A group of Southern Baptist missionaries working in predominantly Muslim countries has issued a letter asking that Baptists refrain from denouncing Islam and its prophet Muhammad.
“Comments by Christians in the West about Islam and Muhammad can and do receive much attention in our cities and communities on local radio, television and print sources,” the group wrote. “These types of comments … can further the already heightened animosity toward Christians, more so toward evangelicals and even more so … Baptists.”
The letter was released by The Biblical Recorder, a newsjournal for North Carolina Baptists, which received it from George Braswell, a professor of missions and world religions at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C. The professor recently returned from a visit to the Middle East.
“Braswell explained to me that he was leading a seminar with these missionaries and they expressed concerns to him,” Biblical Recorder Editor Tony Cartledge told Religion News Service. “He agreed to distribute the letter if they were certain that’s what they wanted.”
Anonymous writers
The letter writers, who called themselves only “A Group of Southern Baptists Serving in the Muslim World” for security reasons, included more than two dozen missionaries living in the Middle East, North Africa, East Africa and South Asia.
“We have found it more beneficial without Muslim friends to concentrate on sharing Christ in love and concentrating on the message of the gospel, instead of speaking in a degrading manner about their religion or prophet,” they wrote.
They were responding to remarks by prominent Southern Baptists, including former Southern Baptist Convention President Jerry Vines and evangelists Jerry Falwell and Franklin Graham, who have made public comments disparaging Islam. An official of the International Mission Board (IMB) issued a statement responding to the comments of the missionaries. “These IMB workers wanted to emphasize a focus on bearing witness for Christ as a blessing to Muslims, rather than arguing Islam versus Christianity,” said Avery Willis, senior vice president of overseas operations.
(RNS)
Share with others: