THE 'CAMEL METHOD' OF EVANGELISM IS NOT BIBLICAL
 

By Paul Proctor
January 13, 2010
NewsWithViews.com

I have addressed, on numerous occasions, the Church’s ongoing efforts to reinvent Christianity into a global religion of Results & Relationships by using the powers of pragmatism and consensus to artificially grow itself into something more widely accepted by the world instead of faithfully proclaiming the Word of God “in season and out” as we are commanded to do in 2nd Timothy 4:2. The leaders of the new spirituality and its church growth movement have always had a hard time avoiding the “wide gate” and “broad way” choosing clever methods of “evangelism” that are not only incompatible with God’s Word, but also prove them unwilling to trust Him with the increase – ever looking for something more clever, spectacular and impressive to glory in and boast about to a watching world.

“…for men to search their own glory is not glory.” – Proverbs 25:27b

“So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.” – 1st Corinthians 3:7

There’s no better example of this than a recent story from The Baptist Standard where Christians are encouraged by a “veteran missionary” to employ what’s called “The Camel Method” to evangelize, where the Quran is used, instead of the Bible, to share Christ with Muslims – a method that reportedly utilizes “selected verses” and “doesn’t teach or lecture, but asks questions.”

Isn’t this exactly what dialectically trained facilitators have done for years in many seeker-sensitive and purpose driven churches to draw and hold large and diverse crowds of potential converts with a lot of non-offensive opinion sharing and relationship building in order to find common ground and greater tolerance for one another through compromise and group dynamics? That may be the agenda of global socialists at the United Nations, but it’s not the Bible’s agenda for Christians or the gospel of Jesus Christ. I’m sure the UN would have no problem with a program like this where sidelining biblical truths for a contrived unity is celebrated and syncretism is the spirituality of choice.

“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” – Proverbs 14:12

According to the report, missionary Kevin Greeson, who “has served 16 years with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board,” is “working to start Christian movements among Muslims in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal…” adding that “his goal focuses less on individual conversions and more on starting spiritual movements that will result in thousands of Muslims becoming followers of Christ.”
Greeson: “Our generation can’t afford to be satisfied or happy with winning one lost person to Christ. There are so many lost people, we can’t be happy with that.”

“…I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” – Luke 15:10

Certainly most Christians would like to see more than one person they witness to repent and receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, but where in God’s Word are we commanded to “take up thy Quran” and “go ye into all the world and start a movement?” Sure it sounds lofty and high-minded in our Big Box culture where consumers like to impress each other and get the most for the least; but isn’t this more of an exercise in ecumenical egomania and spiritual sleight-of-hand than humble obedience to Jesus’ call to “take up thy cross” and “go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature?”
It’s alarming enough that the Bible is set aside with this method of “evangelism,” but it’s outright heresy that Jesus Christ is presented as the son of Allah, since Allah was widely recognized and worshipped as a pagan moon god even before there was a Mohammed.
How then can the truth set you free if it begins with a lie?

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” – Isaiah 55:8-9

 

ANGLETON—Winning Muslim converts to Christianity is difficult, but veteran missionary Kevin Greeson knows a way—start with the Quran. 
Greeson, who has served 16 years with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board working to start Christian movements among Muslims in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal, stressed the importance of spreading the good news of Christ with Muslims. 
“The best way to fight terrorism is to share the gospel. And I believe that not because I want to fight terrorism, but because there are lost people,” he explained.   Debating religious tenets with Muslims is a waste of time, Greeson added. Muslims are taught to memorize the Quran in Arabic, not analyze it, he said.
Missionary Kevin Greeson suggests that evangelical witness to Muslims should start with the Quran.  “Even in Pakistan, where they speak Urdu, boys memorize the Quran in Arabic. They are not allowed to ask what anything means. They are told the words are too holy for them. Just memorize,” Greeson said.
Still, Christians must attempt to share the gospel with Muslims, Greeson insisted. But his goal focuses less on individual conversions and more on starting spiritual movements that will result in thousands of Muslims becoming followers of Christ.
“Our generation can’t afford to be satisfied or happy with winning one lost person to Christ. There are so many lost people, we can’t be happy with that,” he said.
And the tide is turning, Greeson said. “Almost every missionary serving now is seeing fruit among Muslims. Something is cooking out there. Something big is happening.”
Many thousands of Muslims are converting to Christianity on the Arab Peninsula and in Iran, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Indonesia, he said.
“Don’t think it’s limited to the other side of the world,” Gresson cautioned. “It can happen here. It’s got to happen here.”
But making it happen depends on finding a few key Muslims who can become the catalyst for a spiritual movement, he stressed.
“With a Muslim, you are always an outsider. Find that insider. You can’t get to all his relatives. You are an outsider. He has access,” he continued.

Greeson offered another word of caution. “When you find a person of peace, don’t make him join your church, comb his hair different and make him like you. Disciple him, but don’t make him go through an eight-month discipleship program. Messy people start movements. Don’t try to clean them up.”
Greeson’s first two years working with Muslims largely was unsuccessful, he admits. “Everything was thrown back at me.” They didn’t believe Jesus was the Son of God or that he died and rose again. They did not accept the Bible as authoritative, so quoting Scripture was useless. Greeson had to learn how to communicate with Muslims in ways that would not cause them immediately to shut down the conversation.
“Salaam-Alaikum” or “peace be to you” is a greeting that often lowers defenses, he suggested. Greeson then follows that up with the invitation: “Let’s read the Quran together about Jesus.”
Greeson discovered a Christian movement in a village where there were many conversions from Islam, and he asked about the catalyst for the transformation. The approach Greeson now teaches— “The Camel Method”—stems from that encounter.
The name of the method comes from an Arabic saying: Every good Muslim knows 99 names for Allah, but only the camel knows the 100th name. “We tell them we know the 100th name. It’s Jesus,” Greeson explained.
The Camel Method uses the Quran to establish three main points: ’Isa, or Jesus, is holy; ’Isa has power over death; and ’Isa knows the way to heaven.
Using selected verses from the Quran, the Camel Method doesn’t teach or lecture, but asks questions.
The 45th verse of Imran addresses Jesus as Masih ’Isa. “Ask them what does Masih ’Isa mean? Muslims know the meanings of their names. Names are important to them, but most won’t know this one,” Greeson said. “Then you can tell them that it means messiah or anointed one.”
Next, ask if any other of the 124,000 prophets the Muslims revere was given that designation, he instructed. None were. This demonstrates the uniqueness of Christ.

In the 47th verse of Imran, Mary the mother of Jesus testifies she never had been touched by a man. Ask if any other prophet was born without a father, and Muslims typically will answer, “Adam.” Let them tell the story of the Garden of Eden until the point where Adam is forced to leave paradise because of his sin.

Note all of Adam’s and Eve’s descendents likewise have been sinful, but Jesus wasn’t included in that line.

The 49th verse of Imran says ’Isa, or Jesus, has can “bring dead to life.”

“At this point, I say, ‘My greatest fear is death, and I’m grateful there is one who has power over it,” Greeson suggested.

Verse 54 of Imran says God has a plan, and verse 55 describes that plan. It says that Allah will cause ’Isa to die and then will exalt him. It goes on to say that those who deny the truth that ’Isa proclaims will be far below those who follow his truth.

Greeson suggests asking if any of the 124,000 can help a person get to heaven.

“I’ve never gotten any answer other than ’Isa,” he said.

At that time, a Muslim is prepared to hear the plan of salvation using verses 54 and 55—Korbani Plan of Salvation.

“Korbani” means sacrifice. The Quran points out a blood sacrifice is needed to cover sins, and Muslims go through a ritual every year where they slaughter an animal to cover their sins. That gives an opening to talk about Christ’s sacrifice, Greeson said.

Let them know Allah’s plan was for one perfect person to be sacrificed who would take all sin for all time.

Next, a Christian witness can talk about accepting Christ’s sacrifice. Greeson said to ask if a judge let a guilty man go if that would be justice, which will bring a negative answer, because a judge has to give punishment for wrongs.

“But ’Isa came and said, I have clean hands, put their judgment on me. That was God’s plan,” Greeson explains.

He acknowledged that the process takes time, and many fall away due to pressures from their society. But, he said, Christians must be diligent in telling the good news to Muslims because God already is preparing hearts to hear the gospel.
 

Is Camel Method leading thirsty world to oasis of truth?
By J. Gerald Harris, Editor
Published June 7, 2007

IMB

Muslims take time to participate in Salat, one of the five prayers required daily in Islam. A new book based on an old Muslim proverb is leading scores of Muslims to faith in Christ, according to the International Mission Board.
RICHMOND, Va. — In his book, The Camel – How Muslims are Coming to Faith in Christ!, Kevin Greeson reveals an old Muslim proverb, declaring, “… Allah has one hundred names. And … he has revealed 99 of his names to the sons of men that they may know and worship him. But one name, the one-hundredth name, he has told only to the camel. And, the camel, he is not talking.”

