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St Francis Magazine Vol 8, No 4 | August 2012
To varying degrees and via a variety of strategies, C5 believers
in Jesus might continue to attend the mosque, might participate in
its salat/prayers and the reciting of the shahada (albeit with varying
strategies towards such involvement), adopt or retain patterns of
diet and dress befitting their local Islamic culture, give alms, observe
Ramadan, and may even undertake the Hajj pilgrimage to
Mecca. In such diverse ways, C5 believers would identify themselves
as social and legal members of Muslim family and society,
and continue to offer respect to the tenets of Islamic faith. This
question of self-identity forms C5’s important but contested boundary
with C4, which exists as an explicitly ‘Christian’ ‘church’, albeit
making use of certain Islamic forms (see, e.g. Lewis 2009a). Whereas
C6 indicates ‘private’ or ‘secret’ believers in Christ, a strategy
often adopted out of fear of persecution or martyrdom resulting
from a more public confession, C5 is characterised by small groups
of gathered believers typically meeting together within the community
of Islam. For alleged descriptions of C5 lived experience – with
suitable recognition of its diverse expressions – see, e.g., Travis and
Travis (2005); Brother Yusuf in Corwin et al. (2007); Brown (2007a);
Ali and Woodberry (1999); S. Kim (2010).
For definitions of insider movements, Garrison (2009) and
McGavran (2009) provide wider introductions to, and overviews of,
people-movement approaches to mission. For more focussed discussion
with regard to specifically Islamic situations, see (e.g.) Higgins
(2004: 156), and Lewis (2006, 2007, 2009b). I am aware that the
terms ‘C5’ and ‘insider movement’ mean different things to different
people, sometimes being treated as synonymous, and sometimes
being distinguished from each another (Corwin 2007: 54, 55n2;
Brown and Hawthorne 2009). Furthermore, recently at least one
former proponent has rejected the ‘insider movement’ label (Higgins
2010: 132nn9, 13). Here, for ease of clarity but with recognition for
these diverse opinions, I will treat the terms as broadly equivalent
to each other. For further definitional discussions, see the fourth
edition of Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A Reader
(Winter and Hawthorne 2009).
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