At the same time, Botros also tells Muslims the truth about just how costly it can be in human terms to convert to Christianity, even though that is precisely what he wants them to do. “Another thing [you need to know] is the punishment for apostasy,” he said. “[The Encyclopedia of Islam says that] ‘the punishment of killing any Muslim who abandons Islam is one of the most important factors terrifying all Muslim. He does not dare question the truth of Islam, so that his thoughts will not lead him to abandon Islam. In such a case, he would receive the punishment for apostasy: He would lose his life, and his property.’”
Botros said this reminded him of a true story he once heard about a Muslim cleric trying to spread Islam throughout Africa. “They reached a certain place in order to spread Islam, and they asked one of the locals, ‘Do you prefer to worship one god and have four wives, or to worship three gods and have one wife?’ We, of course, don’t worship three gods, but that’s what they said. The African said, ‘I like four women, and I don’t care which god. I want four women.’
“So they told him to say the shahada [the prayer to become a Muslim], and he did. Then they told him he had to be circumcised in order to become a Muslim. He asked, ‘Do I really have to? I am a grown man.’ They answered, ‘Yes, you have to, in order to get the monthly stipend, and you can marry four wives.’
“The man agreed and underwent the pains of circumcision despite his advanced age. They began to pay him the monthly stipend, but after a few months they canceled the stipend. The man went and asked, ‘Where’s the money?’
“They told him, ‘Now [that] you are deep in Islam, you don’t need the monthly stipend anymore.’
“He threatened, ‘I will abandon Islam.’
“They said, ‘If you leave Islam, we will carry out the apostasy punishment on you.’ He asked what it was, and they said, ‘We will chop off your head and cut you into pieces.’
“This African man began to mumble, ‘What a strange religion: when you go in they cut off a little piece of you, and when you go out, they cut you into little pieces.’”
Botros concluded, “This is the punishment for apostasy that keeps people afraid. Even when they reach the truth, they’re afraid to express their opinion.”
Is It Effective?
I asked Botros whether it was really effective to be so “in your face” with Muslims. “Some people believe the best evangelism with Muslims is to preach the love of Christ alone, not to deconstruct Islam,” I noted. “But you have said that you like to use provocative ideas and language to shock Muslims into thinking about Jesus. You once said, ‘This is my way: short, sharp, shock.’ Isn’t that right?”
“Yes,” he laughed, grateful for the question, not defensive. “Short, sharp, shock—absolutely.”
“So why do you do that?” I asked. “Is that really the best way to show the love of Christ?”
“I will tell you, Joel,” Botros said with the tone of a kindly old grandfather sitting his grandson down to explain to him how the world works. “If you are speaking to a person who is deep in thought, and you say to him so sweetly, ‘Oh, I love you, my friend. You are wonderful. I really appreciate you,’ does he hear you? No. He cannot hear you because he is so focused on his own thoughts. So how do you get his attention? Throw some water in his face? Hit him in the face? That would wake him up, right? Then maybe he gets mad. Maybe he insults you. ‘What are you doing?’ he says. ‘Why did you throw water in my face?’ But now he is paying attention.
“Now, if you go up to a Muslim and say, ‘God loves you,’ will he really hear you? No. He will say, ‘Which of your three gods loves me?’ If you say to a Muslim, ‘The Bible has all the answers for life,’ will he believe you? No. He will say, ‘Oh, you mean the Bible that was changed and can no longer be trusted?’ They do not listen. They are so focused on believing that Islam is the strongest religion in the world, that Muhammad is the best prophet, they are so focused on how wonderful their own beliefs are that they refuse to even consider the claims of Christ. They are brainwashed. Their conscience is dead. So I have to awaken them first by a shock—by an electric shock. I try to wake Muslims up by throwing some water in their face. I’m not doing it to be mean. I’m doing it because I love them.”
“Do Muslim scholars and clerics ever call in or write in to answer you?” I asked.
“No one in five years has really answered my questions,” he said.
“I’m guessing that is what makes Muslims so mad at you,” I noted.
Botros laughed. “It causes people to want to kill me.”
“I Want Them to Read the Bible”
“How, then, do you pivot from making provocative statements to sharing the love of Christ with Muslims?” I asked.
“Once I have their attention, I say to them, ‘I read to you from your books about Muhammad and what he had done. If you are searching for the truth—if you are really searching—then compare between Muhammad and Jesus. See what Jesus said about purity and love. But you have to read the Bible to know more. And say to God, ‘If Islam is the truth, let me stand firm in it until eternity. If it is not, and if Jesus is the Truth, please let me know.’”
“You are trying to provoke them into reading the Bible to prove you are wrong?” I clarified.
“Yes,” Botros said. “I want them to read the Bible, which is the true Word of God. I want them to study the Bible for themselves, because I know it will open their eyes to who Jesus is and how He can change their lives forever.”
