7 Steps for How Christians Should Respond to Muslims

Below are seven concrete steps we followers of Jesus Christ should take when interacting with those who claim Islam as their faith:

1. Love Muslims.

2. Befriend Muslims.

3. Sacrificially serve Muslims.

4. Live holy lives in front of Muslims.

5. Willingly die for Muslims.

6. Do not retaliate against Muslims.

7. Share the Gospel with Muslims.

No More Sacrifices Needed

For a brief break from my series on OT interpretation, I offer up the above comic. Although it is somewhat silly, it has a ring of serious truth. Jesus is our once for all perfect sacrifice. God be praised!


Thanks to ReverendFun.

Priesthood and Self-Sacrifice/Service

Living as priests to God is a mind-blowing reality. God looks to each of his children as living sacrifices. This, in turn, requires responsibility on our part. Unlike the passive (dead) sacrifices of the O.T. system, we are sacrifices who are very much alive.

As sacrifices, it is not surprising that God's expectation is that we will live lives of self-sacrifice and service. This is almost always in relationship to other people. Even a cursory reading of the New Testament shows us that Christ's expectation is that his followers will think of others before themselves.

For example, Paul writes in Philippians 2:3-4, "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others."

Paul then provides his readers with the greatest example of service and sacrifice: Jesus Christ himself in the Christ Hymn of 2:5-11.

I love the irony in the bible. Jesus Christ is both our High Priest and our sacrifice. In turn, as Christ-followers, we are priests who are to live sacrificially as sacrifices to God (that sounds redundant but is not intended to be).

As priests, we have been given great responsibility. As sacrifices, we are to live sacrificially. That would be a burden except that Christ has gone before us. He is the ultimate priest and sacrifice. We just follow along is his blessed footsteps.

Priesthood and Responsibility

All Christians are an equal part of the priesthood of all believers. This is both a great privilege and a great responsibility.

It is a stunning privilege to have direct access to the God of the universe. We've been given the gift of being able to communicate with our Lord whenever we want to do so. No individual stands between us and God. This is a unique aspect of Christianity among the world's religions.

Along with the privilege, we have the responsibility to live it out. This requires action on our part. We cannot sit back and wait for someone else to do priestly things for us. We all, as individual Christians, have the responsibility to live as sacrifices to God.

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." Romans 12:1

Paul's appeal is for us to take action. Each one of us.  Once we understand this, we need to ask what this looks like. It can probably be summed up best in the Great Commandment.

But what does this responsibility look like in practical terms? James helps us in 1:27, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."

Along with living holy lives and caring for the needy, other aspects of priestly living include sharing our faith with the lost and carrying out the one anothers within the church.

All of the above require activity on our part. Christ does not expect his special people to be passive. Rather, his expectation is that we will go and do in this world.

Responsibility is one aspect of the priesthood. There are several more. I'll be covering these in the next few posts. In the meantime, what other key components of priestly living can you think of?

On Sacrificing What is Personally Edifying for the Good of the Body

A few days ago I blogged about different things being edifying to different people as the church gathers. My conclusion was that the church ought to be involved in a wide variety of activities so that everyone will be built up in Christ.

We are are told throughout scripture that we are to think of others before ourselves. For example, Philippians 2:3-4 says, "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others."

Thinking of others before ourselves may, and probably will, include sacrificing what is personally edifying in order that others will be edified. This can take many different forms in different situations. Clearly, this will not always be the case, but it is something that we must deal with.

For example, there may be one activity that we enjoy a great deal and that edifies us personally (the two have a tendency to go together). We might not question the fact that this activity happens very frequently as the church gathers. However, maybe we should question it if it gets in the way of other things happening.

Let's take an example: teaching. If we have teaching every time we gather, this may end up taking a lot of the time. It could be that this is getting in the way of other things happening. Now, I'm all for teaching and robust discussion. I believe it is critical to the life of the church. However, should it occur every time the church gathers? Maybe, maybe not. That's something for each church family to discuss.

As individuals, our Christian duty is to be on the lookout for the needs of our brothers and sisters. We may need to actively sacrifice certain activities so that other things will have time to happen. This includes suggesting this sacrifice to the body as a whole.

Sacrifice of this sort could be simple in form, such as talking less in order to give others more time to speak. It may be more involved at times, such as encouraging everyone to use all their spiritual gifts, even those we may be less "comfortable" with.

The irony is that as we sacrifice, we tend to grow in Christ. This is a normal function of the Christian life. Sacrifice of any kind, and any resultant suffering, usually causes Christian growth. The same can be said in giving up, at least some of the time, activities that we enjoy.

The beauty is when everyone in the body has this same attitude. When this occurs, then in the end everyone will be edified because all needed activities will occur. This should be one of the primary goals of the gathering.

Have you ever seen anyone purposely sacrifice certain activities for the good of the whole? Have you ever given up anything in particular? What was the result?

A Call to Live as the Priests We Are

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."  Romans 12:1

Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, performed the ultimate act of sacrifice by giving himself for us. Because of what he accomplished, we are one with him (interestingly, I just learned that the term "High Priest" is used more in the book of Hebrews than any other book in the bible).

God does not expect us to act as priests in order to come to him. Rather, because of Jesus' atoning work, we are priests. Our status is set. It does not depend on our work, but Christ's accomplished work. Notice that Paul does not call upon the Roman Christians to perform spiritual sacrifices to be right with God. Instead, he calls upon them to live out the priesthood that they are a part of. As priests, the fruit of their relationship with God is their spiritual sacrifices.

This is a clarion call from the apostle to the Roman church to embrace their priesthood. We must remember that Romans 12 comes relatively late in this epistle. For much of the previous eleven chapters Paul has discussed what God has done in his rescue mission of sinners. God performed the necessary work of redemption to make us priests.

In light of our peace with God (Romans 5:1), we can and should embrace this call to live as the priests we are. Stunningly, God has freed us to live through Christ in ways that please him. He accepts our sacrifices because of his Son's ultimate sacrifice.

New Blog Design

I've changed the look of the blog because I wanted to make the design more Christo-centric. As I was perusing the Blogger designs, I came across this one that looks remarkably like Lord's Supper elements. Although it does not show the rest of the feast, I believe it's still a reminder of what Jesus has accomplished for us on the cross. The bread is even Matzo and the cup appears to contain (gasp!) wine.

My hope is that when we glance upon the blog we will remember Christ's substitutionary work on the cross.

On Goat Sacrifices and Stampedes

Click here to read a tragic story about an argument over goat sacrifices leading to ten deaths during a Hindu festival in India. Pagan practices always lead to negative results. We have much to be thankful for that Christ is our once for all sacrifice.

Hebrews 5:27, "He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself."

Hebrews 9:26, "...for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself."

Hebrews 10:10, "And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

Hebrews 10:12-14, "But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified."