Question: Christian dating a Muslim..
I am a Christian. I made a mistake. A big one. I just graduated from college and moved in with my boyfriend, who follows the Islamic faith. At the time it happened, I was quite insecure with a hallowing faith. I thought I had the capacity to influence him. He has spent a lot of time with my family, who speak openly to him about God and the love God has for him. My mom bought him the new testament which he accepted graciously.
Last night, he read a text my dad sent me about his concerns with me dating a Muslim. Instantly, my boyfriend started going after my faith, questioning everything about the Bible, saying Jesus is not God, and the Bible is corrupt. He is draining me emotionally. He says I believe in what is wrong and God told him to tell me… My family told me I can move in with them – give me a chance to begin again, and go back to school (my job here is good, but not what I want to be doing forever), but uprooting is scary, and telling my boyfriend is even scarier. So, I guess I want to ask for advice and prayers if you think about me. I just joined this community and I am happy it exists – I have really underestimated the power of fellowship with other believers.
My response:
Ask yourself the following question “If he never converts to Christianity, would I be content and happy in a long-term relationship?” If the answer to this question is no, then it means you entered the relationship not based on who he was, but who you wanted him to be. If he also harbored the same hope of influencing you, then it means you two had the same idea and are now just clashing because you are experiencing the disappointments of your expectations through each other. Your fears are just blindfolds preventing you from being honest with yourself. In life we always have a choice, the only question is: how much discomfort are we willing to endure to follow our decision.
Keep it simple and boil it down to the question: “do I see a promising future?” If yes, continue onward. If no, then make a change. In the latter case, the only thing to do is muster strength and act. If we fear the unknown enough to abort our decision at the first sight of discomfort, it simply means two things: 1) we are not firmly grounded enough in our decision, and 2) we are willing to sacrifice our own future happiness for the sake of temporary convenience.
Experience is the best teacher. In this regard, I sincerely wish you well in whatever decision you make!
~Ikenna Q. Ezealah
Foundation for Ascent 