Of Mosques and Miracles and Malls

On Monday evening I went to a public meeting put on by the Mosques and Miracles crowd. It was well attended - 600 or so. Interestingly, unlike most Christian gatherings there were mainly men.

Mosques and Miracles has stirred up some comment in Christchurch by some who see it as intolerant. That is not what I want to talk about.

Prior to it coming I raised the issue as to why we should put time and effort into learning about Muslims when there are only 35000 in the country compared to 1.3Million who claim no religion? The session on Monday evening has done nothing to answer that question.

The speaker, Daniel, had a fascinating story to tell. Unfortunately, there were times when I wasn't sure whether he was speaking in the past or present or about whom he was speaking. His main message seemed to be that Islam was a religion that laid unique claims to the world and all in it and we better be aware of that. Frankly, Christians have known about that for many hundreds of years. The message was not new. Why then, do some think we should hear about it now in New Zealand?

The sceptic in me says that we are hearing about it because some in the church have bought into the political agenda of some in the West that have made much of the muslim world into the "enemy" (axis of evil). It is because Christians in NZ have bought into the "War on terror" without putting it into the greater context of God's plan for the world. New Zealand has had only one terrorist attack and that was the French 20 odd years ago. We are not particularly threatened by Muslim extremists as a country. As Christians - Muslims are not converting large parts of the population that we should be concerned. We have much more to be concerned about those in Malls on a Sunday rather than those in Mosques.

Over those 600 people on Monday night I wonder ...
How many had a Muslim friend?
How many prayed for a muslim they knew?
How many had spoken to the veiled woman who dropped her children off at school at the same time that they dropped their own children off?
How many had showed some hospitality to the new muslim immigrants or refugees?
How many had talked about Jesus with a Muslim?

I ask these questions because I suspect the answer is "precious few."

We should not be attending Mosques and Miracles out of fear, but because we seek the tools and information that will help us show love and proclaim the gospel to these people. This is the approach Archbiship Akinola takes in Nigeria - and he lives in a country where large parts of it are under Sharia law. Evangelism, not the sword, is how he is winning over the country for the glory of God. We should take a leaf out of his book.

While we are at it, we need a conference on Malls and Miracles to put the evangelism of the millions of unchurched, unsaved New Zealanders back front and centre of the churchs' agendas.