Greeson contends that the one-hundredth name for God is Isa al-Masih (Jesus Christ) and the Camel Method of witnessing to Muslims involves taking a passage from the Qur’an (the Muslim bible) referencing Isa al-Masih, and using it as a bridge to the Bible and to sharing God’s plan of salvation.

Greeson states that IMB missionaries didn’t invent the Camel methodology of witnessing to Muslims, but he is the one who captured this method of witnessing from Muslim-background believers and gave expression to the method in his book The Camel.

One missionary in the Arab Muslim world was introduced to Greeson’s book by a co-worker and admitted, “I had never been a big fan of using the Qur’an in my witnessing, so I threw the book [The Camel] in my ‘to be read later’ pile.

“A couple of weeks passed. One night, as I was preparing to go to bed, I noticed it sitting there and picked it up. From the opening pages I was hooked. As I began reading about the sheer numbers of Muslims who were coming to Christ I was in a state of disbelief. Here I was on the frontline for almost ten years and had never witnessed anything resembling this.

IMB

Icons of Islamic culture, camels rest near the Great Pyramids of Gaza. An ancient Muslim proverb declares that “Allah has one hundred names. And ... has revealed 99 [of them].” According to the proverb, the last name was told only to the camel. A popular witnessing method is claiming that the last name is “Isa al-Masih” – Jesus Christ.
“As I continued to read I felt God speaking to me of the possibilities that existed through this methodology. I could envision Muslims giving their hearts to Jesus at the rate of one a day, perhaps ten, or even a hundred.”

In an interview with The Christian Index IMB President Jerry Rankin commented, “This is not a method of witness that we have contrived in order to reach Muslims. It is something that Muslim-background believers were using effectively to share their faith within their Muslim communities. There is one group in South Asia that reported over 100,000 Muslim background believers being baptized and becoming Christians.”

Greeson explains, “As missionaries, we have observed this method at work, examined it in light of the authority of God’s Word, and found it to be a powerful tool in reaching Muslims everywhere with the Good News of Jesus Christ.”

Mike Hamlet, pastor of First Baptist Church in North Spartanburg, S.C., has written an endorsement for Greeson’s book. “I have been with missionaries who were using the Camel overseas,” he explained. “I was very impressed and thought it was very effective when I saw it used. The missionaries used it to start a number of discussions. The people were open to this type of conversation.

“On a couple of occasions I could tell that as we got close to the truth, some would become uneasy about the discussion,” Hamlet continued. “I do not believe this was due to the method, but because they were beginning to see the clarity of the gospel and it was the beginning of conviction.”

Rankin provided another illustration.

Jesus in the Qur’an

“There is the story of the missionary in the Middle East who had been there for 20 years and had never won a Muslim to faith in Christ,” said Rankin. “However, once he learned the Camel Method, he soon led six Muslims to the Lord in the local Mosque. There are all kinds of thrilling stories sweeping the Muslim world from Pakistan, all across the Middle East, to Northern Africa.”

One of the books in the Qur’an is surah al-Imram. In chapter 3 of this book there are 13 verses that speak of Isa al-Masih (Jesus Christ). These verses declare that Jesus would be born of a virgin, that He would do miracles; that He would be a sign to the whole world; that Allah (God) would cause Him to die and raise Him again to heaven.

Greeson uses an acronym to help us remember the key points regarding Christ:

Mary was Chosen to give birth to Isa;

that Angels announced the good news to her;

that Isa would do Miracles;

that he knew and is the way to Eternal

Life.

The Camel Method does not suggest that the Qur’an be employed to present the way of salvation; but any use of it gives grave concern to some theologians and Bible scholars. Greeson vehemently proclaims that the use of the Qur’an in this Camel methodology is not meant to be a “parking lot,” but a “bridge” to reaching Muslims.

George Robinson, former IMB missionary and member of Hebron Baptist Church in Dacula, testified, “In May I was in South Asia and I used ‘the bridge’ to show Muslims at a university campus that it was okay to discuss Jesus and the Injil (New Testament). Following that brief ‘bridge,’ I shared my testimony of coming to faith in Christ and then basically preached a sermon on biblical salvation. By starting with ‘the bridge’ I was able to disarm them at the beginning of our conversation so that we could continue and so that their understanding could be raised.

