Christ-Followers in Other Religions

Contents

Preface xi

SECTION ONE
INSIDERS AND MISSIOLOGICAL IMAGINARIES
1. Introduction: New Missiological Imaginaries 1
2. Religion and Hybrid Religiosity 17
3. God’s Activity in Hybrid Religiosity 31

SECTION TWO
CASE STUDIES OF INSIDER CHRIST-FOLLOWERS
4. Insider Christ-Follower Imaginaries in History 47
5. Insider Christ-Followers Today 65

SECTION THREE
INSIDER MISSIOLOGICAL IMAGINARIES IN PRACTICE
6. Insider Imaginaries and Religious Revelations Part 1 85
7. Insider Imaginaries and Religious Revelations Part 2 97
8. Insider Imaginaries of Salvation 109
9. The Journey of “Conversion” 127
10. Insider Missiologies of Family 145
11. Conclusion 165

Bibliography 177

About the Author:
Darren Duerksen (Ph.D. Intercultural Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary) is Associate Professor of Intercultural and Religious Studies at Fresno Pacific University (Fresno, CA, USA). He is co-author with
William Dyrness of Seeking Church (IVP 2019), and author of Ecclesial Identities in Multi-faith Contexts (Wipf and Stock 2015).

About the book:
In recent decades many people have begun following Christ while remaining a part of their non-Christian religious communities. These "insider" Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Native American, and other followers of Christ have generated much interest and controversy, particularly in Western mission agencies and churches. In this book Duerksen analyses the ways in which GodÊs Spirit may be creating "alternative missiological imaginaries" through these individuals and groups, and how their understandings of and witness to Christ can challenge, expand, and de-center prevalent Western understandings of Christian mission and discipleship.

Book Review:
Mission Studies
Published with license by Koninklijke Brill BV | doi:10.1163/15733831-12341972
© Tianji Ma, 2024 | ISSN: 0168-9789 (print) 1573-3831 (online)

Endorsements:
Duerksen’s book is well-researched, timely and creates an opening dialogue for those wondering what direction the Spirit is leading followers of Jesus in these changing times. In Christ-Follower’s in Other Religions you will come to see how God is at work in the world; not limited to what has traditionally been called by the West, ‘the Church’. Whether you understand what is happening as fact or imaginary, the book shows this movement is not something new, but continues to resurface throughout the ages, forcing us to ask the deepest questions about who God is and what is God up to? And, equally important, what must we do to follow?
Randy S. Woodley, PhD, author of Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred Earth

This timely corrective work is long overdue. Building on a heritage of earlier efforts, the last two centuries of Protestant Christian mission has been one of the most well-funded, privatized, individualistic international industries on the planet. The concepts of ‘Christianizing’ conquest and comity contracts continue to prioritize human effort over spirit-led obedience and partnership. This western missionary pandemic has infected the world and continues to infect the world through the efforts of equally well intentioned and un-informed non-western
global workers today. Duerksen brings us back to ‘imaginaries’ that allow us to recover the original invitation to participate with a Spirit-led global initiative in and (shockingly!) through other religious traditions. This re-discovery of another dimension of the work of the missio dei stands in judgment on all locally inspired attempts to ‘bring’ God to panta ta ethne. Just as mission changed the church in Acts 15, may we as the church be humble enough to be converted by this insight into God’s insider work in the world yet again.
Paul De Neui, Professor of Missiology, North Park Seminary, and editor of Emerging Faith: Lessons from Mission History in Asia and Gift and Duty: Where Grace and Merit Meet

Establishing a position of openness to the possibility that the Holy Spirit may be present and active in places not labelled ‘Christian’ or ‘church’, Darren Duerksen aims to understand selected ‘insider movements’ in their own terms, rather than in relation to the global mission strategies of others. Closely argued from the growing literature in the field – from insiders themselves and from those who accompany and study the movements, this volume will challenge, and may provoke, but it offers new imaginaries for reading the scriptures and understanding salvation, conversion and family to other ‘Christ-Followers’ in the West who are willing to receive it.
Kirsteen Kim, Paul E. Pierson Professor of World Christianity and Associate Dean for the Center for Missiological Research, Fuller Theological Seminary

As someone who has worked for two decades to find ways beyond the impasses regarding the so-called exclusivism and inclusivism in historic debates in theology of religions, I welcome how Darren Duerken’s book shows so clearly not only how the former isms are misleading rather than illuminating, and also why: because we have dated understandings of the so-called religions that do not match up to the hybridity, historicity, and dynamic movements of people on faith journeys that intersect with, combine, and mutually inform across religious lines. Yet, and herein the other genius of this volume: many of these multiple-religious practitioners are also Jesus-followers, thus challenging Christian selfunderstandings of faithful discipleship in an era of globalization. Christ-Followers in Other Religions will challenge preconceived notions about Christian commitment in a world of many faiths.
Amos Yong, Dean of the School of Mission and Theology and Professor of Theology and Mission, Fuller Theological Seminary, and author of Mission after Pentecost: The Witness of the Spirit from Genesis to Revelation and The Hermeneutical Spirit: Theological Interpretation and the Scriptural Imagination for the 21st Century

