So the practical question is this: do we walk with these new believers, repeatedly drawing them back to the Scriptures, showing them the absolute claims of Christ on their lives, and yet expecting that not all of the “incongruities” in their lives will be worked out immediately?

As I’ve reflected on the majority and minority reports for this year’s Insider Movements discussion, what I have been brought back to repeatedly are key practical questions that are intertwined with the perspectives offered in the Study Committee on the Insider Movements Report (SCIM) and the Minority Report (MR). Both the majority and the minority affirm the same affirmations and denials related to Insider Movements. What follows are some questions about how those affirmations and denials apply. In answering these questions, commissioners may find that their view of the two reports may be refined.

(1) How does one practically grapple with the negative connotations of the term “Christian” in the Muslim (particularly in the Arab) world?

To give an example: in some Muslim contexts, Muslims only know two types of Christians: Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, most of them probably nominal, with veneration of Mary and so on, and those they perceive as Christians in movies who sleep around, get drunk, and are generally immoral.

The affirmations and denials (As&Ds) (10a-10c) argue that it is preferable to be labeled with the term “Christian” and that attempts should be made to extricate the term from erroneous understandings. However, 10b also specifically says that it is not a mandatory label in all times and places. I would note that the abridged Committee Report and its critique of MR 2014 almost seems to go against 10b, as it seems to leave little room for anyone to ever not use that term.

But let’s drill this down to a practical question: imagine you are in a context in which the only associations with the term Christian are negative (ritualistic Catholicism and immorality). You have been sharing Christ with a Muslim. He comes to faith. Should you tell him to go tell his family that he has become a Christian? If you do that, they will hear, “I am going to now go live an immoral life and bring disgrace to my family like the people on TV and those nominal people that go to that church on Christmas and Easter.”

Should you still encourage him to label himself that way? Or should you encourage him to love his family more than he ever has, and to share with them about the words and teachings of Jesus, and tell them that Jesus has changed his life and he is now following him? Which ultimately is a clearer witness to Christ? Which will even give him the opportunity to explain what the term Christian is supposed to mean over the long run (Affirmation 10c)?

That is the practical question related to As&Ds 10a-10c. Given that the SCIM is meant to give guidance to both missionaries and churches in how they evaluate mission efforts, it is important to consider these types of practical questions.

(2) Do the As&Ds require that a new believer be joined to a Christian-background national church?

As&Ds 4-6 emphasize the importance of the visible church. In footnote 6 on page 2129, the point is made that underground churches are still part of the visible church. This section is clear that believers must be part of the local church and that they must see a connection between them and the global church.

In my view, those As&Ds are helpful and give broad enough directions that a variety of possibilities are available for new believers in Muslim-majority countries. Consider the following example:

In a local Arab context, an evangelical church—consisting of former Roman Catholics and Orthodox, but all Christian-background—has existed for around 50 years. In those five decades, Muslims who have come to faith have been either rejected, or accepted but never truly embraced in the life of the church. At this point, there are a few BMBs who worship occasionally at the church, but they are not truly welcomed and they are not trained with the idea that they could ever hold leadership in the church.

Additionally, the church members intentionally use specific vocabulary that is not understood by the Muslim majority. The women dress in a way that is offensive to Muslims. Occasionally, people make jokes about Islam that are not in good taste (even if BMBs are present). The culture (even expressed in worship services) is very different—but not in ways mandated by Scripture, just in terms of different communal developments over the centuries.

You are working in an area relatively near this church, but in a neighborhood with no gospel witness. You begin to share the gospel with someone. He comes to faith. What do you do? Do you bring this new believer to the church, knowing that he will not be truly accepted? You also know (similar to question #1) that if you do so, and his family knows, he will be cut off for associating with the “immoral Christians.”

Or, do you encourage him to share with his family and friends and love them sacrificially? Do you seek to establish a new community of believers as a church in that unreached neighborhood, while continuing to disciple him?

