Lines and Circles

“How can the president of Afghanistan have a Christian wife?” Salek asked.

Frontiers worker Jeremiah took a spoonful of rice from a large plate he was sharing with his employees. They sat huddled around the lunch plate in the middle of the workshop, surrounded by low-cost water purifiers in various stages of assembly.

Jeremiah knew that Afghanistan’s president was married to a woman from a Lebanese Christian family. But his employee’s question wasn’t defensive or condemning. Salek was simply curious to know what Jeremiah’s religion says about such marriages—and if they are even allowed.

Living in the Muslim world, Jeremiah had seen that Islam is about thick lines and prescribed rules for many men and women. He saw how his Muslim friends tried to stay inside the lines and follow the rules down to the letter. They hoped that all their efforts would be good enough to allow them into heaven.

And Salek wanted to know if the rules worked the same way in Christianity.

For many Muslims, Islam is about thick lines and prescribed rules.

But Jeremiah didn’t want a debate over which religion has better rules. In those types of conversations, no one wins.

Instead, he started drawing circles on a piece of paper.

“Let me tell you what God is interested in,” Jeremiah said to his employees. “We are in this circle out here, apart from God. He wants us to be moving toward Him. We can be really close to God, right next to His circle. But if our hearts aren’t right, then we are moving away from Him. He wants us to be moving in His direction.”

The men considered this. One of them, Rasul, had never shown any interest in spiritual things and had refused to talk about God. But now, he was visibly moved.

“Yes,” Rasul said. “This is right. This is how God wants us to be.”

Instead of turning into a contest to see whose religion has the superior rules, the conversation focused on how their hearts can be closer to God. And the way to be closer to God is through Jesus Christ.

In debates about which religion has the better rules, no one wins.

These tender conversations are opening opportunities for Jeremiah to share from the Word.

“I’m grateful to see some of the men letting their spiritual walls down,” Jeremiah says. “They’re engaging with questions about Jesus that they weren’t willing to ask before.”

• Pray for Salek, Rasul, and the other employees to have minds and hearts open to the Gospel.
• Pray they discover the emptiness of following rules—and the joy of following Christ.