My Friend Sayid & The Street Screachers

There's a young man named Sayid who mans a table (with free Islamic literature) every once in a while in front of Varsity Stadium at the University of Toronto. Over the past few weeks I have stopped to talk to him on my way home from my Hebrew class. We have a good conversation, he gives me tracts (which I promise to read) and I write down Bible verses (which he promises to look up). Sayid is mild mannered, kind, and friendly.

Recently I saw Sayid, stopped and asked him how his Ramadan was going. He gave me a tract and we talked a little bit about the nature of Islamic history, especially in light of recent events around the world. The problem was that our conversation was interrupted by a few people who proceeded to attack both Sayid and myself verbally. Calling Sayid a lair for believing in Islam and me a "charlatan," for what I can only guess was having a civil conversation with a Muslim and not choosing to yell and harass him.

The saddest, and more specifically damaging, part was that these individuals pinpointed their statements by using Bible verses like a baseball bat. This not only sabotaged the fruitful conversation that was actually going on, but made my fellow Christians look mean, angry, and unloving.

I have never known a Muslim to fall on their knees and confess Jesus as Lord because someone yelled Romans 10:9 at them and called them a liar. That's not exactly what Jesus was talking about when He told us to preach the good news. Muslims are told in their literature to talk to Christians, Christians are called to preach the gospel to Muslims. But somehow, many forget the second half of Peter's high apologetic calling in 1 Pet. 3:15-16:

"But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander."