Samuel Zwemer and 9/11

I know, nothing can excuse the horrific events of 9/11/2001.

And yet I have to wonder, what if Christians had not neglected the Muslim world for centuries? What if, instead of the Crusades, we had engaged them more consistently with respect and love?  

Samuel Zwemer is an example of the latter approach, but he was the first visible one to do so since the 13^th century. Back in that time, Raymond Llull, who– although not exemplary in his attitude towards Jews– tried to dissuade the Pope from attempting to use military force to convert Muslims to Christianity.

Zwemer’s life spanned three careers—as a missionary on the Arabian peninsula, as a mission leader in Cairo, and as a professor at Princeton university and publisher of what was then a prestigious journal, Moslem World.

Zwemer and a friend named James Cantine formed the American Arabian Mission during the latter part of the 19^th century. Zwemer and his first wife, Amy, endured incredible hardships on the Arabian peninsula. Their two daughters (ages 4 and 7) died within only eight days of each other in Bahrain. The words written on their tombstones sum up the Zwemers' lives and ministry:  “Worthy is the Lamb to receive riches.”

Ruth Tucker (From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: a Biographical History of Christian Missions) relates how Zwemer, as a single missionary volunteer, visited nearly every church in his denomination west of Ohio to raise support on behalf of Cantine, while Cantine did the same for Zwemer in the churches east of Ohio! (Is that a possible model for mission workers today? Some workers are certainly more adept at raising support—could they offer to do it on behalf of their colleagues?)

Samuel Zwemer

Zwemer was full of energy, never able to stay in bed for more than half an hour at a time! Even though he probably never saw more than a dozen Muslims turn to the Lord in his whole lifetime, his greatest achievement was awakening the church to the needs of the Islamic peoples.  

He is truly and rightly labeled ‘the Apostle to Islam.’  

I think we need more Christians like Samuel Zwemer. And then I don’t know, but I suspect that if that had been the case in preceding centuries, there might be less Muslims like Osama bin Laden?

What do you think?

By the way, check out the Institute of Muslim Studies named after this missionary statesman– it's one of the best!

Is Prayer Work?

I’ve often heard it said—and today I read it again—that we shouldn’t pray for the work of the Gospel, because prayer is the work. That sort of statement has never convinced me, because no matter how much I pray, my work won’t get done on its own. When I stop praying, it’s still there. (I’ve mentioned this in a previous post, but it’s still bugging me.) And my neighbors, Muslim or otherwise, still don't know Christ, even though  I pray for them diligently.

What is prayer, anyway?  Is it primarily worshiping God? Or making intercession for others? Or confessing our sins and asking for forgiveness? How about expressing our wishes and wants to the Father?  Maybe some portion of all of those things. The guidelines for prayer that Jesus gave us (commonly called ‘the Lord’s Prayer’) contain adoration, but also lead us to pray that His Kingdom come to the ends of the earth. And they also demand that we seek for forgiveness from God, and give it to those who have wronged us.

Should we pray for non-Christians to be saved? It has been pointed out that Jesus said (John 17:9), “I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.’ But perhaps Jesus did not mean that as prescriptive as much as He wanted to emphasize the fact that a unified, caring church is the greatest attraction to the Good News.

In the end I’m faced with the fact that:

a)      I need to pray for Muslims, and usually I need to pray a long time before there will be results. Sure, significant numbers of Muslims are coming to Christ, for example in Iran.. No one knows how many house churches have been formed there in the last decade, but the number probably lies in the thousands; even the central government has taken notice. But I distinctly remember my parents praying for, and engaging with Iranian college students and military cadets in the 1950s and 1960s. That says to me that the foundation for today’s harvest goes back to decades of labor by many consistent people of prayer.

b)      I need to pray for every aspect of the work, and often, that really means, well, work. I mean, it takes energy to concentrate on intercession. It means reading about what it going on, as well as what it not going on (that should be) in our world today. And it means starting with worship—meditating on Scripture and realizing what God plans to do in our world. This morning I got to Psalm 9 in my daily reading:

The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;

    in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught.

 The Lord has made himself known; he has executed judgment;

    the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands.

The wicked shall return to Sheol,

    all the nations that forget God.

For the needy shall not always be forgotten,

    and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever. (v. 15-18).

‘Yeah, right,’ is what I expect some people will say—I know, because I’ve thought that myself. How often does it really happen that evil people, governments, etc., get put down, so that God’s Word can go forward?  Perhaps more often than we realize. In any case, I believe that these words are meant to be prophetic.  What is happening only sporadically right now might one day become a tremendous movement (and in some places, it is already a movement).

c)       My work does tend to go better and even at times, more smoothly, when I take time for extended prayer.  Not that 'smooth' is a goal--'rough' days may be just as much a sign of God's enabling as the time when one seems to be making good progress, but I think maybe that time spent with the Lord does help us with our priorities, and even energize our bodies and minds.

So maybe Luther was right after all. I have so much to do, I need to spend more time in prayer.

US Director