Blessed are the Pure in Heart: Muslims, Ritual Purity, and the Gospel
Muslims tend to be obsessed with ritual purity. Islam demands this obsession for the person who wants God to hear their prayers. This blog post aims to explain this obsession and discuss the implications of this obsession for sharing the gospel with Muslims. I believe that understanding and framing Scripture in terms of purity issuesContinue reading “Blessed are the Pure in Heart: Muslims, Ritual Purity, and the Gospel”
Folk Islamic Rituals #9: Devotional Images
This blog post is the ninth in a series on South Asian folk Islam and its rituals. Click here to go to the first of these articles. Understanding the rituals of Folk Islam provides insight into the beliefs and practices of folk Muslims. This understanding helps us to make disciples of folk Muslims. I hadContinue reading “Folk Islamic Rituals #9: Devotional Images”
Folk Islamic Ritual #8: The Evil Eye
The folk Islamic worldview focuses on spiritual powers that are always present around us. In the view of folk Muslims, some of the most common opposing spiritual forces are jinn, demons, and the evil eye. Jinn and demons are similar but distinct. Demons (usually called Shaytan or Iblis in Urdu) are evil and more powerful than jinn. In contrast, jinn function as troublemakers who cause misfortune and trouble. The English word “genie” derives from the Arabic root jinn. Muslims often attribute tripping or other accidents to jinn. Another spiritual force is the evil eye.
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The No Cousins Left Vision
“After this, I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Revelation 7:9 (CSB)
The Need
There are also relatively few laborers serving among South Asian Muslims. While there are believers across South Asia and God is bringing many to Himself, very few of these believers have the desire and capacity to share the gospel with their Muslim neighbors. The result is that in the midst of multitudes of Hindus coming to Christ in South Asia, there are 600 million Muslims who are largely unaffected by the gospel.
Our “No Place Left” Vision
In South Asia, we are praying for “No Place Left” based on Romans 15:23. In 57 AD, when Paul wrote to the Romans, he declared that he filled up the gospel from Jerusalem to Illyricum. Desiring to proclaim the gospel where Christ had not been named, Paul asked the church at Rome to partner with him by sending him to unengaged Spain (Rom 15:19-29). At that time, Paul declared his work complete from Jerusalem to Illyricum (Rom 15:23). Paul did not say that all gospel ministry in these areas had been completed. Instead, his missionary task of pioneering the ministry had been fulfilled. Paul left behind sufficient churches and leaders (both pastors and missionaries) to complete the work in these areas.
We define our “No Place Left” vision as local ownership of the core missionary task in every people and place. “Local ownership” means indigenous churches and leaders (both pastors and missionaries) who are continuing the work locally. The “core missionary task” (CMT) is our biblical conviction of what missionary activity entails and will be covered in a future blog. The CMT involves six parts: entry, evangelism, disciple-making, church formation, leadership development, and entrusting the task locally. “In every people and place” means the fulfillment of Revelation 7:9, where every South Asian tongue, tribe, people, and nation stands before the throne and before the Lamb in worship. Therefore, we continue to labor in bringing the gospel to peoples and places who have never heard.
“No Place Left” to “No Cousins Left”
Paul’s “No Place Left” vision caused him to constantly look to pioneer areas to share the gospel. He looked for gaps of where peoples had never heard the name of Christ and made it his goal to proclaim the gospel in those places among unreached peoples.
As we look to the gaps in South Asia, the greatest gap is the Muslim community. South Asia is home to the greatest concentration of Muslim lostness on the planet! In 2020, there are almost 600 million Muslims in South Asia. Therefore, our “No Place Left” vision demands that we seek to work among the Muslim communities across South Asia. It is possible that we could see churches planted in every corner of South Asia, while leaving the Muslim community virtually unengaged with the gospel. May it never be!
Therefore, our “No Place Left” vision demands a “No Cousins Left” response.[1] Unless we see churches and leaders rise up from every South Asian Muslim people group, our vision is incomplete. We need you to join us in this vision to make No Cousins Left in South Asia! One great way to join in is to take our training course, Engaging South Asian Muslims. Click here for more information on this course.
[1] In Muslim ministry, we often use the term “cousins” to refer to Muslims to show a familial closeness with Muslim peoples. In addition, Muslims generally identify as children of Abraham through Ishmael, meaning that we are in a sense related.
No Cousins Left 