pre-conversion life displayed about the character of God.

Here’s the sharp question from a listener named Shawn, who lives in Canada: “Hello, Pastor John. I have a question concerning the life that we, as believers in Christ, lived before we came to faith. Paul writes about his life before conversion as being one of the largest opponents of God (1 Timothy 1:13). He later says his life as an unbeliever was used to display God’s ‘perfect patience,’ going from a persecutor of Christians to a Christian (1 Timothy 1:16). God was revealing his patience in Paul’s pre-conversion life. So, looking at Paul’s testimony, my question is this: Was God present and active in our lives when we were unbelievers? And should we too speak of what our pre-conversion life reveals about the character of God? Because, quite honestly, that’s something I really don’t do.”

The answer to both of those questions is yes. God is always at work in this world in everybody’s life. “He works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11). And when we come to Christ, we are given a perspective on that prior work that is true and helpful. It is cause for thankfulness in us, and it’s a cause for benefit to others. In other words, we experience it as worship, and we experience it, hopefully, as witness.

Double Brightness

Before we turn to Christ, there is, so to speak, a veil over our eyes so that we can’t interpret what’s happening in our lives in its proper relationship to God before we’re a Christian. In a profound sense, we are blind to what God is doing in our lives. So we can’t tell any true stories about God’s work in our lives before our eyes are open to see what he’s really doing in our lives.

But when we come to Christ, the veil is lifted, and we see our past life for what it really is, both in its darkness and in the bright light of God’s work in it. So here’s the text that makes that amazingly clear. This is John 3:19–21:

This is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clear seen that his works have been carried out in God.

“When we come to Christ, the veil is lifted, and we see our past life for what it really is.”

That’s interesting. That’s really significant. In other words, when a person turns to Christ and comes into the light, he is able to see not only the path that is in front of him and how he should walk now that he’s a Christian, but he is also able to see for the first time what was really going on in his life before he was led to Christ and crossed over the line between unbelief and belief. The light of Christ shines in both directions: it shines forward to show us how to live, and it shines backward to show how God worked in our lives to bring us to himself.

God’s Perfect Patience

Now, one of the remarkable things about the passage in 1 Timothy 1:12–16 is that Paul shows that there’s a double reason for why we should think about God’s work in our lives before we became Christians. One is thankfulness. It should cause us, when we look back and watch the providences of God in our lives bringing us to him, to worship and be amazed at the great mercy of God that he did not let us go our own self-destructive way.

For example, Paul begins 1 Timothy 1:12 by saying, “I thank him who has given me strength.” So Paul worshiped — that’s his first response when he looks back on what God did in his life. If any of us rightly understands our true condition before we were called into Christ, we will respond the same. Oh yes, we will. Whether you were 6 years old or 66 or 86 when converted, the Bible makes clear, even if our memory doesn’t, that we were hopelessly dead in our sin and were made alive by sovereign grace.

“We were hopelessly dead in our sin and were made alive by sovereign grace.”

But the main thing Paul is doing in 1 Timothy when he recalls his former life as a blasphemer, persecutor, insolent is trying to help others who are despairing of their own salvation because their past life is so terrible they can’t imagine God ever being patient and merciful with them. Those are the people he’s really writing for when he talks about his past, and Paul’s point in telling of God’s work in his own past is to encourage them. “No one is beyond hope.” Here’s the way he does it:

I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. . . . But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:13, 16)

In other words, he speaks of God’s work in his pre-conversion life, first, in order to celebrate the greatness of God’s mercy, and second, in order to help strugglers who have no hope. He wants them to have hope.

Past Life of an Apostle

He did the same thing in Galatians 1. He knew that the churches of Galatia were struggling with whether they could really trust Paul as an authentic apostle. And one of the ways that he helped them trust him and his gospel as true was to tell the story of his past life in Judaism, and how the only reasonable explanation of why he’s risking his life now — to advance the faith he formally tried to destroy — is Christ’s amazing intervention in his life. Here’s what he says:

You have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. (Galatians 1:13–17)

So:

Before he was converted and before he became an apostle, God set him apart from his mother’s womb.
God allowed Paul to become a radical anti-Christian zealot, with zeal that surpassed everybody.
Christ appeared to him on the Damascus road and saved him.
Christ led him away to Arabia and turned him into a mighty apostle.

All that recounting of his past was to help the Galatians know he was true, he was an apostle, and that they could trust his message, his gospel, and hope in the truth.

So the answer to Shawn’s questions are yes and yes. (1) Was God present and active within our lives when we were unbelievers? Yes. (2) Should we speak of what our pre-conversion life reveals about God? Yes, and for those two reasons: both for the glory of God in our own thankfulness and praises, and for the good of others who might be helped to have hope in Christ by our story.