It is difficult to estimate the number of “radicalized” Muslim’s around the world, and depending on the source it can be as few as six percent to as many as 54 percent. The number most news services fall on is between 15 to 25 percent, and I can’t help but wonder what the world would look like of the same percentage of Christians were vocal about their faith in Jesus.

The Great Commission instructs Jesus-followers to take the message to every people which obviously includes Muslims. Many may try to put Islam in a different category, rightly believing that the cost of reaching Muslim’s is high. It is dangerous, but Jesus didn’t call us to a mission that would be easy and without danger. Indeed, as we saw last year in our study on Acts, a group of some 40 men vowed not to eat or drink until the apostle Paul was dead. They failed their mission as God was clearly with Paul during his missionary journeys, warning him and surrounding him with people of the Word even in hostile cities.

To lessen the danger some modern missionaries employ a tactic of camouflage. They ignore the warnings we examined yesterday and publicly proclaim the Shahaadah and misrepresent themselves as Muslim mystics. It’s a feint in the name of “contextualization”; by using the familiar to present the gospel they think they can make the gospel palatable. But this is not what Paul did at Mars Hill. Paul didn’t call Jesus by the name of Zeus’s son. Such methods use deceit which is something that is not found in the Messiah.

Why would any believer resort to such methods when it clearly violates everything God stands for? Fear. In many countries “mercy killings” are reserved for any who convert from Islam, and evangelists are viewed as enemies of Islam and beheaded, burned or otherwise murdered. Which means they not only ignore the warnings of Scripture in proclaiming falsehood, but also the command of their savior to “not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul” (Matthew 10.28).

Yes, the dangers of evangelizing Muslims is real but they shouldn’t be left out simply because doing so puts one in mortal danger. God sent Jonah to the people of Nineveh who were far more murderous than most Muslims. What we need to keep in mind is what one unnamed missionary to the Muslim world said in 2003, “Islam is the terrorist. Muslims are the victim.” In other words, it is time to stop thinking of ourselves as victims of terrorism, and time to see our message as the salvation of the victims of Islam.

Muslim’s serve a god who demands they be willing to kill their son to serve him; Christians serve God, who allowed his Son to be killed to save humanity. Our mission is to deliver a most compelling message from a loving God who wants a relationship with people. To someone worshiping an emotionally distant Allah this message is good news indeed, but only if it is presented honestly and lovingly.

We are not called to counterfeit Islam and “slip in” the gospel message, nor are we called to imitate Islam’s methods of violence against those who persecute us. While the Bible has examples of people who protect themselves and their families from evildoers, it also shows -- in a remarkably consistent fashion -- that when the evil is done due to our faith in God we are not to meet violence with violence. Instead we are required to trust in God’s salvation even should that mean physical death. This is a personal response, however, not a national one. As Paul states in Romans 13, nations do not bear the sword for nothing. A concept we will explore in greater detail next week.

Click here for the next article in this series.