Muslim insider Christ followers: A grounded theory

Are Muslim insider followers of Christ real Christians or a sect of Islam? Are insider movements (IMs) in Muslim context a step too far in contextualization? How do religions relate to Kingdom work? These questions lead to hot debates within the Church but insiders themselves are, by and large, absent from these discussions. This grounded theory qualitative study gives IM leaders a voice. It bases its findings on emic data. The researcher conducted guided interviews with 26 IM leaders from different movements to understand and explain their theological and missional frames. Insiders take their faith very seriously which means that they seek to understand and express it in the same context-fitted way as all other important experiences in their lives. In order to make their varied faith expressions accessible to the wider Church, the author developed a framework with 21 theological and missional topics (rows) and 4 paradigms (columns), based on a range of understandings of Missio Dei within the Church and among the IM leaders. He plotted the views of the interviewees in this M-Framework for further analysis. The 4 paradigms are: Fundamental, Ecumenical, Integral and Global. This study shows that most IM leaders fall in the first 2 paradigms that represent basic evangelical viewpoints. Several IM leaders adhere to the Integral and Global paradigms that focus on the Kingdom of God on earth, new perspectives on Paul, liberation theology and the emerging church. The study also indicates that two frames, namely Religions and the Qur'an, are outliers in that IM leaders consistently expressed views on these topics that fit with a higher paradigm than their views on other frames. They respect the Qur'an and find religion either irrelevant or an obstacle to following Christ. IM leaders also speak out on topics such as Christology, the Son of God, the cross, sin, our mandate, heaven & hell, and their many challenges. The author deeply respects the 26 IM leaders as fellow followers of Christ and considers the range of theological and missional views among IM leaders very healthy, promoting creative explorations towards indigenous theology across all paradigms.