Toward a Healthier Contextualization among Muslims: A Biblical Theological Evaluation of the Insider Movement and Its Lessons

Toward a Healthier Contextualization among Muslims

A Biblical Theological Evaluation of the Insider Movement and Its Lessons

Wonjoo Hwang

Foreword by Keith E. Eitel

TOWARD A HEALTHIER CONTEXTUALIZATION AMONG MUSLIMS

A Biblical Theological Evaluation of the Insider Movement and Its Lessons

Copyright © 2019 Wonjoo Hwang. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

Pickwick Publications

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paperback isbn: 978-1-5326-4711-6

hardcover isbn: 978-1-5326-4712-3

ebook isbn: 978-1-5326-4713-0

Cataloging-in-Publication data:

Names: Hwang, Wonjoo, author

Title: Toward a healthier contextualization among Muslims : a biblical theological evaluation of the insider movement and its lessons / by Wonjoo Hwang.

Description: Eugene, OR : Pickwick Publications, 2019 | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: ISBN 978-1-5326-4711-6 (paperback) | ISBN 978-1-5326-4712-3 (hardcover) | ISBN 978-1-5326-4713-0 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Insider movements. | Christian converts from Islam. | Missions.

Classification: LCC BR128.I57 H85 2019 (print) | LCC BR128.I57 (ebook)

Manufactured in the U.S.A. 01/25/19

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Historical Developments of Muslim Evangelism and the Insider Movement

Chapter 3: An Analytical Framework for Contextualization among Muslims

Chapter 4: An Evaluation of the Biblical Interpretations of Insider Movement Advocates

Chapter 5: An Evaluation of the Insider Movement through an Analytical Framework

Chapter 6: Conclusion

Appendix: Comparison of Muslim Evangelism Models

Bibliography

Foreword

Volumes speak, and yet experience speaks volumes. In Toward a Healthier Contextualization among Muslims: A Biblical Theological Evaluation of the Insider Movement and Its Lessons, Wonjoo Hwang does both. He brings academic acumen to bear with years of experience living and working face-to-face with peoples of various Islamic persuasions in several settings. He successfully accomplishes a clear critique of the ongoing problem of contextualizing the Christian gospel in such settings. A prominent technique is advocating the so-called insider movement whereby new believing Muslims are encouraged to stay inside their Islamic socioreligious contexts by continuing Islamic religious practices while affirming the prophet Isa or Jesus with varying degrees of openness. The author of this book lays out the developments of Christian outreach to Muslims, especially in more contemporary times, and then analyzes the relatively recent phenomenon of these types of Christian movements inside Islam.

This is a certain read for anyone engaged in or advocating Christian work among Muslims worldwide. Students, pastors of sending churches, faculty, and doctoral students will all benefit from different aspects of this work. Even believing former Muslims perhaps locked within an insider movement may gain confidence in stepping on out of the system and coming out for Christ more openly.

If indeed experience speaks, this book speaks volumes in terms of its quality and the contribution it makes to a conversation so easily controlled by only one set of voices these days. His voice speaks loudly and clearly. We all do well to hear him.

Keith E. Eitel, DMiss., DTheol.

Dean, The Roy Fish School of Theology and Missions

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Fort Worth, Texas

Preface

The most influential teaching during my early Christian life was the biblical foundation of missions. This class opened my eyes to understand God’s love for all nations and his desire to restore them into his Kingdom. It was through this teaching that God called me into his Kingdom ministry among the nations. As I understood the Father’s unceasing love, especially for the unreached Muslim nations, my passion continued to grow to serve his divine purpose among those who have not heard the Gospel of the Savior.

Since then the primary interest of my missiological thinking has been involved in how to serve Muslim nations effectively in view of leading them to Christ. After having served in a Muslim nation for ten years, I felt a strong need for a further study on contextualization among Muslims. During my biblical and theological studies at the seminary, my encounter with the debates surrounding the Insider Movement compelled me to investigate into the validity of this approach with the genuine desire of searching more effective, yet biblically sound, ministries among Muslim nations. The current work is my doctoral dissertation that was completed in December 2012 under the title, A Critical Evaluation of the Insider Movement as a Contextualization Model among Muslims. The findings of my research led me to conclude that we must have concerns about the biblical and theological foundations of the Insider Movement proponents although there are positive lessons to be learned from this ministry approach.

