How Much Muslim Context Is Too Much for the Gospel?
But by the early 1980s, other committed evangelicals felt they should push further into a new evangelism effort: the insider movements. Actually, we have always considered our approach as insider, but we have strived to remain within biblical boundaries. I have significant concerns about these newer attempts in contextualization:
- There is a tendency to encourage converts to remain in mosques and perform the attendant prayers.
- New believers are still known as Muslims, and without further identification, such as "Muslim, follower of Jesus."
- To some, it is still permissible to recite the creed, "There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his Messenger."
The latest controversy (one that CT covered extensively in 2011) relates to the Muslim's misunderstanding of the term "Son of God." A number of vernacular translations have translated this phrase to Isa al Masih, which is "Jesus the Messiah," or an equivalent. Not all insiders use each of the above. Contexts vary as do the opinions of missionaries and mission boards. But how much contextualization is too much? Missionaries of good will have different opinions and strategies. Prayerful respect is essential to resolve these issues.
Phil Parshall is a missionary with sim and author of Muslim Evangelism: Contemporary Approaches to Contextualization (IVP). He spent 44 years in ministry to Muslims in Asia.
A Fractured and Beautiful Faith
Streaming This Weekend, May 24, 2013
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Salaam Corniche
Madam Lewis: Unfortunately you have conflated multiple categories. Regarding the Biblical view of Rome, see the Apocalypse where John addresses those who have gotten far to cozy with the whore of Babylon, i.e. Rome, and have made theological justifications for this compromise, i.e. the Nicolatians. He calls such to "come out of her." If they are insiders they are such due to compromise. He also addresses those who are living in paralyzed fear due to Rome's aggressions. He calls them to be overcomers who will get a prize. Due to your pre-commitmnets you have looked for insiders and voila you found one in Polycarp. This is sheer historical revisionism. Might I ask you to read the excellent and very recent thesis of Wonjoo Hwang A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE INSIDER MOVEMENT AS A CONTEXTUALIZATION MODEL AMONG MUSLIMS 2012 Southwestern Baptist Seminary? It is a challenging read and is very thorough in his analysis. He also examines how insider movment proponents like yourself make far too hasty jumps of analogy between Judaism and Islam. Let me know if you read it. Shalom.
rebecca lewis
How Much Roman Context Is Too Much for the Gospel? A concern about "insider movements" is the ongoing identification with Islamic communities by Muslims who have faith in Christ alone for salvation on the Last Day. The early Jewish believers identified with an anti-Christ Judaism---a unique case. So Paul retained his Jewish affiliations, but why did he also retain his Roman citizenship? Before the ministry of Christ, Augustus Caesar declared the Roman Emperor to be a god. Hardly a "secular" state, the Roman Empire had a pagan religious hierarchy and identity that remained in place until the time of Constantine. Had Paul told the Romans coming to Christ to reject this affiliation and become Jews, they would have been exempt from the requirement for Roman citizens to "confess Caesar as Lord and sacrifice to him." Polycarp, Roman disciple of John, lived 70 yrs as a Roman "insider" believer-in-Christ before being killed for refusing to do this. The Gospel: yeast in the dough of pagan Rome.
Salaam Corniche
Mr. Parshall: I just wrote the following to Mr. Travis. May the statement made about the C5 people cause you to weep. Thank you for attempting to set up some checks and balances. Strange that you never mentioned the movie Half-Devil Half Child to your readers, as it was in Bangladesh where your perhaps neutral ideas about innovation were taken to an extreme. Anyway love to hear from you. Here quote from my note: Mr. Travis, I have a question for you. Someone who worked in your area and documented trends in a paper kept confidential due to reasons you are aware of, interviewed an expat who observed the fruit of your C5 labors. What did he say? "If you cut open the heart of a local person, what you find is Islam." How do you live with such an observation of the fruit of your labors? Shalom