“When they asked me what I thought of Muhammad, I simply pointed out to them what he said of himself in the Qur’an: ‘As for the destiny of me and my followers, I do not know what will happen’ (The Sandhills 46:9). Then I pointed them to John 14:6 and asked them who they would trust with their eternal security.”

Stephen Haber, from Marietta’s Eastside Baptist Church and an IMB missionary in Burkina Faso, stated, “The goal of the Camel Method is not to lead a Muslim to salvation in Christ. Its purpose is to draw out a person of peace according to the counsel of Luke 10:1-16 and build a bridge to the Muslim community. When you find a Muslim willing to listen, you set the Qur’an aside and take him to the Bible. I have just started to use this method and it is opening doors for me that otherwise would have never been opened.

“This practice of using other so-called holy books is not new. Back in the late 1700s William Carey himself used to ask Hindus about their book and then when he got their attention he would immediately take them into the Bible and give them the gospel. This method is not much different.”

Hamlet related, “When The Camel was first written, it was meant to be a tool to be used by missionaries. As a result, the first edition had some gaps or areas that needed to be addressed. To a great extent, I believe that has happened in the new edition. I am convinced that there is a way to use it here in the states if presented in a way that pastors or informed lay people can be trained.”
 

In the 2007 edition of The Camel Greeson adds an appendix that attempts to answer many of the critics’ objections to the methodology he espouses. Space in this paper will not permit a thorough review of all objections, an analysis of each one, and an adequate response. However, attention will be given to the major concerns.

Make the unknown known

One major concern has to do with Christians using the name Allah for God. There are those who seem to think IMB missionaries who refer to God as “Allah” are affirming Muslim theology and endorsing the Muslim concept of Allah.

In response to those who hold to that view, Rankin stated, “Such a view is preposterous. In a cross-cultural witness you use the language of the people and you use whatever terminology they have for God. In reality Muslims cannot exclusively claim ‘Allah’ as their name for God. Although [Allah] has been adopted by the Qur’an and by Muslims, it actually pre-dates Muhammad and the religion he established.

“The Arab Christians used ‘Allah’ as their name for God in pre-Islamic days. Today ‘Allah’ is still the name used for God in many translations of the Bible where the Muslim religion predominates. For example, in the Indonesian Bible, ‘Allah’ is the name for God.”

Rankin continued, “What our missionaries are doing with The Camel is much like what Paul did when he went to Athens. He saw an altar ‘To The Unknown God’ and stated, ‘him declare I unto you.’ In seeking to reach the Muslims, you start with where they are and with their worldview and bring them to the bridge, to the passage in the Qur’an that speaks of Isa (Jesus) and then take them to the gospels. Of course, the Bible is the inspired Word of God and you pray and trust the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth about Christ to them.”

Ed Jump, director of missions for the Corpus Christi Baptist Association in Texas, had Greeson share his insights on reaching Muslims with some people in his association.

“I believe Christians sharing the gospel with Muslims is the most critical issue of our time,” Jump commented. “I was uncomfortable with the idea of referring to God as Allah, but Kevin gave the historical context for a Muslim background Christian referring to God as Allah. He told us that Arab Christians referred to God as Allah long before Islam was a religion.”

Greeson reminds us that no one should dare get his/her understanding of God from the Qur’an and that in the Camel Method of witnessing to Muslims it is just a bridge. “If our doctrines and understanding of God come from the Qur’an, then we will certainly not end up with a Christian view of God,” he adds. “If, on the other hand, our authoritative source about God is the Bible, then our doctrine of God will remain true, regardless of which language we use to call His name.”

Straight theology, shifted allegiance

“The only way anyone can come to know God in America or in the Middle East is through Christ,” Rankin reiterated. “You cannot know God and His nature without knowing Christ, but once you know Christ and receive Him, He will straighten out your theology and reveal the true nature of God. So, for anyone to say that a born again Muslim is always going to have a perverted theology is to denigrate the power of Christ to reveal truth.”

A second criticism leveled at the Camel Method is that it does not require a Muslim who trusts Christ for salvation to renounce his or her Muslim identity, and it suggests that the new convert will continue to view God and Christ through a Muslim worldview.

“The Camel Method does not advocate that, but advocates being Christian while retaining your ethnic identity in that Muslim culture,” Rankin asserts. “Missionaries have always had a methodology of extraction. For example, if you go to Indonesia you will find villages of Christians who were formerly Muslims, because when they embraced Christ they were extracted from their own village or community.

