Here is another post in my Conversation Ideas series.
Do you like cleaning your house? When you lived in your country did you clean your house or did you have a maid that cleaned? Does it take more time here or in your country to clean your house? Do your children clean their bedrooms themselves?
What is the garbage disposal system like in your country? Are there garbage trucks that come around weekly? Is there a system in place for recycling? Are the streets clean or do you see garbage lying around? Are there garbage bins all over to put your garbage in?
There is a saying that says, “Cleanliness is next to godliness.” Do you know what godliness is? It’s about being clean on the inside. In Islam does outward cleanliness mean that a person is religious – or a good Muslim? Why do Muslims wash a lot of their bodies before praying?(She may talk about ‘ghusl’ which is mandatory ritualistic cleansing after sex and menses and childbirth which is similar in the law of Moses in the Old Testament. Muslims put heavy emphasis on being ceremonially/outwardly clean or acceptable before Allah ). How do you think you will become clean on the inside? What do you think makes a person dirty inside? (explain the word ‘goo-nah’ or sin)
(Use the illustration of a drop of urine in a cup.) Would you drink a cup of tea if it had a single drop of urine in it? Even though it is just a drop and you can’t see it, the tea is considered totally unclean. Nothing you do can make that tea clean. No boiling, sterilizing or straining. It is still there. That’s like ‘goo-nah’ or sin. Even though we might think we are very clean outwardly and inwardly, one little lie makes us unclean before God. Isa Al Masih (Jesus Christ) once told the religious leaders, like the imam, that they thought more about cleaning the outside of a cup than the inside of the cup. What he meant was that they wanted to give the appearance that they were clean – or religious/godly – but inwardly they were full of jealousy, lying, cheating, etc. (This is a big topic and one of the most foundational to cover. A Muslim won’t be able to understand the cross until sin is understood. It’s probably best to share a little to begin with and then at another time say more. It would be good if you could read Genesis 3(the first ‘goo-nah’/sin) together at some time when she will be ready to do so.)