Either way, you want to encourage him to do several things: (1) Let there be no offense to his family other than the gospel itself, (2) Share Christ through the existing relationships in his life, and (3) Show him the connections between his own faith and the faith of believers who are in a different cultural setting (the CBB community).

The affirmations and denials on the church seem to suggest that all three of those are important. The CR does not, however, give much guidance on how to do those things at the same time. In their critique of the MR 2014, the majority seems to suggest that the new believer must join the local, national church, regardless of the difficulties (page 2135, lines 5-16). It also seems to suggest that there are more options than a second-class citizenship in CBB churches and a “hidden” church. I’m sure that’s true in some contexts. In others, those are basically the only two options. Given the lack of guidance in the CR on practically how to approach a question like this, perhaps we should admit that the affirmations and denials allow a range of practice, to be worked out by those who understand the contexts in which they are working.

(3) What expectations should we have of how new believers conceive of their identity in relation to their previous religious community?

The committee critiques MR 2014 for some of the principles it supports in relation to work with new believers. MR 2014 rejects “voluntary, indefinite retention of Islamic religious identity.” The committee critiques this for being vague and for not clearly specifying how long such retention can happen, as well as what exactly “Islamic religious identity” is.

Obviously, these are vitally connected to practical questions. If a Muslim comes to faith in a society in which a change of religion is legally prohibited, should he still go to the government and insist on a change on his identity card, knowing it will mean death? When one reads the committee’s critique, one almost gets the impression this is what is being advocated. The MR seems to think this is not an example of “voluntary” retention of Islamic identity, since there is nothing that can be done about what is stated on his identity card.

Further, suppose a Muslim who has attended the mosque sparingly—like a Christmas and Easter kind of “Christian”—comes to faith. Will he immediately recognize that he never attend there again? To Westerners, the answer seems to be an obvious, “Of course!” But we should not forget that sometimes believers in the West do not immediately leave their drunken ways or profanity-laced vocabulary behind. They have to wrestle through these things.

So the practical question is this: do we walk with these new believers, repeatedly drawing them back to the Scriptures, showing them the absolute claims of Christ on their lives, and yet expecting that not all of the “incongruities” in their lives will be worked out immediately?

Perhaps another related question is in order: what of a “Muslim” who has never attended the mosque, who family does not do the prayers, and whose grandparents never did any of the prayers? Obviously, he doesn’t need to stop going to the mosque, because he’s never gone. In fact, he may need to repent of his former practical atheism! How do we advise this young believer in his new faith? Does he declare that he is no longer a Muslim to a family? Or does he simply begin sharing about his new faith and loving his family as Christ calls him to do?

These are practical questions. What guidance do the Affirmations and Denials give?

The following are particularly relevant:

11a) We affirm that a new believer’s grasp of his new unique and covenantal identity in Christ and of the implications of his new allegiance to Christ is an ongoing process of growth and maturity; and that the articulation of this identity is subject to refinement in keeping with Scripture even across generations of believers.

11b) We deny that a believer prior to Christ’s return ever reaches a terminal point where his sense of identity and his understanding of his allegiance to Christ is no longer subject to this process of refinement.

Again, I find great balance in these affirmations and denials. Obviously, we proclaim the profound change of a new allegiance to Christ, but we also expect an ongoing pattern of growth and change in the new believer’s life. Is it possible that the MR 2014 is exploring the possibilities of how those two statements can work out in the life of a new believer? Is there a range of practice allowed within the affirmations and denials?

And additionally, this affirmation:

12b) We affirm that Christ ordinarily calls each believer to serve him in the context of family, birth community, and vocation.

The CR does not articulate how affirmation 12b is to work in the lives of BMBs. Even if one does not agree with all of the statements of the MR, perhaps it does offer some helpful insight into how this can happen.

In conclusion, these are important practical questions. The committee critique of MR 2014 seems to reject the MR’s approach to these questions. However, it does not specifically connect the critique to the affirmations and denials. Perhaps those affirmations and denials are the best guide for keeping us on the right track in our approach to work in the Muslim world.

This article was written by a missionary serving among Muslims and desires to remain anonymous.