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Darren T. Duerksen, Christ-Followers in Other Religions. The Global Witness of Insider Movements
Stanisław Grodź, SVD
This slim volume offers a highly intriguing reading. First, because of its contents well described by the book title. Second, because it comes from the evangelical strands of Christianity, where individual conversion (often understood as a radical break with the past) has been strongly emphasised. Meanwhile the author presents the phenomenon with an attitude of readiness to discover the workings of the Holy Spirit beyond the visible borders of the Christian community (no attempt to improve one’s own conversion strategies).
This book is about the followers of Christ (the so-called insiders), who took a conscious decision either to remain within their original socio-religious setting (i.e. not formally converting), or who, after converting and some years of often active ministry within a Christian community, decided to return to their non-Christian family or community. They identify themselves as Muslim/Buddhist/etc. followers of Jesus and by their daily witness reach out to people from within their native milieu in a way a Christian is unable to do. Some of them felt (often after a long personal struggle) that God had not expected them to break completely up with their original socio-religious milieu but to work patiently from within to transform it according to the teachings of Jesus as transmitted in the Bible and the promptings of the Holy Spirit. The breaking up with their families and communities was the human demand of the messengers who brought the Good News.
The author presents only a tiny fragment of a wider phenomenon, drawing his examples from within the Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim communities, and from among the native North Americans.
Some Christians are concerned or highly critical of the insider followers of Jesus and the author does not aim to answer questions about the biblical legitimacy of the existence of such people or to defend them. He wants to find out: “How might God be at work in various ways in the midst of these movements despite imperfections, whatever these might be?” The author is convinced that insider movements are shaping alternative missiological imaginaries from which Christians can gain new insights about God and his mission. These imaginaries may challenge the dominance of the existing approaches and the current assumptions of being “caretakers of mission”.
The book is divided into three sections: I. Insiders and Missiological Imaginaries. II. Case Studies of Insider Christ-Followers. III. Insider Missiological Imaginaries in Practice. Duerksen begins by discussing key concepts used in the book – “religion”, “religious traditions” and “people’s religiosity”. He implies that the faith of all followers of Christ has been characterised by a contextual, hybrid religiosity, which one should not fear but rather take it as “a reality in which God is often at work”. Then, he narrates the old (chapter 4) and new (chapter 5) stories of various insiders and proceeds to discuss the alternative imaginaries that these persons and groups provide concerning revelation and religious scripture (chapters 6-7), salvation (chapter 8), religious conversion (chapter 9) and community and relationships (chapter 10).
The book is really thought-provoking and worth reading!