He was making a point I have heard from Revivalists all over the world, from Morocco to Afghanistan: A Christian cannot in and of himself convince a Muslim (or a Jew, or an atheist, or anyone for that matter) of the truth of the gospel and thus “convert” or change him. Only God Himself can do that, through the power of the Holy Spirit. The best that a follower of Jesus can do is to encourage a person to read the Bible and consider the life and claims of Jesus Christ and then encourage him or her to ask God for wisdom to know what the truth is and how to follow it.
This is, in fact, precisely what the Bible tells us to do. Psalm 119 tells us that God’s Word “is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” that will “make me wiser than my enemies” and give a person who studies it carefully “more insight than all my teachers.”
The Gospel of John, chapter one, tells us that “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John goes on to make it clear that the Word of God “became flesh” in the form of Jesus Christ “and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Paul told us in 2 Timothy 3:15-17 that the Scriptures “are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” and that “all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
Hebrews 4:12 says that “the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
And James 1:5 tells us that “if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
Ten Demands
Given his provocative style and powerful success, I asked Botros if he was worried for his safety. He is, after all, married and has four grown children and nine grandchildren.
“I have many guards who care for me day and night,” he replied. “They are with me without ceasing—twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. And they don’t take from me any penny.” Botros was speaking of angels. While he is careful not to take unnecessary risks, he has entrusted his fate to the Lord.
Once, during an interview in Arabic, Botros was asked, “What should the Muslims do to make you stop saying these things?”606
/> Botros thought about it for a moment, and then said he had “ten demands” for Muslim clerics and authorities. If they would agree to all ten and truly implement them, then he would stop preaching the gospel and refuting the Qur’an. During our conversation, I asked Botros to recount his top-ten list in English. He graciously agreed.
1. Strike out all of the Qur’anic verses that deny the divinity of Jesus and the revelation of God in Him.
2. Acknowledge that Jesus is the Spirit and Word of God, as they truly believe, without hiding this fact.
3. Strike out the Qur’anic verses and hadiths that incite Muslims to kill Christians.
4. Strike out the Qur’anic verses and hadiths that incite Muslims to terrorism and oppression.
5. Delete all the Qur’anic verses that traduce the truth of Christ’s crucifixion, creating doubt about God’s plan of salvation.
6. Stop the attacks on Jesus and the Holy Book in mosques and in all the media.
7. Give Muslims the freedom to choose their religion and the freedom to express their belief.
8. Abolish the punishment for apostasy, which is death; stop torturing people who convert to Christianity; and stop imprisoning them.
9. Make formal apologies by leaders throughout the Arab world for the murder of Christians in countries invaded by Islam.
10. Make formal apologies by leaders throughout the Arab world for the insults directed against the Christian faith throughout Islamic history.
Needless to say, there’s no need to hold your breath waiting for Muslim authorities to comply with these demands. I suspect Father Zakaria Botros will be preaching the gospel nonstop until the Lord Jesus Himself decides to take him home, or until the Rapture.
The Billy Graham of Iran
While “Father Zakaria” is by far the most watched and best known evangelist to the Muslim world at large on the air today, he is by no means the only one.
I consider my friend Hormoz Shariat to be the Billy Graham of Iran. He is without question the most recognizable and most influential Iranian evangelist in the world. Every night in prime time, Shariat broadcasts by satellite a live program in which he shares the gospel in his native Farsi, teaches in-depth Bible studies, and takes phone calls from Muslims who have sincere questions or simply want to attack him on the air. And given that he is hosting a program unlike anything on Iranian state-run television, Shariat draws an enormous audience, an estimated 7 to 9 million Iranians every night.
The pastor of a fast-growing congregation of Iranian Muslim converts, Shariat also broadcasts his weekly worship service and teaching into Iran. Many secret believers in Iran are too scared to go to a church for fear the secret police might catch them. Many are also too scared to play Christian music in their homes or sing too loudly for fear their neighbors might hear them. For some of them, Shariat’s Sunday service is the only time of worship and fellowship they have. And for Muslims who are curious about Christianity but equally fearful of anyone knowing about their interest, such services give them a safe window into a world of ideas to which they feel increasingly drawn.
Several years ago, Shariat became interested in my novels and in Epicenter and invited me to visit his congregation and TV production facility in another secure, undisclosed location. I gratefully accepted his offer and am so glad I did.
For me, a Jewish believer in Jesus, it was incredibly moving to meet such a remarkable Iranian believer in Jesus, his family, and his staff. It was amazing to see how God is using them to reach the Iranian people they love so much with the life-changing message of the gospel.