In addressing this issue Greeson writes, “… Surveys revealed that these Muslim-background believers had clearly shifted their allegiance from Islam to Christ. For this shift in devotion, virtually every one of them has faced severe persecution. Some had been tortured and even killed. There was no question among the Muslims around them that these Isahi (followers of Christ) have left Islam.”

Surely, there are Muslims who after professing to be Christians fail to count the cost of following Christ, who are not properly nurtured, or who are reconverted to the Muslim religion. Greeson admits that this has not been uncommon through the years. (But then Southern Baptists in the U.S. must seek to interpret what it means when more than five million of our members are classified as non-resident.) Then Greeson adds, “[A] 2002 study revealed few Muslim-background believers who even knew of anyone who had reconverted to Islam after baptism. The reason for this may be found in the indigenous nature of the movement associated with the Camel Method.”

A cross-cultural consultant at First Baptist of Lilburn proclaims, “We have seen the Camel Method to be a very effective tool for witnessing to Muslims here in America. There has been fruit. Some are using the method in our community on a daily basis and are seeing great response. God has been faithful to show us how to meet Muslims where they are and then use this method to point them to the good news of Jesus Christ.”

A preferred method

“The church in America seems to be sleeping through an amazing opportunity to demonstrate the power of God’s love,” the consultant added. “There are Muslims living in almost every community in America, and many more moving here. There are thousands of Muslims attending our colleges and universities as international students. And the church in America seems to be afraid of them … avoiding them.

“But our privilege is to follow the model of the Lord Jesus … engage them in friendship. Through friendships and through relationships, God will open the door for us to share His love and He will draw many to saving faith. God is passionate for His name to be known and proclaimed among the precious Muslim people, and He is calling us to be on mission with him among Muslims both here in America and overseas.”

Perhaps there is some room for criticism regarding the Camel Method of witnessing to Muslims. But there is a story from the life of the 19th century evangelist, Dwight L. Moody, which may be apropos at this point.

A woman once came up to Moody and told him she didn’t like his method of sharing his faith. He replied, “I don’t much like it either. What method do you use?”

She answered, “I don’t have one.” To which Moody then replied, “Then I prefer my method.”
 

|
Out of Context
Debate over 'Camel method' probes limits of Muslim-focused evangelism.
Ken Walker | posted 3/23/2010 09:40AM

A debate within the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) over a method to evangelize Muslims demonstrates the difficulties of gospel contextualization.

The ongoing disagreement flared recently when Liberty Theological Seminary president Ergun Caner labeled as heretical the "camel method," an SBC evangelistic strategy.

Though he later apologized for calling International Mission Board (IMB) president Jerry Rankin a liar in the same interview, Caner did not retreat from criticizing what he called a deceptive practice.

The method uses the acronym CAMEL to explore a Qur'an passage describing the Virgin Birth, miracles, and resurrection of Isa al-Masih (Arabic for "Jesus the Messiah") as a bridge to the New Testament. The method was detailed in a 2004 book by SBC missionary Kevin Greeson, who observed Muslim-background converts in Asia using it successfully.

Critics fear the method impedes evangelism and discipleship by treating the Qur'an as a credible source of divine truth.

While Caner, a Turkish convert from Islam, contextualizes messages to his college students with references to American Idol and current movies, he said the camel method crosses the line into syncretism.

"The increasing popularity of this practice is disturbing," Caner said. "I could not see the early church pinching incense to Emperor Nero but in their hearts actually visualizing Jesus. They chose to die rather than even follow the false forms of a false god."

But Rankin said IMB trustees found the method valid after a 2007 investigation that included issuing principles of contextualization. "Historically, a missions approach has been to extricate Muslims from their community once they converted, which didn't do much for planting the gospel among Muslims," he said.

An IMB-sponsored survey in 2002 found some 125,000 Muslims who had come to faith in Christ through the camel method, been baptized, and were orthodox in their practices.

Joseph Cumming of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture said the camel debate is different from the C1 to C5 discussion (CT, Dec. 2009), which involves Muslim-background believers' religious identity.

However, he estimates that 90 percent of missionaries living among Muslims refer to verses in the Qur'an without inciting the heated arguments found in the U.S.

"It seems to me that the debates get hotter the farther removed the debaters are from it touching them personally," said Cumming.

Some missiologists see problems with Americans' proclivity for finding methods and imposing values.

