Loving Muslims Enough to Reach Out, Globally and Locally

What would it look like for Christians to love Muslims enough to share Jesus with them?

If you could travel back in time a hundred years and share some of the discussions we’re having in the 21st century about Islam, the folks there probably would not believe you.

Back then, Islam was on the decline, reduced to a somewhat marginalized religion in many parts of the world. The Ottoman Empire had fallen and Islam’s future looked dim.

But, things have changed. During the 20th century, there was a resurgence of Islam. We are still dealing with that resurgence today.

Why the Resurgence?

Certainly, the ever-increasing demand for oil around the world has, in part, fueled the comeback. Petrol dollars have provided the means for much of the Muslim mission. Just go to parts of Africa and you will find petrodollar-funded, government-directed mission outposts all over.

That’s easy to see.

Yet, it’s not all about petrodollars. The fact is that part of Islam’s growth has come from people of all stripes freely embracing the religion around the globe, including here and in the rest of the Western world.

Global Engagement Matters

There has been much debate and discussion of that question—not to mention controversy surrounding global engagement of Muslims. Christianity Today even dealt with the issue in their January 2013 cover story: “How Much Muslim Context is Too Much for the Gospel?”

Christianity Today also brought up one of the more contentious aspects related to evangelizing the Muslim world: figuring out how contextualized we ought to be. Many missiologists, including me, are comfortable with “level four” contextualization.

But the Christianity Today article explored those who go to “level five.” These levels have to do with what it means …