Monthly Archives: July 2021

You’ve got a life, right? Bills to pay, books to read, maybe a kid or two to raise. No one would blame you for not thinking about Muslims every hour of every day. Many Christians are reminded of Muslims only when someone shouting “Allah Akbar” does something nasty and splashy enough for the news to cover it.

Last week in Muslim Connect I imagined waving a wand and vaporizing apathy toward Muslims. If only three or four percent of Christians in the US got jazzed about praying for and connecting to Muslims, we’d approach a one to one ratio!

In an effort to lessen apathy and grow engagement, here are three low key ways to warm your heart (and maybe some friends’ hearts) toward Muslims.

1. Watch American Eid
   This 20 minute masterpiece is currently streaming on Disney+. It is warm, winsome and witty. I’m totally smitten by it and assure you it’s worth the $8 it will take to sign up for one month of Disney’s streaming service. Chip away at apathy by watching it, then promoting it like crazy in your social media networks.
2. Read The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf
   Grab this or any other novel in which the good guy is a Muslim. Bonus points if it’s written by a Muslim. This one is nostalgically set in the Indianapolis of my youth, but I learned a lot about what it’s like to grow up a minority in my own back yard. (If you have rec’s to add to one or two, I’d love to hear them!)
3. Give thanks for a small good deed
   The first of the Afghan workers being evacuated to the US will arrive tonight, July 29th. In the book of global pain this is only one semi colon, but I’m very happy for it. We’ll give sanctuary to upwards of 20,000 workers and their families. May God connect each one with a family who loves Jesus and will love them.

A hearty thank you to those who’ve sent gifts these past three weeks to keep Muslim Connect going and growing. I’m deeply grateful to you. This is the last week of the drive. If you were considering sending a gift, now’s the time! Click here and choose me from the staff drop down. Thank you.

Have you ever made a really good trade? Something you had that wasn’t serving you for something that made your life better or more effective? A classic worship song says, “I’m trading my sorrow. I’m trading my shame. I’m laying them down for the joy of the Lord.” That’s a sweet exchange.

If I could wave a wand over Christians in America and beyond to bring about a trade, it would be this: We’d trade our apathy, angst and anger toward Muslims for love and engagement.

Apathy
Most Christians don’t care about Muslims. Of course, God’s not asking everyone to care the way we do. (I write a weekly email about Muslims and you read it! How bizarre!) But what if 100 times as many began to care. There’s room for that multiple among those who follow Jesus.

Angst
A super-sized truckload of money and effort has recently gone into making the likes of us worry about the likes of them. Money and effort on the part of Muslims, as well as non-Muslims angling for a sweet political seat. Since God seems never to tire of telling believers not to fear, I think he’d extend that “have a peaceful, easy feeling” toward Muslims.

Anger
If a Muslim shot you, shot at you, shot or shot at someone you loved or took your job away and that made you mad, I get it. Of course it did. And I want us to empathize heartily with people in those situations. I suspect the anger, when present, is often more ethereal than that.

Of course there is no magic wand that trades these for love and engagement. But there is prayer and hard work. Let’s diligently pray Luke 10.2, asking God to raise up and send out laborers into this white harvest. And let’s work to dispel apathy, dampen angst and diffuse anger.

I plan to share more about each of these in upcoming Muslim Connects.
A hearty thank you to those who’ve sent gifts recently to keep Muslim Connect going and growing. I’m deeply grateful to you. I’ll soon stop asking, but if you were thinking about sending a gift, now would be a great time. Click here and choose me from the staff drop down. Thank you.

(For the slightly less nerdy, check out the Key Findings, an abridgment of the full report.)

As you may have guessed, I read the whole thing! (But to be fair, there were several pictures, graphs and what not!) Three issues seemed particularly worth sharing with you.

1. Younger Imams
   Although not exactly a Muslim version of a pastor, imams usually oversee the spiritual life of a mosque. The report says the average age of an imam in the US is 48, compared to the average age of a Christian pastor at 54. Perhaps more telling, nearly 40% of imams are 40 or younger, compared to 15% of Christian pastors! This younger age might contribute to the reality that though mosques are also losing Millennials and Generation Z, they’re doing so at a slower rate than churches.
2. More Mosques in the Suburbs
   This is good news for the many of us who don’t live in the inner city: Muslims are moving into our suburban neighborhoods. Seems many are following the well worn pattern of immigrating to the U.S., landing in the city, making some money then moving out for the sake of kids, costs and crime.
3. Increasing Resistance to New Mosques
   However, trouble often awaits when they relocate. The report states, “. . .35% of mosques encountered significant resistance from their neighborhood or city when they tried to obtain permission to move, expand, or build.” I imagine this coming from areas with pretentious names like “The Preserve at Hawk Creek Garden” or “The Estates at Shadow Lake Pointe.”Even so I wonder if I’d take the trouble to attend a planning meeting and stand in favor of Muslims. I don’t know. Would you?