"In the West, everybody wants to make evangelism a method," said Paul Martindale, lecturer in Islamic studies at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. "Turning [camel] into a universal method is more dangerous than using it."

Roy Oksnevad, director of Muslim ministries at Wheaton College's Billy Graham Center, said one point of the camel method—its interpretation of Isa's knowledge of the way to heaven—bends the gospel too far in its efforts to identify with its audience. "This is sloppy missiology and theology," he said.

Ironically, the closer one gets to the geographic heart of Islam, the less syncretism becomes an issue. In regions where fundamentalist versions of Islam are practiced, Muslims who accept Christ want no part of extreme contextualization, Oksnevad said.

These debates also overlook a more significant issue, Martindale said. He thinks a Western emphasis on individual rights has diminished the ideal of persecution and suffering.

"Western missionaries want to make it easier for Muslims to come to Christ while avoiding persecution," said Martindale. "That's sympathetic, but it's not biblical."

Despite the criticism, Rankin said, the IMB will continue using the camel method. "It's very effective and biblically valid," he said. "Why would you cease witnessing just because somebody has a problem with it?"

 

We are seeing The Camel Method debated on SBC Impact where two of our contributors have tried to engage the theological side of the debate. However, as I read the recent New York Times Op-Ed a new understanding has been presented as to the reason The Camel Method is a deceiving agent that makes it a bad “bridge”. The author of the most recent NY Times article, Robert Wright, (who covers culture, politics, and world affairs) points to the fact that The Camel Method’s deceitful tactics are enraging Muslims. Mr. Wright points to the Christians that use this method as saying they are trying to get the “camel’s nose” under the Muslim tent. Notice how he describes the deceit behind this terminology.

But a more apt etymology would involve the “camel’s nose under the tent.” The “overture” — the missionary’s initial bonding with Muslims via discussion of the Koran — is precision-engineered to undermine their allegiance to Islam.

Mr. Wright goes on to describe the problems with this kind of “wiliness”.

In some cases even the “camel’s nose” image doesn’t do justice to missionary wiliness. “Trojan Camel” might be better; some Christian missionaries call themselves Muslims — or at least muslims — because, after all, “muslim” literally means one who surrenders to God. A few have gone way undercover, growing beards and abstaining from pork.

You will notice that in the Camel Method tract it references being a “Pakka Muslim”. This is exactly what Mr. Wright calls the “Trojan Camel”. The Muslim community is beginning to respond to these deceiving tactics.

In Malaysia there are laws being drafted that will not allow Christians to refer to “Allah” as the God of the Christian Scriptures. In Nigeria Christians are losing their lives because Muslims were many years in the majority but now are in the minority. In an interview with a Nigerian born cab driver, Mr. Wright found that one problem was, “American missionaries going abroad and trying to leverage the Koran against itself”. The Op-Ed author reveals his liberal bias as he then proceeds to observe that aggressive evangelism techniques are part of this problem as well. I am not against Christians being aggressive in their evangelism I believe we need more aggressiveness. However, the common denominator that elicits the Muslims ire is the deceitful tactics used to win their family members. To make one believe that he/she can still worship in the Mosque, abide within secrecy in their household, and feel they are still Muslim but now they are Pakka Muslim, is deceitfulness plain and simple.

It seems that if we are going to present the Gospel we need to remove all appearances of deceit. So that I can be plain. There is nothing wrong with using the term “Allah” when one is speaking Arabic to refer to the Creator God as our Father. There is nothing wrong with using, for illustrative purposes, something from a person’s culture to point them to Jesus. However, when one builds an entire presentation combining false documents that the Muslim culture holds as sacred with Holy Writ, that is not contextualization that is syncretism.

It seems that Dr. Caner and we here at SBC Today have found a voice of agreement in one of the last places we would suspect–the liberal media. As I heard one Brother say; ” What an ironic day we live in when liberals and Muslims are more likely to agree with us than our own IMB.” I will leave you with Mr. Wright’s closing paragraphs. It reveals the liberal bias of the author and the heart of our differences with the Camel Method.

I’d like to be able to report that the “critics” in this headline are Christians who worry about heightening tensions and so refrain from offensive proselytizing. Alas, they’re Christians who favor assertive proselytizing but are offended by any suggestion that Muslims and Christians might worship the same god. One of them, Ergun Caner, president of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, in Lynchburg, Va., said in a recent podcast, “There’s nothing that the two gods — the god of the Koran and the god of scripture — have in common. Nothing.”

