Muslim Follower of Jesus – is this possible?

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Contextual Mission Approaches and Islam

In the last twenty years or so, the phrase “Muslim follower of Jesus” has been used to identify those who allegedly accept Christ in their hearts, acknowledge him in their mind, yet still retain their Muslim identity. My big question is: “Can you call yourself a follower of Christ, and by the same breath deny that you are a Christian?”

John Travis (pseudonym), mastermind of the C1-C6 spectrum would say an emphatic “yes.” In an article under the title “Messianic Muslim Followers of Isa.” Travis (a pseudonym) writes: …

“Messianic Muslims” follow Christ but remain within the Muslim community….Yet they do not view or call themselves “Christians.” (John Travis, Messianic Muslim Followers of Isa International Journal of Frontier Missions, Vol. 17:1 Spring 2000; http://www.ijfm.org/PDFs_IJFM/17_1_PDFs/Followers_of_Isa.pdf)

These are called by Travis, C5 believers. Here is how he defines this group:

“C5 believers identify themselves as “Muslim followers of Jesus”– much like Messianic Jews, who call themselves “Jewish followers of Jesus.” (2)

Joshua Massey (pseudonym) elaborates further on what C5 Muslims look like. He writes,

“C5 Muslims … don’t have to bother with religio-cultural gymnastics. They know they are Muslims, and they know they have been transformed by the Spirit of God.” (3)

Travis and others argue that the name ‘Christian’ carries bad connotations and therefore must not be used. Strangely, Muslim identity with all the negative connotations it carries is preferred over the Christian Identity.

**What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus?**

The phrase “Follower of Jesus” is biblical. The Disciples of Christ are those who responded to his call to follow him and they became known as “followers of Christ.” Since this phrase is borrowed from the gospels it behooves us to look into the meaning of this phrase according to Jesus and how the disciples understood it to mean. [continue reading the entire article HERE!]

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