People ask me why I spend time reading the Koran. The answer is simple: you cannot love people you do not know, and you cannot know people without understanding what they believe.

The Koran is the sacred text of nearly two billion human beings — people whom God created, whom God loves, and for whom Jesus Christ died. If I am serious about the Great Commission, I must be serious about understanding the world they inhabit.

What I have found has surprised me. The Koran speaks repeatedly of God's mercy and compassion. It honors Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. It calls its readers to prayer, to generosity, and to accountability before God. These are not alien concepts to a Bible-believing Christian — they are points of contact, bridges over which the Gospel can travel.

I am not saying everything in the Koran is right. But I am saying that understanding it has made me a better witness, a more compassionate neighbor, and a more faithful follower of Christ.

Read it. You may be surprised what you find — and what doors it opens.

— Dr. Terry Jones