Well, to look at the bright side: Maybe that’s a basis for interfaith rapport; Caner can sit around with Malaysian Muslims and agree that they worship different gods.

Still, I like to think that their gods would beg to differ.

 

Ergun Caner, president of the Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, in Lynchburg, Va., in 2004.

A Dispute on Using the Koran as a Path to Jesus

By MARK OPPENHEIMER
Published: March 12, 2010

January was an ugly month in Malaysia. At least 10 churches were firebombed or vandalized, as was a Sikh temple. Severed boars’ heads — particularly offensive to Muslims, who are not supposed to eat pork — were found on the grounds of two mosques. The cause of this inter-religious strife was a court battle over whether non-Muslims may use the Arabic word “Allah” to refer to God.

Use the Quran to share Christ with Muslim, veteran missionary suggests
By George Henson, Staff Writer Published: December 31, 2009

Missionary Kevin Greeson suggests that
evangelical witness to Muslims should start with the Quran

ANGLETON—Winning Muslim converts to Christianity is difficult, but veteran missionary Kevin Greeson knows a way—start with the Quran.

Greeson, who has served 16 years with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board working to start Christian movements among Muslims in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal, stressed the importance of spreading the good news of Christ with Muslims.


“The best way to fight terrorism is to share the gospel. And I believe that not because I want to fight terrorism, but because there are lost people,” he explained.

Debating religious tenets with Muslims is a waste of time, Greeson added. Muslims are taught to memorize the Quran in Arabic, not analyze it, he said.

Missionary Kevin Greeson suggests that evangelical witness to Muslims should start with the Quran.

“Even in Pakistan, where they speak Urdu, boys memorize the Quran in Arabic. They are not allowed to ask what anything means. They are told the words are too holy for them. Just memorize,” Greeson said.

Still, Christians must attempt to share the gospel with Muslims, Greeson insisted. But his goal focuses less on individual conversions and more on starting spiritual movements that will result in thousands of Muslims becoming followers of Christ.

“Our generation can’t afford to be satisfied or happy with winning one lost person to Christ. There are so many lost people, we can’t be happy with that,” he said.

And the tide is turning, Greeson said. “Almost every missionary serving now is seeing fruit among Muslims. Something is cooking out there. Something big is happening.”

Many thousands of Muslims are converting to Christianity on the Arab Peninsula and in Iran, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Indonesia, he said.

“Don’t think it’s limited to the other side of the world,” Gresson cautioned. “It can happen here. It’s got to happen here.”

But making it happen depends on finding a few key Muslims who can become the catalyst for a spiritual movement, he stressed.

“With a Muslim, you are always an outsider. Find that insider. You can’t get to all his relatives. You are an outsider. He has access,” he continued.

Greeson offered another word of caution. “When you find a person of peace, don’t make him join your church, comb his hair different and make him like you. Disciple him, but don’t make him go through an eight-month discipleship program. Messy people start movements. Don’t try to clean them up.”

Greeson’s first two years working with Muslims largely was unsuccessful, he admits. “Everything was thrown back at me.” They didn’t believe Jesus was the Son of God or that he died and rose again. They did not accept the Bible as authoritative, so quoting Scripture was useless. Greeson had to learn how to communicate with Muslims in ways that would not cause them immediately to shut down the conversation.

“Salaam-Alaikum” or “peace be to you” is a greeting that often lowers defenses, he suggested. Greeson then follows that up with the invitation: “Let’s read the Quran together about Jesus.”

Greeson discovered a Christian movement in a village where there were many conversions from Islam, and he asked about the catalyst for the transformation. The approach Greeson now teaches— “The Camel Method”—stems from that encounter.

The name of the method comes from an Arabic saying: Every good Muslim knows 99 names for Allah, but only the camel knows the 100th name. “We tell them we know the 100th name. It’s Jesus,” Greeson explained.

The Camel Method uses the Quran to establish three main points: ’Isa, or Jesus, is holy; ’Isa has power over death; and ’Isa knows the way to heaven.

Using selected verses from the Quran, the Camel Method doesn’t teach or lecture, but asks questions.

The 45th verse of Imran addresses Jesus as Masih ’Isa. “Ask them what does Masih ’Isa mean? Muslims know the meanings of their names. Names are important to them, but most won’t know this one,” Greeson said. “Then you can tell them that it means messiah or anointed one.”