Discussions on the Insider Movement may continue among evangelical missiologists and missionaries for the goal of developing more effective contextualization approaches among Muslims. Nevertheless, it must be emphasized that a sound biblical theological foundation should guide this process of searching for a healthier contextualization. This is because as much as missions starts with the biblical mandate, so must missions strategies stand upon the sound biblical grounds. My humble desire is that this book will add another perspective to enrich the ongoing discussion for this purpose, and serve those who are committed to develop an approach to Muslim nations that is both biblically authentic and culturally relevant.

Wonjoo Hwang

The Middle East

February 2018

Acknowledgments

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. (1 Cor 15:10)

I praise the Lord for his abundant grace in my life, both in saving me and calling me. I am especially thankful for the people whom God has surrounded me with; without their presence I would not have been who I am today. My parents raised me with deep commitment and sacrifice, through which I have inherited such great values in life. The constant caring hearts of my parents-in-law have been so essential for my entire family.

I am grateful for Dr. Keith Eitel for his academic excellence and missionary zeal for the nations. His mentoring and friendship have been an invaluable support for my academics as well as for my spiritual life. Dr. Tony Maalouf has taught me great insights for ministries to Muslims. I am honored to witness his love for the Muslim souls; it has inspired me to grow more passionate about sharing the gospel with Muslims. Dr. George Klein, my supervisor in the Old Testament Studies, opened his office to my frequent visits with warm welcomes and heartfelt handshakes and has always been a great source of encouragement. The Lord has used many professors at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary to shape my biblical-theological understanding, and I am grateful for their deep commitment to the Lord and scriptural authority.

I am considered a part of the first generation lay missionary movement in Korea which started in the early 1990s. One of the few pastors who initially implemented this paradigm of sending lay people for missions was the late Rev. Yong-Jo Ha, through whom I found wonderful spiritual nourishment and the vision for the Kingdom. Over the years, many more lay missionaries from Korea have obeyed God’s calling to take the Gospel to the unreached peoples. I cannot thank enough my brothers, Luke Joo and Mark Kim, who have walked closely with me and exemplified such deep passion for the Lord and compassion for the nations. I consider it a special privilege to serve the Lord with many mission-minded Christian communities and churches throughout my Christian life. I am deeply indebted to them for their partnership in the Gospel. May the Lord greatly reward them for their faithful services for his Kingdom.

I am thankful for my wife, Jaehee, who loves the Lord and serves him so faithfully. Over the years, we have shared both joys and hardships of life together. Yet, she has not lost her true beauty in her loving smile and warm embrace for people. I admire her for such mature character and a serving heart. I am also thankful to my two sons, Dabin and Siyoung, especially for patiently bearing with my absence during my doctoral study. They have grown to be such wonderful men of God that they are the source of my joy and happiness. It has been a privilege to mentor them as my fellow workers for the Kingdom, and I look forward to seeing even greater works of the Lord in their lives. Glory be to God!

Abbreviations

BDAG Walter Bauer, Frederick William Danker, William F. Arndt, and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature.

BibSac Bibliotheca Sacra

CPMs Church Planting Movements

CT Christianity Today

EMQ Evangelical Missions Quarterly

IBMR International Bulletin of Missionary Research

ICBI International Council on Biblical Inerrancy

IJFM International Journal of Frontier Missions

IM Insider Movement

IMB International Mission Board

ISFM International Society of Frontier Missiology

JAM Journal of Asian Mission

JETS Journal of Evangelical Theological Society

MBB Muslim Background Believer

MF Mission Frontiers

Missiology International Review of Missiology

MW Muslim World (Moslem World)

