Imagine the year is 2001.
A young man has been living his life in New York City and has been taught by his parents the importance of faith and he have been growing in devotion. He is recognized by his peers because of his faith but it has never bothered him to stand out among the others in his friend groups especially now that he is in college. He is graduating early with honors and applying for jobs to start in January. He has interviews lined up with many good companies including one with American Airlines.
One day on the way to class news shakes the world, 9/11 happened. And all of a sudden this young man is starting to feel rejected by his peers and those that don’t cancel his interview don’t lead to a job. He is beginning to wonder if he is welcome or cared for by anyone, including his friends that call themselves Christians. Up until now he thought they were close but now he feels like an enemy.
This young man is a second generation immigrant from Saudi Arabia and has grown up Islamic. He wears a turban like his father does and he loves God, who he calls Allah, as he thought he was supposed to as educated by his family.
Years later this young man has been through great struggle with countless Christians and Americans because of how he dresses and his faith, although he is an American citizen he is treated like he is an enemy, a traitor in his own home town. One day he runs into a woman who doesn’t seem to fit in at an Arabic community event. Trying to find out who she is, he learns that she is a Christian. Through conversation this woman teaches this man the gospel and for the first time in his life he sees that the God he has been worshipping is not the same as the God of the Bible. He comes to faith in Jesus and begins to tell others about the truth of Jesus.
This story, although fabricated, could very well be the story of numerous people in the last few decades. Unfortunately so often the cultural gap is not closed and the gospel is never shared to people who have a different culture in our backyards.
In John 4 Jesus went to Samaria and taught the gospel to his enemies, the Samaritans and showed to his disciples that no one is his enemy, that everyone is welcome to believe in him.
Are there people in your life that you have not been willing to share the gospel with?
If Jesus was here today he would walk up to them and share what he has for them. He would tell them that if they receive him, if they believe in him, they will have eternal life.
Will you commit to praying for your “enemies” that you know personally and add them to your prayer list? Will you share the gospel to them if and when God opens the door?
