Christianity Today, Insider Movements, and "seein' what ya wanna see"

Well, Christianity Today has jumped into the whirling cesspool that is the Insider Movement discussion. God have mercy on them and may St George (whose feast it is today) intercede for them.

I love some of the comments on one of the 'interviews' which really shows us how people can find what they wanna find, when they really wanna find it.

A good example of this is NOT finding Islam when we're talking about terrorism.

But in relation to Christianity Today, it is about finding these mysterious followers of Jesus (or as CT calls them, always, because I guess it builds cred--Issa al masih). Gene Daniels (pseudonym) presents us with an interview of one Abu Jaz (pseudonym) who is, we are told, an insider. He uses words like Allah and Issa and so on and so forth. He is in East Africa. He doesn't belong to the Church but belongs to a different movement, called People of the Gospel.

Here is the set up:

And no insider movement has received more attention than Muslims who embrace Christ yet stay within their Islamic community. "Insiders" are hard to access due to cultural, geographic, and linguistic barriers. As a result, many Christians have taken positions on insider movements without ever having met or spoken with someone who belongs to one. In the following exclusive interview, we hear from just such an insider.

But where this gets really interesting is in the comments! Woo-hoo...Hussein Wario, well-known author and Kenyan (I think) ex-Muslim Christian. Here is what Wario, who is an insider to the evangelical scene in this mystery country, says:

Gene Daniels, You owe CT an apology. Contrary to what you have written and defended for the past three months, your interviewee, Abu Jaz, is not known as "Muslim" in his native country. A person who knows him writes, "In fact [redacted name] is known in [redacted country name] as a Muslim background evangelical Christian who has a burden for reaching Muslims. To my knowledge he received Christ as his saviour in [redacted] church and is still part of it. He is not at all known as a 'Muslim' among evangelical churches. He is part of the [redacted evangelical association name]. It is under [redacted evangelical association name], and under his leadership, that the Muslim friendly bible translation is initiated. It is in fact through him the funds were secured to translate the bible. If you come to visit [redacted his country], you could find him is in his office, at the [redacted evangelical association name] building." Wycliffe's The Seed Company is funding it.

Welcome to the exciting world of African missions! It seems pretty clear that Daniels has seen something that is just not there. Here is my guess, and it's just a guess: Daniels loves the idea of IM, and so he has looked for one. He found Abu Jaz who is, quite sensibly, not publicizing much his connection to this or that church (not a new idea), has started a sort of mission fellowship (not a new idea), and when he talks to Muslims uses Islamic words and phrases (also not a new idea, at all).

But he, and CT, have found what they wanted to find: an Insider Movement. If you want it enough, you will get it!