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printMuslim Followers of Jesus?
Believers from Muslim backgrounds are trying to forge new identities in Islamic cultures. The debate over their options has grown furious.
Can one be a Muslim and a follower of Jesus? Tens of thousands believe so, and in this third installment of the Global Conversation, Yale University scholar Joseph Cumming describes the furious debate their example has fueled. The question of following Jesus while remaining within a practicing community of Muslims has great importance in regions where the two faiths contend. It also serves as an important example of a wider challenge. As the gospel moves across cultural boundaries, those who respond will answer its call in different ways. As missions historian Andrew Walls has written, "Conversion to Christ does not produce a bland universal citizenship; it produces distinctive discipleships, as diverse and variegated as human life itself." The gospel must be contextualized, but how far can contextualization go without violating the gospel? And who sets the boundaries? —The Editors
In 1979 my best friend decided he saw himself not as a "Christian," but as a "Messianic Jew." John had come from a secular Jewish background and was actually a practicing Hindu before he met Jesus. Then, for three years he was active in a Bible-believing Christian church. But now John felt called to reconnect with his Jewish roots, join a Messianic synagogue, keep a kosher home, and raise his children Jewish. He saw no contradiction between following Jesus as Messiah and identifying—ethnically and religiously—as Jewish.
Like most Christians in the 1970s, I initially reacted with skepticism, quoting biblical texts I thought rejected kashrut (the Jewish dietary laws) as contrary to our liberty in Christ. I gradually learned that those texts could be understood differently, and came to respect the legitimacy of the fledgling Messianic movement—but not before I hurt my friend by my hostility to his effort to explore his identity as a Jewish follower of Jesus.
The wider Jewish community also reacted negatively. Most saw Messianic Judaism as simply repackaging centuries-old efforts to convert Jews, destroying Jewish identity. To them Messianic Jews were not Jews at all. Recently, however, some Jewish scholars have cautiously suggested that Messianic Jews who faithfully observe Torah and halakha, who participate constructively in the life of the Jewish community, and who pass on Jewish traditions to their children are in error but must be recognized as fellow Jews.
In the 1980s a similar movement began among Muslims who had come to faith in Christ. These were Muslims who trusted Jesus as Lord and divine Savior, believed Jesus died for their sins and rose again, and insisted this did not make them ex-Muslims or converts to the Christian religion. They wanted to remain within their Muslim community, honoring Jesus in that context.
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Philip
Many Christians believe that they don't need to explain scripture or things people don't understand - by utilizing pre-evangelism/apologetics that may lead to a dialogue and eventual belief. For a very good rebuttal of such simplistic thinking, read this wonderful article by Norman Geisler, "The Need for Apologetics." You can read it at: http://www.normangeisler.net/theneedforapologetics.html
Les Nordman
Mr. Galli: Thank you for writing this article, and thank you to Christianity Today for continuing to engage everyone theologically. Through the decades that I have read this magazine, I have benefited mightily from your commitment.
Dave N.
D'Souza??? Wow, CT has gone the extremist deep end. Even staunch conservatives can't stomach his 9/11 conspiracy theories.
MP
Good work, as usual. A point well taken, and which deserves to be heard by evangelicals. We have become obsessed with the merely "practical," thanks to the success of the mega church and the "how to" books their celebrity pastors sell. However, what almost all of these lack is the theological orientation Galli writes about. Sad to say, many pastors do not even see how this might be a long term problem for the church, its faith, life, and mission. They are so enamored by the cheap, quick, and easy bumper sticker religion allows the gospel to be coopted by the powers and authorities of this world. We are left with a faith that is minimally Christian and maximally cultural. You can see and hear the consequences of this in church music, biblical interpretation (if it is taken seriously, at all) preaching, and praying. Take away the central theological (Godward) orientation of faith, and we are left with "practical atheism."
mike ross
I love the last words of the first paragraph...it tells all of 'western' religion, and 'christianized' sectarianism as it reads ..."their orthodoxy." That is the crux of the matter in a nutshell, and there are plenty of nuts to go round. The first 'Orthodoxy'...that of the Apostles and Fathers of the Faith, commonly called Christian, IS what the west ought to re-discover. As the west (theologically) starting with the schismatic Roman Catholics, just kept verring off the path, into the 'reformation', and then , in America just going wild with new 'doctrines', so do they still today. Come around, and discover your REAL Christian roots...the so called "eastern" Orthodox...have never needed a 'reformation'. The theology, the practice, the Liturgy, etc IS Christian. Leave you predisposition for rebellion, and 'reformation' behind, and be humble. Return to THE One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Faith, once delivered to the Saints....(and it wasn't by a little german 'monk', who broke vows)
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