Making Christian/Muslim Relations Work

For the th anniversary of theSept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, CRC News has prepared a series of stories about how the Christian Reformed Church and its members have responded – and what we have learned – in the last 10 years.

A church in Dearborn, Mich., recently baptized a young Muslim who, despite serious threats and conflicts with family, had decided to become a Christian.

This was unusual, since there are many barriers Muslims must face and cross if they want to embrace Christianity. But the church stood by the convert, who persevered and received the sacrament.

It is possible that the baptism might not have occurred in some other communities, since Dearborn is unusual in its degree of awareness and acceptance of issues surrounding Christian/Muslim relations.

Located near Detroit, Dearborn is home to some 40,000 people whose origins are in the Middle East, many of whom, especially in recent years, are Muslim. The Detroit area itself has one of the largest Muslim populations in the United States.

As a result of its large Muslim population and many mosques, Dearborn has been the site of many protests and problems sinceSept. 11, 2001, which frequently have thrust it into the national spotlight.

In the past decade, groups have come to Dearborn to protest against Muslims over various issues, to threaten to do harm to mosques or to disrupt Muslim/Arab celebrations.

But the difficulties have not come from within the community.

Rev. Daniel Jongsma

"My observation is that the conflicts, controversies, or threats experienced here in Dearborn have almost exclusively come from those outside our community.  Groups or spokespersons coming in from California, Florida, etc.," said Rev. Daniel Jongsma, pastor of a Christian Reformed Church in Dearborn.

One of the recent confrontations came when Terry Jones, a pastor from Florida, arrived in Dearborn to burn a Qur'an outside one of the largest mosques in the U.S. His presence caused outbursts of anger, but he left Dearborn without burning a Qur'ran.

In the summer of 2009, three Christians from the group Acts 17 Apologetics were asked to leave Dearborn's Arab International Festival as they attempted to share their faith — some contend too confrontationally. They returned in 2010 and were arrested by police.

Also in 2010, a controversial Kansas church group decided to hold an anti-Muslim demonstration at Dearborn's Islamic Center of America, the largest mosque in the U.S. They carried signs that said, "Imams are pedophiles," and "God hates Muslims."

Despite these intrusions, many pastors say that Dearborn remains a model of how Christians and Muslims can live side by side, despite tensions.

"(Both Christians and Muslims) realize that we have to learn to live and work together even though we may hold very different religious views," said Jongsma.  "Most Christians that I know around here are all about loving the Muslim to Christ, not about pointing fingers, placing blame, or making threats."  

Jongsma's church, Dearborn Fellowship, has worked with area Muslims over the years. Church families have walked alongside Arab families as they have passed through the confusing maze of U.S. Immigration.

Many denominations work in Dearborn and use a variety of methods for presenting the good news of Jesus Christ.

Pastor Brett Abdullah, an Assemblies of God preacher whose church is in a former flower shop on Michigan Avenue in the heart of the Muslim quarter, works hard to bring the message of Jesus to Muslims. He does this realizing that many Christian groups have worked in the community over the years with limited success.

It is very hard to break through and share the love of Christ with Muslims in Dearborn, Abdullah says. He has lived in the community all of his life and is aware of only a handful of converts.

Part of the problem, he says, comes from the different approaches and diverse messages that Christians sometimes bring. When Muslims see conflict between the churches it confuses them and pushes them away.

His church members, Abdullah says, hope and pray that their Muslim neighbors will be able to see and experience “the signs and wonders of God's grace delivered to people through the death of Christ on the cross.”

Hard as it is, he is happy to be in the center of the Muslim community. He has led prayer walks through the neighborhoods, stopping to pray in front of mosques. He says Christians should work together, not oppose one another, in bringing the gospel to Muslims.

Steve Cherry, director of Anchor Ministries, a non-denominational outreach to Muslims, said he recently sat in a coffee shop to have a lengthy discussion with a young man from Saudi Arabia who is a student at a nearby university and was taking a comparative religions class on Islam and Christianity.

Many years of living among Muslims and talking with them in a wide range of situations has taught Cherry to listen as much as talk, he said. But the conversation expanded and he had a chance to speak to the young man about what the Bible says about Jesus.

He spoke of Christ coming down as God in the form of man and dying on the cross for our sins and then rising again from death. He spoke of grace and forgiveness and of Christ being a fortress in whom we can find safety, salvation and comfort.

The young Saudi listened carefully, he said.

"Relations between Christians and Muslims vary," said Cherry. "But overall, I’d say there is no open conflict or hostility between us here in Dearborn."