Today there is a really interesting story being broadcast by Michigan Radio NPR about a Muslim and Christian student rooming together at Calvin College.
And the subhead they put on the story really struck me:
"Meet two of the state's most unlikely college roommates."
Of course, they're right. This is very unusual situation. Yet, in reading the story, it seems like God is working in very interesting ways in the lives of these two students and others.
Should this situation be 'unusual'? After all, it's a Christian college. Or should we encourage more of it? How do we approach interfaith relationships whether they be on a Christian college campus or elsewhere?
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A couple of posters on Facebook think this is a problem. I responded with the following post:
"A Muslim young lady being exposed to loving Christians and thru them the love of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, where is the problem? Should we pull our missionaries out of Bangladesh be cause there are Muslims living there? If they are willing to come to us for a quality education why would we want to stop that? We should be thanking God for the opportunity and ask that the Holy Spirit work in this young lady's life and show her that Jesus is more that just a prophet."
We have been commanded to go into all the world to spread the good news. But if God brings them to us what are we supposed to do, ignore them, prevent them from attending "our" colleges? That doesn't seem to follow the spirit of the Great Commission.
My thoughts exactly, David. I have heard so many storeis over the years of missionaries and relief workers in Muslim contexts, who after many years of friendship have seen Muslims come to Christ.
My service at Lithuania Christian College (now LCC International University) was challenging in many ways. I had been schooled in the concept that a Christian college was one where faculty staff AND STUDENTS were united by a common commitment to Jesus Christ. There I found a school with perhaps 20% committed Christians (and 20% committed atheists). The concept there was and is that the faculty and staff make the college Christian and provide an invitational, not a coercive, environment so that students can consider the claims of Christ as they see the faith lived out. This is a different concept, but also a powerful one.
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