It's common knowledge that the fastest growing population in Europe is people from Islamic countries and backgrounds. In some countries - Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium among others - the population shift is dramatic.
Many people are deeply alarmed by this trend. Politicians from the far right are being elected in some countries because they are running on anti-immigration platforms. Various EU commissions are trying to create policies which provide some control of immigration. There is much talk about how people assimilate (or don't) into cultures.
I believe that these immigration trends offer one of the greatest Kingdom opportunities the Church has seen since the Reformation. Rather than being driven by fear we have the chance for cultures to meet (and certainly clash at times) and for people to be introduced to Jesus in free western societies.
This is all full of challenges and there is resistance for sure. Islam as a religion is evangelistic, just as Christianity is. Europeans are hungry for spirituality, and some are converting to Islam. I'm not advocating converting to Islam. I'm just saying this is the reality we are living in and we need to engage rather than retreat.
Well said Brian. A key to engaging is to overcome fear and that is something that we in the Church need to be teaching. Otherwise, fear which one motivator of prejudice will short circuit the love that we're called to have for our neighbor, including our Muslim neighbor.
ReplyDeleteIn my brief experience in France among Muslims, I came away with the feeling that 2nd generation Muslims, particularly from N. Africa, are more open to the gospel than their parents. It is also this group that feels the most isolated from their original culture and as outsiders in France. I think any serious church planting or evangelistic efforts in France in the next 30 years must engage with this people group.
ReplyDeleteI have seen two of these Islamic recruitment videos and both the recent converts appear to be physically attractive women. It reminds me of the "divine deception" campaigns run by cults in the 70s and 80s on college campuses. I remember Brian warning me of the tactic.
ReplyDeleteI look at Luke 12: 49-53 when I see Nicole Queen "Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!" I feel sorry for Nicole because sometime, and probably often, she was let down by her former Christian brothers and sisters. She became lost in a Christian world because someone failed to either teach her or share with her the Bible (God's great book of direction)) in a way that would be pleasing to God. When one of the flock is lost, it is likely a shepherd was to blame or the sheep were led to an unsafe pasture. I can't get the movie "To Save a Life" out of my head on this one.
Timmy A