5 Major Issues Facing the Church

Tim Keller has outlined 5 issues facing the Church in the near future. To read the article at Churchleaders.com click HERE.
The 5 issues Keller lists are:

1. The opportunity for extensive culture making in the U.S.
2. The Rise of Islam
3. The New non-Western Global Christianity
4. The Growing Cultural Remoteness of the Gospel
5. The End of Prosperity?

       As is frequently the case, I think Keller's observations exactly on target. Here is what Keller says under point #2 about Islam:

How do Christians relate to Muslims when we live side by side in the same society? The record in places like Africa and the Middle East is not encouraging! This is more of an issue for the Western church in Europe than in the U.S., but it is going to be a growing concern in America as well. How can Christians be at the very same time a) good neighbors, seeking their good whether they convert or not, and still b) attractively and effectively invite Muslims to consider the gospel?

       When I have done seminars in the U.S. on "Islam in Europe," one of the first questions I am asked is, "Is America going the way of Europe as far as the growth of Islam is concerned?" I am not a futurist and predictor, but many people have now observed that what happens in Europe leads the way for trends in America.

       There are some great people in Europe who are practitioners in reaching out to Muslims in places such as France, Belgium, and Scotland. They are asking this very question - how do we love and care for our Muslim neighbors and also honestly share the gospel with them in ways they can understand and consider the claims of Jesus? That's THE question for ministry in Europe and also in North America.