Extending the Invitation: Participating in God's Gracious Call to Muslims

How do we extend the invitation to Muslims?

We Christians love to eat together. In our Baptist church we often joke about spending more time in the kitchen than the sanctuary. But in the world of the Middle East eating together takes on even more significance. Eating together is a sign of belonging. When you are invited to the table you are no longer a stranger, an outsider, you are one of us - you are family.

This is why the religious leaders were so scandalized when Jesus ate with 'sinners' and tax collectors. This wasn't just a meal. By eating with them he was identifying himself with them, saying, "These are my people." There is no greater privilege than to be invited to the table in the household of God. Once we were all aliens, transients, orphans, now we have a place, a home, and a new identity - a seat at the table.

This is a book about sharing our Christian faith. It is about inviting others to the banquet. My wife and I spent almost three years in a Muslim country. But, though the thoughts and meditations here are shaped by that experience, they apply equally to life in our present diverse Toronto neighbourhood. How do we extend the invitation into a different culture, whether in a far off land, or in our own apartment building? In particular, how do we extend the invitation to Muslims?

This book will encourage you to risk the kind of authentic friendship with strangers that makes the Good News attractive and the astonishing invitation to the King's banquet table more believable.