Next, ask if any other of the 124,000 prophets the Muslims revere was given that designation, he instructed. None were. This demonstrates the uniqueness of Christ.

In the 47th verse of Imran, Mary the mother of Jesus testifies she never had been touched by a man. Ask if any other prophet was born without a father, and Muslims typically will answer, “Adam.” Let them tell the story of the Garden of Eden until the point where Adam is forced to leave paradise because of his sin.

Note all of Adam’s and Eve’s descendents likewise have been sinful, but Jesus wasn’t included in that line.

The 49th verse of Imran says ’Isa, or Jesus, has can “bring dead to life.”

“At this point, I say, ‘My greatest fear is death, and I’m grateful there is one who has power over it,” Greeson suggested.

Verse 54 of Imran says God has a plan, and verse 55 describes that plan. It says that Allah will cause ’Isa to die and then will exalt him. It goes on to say that those who deny the truth that ’Isa proclaims will be far below those who follow his truth.

Greeson suggests asking if any of the 124,000 can help a person get to heaven.

“I’ve never gotten any answer other than ’Isa,” he said.

At that time, a Muslim is prepared to hear the plan of salvation using verses 54 and 55—Korbani Plan of Salvation.

“Korbani” means sacrifice. The Quran points out a blood sacrifice is needed to cover sins, and Muslims go through a ritual every year where they slaughter an animal to cover their sins. That gives an opening to talk about Christ’s sacrifice, Greeson said.

Let them know Allah’s plan was for one perfect person to be sacrificed who would take all sin for all time.

Next, a Christian witness can talk about accepting Christ’s sacrifice. Greeson said to ask if a judge let a guilty man go if that would be justice, which will bring a negative answer, because a judge has to give punishment for wrongs.

“But ’Isa came and said, I have clean hands, put their judgment on me. That was God’s plan,” Greeson explains.

He acknowledged that the process takes time, and many fall away due to pressures from their society. But, he said, Christians must be diligent in telling the good news to Muslims because God already is preparing hearts to hear the gospel.




 

Igneous Quill

Contextualization or Compromise?
03/19/2010
 

"For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings." - 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 NRSV

In times past, when I was more active on Internet religion forums and discussion groups, I would occasionally see an exchange between an atheist and one or more Christians.  Generally the Christian(s) would attempt to show the reasonableness of their faith, pointing to what's been called the "general revelation" of creation.  Others, though, would simply start quoting passage after passage of the Bible.  This was useless, given that the atheist did not accept the authority of the Bible.  When confronted with this evangelistic approach atheists tend to say something like "you may as well quote from the magic book of unicorns."  Without the Bible as an authoritative starting point, wannabe personal evangelists need to look for other common ground to begin.  The same is true when approaching any non-Christian religion, whether Buddhist, Wiccan, Muslim or other.

That brings me to an article I read in the New York Times about a controversy in the Southern Baptist Convention involving the president of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and the president of the denominations International Mission Board.  The former reportedly called the latter a liar.  Although an apology later came for the terminology used, the point was left standing.  The objection centered on using the "CAMEL method" to evangelize Muslims.  "CAMEL" stands for "Chosen Angels Miracles Eternal Life" and the approach seeks to utilize what the Koran, the sacred book of Islam, says about Jesus to start Muslims along the path toward conversion to the Christian faith.

So far, this sounds pretty good.  I mean, if people don't accept the Bible as authoritative but another book in its place, and if that book can be used to bring people around to accepting both the authority of the Bible and the Lordship of Christ, that's good!

Some ways of implementing this "contextualization" may cross some lines.  A few years ago a Christian man suggested to me that the best way to evangelize in Muslim nations was to dress like (local) Muslims,  eat like Muslims, pray five times a day like Muslims and gather on Friday evenings like Muslims.  Essentially, he was saying to abandon the Lord's day and in all outward practice be a Muslim, with only the exception of reading the Bible and believing in the triune God revealed in and through Jesus of Nazareth.

What I just described above does not sound like contextualization to me.  It's more along the lines of concession and compromise and looks like a near-complete removal of the "offense" of the Gospel.

If by "CAMEL" the intent is to use shared beliefs as a starting point, I'm all for it.  If, on the other hand, it's an almost complete adoption of the practices of other religions to shroud hidden, Christian beliefs, then it becomes deceitful.  This was the criticism of the seminary president against the strategy endorsed by the mission board president of the Southern Baptists.  Who is right and who is wrong depends entirely upon how evangelistic method is being carried out.