Golden Retriever Missiology

By Carl Medearis

Zoe is our 8 year old female Golden Retriever. She’s amazing. Smart. Obedient. Personal. And … everyone loves her. 

I’ll come back to my dog in a moment. 

I’ve noticed an interesting phenomenon among some missionaries to Muslims in my 30 years in that vineyard; a self-fulfilling prophecy. With variations, it goes like this: Muslim soil is hard. It takes years of building relationships before we can effectively share the good news. They are sometimes antagonistic to the gospel, and many Muslim majority countries do not like us and what we do. Church planting is difficult, dangerous and down-right daunting (the Three D’s of Muslim missions). 

I went to Yemen as a 20-year old with YWAM in 1983. I met a wonderful man—the head of a large mission who ran a hospital there. He and his wife were having their retirement party—returning to the USA after 22 years of faithful service. I was so excited to meet a real, live missionary to Arab Muslims. I burst out with the obvious (or so it seemed) question. With great anticipation and enthusiasm I asked, “So how many Muslims have come to Christ?”

They were so sweet. No guile. No pretense. While looking intently at his wife to be sure she agreed, the man answered, “Well, son. I think maybe two. Actually depends how you count … two or three.” And, as wives sometimes do with us over-exaggerating husbands, she gently chided him saying “Honey, I’d say one for sure and maybe two.” And they looked like they were okay with that. 

I tried to smile, but couldn’t. I didn’t know what to say, or even what to think. 

I had been told many times over—that Arab Muslims were “difficult” and not to expect too much fruit. And this seemed to confirm that: After 22 years, 1, 2 or maybe 3 Arab Muslims following Jesus. There you have it. 

I know the verses. The way is narrow. A camel going through the eye of a needle. The parable of the soil—only one in four seeds seem to make it. The odds are not in our favor. Few will be chosen. And it seems like Muslims are the fewest of the few. 

We have theology to back up our experience: this task is difficult.

Or …

My Golden Retriever. Which comes first—people all like my dog because she is inherently friendly; or, my dog is so friendly because everyone likes her. 

Do you see the difference? Zoe doesn’t believe in “strangers.” Everyone is her best friend. She never stops to think, “Hmmm, I wonder if that guy over there is a dog person?” She thinks everyone’s a “dog person.” She gets confused when someone doesn’t lean over and pet her while making silly human noises. 

And so … everyone does like her. They say things like “You have the nicest dog,” or “Are all Golden Retrievers this friendly?” 

Zoe loves people, and people love her. Which came first? I think it’s my dog’s assumption that every person in the world will love her—and then they do. This is also a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

And that’s my experience with Arab Muslims and Jesus. I’ve met tens of thousands over 30 years, in nearly every Arabic speaking nation. From Al Azhar in Cairo, the Imams of Saudi Arabia, to the Hezbollah of southern Lebanon to the Hamas of Palestine—Arabs respond positively to me—and to our message of Jesus the Messiah. In every instance. 100% of the time. Okay, once a guy got angry at me, so 99.9% of the time. 

Why is that? Because I assume they will like me, and more importantly, I assume they will want to hear the message of Jesus. And then … they do. 

For every verse that sounds like Jesus is hard to get to, I can show you five that are the opposite. They’re inviting. Open. Easy. Remember James’ end-point in Acts 15? “Let’s make it easy on the Gentiles to come in.” Maybe WE are the ones making it hard on Muslims to see and believe in and follow Jesus. 

The crowds loved Jesus. They followed him en masse. They wanted to make him king. Children came to him—and kids know who’s right on and who’s messed up. Kids only like adults who like them. 

When I assume someone wants to know me, and wants to hear what I have to say—they do. This is not positive thinking. It’s not a method. It’s “faith.” Jesus loves Muslims. I love what and who Jesus loves. So I love Muslims. And when I love them—they love me back. We form a bond of trust—they give me access to their heart, and I share with them the best news they’ll ever hear. 

It really is that simple!

Endnotes

1. Naja, Ben and Sy, Moussa 2011 And You Shall Be a Blessing: Encountering People of Other Cultures and Religions. VTR Publications. 
2. See “From the Qur‘an to the Bible” on page 24 for an explanation of “Persons of Peace.”
3. Freely associate with those who may be hoping to win you to Islam; these may be the most spiritually minded. But don’t let them distract you with unending theological controversies: “Let us not argue, but study what the Bible has to say, and live by the Word of God.”
   In such contexts the Qur‘an can be a powerful ally. According to the Qur‘an, “Isa al-Masih was a prophet that raised people from the dead, … did miracles, and … will come as the sign of the Day of Judgment.” (Daniels, Gene 2013 “Worshiping Jesus in the Mosque: What it’s like to follow Christ embedded in Muslim culture. An interview with a Muslim follower of Isa,” Jan/Feb 2013 issue of Christianity Today. ChristianityToday.com/ct/2013/january-february/insider-movement-islam-wheres-jesus.html).

Christians do not believe the Qur‘an is inspired, but as veteran Muslim missionary Don McCurry observes: “Qur‘an allusions, re-tellings, and erroneously quoted citations of biblical material could be used as stepping stones to walk the Muslim from where he or she is into the glorious light of God’s inspired Word.” (McCurry, Don 2012 Stepping Stones to Eternity: Jesus from the Qur‘an to the Bible. Ministries to Muslims)
4. A few Muslims may object that this greeting is “Muslim” property which non-Muslims should not use, but most Muslims will appreciate the greeting as an indication of your interest in friendship. If your greeting is met with a question, confusion or a negative response, you can explain, “I understand that As-salam alaykum means ‘Peace be upon you.’ This is the same greeting used in other languages in my Holy Book.” (i.e. Luke 24:36; John 20:19,21,26).
5. Mt 10:8, Lk 10:9
6. MissionFrontiers.org/issue/article/small-groups-that-have-the-dna-of-a-disciple-making-movement.
7. See simplythestory.org.
   Good resources include:
• book: Medaris, Carl 2008 Christians and Jesus. Bethany.
• book: Accad, Fouad 1997 Building Bridges. NavPress.
• 3-hour video series: Crescent Project’s Bridges CrescentProject.org/bridges,
• weekend seminar: Jesus And the Qur‘an. JAQ.org,
• 13-episode video-based Prophets Study to share with Muslim or other friends http://www.AlMassira.org and&#,8232;• semester-long course: Encountering the World of Islam EncounteringIslam.org.