SFM St. Francis Magazine

SPCK Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge

WTJ Westminster Theological Journal

Scripture Abbreviations

Old Testament

Gen Genesis

Deut Deuteronomy

1–2 Kgs 1–2 Kings

Jonah Jonah

New Testament

Matt Matthew

Mark Mark

Luke Luke

John John

Acts Acts

Rom Romans

1–2 Cor 1–2 Corinthians

Gal Galatians

Eph Ephesians

1–2 Thess 1–2 Thessalonians

1–2 Tim 1–2 Timothy

Titus Titus

Heb Hebrews

1–2 Pet 1–2 Peter

1–2–3 John 1–2–3 John

Jude Jude

1

Introduction

The International Society of Frontier Missiology (ISFM) organized a conference titled The Jerusalem Council Applied: Apostolic Insights into Today’s Insider Movement in Atlanta in September 2006. The theme of this conference was the Insider Movement (IM), which from thence onward has become one of the most debated missiological issues among those involved in ministries to Muslims.¹ This conference was a pivotal moment in the academic discussion because it set up a public platform for evaluating critically the IM among evangelical scholars.

The IM was little known to missionaries and missiologists before this conference, although some of its early proponents had been experimenting with this ministry approach for a significant number of years.² As these early proponents became convinced that it is not only a biblically-theologically valid model for ministry to Muslims but also an effective approach bearing much fruit, they proposed it for an objective evaluation among evangelical missionaries and missiologists with the hopes that the new movement would be used in different parts of the Muslim world. These early proponents suggested that the basic principle of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 be applied to the issue of the IM in that the early church made a key missiological decision for the Gospel ministry to the Gentiles in the Council as an ecclesiological body.³

Since the 2006 conference, many more have joined in the discussion with differing views, and a significant number of academic writings have appeared.⁴ During the course of discussion, interaction between IM advocates and IM critics has enabled both sides to elaborate on the central issues of the IM more precisely. In this regard, the very purpose of the 2006 Conference was accomplished. A decisive conclusion, however, is yet to be reached among evangelicals because some doubts on the validity of this missiological approach have not been completely resolved.

While most discussions on the IM have been confined to a limited number of components, the lack of a comprehensive analysis has caused more confusion than clarification among evangelicals. The lack of objective criteria for evaluating contextualization models has left evangelicals defenseless against many radical assertions based on pragmatic reasoning in favor of the IM. It is within this context that this study develops an alternative and unexplored method to evaluate the IM by employing an analytical framework that will yield comprehensive evaluation grids and play the role of objective criteria derived from a sound biblical and theological foundation.

Background

Early Developments of the Insider Movement

The first academic discussion on the IM appeared in Evangelical Missions Quarterly in 1998, where two prominent missionary scholars provided contrasting viewpoints.⁵ John Travis introduced a spectrum of six Christ-centered communities that were found in the Muslim world.⁶ The debate arose when Travis claimed C5 to be a valid and viable Christ-centered community. Phil Parshall saw danger in this claim; it was going too far in Muslim contextualization.⁷ Although such a notion of C5 was not new in Muslim evangelism, Travis and IM advocates were probably the first to elaborate the notion of C5 in a consistent way and make it an applicable contextualization model.⁸

In his original formulation of the C-spectrum, Travis distinguishes six types of Christ-centered communities through the criteria of language, culture, worship forms, degree of freedom to worship with others, and religious identity.⁹ The IM is the C5 type of Christ-centered communities that consist of ‘Messianic Muslims’ who have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior.¹⁰ Travis describes C5 as follows:

C

5

believers remain legally and socially within the community of Islam. Somewhat similar to the Messianic Jewish movement [sic]. Aspects of Islamic theology which are incompatible with the Bible are rejected, or reinterpreted if possible. Participation in corporate Islamic worship varies from person to person and group to group. C

5

believers meet regularly with other C

5

believers and share their faith with unsaved Muslims. Unsaved Muslims may see C

5

believers as theologically deviant and may eventually expel them from the community of Islam. Where entire villages accept Christ, C

5

may result in Messianic Mosques. C

5

believers are viewed as Muslims by the Muslim community and refer to themselves as Muslims who follow Isa the Messiah.¹¹

One of the key notions of C5 is that Muslim followers of Jesus do not leave the Islamic community even after believing in Jesus as Lord, but remain within it as Muslim Insiders. In the process, they maintain their socioreligious identity as Muslims, and continue to participate in most of the Islamic religious practices as long as they perceive them compatible with biblical truth. According to Travis, the primary reason to remain within the Islamic community and maintain Muslim identity is for the sake of Gospel witness through the existing social networks.

