As we see the effects of the mass migration in Europe, there is a growing urgency for Christians in America to build things that last and protect what is good. And to do so with bold evangelism and wise engagement in the public square.

As we have seen over the years, negative words directed at Islam are often met with harsh criticism or condemned for being bigoted or xenophobic. Even within the church, Christians are often confused about how to think about the rising tide of Muslims in our nation. Therefore, our convictions must be rooted in Scripture, so that we can be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

To that end, this article will examine the strong familial and cultural structures found within Islam, and how these bonds make it difficult for Muslims to receive Christ, enter the church, or assimilate into Western civilization. My goal, therefore, is twofold. First, I want to help you, dear Christian, to faithfully proclaim the gospel to your Muslim neighbors. Second, I want to equip Christians for faithful cultural engagement in the public square.

The Familial Bonds of Islam

In order to be discerning in both our gospel witness and cultural engagement, there is a characteristic of Islam that we must understand: kinship. In many Islamic societies, the welfare and opportunities made available to an individual are closely tied to the extended family structure. Muslims care deeply about devotion to their flesh and blood. Familial ties in Islam are exceptionally strong.

This creates family structures that are powerful, protective, and capable of advancing the claims of Islam. Equally, they make evangelism and assimilation in other cultures incredibly difficult.

Understanding this reality creates challenges for Christians, but also unique opportunities. Let us consider these cultural realities and their implications within the distinct spheres of Christian witness and civil responsibility.

Islamic Kinship and Christian Witness

God has called Christians to love their enemies (Matt. 5:43–47) and to serve as his ambassadors, agents of divine reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:20). This is certainly true in our witness among Muslims.

Over the years, there has been considerable interest in the missions world regarding the 10/40 Window, an area stretching from North Africa through the Middle East and into South Asia. This region contains many of the world’s most unreached peoples, and it is predominantly Muslim. There is a reason for this—Islam presents a formidable challenge to Christian witness.

This is not to say that the gospel cannot penetrate the spiritual darkness of Islam. It can, and it has. But remember, Islam was crafted to be in direct opposition to the Christian gospel. This is an undeniable reality that would likely invite criticism in modern media circles, but it’s true. As Tony Costa observed in his essay, the founder of Islam was accosted by a demonic spirit and preached a “gospel” different than the true gospel, something that the apostle Paul explicitly warned against in Galatians 1:9–10.¹ And so, it is not too much to say that Islam was fashioned by Satan himself as a weapon against Christ and his church. As Paul writes in Ephesians 6:12, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

When it comes to Islam, we must remember this truth. From the beginning Islam has sought to conquer Christ, his church, and the cultures that have been formed by Christianity.

Yet, this also means that Muslims, as fallen image-bearers, are not public enemy number one; Satan—and the spiritual darkness that opposes Christ—are. This means that Islam as an ideology works against the gospel that might save individual Muslims. For instance, Islam contains built-in theological objections against Jesus as the Son of God (Quran 4:171; 5:72; 9:30; 112:1–4; hereafter “Q”), against substitutionary atonement (Q 4:157–158; 6:164; 53:38–39), and against aspects of Christian teaching concerning righteousness and salvation (Q 2:123; 6:164; 35:18; 53:38–39). When one studies Islam carefully, it becomes apparent that it directs its followers away from central truths concerning Christ. And it does so, as it offers an impersonal, and ultimately unapproachable god.

Still, doctrinal armor is not the only thing Islam is equipped with. It is also layered with ideological and cultural emphases that resist outside influences and Western norms. Islamic culture is designed to endure, and once having endured, it achieves dominance over competing cultural systems. True Islam cannot be governed by anything but the Quran, and cannot settle for anything less than supremacy and subjugation.

Recognizing these realities helps us understand important cultural norms within Islam as well as those within our tradition. Over the last number of generations, the family structures of countries once known for their Christian witness have been weakened by serial divorce, so-called gay marriage, and a host of -isms, but especially expressive individualism. In such a cultural context, children leave home, establish their own paths, and function as autonomous individuals.

Islamic family structures function in exactly the opposite way. They exist to build, maintain, and preserve the family, all the while extending the strength, wealth, and influence of the family.

There are good things to learn from this. In many ways, community-oriented cultures possess strengths that individualistic cultures lack. Families that think generationally and provide thoughtfully for one another are good things.

I lived in the Muslim world and experienced many things that challenged me as a Christian and as a father. Several years ago, I remember sitting in the house of a Muslim friend. Present in the home were my friend, his father (who served as the family patriarch), as well as his uncles, brothers, and cousins. All the men sat in one room while the women gathered in another. Each member of the family lived on the same property. I estimate there were nearly sixty people in all, including children. It was true communal living.

As I sat in the living room receiving their hospitality, the men continually moved in and out of the house. Near the front door sat a basket filled with keys to a dozen or more cars parked in the courtyard. Each time someone left, he simply reached into the basket and grabbed a set of keys without even looking.

After watching this happen several times, I asked my friend’s father, “Does each man own his own car?”

“Yes,” he replied.

I remembered seeing a particularly nice Volkswagen outside and asked, “I saw Mehemet drive away in the Volkswagen. When did he buy that?”

One of Mehemet’s older cousins spoke up and said, “That’s my car.”

I expected him to become upset and demand that the vehicle be returned immediately. Instead, the father declared, “We are a family. All of our things belong to each other. My things are his things, and his things are my things.”

Each of the men nodded in agreement.

As I sat there thousands of miles from my own family, accompanied by another American Christian, they understood that this display communicated their collective strength, wealth, and unity. It was a declaration of the power and cohesion found within their family structure.

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