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A few years back God started bringing Muslim customers to my company. This opened the door for me to enter the Muslim community in a rather untraditional way. I found my new Muslim friends very warm and inviting. It wasn't long at all before I was being invited to the mosque, to join in Ramadan meals, and even to take pictures at their ground-breaking ceremony. I have been honored in many ways by their hospitality and their friendship. 

Some of the relationships grew to the point that our families began inviting each other over for dinner, picnics, boating, and even fishing outings. We would often talk together openly and honestly about our beliefs, of which there are many similarities and, of course, differences. But the differences have not been “deal-breakers.” In fact, in many ways, our differences have provided catalysts for deep discussions about scripture, syncretism, and culture. All the while, we have maintained respect for one another that has been formed by our friendship.

The invitation
Recently I felt that these relationships had so developed that we should form a small study group. The focus would be on the prophets. (Muslims believe that clear signs were given to the prophets and that by obeying these signs, one could stay on the “straight path” and perhaps enter Paradise one day.) I invited six Muslim friends and two Christians, but as it turned out, three Muslims, a Christian friend, and I made up our study group. 

In preparation of our first evening together, I tried to anticipate the various barriers that would surely surface. One potential barrier was the Muslim idea that the Bible has been corrupted and that Christians do not treat the Word of God as holy. The last thing I wanted to do was to show up with five different versions of the Bible. So I borrowed five Bibles of the same translation from my local church. I made sure that they were clean—no writing in them, and no torn pages. Next, I read through all the applicable verses concerning Adam (which Muslims regard as a prophet) and came up with what I thought would be the right questions to lead the group to the “correct” biblical conclusions. 

Originally we planned to meet at a neutral location, the local Starbucks. However, one of my Muslim friends thought that location would be too noisy and asked if we could meet at his “Masjid,” since he had the keys. I could have fallen off of my chair! A Bible study at the mosque? Thank you, Lord. 

That evening, as soon as I walked in the mosque, I sensed tension – like trouble was on the way. I opened in prayer and ended the prayer “in Jesus name.” One of the men asked since we were in their Masjid, if, out of respect, we could refrain from praying like that. They assured us if they were in our church, they would respect our ways. 

That could have gone better, I thought to myself. 

The “disaster”
The next step was to make sure everyone had a Quran and a Bible. I took out the five Bibles and started handing them out. One gentleman took one, but the two others would not hold a Bible. (I had forgotten about the superstition held by some Muslims about handling a “corrupt book.”) This led to the first friend handing his Bible back to me. Now my anxiety level was climbing.  What next? I wondered. 

We took turns reading about Adam from the Quran, and my Christian friend and I read the biblical account. As the facilitator of the study, I then start asking the questions that I had so diligently prepared. Surely the biblical lessons of the fall of man and God’s sacrificial act to cover their shame would be easy for my friends to comprehend. But any time I mentioned anything that was not mentioned in the Quranic version, my Muslim friends would not respond with the answer I thought they should.

Finally, one of the men explained that they would need a scholar to explain what these things meant, because they had not been taught on these issues. Unfortunately, I started to be a little insistent that we unpack the biblical verses, and they pretty much shut down after that. It is a good thing that we had become such good friends over the years; otherwise, that could have been the end of our study. 

I felt that this first night had been a disaster. And I had my doubts on meeting again.

The revelation
At home I shared the disaster with my wife. In her wisdom, she starts asking questions – helping me get to the root of the problem I was experiencing. She asked, “Did you go into this study with an agenda?”

“No,” I said. “Well, maybe. I mean, everyone agreed that I would facilitate things to keep the group on task! So, of course, I prepared for the study.” 

“So,” she asked, “who was in charge of the study?”

“Well, I was!”

“Who is supposed to be in charge?

(Oops!)

“Did you leave any room for the Holy Spirit to work through the men?” she asked.

(I think I hear the phone ringing! Need I say more?)

A week later we met again. Before we began, I asked to discuss what had happened the previous week. Surprisingly, my Muslim friends apologized for not engaging in a deeper discussion of God’s revealed Word. They tried to explain there are issues of misinterpretations about which they have to be careful, so they rely heavily on their scholars. After I apologized for getting irritated with them, we agreed that there will be many things about which we disagree. Instead of trying to get the other to see one’s point of view, we decided it would be best if God reveal to us His truth. I opened in prayer asking God to reveal to us in our dreams and visions or by His angels what His truth is on the matters about which we disagree. 

We went on with a great discussion about Noah. I didn’t have a single question prepared. I just allowed the discussion to flow on its own. One of the Muslim men made note of how descriptive were the dimensions of the ark that Noah was to build. When we got to the promise of the rainbow, another stated that from now on, when he sees a rainbow he will remember this night and thank God for His promise. Three hours later we ended with hugs and words of endearment. 

The next week I asked one of the Muslim men to open in prayer. He asked God to reveal His truth to us, stating he was not interested in the words of men, only the truth from his creator. 

At the beginning, I thought this study was going to be the way for my friends to discover and learn God’s redemptive plan of salvation. What I didn’t know was that I was going to be the learner. What I learned was to get myself out of the way and to bathe everything in prayer.

Names withheld for security purposes.