Travis originally intended C-spectrum to be a descriptive tool to label existing Christ-centered communities rather than a prescriptive tool to promote various types of Muslim contextualization models including C5. Descriptively speaking of the current state of affairs, there are Muslim followers of Jesus who believe in Jesus as Lord and gather for fellowship and Bible studies with like-minded Muslims while remaining in the Islamic community and continuing to observe Islamic religious practices.¹² Although they came to faith in Jesus in a number of variegated ways, the presence of Muslim followers of Jesus within the Islamic community is an undeniable reality.¹³

As the IM developed, however, IM advocates changed the descriptive notion into the prescriptive assertion when they began to prescriptively contend that the IM was a biblically-theologically permissible approach to contextualization and that it was a new effective way to evangelize the Muslim world based upon their own fruitful ministry results. The IM became favored by field missionaries and mission organizations that it was adopted as the major missionary approach of some organizations.¹⁴ The nature of the IM has changed from a descriptive to a prescriptive model in that it is claimed to be a valid, effective, and commendable strategy for evangelical ministries to Muslims.¹⁵

There are critical differences between the IM’s descriptive and prescriptive natures. When the IM is taken as a descriptive phenomenon, it is normally viewed as a temporary matter that is gradually disjointed by a normative response to two conflicting allegiances. There is a normative anticipation for Muslim followers of Jesus to leave Islam after realizing the incompatibility between their faith in Jesus and their former faith in Islam. When the IM is taken as a prescriptive model for contextualization, Muslim Insiders are expected to remain within their Islamic community and continue their Islamic religious practices within a biblically permissible boundary. Missionaries will also leave them as Muslims and let them follow Christ within the Islamic community. There is a prescriptive and strategic notion in this approach. IM advocates are contending for this approach and practicing it in various Muslim contexts. This subtle line is where IM advocates have crossed over from a descriptive concept into a prescriptive one.¹⁶

Definition of the Insider Movement

Though the first explicit idea of the IM appeared in Travis’ C-spectrum, its definition has changed over time as IM advocates have endeavored to make more precise arguments in support of the IM. The essence of the IM, however, has remained intact throughout their writings. A leading advocate, Kevin Higgins, proposed a definition of the IM as follows:

A growing number of families, individuals, clans, and/or friendship-webs becoming faithful disciples of Jesus within the culture of their people group, including their religious culture [sic]. This faithful discipleship will express itself in culturally appropriate communities of believers who will also continue to live within as much of their culture, including the religious life of the culture, as is biblically faithful. The Holy Spirit, through the Word and through His people, will also begin to transform His people and their culture, religious life, and worldview.¹⁷

Higgins identifies the main idea of the IM as remaining within the cultural and religious communities to which believers belong. Like Higgins, most IM advocates desire to make the IM idea a more generic term which can be applied to other religious contexts.¹⁸ Rebecca Lewis provides a similar generic definition as follows:

An Insider Movement is any movement to faith in Christ where a) the gospel flows through pre-existing communities and social networks, and where b) believing families, as valid expression of the Body of Christ, remain inside their socioreligious communities, retaining their identity as members of that community while living under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the authority of the Bible.¹⁹

The definition of the IM in this study, however, is confined to the original concept of C5 within a Muslim context, as initially suggested by Travis. This study, therefore, uses the definition of Travis as a starting point while some generic aspects of the IM definition are taken into account whenever necessary:

Messianic Muslims follow Christ but remain within the Muslim community. These Messianic Muslims reject or modify unbiblical Islamic teachings (e.g., they insist Jesus did die on the cross), yet still see most aspects of their lives woven together by the social fabric of Islam. They are not silent about their faith in Jesus, though they are discerning about when and where to share. They strive to form groups with other like-minded Muslim followers of Jesus to study the Bible, pray for each other, and fellowship in Christ. Yet, they do not view or call themselves Christians.²⁰

