Hey, want a job? Someone needs to write a biography of Dudley Woodberry! Are you the one?! That guy’s life has been amazing!
In case his name doesn’t ring a bell, Dr. Woodberry has loved Jesus and Muslims with more passion, variety and intellect than maybe any other American in the last two centuries. Here’s a super quick overview:
• Born in China in 1934 to missionary parents.
• Held as a prisoner of war by the Japanese army while a child!
• Studied at Union College in New York, Fuller Theological Seminary, the American University of Beirut, and Harvard University.
• Has lived in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and exotic Grand Rapids. (And probably visited the rest of the places!)
• Has written and taught extensively and now at 90 years old is mentoring students in his role as Dean Emeritus and Senior Professor of Islamic Studies at Fuller Seminary!
Through all of this, Dr. Woodberry has projected a kind and peaceful demeanor, quick to listen, slow to speak, relying on and winsomely sharing Jesus.
One of my favorite things he has written was an article for Christianity Today about why Muslims follow Jesus. He said the top five reasons are:
- the lifestyle of Christians
- the power of God in answered prayers and healing, [including] deliverance from demonic power
- dissatisfaction with the type of Islam they had experienced
- spiritual truth in the Bible
- the Bible’s teaching about the love of God
You and I would do well to emulate Dr. Woodberry as we interact with Muslims. Of his list of five, number one is up to each of us; number two just might be mediated through us; three is increasingly the situation in many places today; and four and five can be shared by us. Are you in?