Send Me Anywhere but There

Have you ever tried to run from God? If you pray, "Here am I, send me," you can't add a disclaimer that says, "But let me see my own itinerary." What if God sends you across the street to help a hard-to-get-along-with neighbor? What if he asks you to cross a cultural barrier and befriend someone from a different ethnic group?

The lyrics of an old hymn say, "I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord, o'er mountain or plain or sea." But sometimes we act more like Jonah, who headed in the opposite direction when God told him to go to Nineveh. Jonah's reluctance isn't hard to understand. After all, the city where God wanted him to preach was the well-fortified capital of Israel's archenemy, Assyria. Nineveh represented an affront to Jonah's patriotism, a threat to his safety, an offense to his faith. He wanted to go anywhere but there.

But after God gave him three days and nights in an underwater prayer closet to think things over, Jonah finally obeyed—and amazingly, the Ninevites believed God and repented. Even then, instead of rejoicing, the prejudiced prophet sulked in anger because God had spared the Ninevites. The book of Jonah closes with God's reminder, "Should I not be concerned about that great city?"

Before judging Jonah too harshly, we should ask ourselves whether we would have wanted to go to Nineveh. Do you realize where it was located? In modern Iraq—north of Baghdad in today's city of Mosul. Current tensions between Americans and Iraqis help us understand how the Israelites felt about the Assyrians. Instinctively we say, "Lord, send me anywhere but there." Even in our own country, when faced with the daunting task of evangelizing Muslims, many Christians seem to say, "Lord, send me to anyone but them."

But we can't ignore the world's one billion Muslims—including 5.4 million in North America. In England, soon more adults will practice Islam than attend the Anglican church. Thirty percent of the international students studying in the United States are Muslims. By some estimates, Muslims will outnumber Presbyterians in our country by the year 2000 and will outnumber American Jews by 2005. In the inner cities, which Christian churches often have neglected, Muslim influence large numbers of youth through aggressive antiabortion programs and strong teaching on Islam.

Christians not only need to become better informed about Islam. We also need to pray for and reach out in love to Muslims who live near us, and find ways to support courageous Christians who serve Christ in Islamic nations.

John Murphy is a missionary living among Muslims in Ukraine. In a recent letter, John told how the Christians there sponsored an outreach event they called a Tatar Festival, which included ethnic music, a cooking competition, and a wrestling contest for men. First prize for the wrestling contest was a sheep. John himself participated in the contest and won the preliminary rounds. As he squared off against a Muslim fellow for the final match, his opponent told him, "John, I'm very hungry."

This was quite a dilemma for a missionary! Onlookers wouldn't respect John if he deliberately "threw" the match; yet his heart went out to his hungry opponent. John decided to tell him, "Well, I'll be sure to give you some!" Then he proceeded to win the wrestling match—and immediately gave the sheep to the fellow he had beaten!

John wrote, "Since we bought the sheep for the festival, and then won the sheep back, giving it away again in the name of Christ was quite a witness to the people here."

People need the gift of Christ's love. Even them. Even there. Even from us.