Muslim reading Matthew

A testimony from a team from the States, working with Megacities in London:

"As we were reading the Bible out loud on a park bench in Victoria Park [London], a young Pakistani man passed by and asked if we had a lighter. “No,” we said. He walked away, but then he turned around and came back and said, “Uh, actually I’m kind of bored, would it bother you if I sat here?” “No, not at all!” we said, “But would it bother you if we read the Bible out loud?” He said no, so we continued to read our chapter of Deuteronomy, and then, realizing we had remembered to pack a few New Testaments in our backpack, offered him one, wanting to include him in our reading, and switched to the gospel of Matthew. After only a few chapters of reading, he had many questions concerning the laws of the Bible, and about how those laws apply to us in our generation and specific culture--he asked our personal opinions about what he would call “sin." We discussed laws regarding marriage/ relationships, alcohol, tobacco, many things that can be controversial within a Muslim or Christian culture. He asked us specifically how we live our lives concerning these issues, which gave us an opportunity to share how we believe that God has created a “best” scenario for each person’s life and that abuse of any of these things would not be living up to the standard of God’s best for us. Then we discussed the consequences of sin for both Muslims and Christians. We asked him about what punishment is waiting for Muslims if they sin, to which he replied with a few stories, basically describing Allah’s responses to good deeds versus rebellion, concluding that a Muslim person is never really assured of any sort of salvation, always living in fear, and left guessing and hoping that Allah is pleased with their prayers, deeds, etc. We were thrilled to share with him that because of Jesus and His once and for all sacrifice for every sin, past and future, we never have to live in fear, being completely assured of our salvation and His affection. This led to a discussion about more similarities and differences between Allah and the God we know and love and live for. When we were describing the grace and sacrifice of Jesus further, he then asked us, “so what’s the point of doing good, can’t you just do whatever you want if you know He will always forgive you?” We were delighted to answer this question. “We don’t do good things so God will love us, God loves us and so we want do good things.” What a beautiful opportunity to express the love of Jesus and the relationship we have with Him. When the man had to leave, we told him to keep the New Testament (he was pleasantly shocked to receive a free gift knowing that it was a significant book) and we exchanged contact information, promising to discuss any question he would have about the Bible and its contents. Since that day, he has told us that he plans to read it through completely. Praise God for an open mind and a seeking heart!!"