According to this definition, there are commendable aspects of the IM such as the emphasis on evangelism and forming believers’ community within Islamic societies. On the other hand, concerns and doubts are unavoidable about this approach when one considers clearly conflicting teachings between Christianity and Islam and the exclusive truth claim of the Bible. Pros and cons have prevailed among evangelicals, and various reasoning has been proposed in favor of or against the IM. Up to date, there is a lack of objective and comprehensive evaluation grids to evaluate the IM. It is imperative, therefore, to investigate the IM through a comprehensive analytical framework which incorporates an examining tool for underlying biblical, theological, and missiological assumptions in regards to Muslim contextualization from a biblical perspective.

Main Features of the Insider Movement

The best way to analyze the main characteristics of the IM is to compare it with the C4 contextualization model of Parshall, since a wider evangelical community accepts the C4 model as a valid contextualization approach.²¹ As Travis distinguishes C5 from C4 on the C-scale, the IM (C5) can be viewed as a Muslim contextualization model which moves one step away from C4 in the C-continuum. One of the major distinctions between C4 and C5 is in the matter of maintaining former religious identity as Muslims. In the C4 model, Muslim background believers (MBBs) are eventually not capable of remaining within the Islamic community after being identified as non-Muslims, despite their intention to remain within the sociocultural community. The unwanted outcome is the loss of an evangelistic momentum through a preexisting social network. In the C5 model, on the other hand, Muslim followers of Jesus remain within the Islamic community because they maintain their identity as Muslims and continue to participate in Islamic religious practices as before. The primary reason to keep Muslim identity is, according to Travis, to have an evangelistic momentum for the sake of the lost.²²

Several foundational assumptions or contentions are commonly held by IM advocates. First, they contend that the greatest hindrance in Muslim evangelism is not theological, but one of culture and religious identity.²³ They contend that Muslim Insiders should be able to maintain their Muslim identity by practicing most Islamic cultural and religious practices because being a Muslim is perceived as a cultural term in the minds of Muslim Insiders.²⁴ This implies that missionaries should find a way to allow or encourage Muslim followers of Jesus to remain as Muslims within the Islamic socioreligious community.

Second, IM advocates argue that Muslim evangelism should not aim at Muslims’ changing their religion from Islam to Christianity. They argue that it is simply unthinkable for Muslims to change their religion not only because Christianity carries such a negative connotation in Muslims’ mind-set, but also because Muslims live in a tightly linked socioreligious community.²⁵ Therefore, maintaining Muslim identity becomes a necessity for the effective promotion of the Gospel among Muslims in the logical claims of IM advocates.

Third, since the only way for these Muslim Insiders to remain within the Islamic community is to practice all the Islamic religious practices and use Islamic ritual forms except in the matters explicitly incompatible with biblical teaching, Muslim Insiders follow normative Muslim religious life in the Islamic community. In the process, they either reinterpret some of the major Islamic doctrines or privately modify them. The Islamic confession (Shahada) is one such case. Travis asserts that Muslim Insiders may confess the Shahada without the inner agreement or change it slightly by removing the part on the prophethood of Muhammad so that their conscience may remain free of guilt.²⁶ Other IM advocates contend that even the prophethood of Muhammad can be acknowledged, not in an orthodox Islamic theological sense, but in the sense that he was a messenger from God to accomplish a social reform among Arabs by transforming pagan Arab tribal society into a monotheistic Islamic society.²⁷

Fourth, IM advocates place a great emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit in the life and ministry of Muslim Insiders. They contend that the most fruitful field results reveal clear evidence of life transformation among Muslim Insiders, and that this evidence itself is a strong indication of Muslim Insiders being under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Even in the process of discipleship, IM advocates contend that outsiders, either missionaries or national leaders who are not Muslim Insiders, should leave Muslim Insiders in such a way that they can grow in the Word of God under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.²⁸

