My Notes of Experience

The Veil of Islam is Torn

Ultimately, through the sharing of each other’s lives (Muslims and Christians), hence worldviews, as Christians we begin to spill the person of Christ into their lives by resonating Christ IN us and through us. The hoped result is that Jesus is introduced to a worldview that is foreign and even hostile to His love. However, we must recognize the truth that we are in actuality not introducing Jesus to a person or community that does not have Him in the boundaries of their culture, but rather we must understand that Jesus has always been there.  God simply uses us as instruments whereby through the power of the Holy Spirit, we tear the “veil of Islam” that has blinded the Muslim person to see Him in all things. When a Muslim background believer comes to know the Lord, it is not as if Jesus has magically appeared in the context of their new awakening, but rather the new believer realizes the deep hearted understanding that Jesus was always there…. However, the veil of Islam covered their eyes to able to see Him within their Muslim cultural context that has been hijacked by the constraints of Islam. 

The reconciliation of Faith and Culture through Jesus – The solution to the “Dual Identity” Dilemma:

A Muslim dual identity emerges when a new believer still holds their Muslim culture and identity as separate from their new faith in Christ. This is a crucial understanding that a new Muslim background believer must truly embrace. One does not have to leave the confines of their Muslim culture because Jesus could not be found there, resulting in sentiments of guilt and abandonment as a result of following Him. The danger here is that the cultural burdens and feelings of guilt, shame and abandonment are too much to bear, ultimately forcing the new believer to walk away from their new faith and back into the confines of their old self and life where their identity is embedded. Unconsciously, they are holding their culture and new faith as separate. The hope is that the new believer grips to the heart opening truth that Jesus has always been and is within the boundaries of the only life that they have ever known. The Muslim mind holds the Muslim heart captive. When the heart becomes free in Christ, the veil is torn and their eyes open to a smiling and open armed savior who has always been standing and waiting before them! How beautiful! (That visual brings me to tears.)The beautiful result is the resolve to the dilemma of “dual identity” Their faith in Christ and their Muslim culture are reconciled in a powerful way, resulting in the new believer to finally feel FREE IN CHRIST! Their new spiritual identity is shaped around the image of Christ with the reconciliation of faith and culture, but this time not held captive by Islam, but now rather free in Christ. Christ transcends culture because He was, is and will remain the same!

How does a Muslim background believer create a new spiritual identity in Christ while maintaining and embracing their cultural identity? Through the increased knowledge and love of Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit. As the Muslim background believer grows in the knowledge of Christ, the Holy Spirit directs them on their actions, behaviors and reshapes their values. Their Muslim worldview is transformed by their seeking of the Lord; not imposed by a Christian witness. Their cultural identity and new spiritual identity reconcile, embrace and become embedded around the person of Christ. 

Transformed (Hope in Christ) vs Conformed (Gospel imposed as “foreign hope”)

Transformation comes from the inside out, whereas Conformed is from the outside in. When a person is changed by the changing grace of God through the power of the Holy Spirit, they are transformed around the image of Christ, reflecting Kingdom values and principles. This transformation is a spiritual process from within and eventually is reflected outwardly as we pour out the transformation in our walk in Christ.

Many times, when a missionary goes to the 10/40 window with the message of hope, it is received as a “foreign hope or gospel” or even more dangerous, an “American hope or gospel.” Therefore, the gospel is perceived as being “imposed” upon that person, community or culture, resulting in the belief that they must “conform” to receive the hope of the gospel and new life in Christ.

The Vital Issue of Ownership

When a person is transformed from the inside out, the result is something so powerful, so necessary in faith which is OWNERSHIP. When the gospel message is introduced to a person or community through a process of spiritual transformation, that person or community receives ownership of their faith which is a reflection and symbol of a battle won and eternity gained with the receiving of Christ! 

THE HOPE OF CHRIST THROUGH THE MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL SHOULD BE TAKEN TO A MUSLIM COMMUNITY THROUGH THE WORDS, LANGUAGE AND HANDS OF ITS OWN PEOPLE. WHEN THIS IS DONE, THE GOSPEL MESSAGE IS NOT PERCEIVED AS A FOREIGN HOPE, BUT RATHER A HOPE IN CHRIST THAT IS PLANTED WITHIN THE VERY SOIL OF THAT COMMUNITY, CULTURE, SUBSYSTEMS, HOMES AND HEARTS! THE GOSPEL MESSAGE IS UNLEASHED INTO THE VERY FABRIC OF THAT SOCIETY, PENETRATING THROUGH THE LIVES, CULTURE, SUBSYSTEMS, HOMES AND HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE. THE GOSPEL MESSAGE IS GIVEN BIRTH FROM THE INSIDE OUT RESULTING IN TRANSFORMATION, RATHER THAN IMPOSING IT FROM THE OUTSIDE IN, RESULTING IN THE NEED TO CONFORM. THE POWERFUL RESULT IS OWNERSHIP! THE GOSPEL MESSAGE NO LONGER IS PERCEIVED AS AN AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY OR A FOREIGN HOPE, BUT RATHER AS A SEED OF HOPE THAT IS PLANTED IN THE VERY SOIL AND HEART OF THE SOCIETY AND PEOPLE- GROWING AND BEARING FRUIT THAT ACCOMMODATES AND IS UNIQUE TO THAT CULTURE! CHRISTIANITY IS ENGULFED WITHIN A VIBRANT CULTURE, BEARING BRANCHES AND FRUIT THAT IS UNIQUE BUT STILL STANDS FIRMLY ON THE FOUNDATION OF SCRIPTURE AND WHO CHRIST IS- THIS GIVES GOD A GREATER VIBRANCY OF GLORY, REFLECTING A GLORIOUS PICTURE OF REVELATIONS 7:9.

Analogy: Christianity is not supposed to be a tree that was nourished and grew in one society and then was transplanted to a new cultural environment or cultural mindset, with leaves, branches and fruit that mark it indelibly as a product of “Western Christianity”. The gospel is to be planted as a seed that will sprout within and be nourished by the rain and nutrients in the cultural soil of the Muslim life. The end result is that the Muslim has ownership of the hope of the gospel which penetrates and digs deep and unleashes into the fabric of that Muslim person’s life. What sprouts from true gospel seed may look different above ground from the way it looks to the Christian person, but beneath the ground at the worldview level, the roots are to be the same and the life comes from the same source! The message of the gospel will be the same and the central doctrines of our faith will be in clear focus, since they are based on the same bible.