The Difference Between A Zealous Christian and A Zealous Muslim
The difference between being a zealous Christian and a zealous Muslim is quite striking and well explained by Francis Frangipane.
A Better Way by Francis Frangipane
A man might be a nominal Christian, mostly unaffected by spiritual things, until one day he reads the Bible and the Holy Spirit ignites in him a fire. If that person remains steadfast in his inspiration, he will increasingly pattern his life after Jesus Christ - that is, he will become more loving, more forgiving, and more ready to give his life for the redemption of others. Spiritual gifts will accompany his life as He becomes Christlike. As Jesus said, "The works that I do, he will do also" (John 14:12).
However, if a nominal Muslim begins to read a Koran, if he continues his daily reading and feels an increasing zeal toward obeying the precepts of Mohammed, if he continues on, this man will ultimately desire to possess true Islam – that is, total submission to Allah. The works Mohammed did the follower will also do. The zealot will police his community, seeking to preserve obedience to Islam. He will seek to convert unbelievers by all means, including violence and terror, and he will consider it his duty to kill those who resist the spread of Islam. If one carries true Islam in his or her soul, but does not use violence, they will at the very least sympathize with those that do.
Thus, the radicalization of at least some Muslims is inevitable, for the normal growth of an unrestrained zealot will eventually conform him to the founder of his religion. This means that as long as there are people reading the Koran there will be a small percentage who pledge their lives to Islam’s spread even by use of violence. We who live in the predominantly non-Muslim world will have to cope with the violence of these "true believers."
A Better Way by Francis Frangipane
A man might be a nominal Christian, mostly unaffected by spiritual things, until one day he reads the Bible and the Holy Spirit ignites in him a fire. If that person remains steadfast in his inspiration, he will increasingly pattern his life after Jesus Christ - that is, he will become more loving, more forgiving, and more ready to give his life for the redemption of others. Spiritual gifts will accompany his life as He becomes Christlike. As Jesus said, "The works that I do, he will do also" (John 14:12).
However, if a nominal Muslim begins to read a Koran, if he continues his daily reading and feels an increasing zeal toward obeying the precepts of Mohammed, if he continues on, this man will ultimately desire to possess true Islam – that is, total submission to Allah. The works Mohammed did the follower will also do. The zealot will police his community, seeking to preserve obedience to Islam. He will seek to convert unbelievers by all means, including violence and terror, and he will consider it his duty to kill those who resist the spread of Islam. If one carries true Islam in his or her soul, but does not use violence, they will at the very least sympathize with those that do.
Thus, the radicalization of at least some Muslims is inevitable, for the normal growth of an unrestrained zealot will eventually conform him to the founder of his religion. This means that as long as there are people reading the Koran there will be a small percentage who pledge their lives to Islam’s spread even by use of violence. We who live in the predominantly non-Muslim world will have to cope with the violence of these "true believers."
It also means that the moderate Muslims must realize, unless they desire war with their non-Muslim neighbors, they will have to expose and denounce the radicalized Muslim, especially in communities where Muslims and non-Muslims live together.
Are you Muslim? Do you want the radical extremist to represent you and your people? If not, then you must find ways to direct the radical Muslim into a spiritual jihad against the sins of his soul rather than a violent jihad against the people of a community.
Are you Christian? You must guard against prejudging all Muslims, for many people turned to Islam as a reaction to the sinfulness of the West. In a real way, they were seeking Christ and stability and the church failed them.
But in this present atmosphere, they are doubting the choice they made to follow Islam. Therefore, we must reveal Christ and the love He has for all men if we hope to win Muslims.
And finally, as Christians, we must forgive and pray for Muslims. My wife and I pray daily for Muslims, that the Lord of the harvest would send laborers into the Muslim world and that Jesus would be revealed to them, including the most radical who are ready to kill.
The radical Islamist will only be won by the radical Christ follower. We must show them a better way.
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