The Gospel in the Marketplace of Ideas

Spiritual Disciplines in the Marketplace of Ideas.
During the season of Epiphany, I would like for our church to engage with one of the other Abrahamic faiths (that is Christianity, Judaism, and Islam–  who all claim Abraham as a spiritual father) that is rapidly growing around the world, Islam.

According to a Pew Forum study, there are currently 1.57 billion Muslims, representing 23% of the world’s population.

My hope is to focus on the spiritual practice of Muslims and Christians.

What we do flows from what we believe

The religion of Islam is organized around five pillars.  My aim is to take one week on each of these practices.  Since what we do flows from what we believe, we can understand what Muslims believe about Allah from the way they approach him.  For any religion, our sincerity is measured by how our belief shapes the choices we make.  How does Muslim theology affect Muslim practice and by corollary, what does Muslim practice reveal about Muslim theology?  Helpfully, Christians, are instructed to practice many similar disciplines.  The way Jesus talks about them and the way we engage in them also reveals what we believe about God.

My hope is that four things will happen by the end of the series:

• We will all understand a little more about Islam, so that we can engage our Muslim neighbors and co-workers in meaningful dialogue.

• We will all understand and love Jesus more as we engage with his instructions and teaching.

• We will all think about the benefits of spiritual disciplines for our intimacy with God (especially as we prepare for the season of Lent).

• We would all find that our zeal and passion to talk about Jesus and His Gospel would increase.