When I first read Jenny Taylor’s brief article Why Grace is Not Enough to Reach Muslims: Balancing Grace and Truth in Outreach, I admit I was surprised that Lausanne would allow an article like this associated with it’s name. It was a bit confusing, and it seemed to imply that anyone who does not truly understand that violence is core to Islam has somehow minimized “truth” in their ministry approach to Muslims.
Thankfully, Colin Chapman and John Azumah have responded with Islam through the Lens of the Golden Rule: Grace and Truth in Our Approach to Muslims and Islam. Here are their four main points, which I believe quickly get to the heart of many missiological fallacies made when discussing Islam and terrorism:
- We must allow Muslims to define what is ‘true Islam’ and remember Muslims are not all the same
- Texts are important, but they cannot be considered in isolation
- Understanding jihadi violence does not mean justifying it
- We too have our failings, and we need to find ways of addressing these problems within our own communities
I encourage you to read these two brief articles. This is an important conversation.