I am posting this story with permission. Although Stephen and his family are serving the Lord in the Middle East, this took place in Albuquerque, New Mexico not too long ago during the week of a Bible conference, and I would like to share it. For safety reasons, I can only give you his first name.
…By Stephen…
…Along with the normal conference meetings, we had a special gathering on Thursday to discuss the sons of Ishmael from Scripture. On Friday, Pastor Reyes and I attended prayer time at the only mosque/Islamic center in New Mexico to learn firsthand about these who need the Lord. How convicting to watch the hundreds of men pouring in the mosque for prayer time and to see them greet each other with the traditional Arabic kisses!
After prayer, Pastor Reyes and I stood speaking with some men who, obviously, tried their best to convert us to their religion. As we spoke, the Imam joined the conversation and took over. As he used his version of human reasoning to get us to “think” ourselves into Islam, he made this statement… “My religion is my life. It means more to me than my wife and my family; It means more to me than all the money I could ever get; it is everything. I owe you to tell you the truth. I am compelled to share this with you.”
A young zealot walked us back to our car and graciously offered his help any time we needed. As we drove away, I pondered the Imam’s powerful statement, “I owe you…”
If only God’s people had the same urgency of the Apostle Paul in the matter of getting the Gospel to the world. Paul wrote to the church at Rome and said, “I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:14-17).
We owe the Gospel, the good news, to the world! We owe it to the Lamb Who was slain to share His message with “every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” (Revelation 5:9). We owe it to the world to make the glory of Christ known in every corner of the world! May God help us to be reminded that we, too, are debtors!