Fifth, the way Muslim Insiders can remain as Muslims relies on the assumption that the term Muslim is considered a cultural term.²⁹ IM advocates argue that there is no ethical problem for Muslim Insiders to claim to be Muslims because there is a wide spectrum of Muslims in the world, from fundamentalist groups to nominal groups.³⁰ They contend that it is not a problem for Muslim Insiders to practice the Islamic religious forms because these practices are mostly cultural in the minds of Muslims. Even in the religious components the Islamic meanings are altered or reinterpreted so that their consciences are not violated. They contend that Muslim Insiders will be perceived by other Muslims as a strange subgroup within a wide variety of Muslim groups.

Lastly, IM advocates claim that it has been proven to be a fruitful approach in various Muslim countries, especially in South Asian countries. John and Anna Travis state, It would appear that the largest movement to Christ among Muslims in the world today is C5 in nature, occurring in Asia.³¹ Based on a recent field-based survey among experienced missionaries, it is asserted that a strong correlation exists between active Gospel movements and contextualization approaches including the IM.³² According to this survey, it is implied that a significant portion of missionary teams are actually using the IM as a key strategy and that they have produced better results in the fields for the Gospel movement. As IM advocates actively promote the IM to other mission fields, the IM seems to increasingly attract more interest from field-based missionaries while well-informed missiologists and sending churches remain deeply concerned about the IM.

Recent Developments on the Insider Movement Debates

During the period between the EMQ issue in 1998 and the Atlanta ISFM Conference in 2006, both IM advocates and IM critics have continued the discussion by developing their respective arguments with a more carefully articulated reasoning.³³ IM advocates have rightly taken the burden of proof on their shoulders and have provided their biblical and theological validation for the IM. Some of the major proponents include John Travis, Joshua Massey, Rick Brown, and Kevin Higgins.³⁴ While emphasizing the effectiveness in field ministries among several Muslim nations, these major advocates have made cases for validating the IM by using a few selective biblical passages. In this process, it has explicated some important facets of missiological thinking of IM advocates and the IM theology of mission, such as hidden assumptions, theological methods, and exegetical methods of these IM advocates.

On the other hand, IM critics have provided several evaluations on the IM and tried to warn the evangelical community to become aware of the dangers of this new proposal.³⁵ Timothy Tennent points out one methodological weakness of IM advocates in that their argumentations have been mostly ad hoc without comprehensive validation:

Most of the argumentation in favor of C-

5

is decidedly ad hoc and is developed as a reaction against criticism which has been posed, rather than an independent case which biblically, theologically, historically and contextually sets forth the necessary arguments. There is currently no single source where a reader can find a complete case for C-

5

which sets forth all of the evidence which is found in the literature.³⁶

With thanks to several evangelical critics of the IM, a carefully delineated discussion on the IM has been prompted and the central issues are better identified. This process has enabled both IM advocates and IM critics to move to a constructive direction to bring forth a carefully elaborated evaluation of the IM from an evangelical perspective.

Since the ISFM Conference in Atlanta, several changes began to appear on the part of IM advocates. First, the writings of IM advocates seem to reflect more precise arguments and solid theological reasoning than before. The major players have strengthened their cases for the IM through more clarified arguments from a variety of perspectives.³⁷ Second, some of these ideas became hastily publicized and uncritically promoted in the public platforms. For example, this IM notion became a main driving force of an international consultation where many experienced evangelical missionaries and missiologists participated in the discussion to search for fruitful practices in ministries to Muslims.³⁸ The IM was simply assumed as a normative evangelical approach to Muslims. The IM paradigm was also incorporated as one major component in the proceeding publication from this consultation.³⁹ This can seriously mislead field missionaries who are not aware of the current debate within the evangelical community. This writer finds this approach of IM advocates unwarranted because this debate is still ongoing and far from reaching a consensus within the evangelical community.

Recent Studies on the Insider Movement

No comprehensive study dealing with the IM or the IM theology of mission has been published at the time of writing this dissertation, and most of IM advocates have publicized their views in the form of journal articles. This phenomenon is the same with IM critics because they deal with certain components