In this important work, Darren Duerksen tackles multiple complex, and mystery filled issues in mission: religion, hybridity in identity, the work of the Spirit outside of our typically expected manifestations, and more. That in and of itself would be ambitious, but in his concluding chapter he also reveals one of his aims: mending missiology. Thus, while Darren has a pastoral and practical and ultimately field-rooted grasp of the issues he invites us to explore, he also encourages us to imagine an encompassing vision for a future, a future in which we don't just imagine something happening 'out there' but also something different among ‘us’, we who do and think about missiology. I will be relying on this book in some of my own writing projects, and highly comment it to you.
Kevin Higgins, General Director Frontier Ventures

There are many reasons to commend this book, including introductions to some wonderful lovers of Christ outside of Christianity. Nothing is more commendable than the restraint of the book, the respect for people working out discipleship to Jesus in contexts foreign to Western Christian life. Duerksen not only models this respectful restraint, he provides a satisfying paradigm that accounts for and supports these differences within the body of Christ. Many helpful examples of specific areas of tension and rethinking are outlined, often noting that there is not one simple solution that all insider followers of Jesus agree on. This book deserves a wide readership among all who are interested in new movements toward Christ across the globe.
H. L. Richard, author of Following Jesus in the Hindu Context and editor of Cultural Gaps: Benjamin Robinson’s Experience with Hindu Traditions

I welcome how Darren Duerksen’s book shows so clearly not only how the former categories are misleading
rather than illuminating, and also why: because we have dated understandings of the so-called religions that do not match up to the hybridity, historicity, and dynamic movements of people on faith journeys that intersect with, combine, and mutually inform across religious lines. Christ-Followers in Other Religions will challenge preconceived notions about Christian commitment in a world of many faiths.
Amos Yong, Dean of the School of Mission and Theology and Professor of Theology and Mission, Fuller Theological Seminary

Darren Duerksen has provided a much-needed compass on the seemingly threatening terrain of insider movements within other religious worlds. His personal blend of grassroots research and comprehensive missiological perspective carries a credibility and a savvy as we look to respond to this emergent interreligious phenomenon.
Brad Gill, Editor, International Journal for Frontier Missiology

Darren Duerksen has provided a much-needed compass on the seemingly threatening terrain of insider movements within other religious worlds. His personal blend of grassroots research and comprehensive missiological perspective carries a credibility and a savvy as we look to respond to this emergent interreligious phenomenon. He does not skirt the difficult issues of syncretism, inter-textuality, and conversion, and he exudes that wonderful manner of walking expectantly and patiently alongside those who follow Jesus from these other religious worlds. This is an easily consumable manual for all who seek to discern the Spirit’s creative handiwork on the religious borderlands of the 21st century.
Brad Gill, Editor, International Journal for Frontier Missiology

In this thought-provoking text, Duerksen explores the alternative missiological imaginaries that are emerging from insider movements, which both challenge and have the potential to enrich Western understandings of Christianity and mission practice. Centered around two key questions, “How is God working among and through insider Christ-followers?” and “What might we learn from this work of the Spirit?”, the author provides a new framework through which to recognize the mission of God in multi-religious contexts. Well-researched and compelling, this book is an essential read for mission practitioners, scholars, and students engaged in, or preparing to enter, cross-cultural ministry.
Sarita Gallagher Edwards, author of Breaking through the Boundaries: Biblical Perspectives on Mission from the Outside In

In this book, Duerksen considers from the perspective of the Spirit followers of Christ in other religions. In the process, he opens exciting, informative, and humbling vistas. Christ-Followers in Other Religions will challenge (and perhaps change!) your paradigm of Christian mission.
Robert K. Johnston, Senior Professor of Theology and Culture, Fuller Theological Seminary and author of God's Wider Presence

In this thought-provoking text, Duerksen explores the alternative missiological imaginaries that are emerging from insider movements, which both challenge and have the potential to enrich Western understandings of Christianity and mission practice. Well-researched and compelling, this book is an essential read for mission practitioners, scholars, and students engaged in, or preparing to enter, cross-cultural ministry.
Sarita Gallagher Edwards, author of Breaking through the Boundaries: Biblical Perspectives on Mission from the Outside In