Most remarkable to me is that Shariat did not grow up hoping to be an evangelist. In 1979, he and his wife were actually part of the Iranian Revolution. Along with millions of other Iranians, they were out on the streets of Tehran shouting, “Death to America! Death to Israel!” But once the shah fell and Khomeini came to power, Shariat decided he did not want death to come to America too quickly. Why? He wanted to go to graduate school here. Indeed, the desire proved to be a turning point that would change their lives forever.
In the early 1980s, the Shariats obtained the necessary visas and came to the U.S. to study. But they quickly grew homesick, lonely, and despondent. Their marriage was fraying. They were getting into fights. They were seriously contemplating a divorce.
Then Shariat’s wife was invited by an American friend to go with her to visit an evangelical church. For some reason, she said yes, and there she began hearing Bible verses like Jeremiah 31:3, where God says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” She heard John 10:10, in which Jesus said, “I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly”—that is, that life might be full and meaningful.
She also heard verses about God’s willingness to forgive all of her sins, verses like 1 John 1:7-9, which says, “If we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Something happened inside of her. She suddenly knew that Jesus was, in fact, the Messiah and the only way of salvation, and she prayed to receive Christ into her heart. Then she encouraged her husband to attend church with her. He did, and before long, he too had become a follower of Jesus, drawn in part by God’s love and in part by the notion that God would actually forgive him and give him the assurance of salvation, something he could not get from Islam.
The Shariats’ problems did not evaporate, but they did begin a true, deep relationship with the God who had rescued them and adopted them into His family. To their surprise, they also began falling more deeply in love with each other. They began experiencing joy and peace that welled up from within them. Their circumstances had not really changed—they were still far from home and struggling through school—but their lives had changed. Soon they felt that God was calling them to devote their lives to reaching all of Iran with the gospel, and today they are part of the greatest evangelical air war in the history of Christendom.
Shariat told me, “Joel, I’m often asked, ‘What does Christianity have to offer Muslims?’ I can only report from my own experience and from personally witnessing the effects on thousands of others that have come to Christ from Islam through our ministry. By far, the most expressed benefits are peace and joy—which are direct results of salvation. As Jesus says in John 14:27, ‘Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.’
“Muslims do not enjoy the assurance of salvation. I have heard the prayers of devout Muslims begging God to deliver them from torture in the grave and the fires of hell. Unlike Muslims, Christians have the assurance of salvation. After all, the Bible tells us that salvation is a free gift of God’s grace. It is not something we can earn. It is not something we can buy. It is something God gives us for free. All we have to do is accept it. Acts 16:31 says ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.’ Romans 6:23 says, ‘For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ 1 John 5:13 says, ‘These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life’ (emphasis added). Christians can really know beyond the shadow of a doubt that we are saved and going to heaven. Muslims cannot.
“When I accepted Christ as my Savior, Joel, my heart was filled with peace and joy. It was the most extraordinary thing. And now, one of the greatest rewards of my ministry is to hear Iranian Muslims tell me that they, too, are experiencing peace and joy because they have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and have come to understand His assurance of salvation.”607
An Explosion of Satellite Evangelism
While other media continue to work powerfully, today it is satellite television that has bec
ome the breakthrough strategy to advance the gospel in the Muslim world. And what is amazing to me is just how many people in the epicenter have satellite dishes, even if they own almost no other material possessions.
“Satellite television dishes are sprouting like mushrooms on rooftops in post–Saddam Hussein Baghdad,” one news report noted shortly after the Iraqi liberation in 2003. “The trade in TV gear is flourishing, and enterprising Iraqi entrepreneurs see bright prospects for this business. . . . People are buying satellite equipment for two reasons. The first one is that satellite television was illegal in Iraq under Saddam Hussein’s rule, and people now want to ‘taste a forbidden fruit.’ The other reason is that . . . people want access to news and entertainment of any kind.”608
In Iran, satellite TV is still technically illegal, but no one seems to care. Millions of dishes can be seen throughout big cities like Tehran as well as in small villages and mountain hamlets.
Over the last decade or so, I have had the privilege of traveling through countries with a combined population of over a quarter of a billion Muslims, and everywhere I have gone I have seen satellite dishes sprouting up like weeds. In Bedouin tents in the most barren and isolated sections of the Sinai desert. In the filthiest slums in Cairo. In the remotest mountain villages in Morocco. In the tiniest towns in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the poorest Palestinian neighborhoods of the West Bank. In teeming tenement buildings in Turkey. Friends from Iran and Saudi Arabia and Sudan and Yemen and Pakistan and elsewhere say dishes are ubiquitous there as well.
Why? Because Muslims in the twenty-first century—regardless of age or income—desperately want to be connected to the outside world. They want news and information that does not come from their state-run television networks. They want religious teaching that does not come solely from their state-run mosques. They are hungry for new ideas, different ideas.
Inside the Revolution Page 46