Listening to the Current Reality
Islam is the world’s second-largest religion and is experiencing rapid demographic growth. By 2030, Muslims are expected to comprise over a quarter of the global population, reaching 2.2 billion across 79 countries. While the Middle East and North Africa remain central to Islamic identity, the majority of Muslims now live outside this region, particularly in Asia-Pacific and sub-Saharan Africa. These global shifts are influencing how Islam is practiced, interpreted, and politicised across diverse cultural contexts.
At the same time, Christian-Muslim relations remain deeply complex. Historical wounds, socio-political conflict, and religious misunderstandings often hinder mutual engagement. The church’s witness among Muslims has been marked by both courageous commitment and critical gaps—particularly in theological clarity, cross-cultural understanding, and collaborative mission strategy.
Imagining a Preferred Reality
A global church is imagined that engages Islam not with fear or hostility, but with informed compassion, theological depth, and patient witness. In this preferred future, Christians develop credible relationships with Muslim neighbours, offering a confident and Christlike testimony to the gospel. There is sustained investment in research, dialogue, and contextualised mission practices rooted in humility and hope.
Churches around the world embrace their role in God’s mission to Muslim communities, not only in historically Islamic regions, but increasingly in diasporic and secular settings. Theological institutions equip leaders with tools to understand Islamic thought, Scripture, and prophetic traditions, while Muslim-background believers are discipled and empowered to lead.
Creating Strategies to Close the Gap
The following are suggested steps to realise this preferred reality:
- Theological Engagement: Promote deeper biblical and theological exploration of topics relevant to Islam—such as the person of Jesus, prophecy, and revelation. Resources like Prophets in the Qur’an and the Bible by Daniel Baeq and Sam Kim exemplify the kind of comparative theological work needed.
- Cross-Cultural Training: Equip missionaries, pastors, and everyday believers with practical training in Islamic contexts, worldview understanding, and respectful communication.
- Collaboration with Muslim-background Believers (MBBs): Empower and platform MBB leaders to guide mission strategy, speak to theological issues, and shape discipleship practices for their communities.
- Global and Local Partnerships: Encourage partnerships between churches in Muslim-majority contexts and those in the diaspora. This includes joint training efforts, story sharing, and resource development.
- Hospitality and Presence: Foster local expressions of hospitality, particularly in areas experiencing migration or refugee resettlement, where many Muslims encounter Christians for the first time.
Communicating and Collaborating
Global collaboration is essential to advancing mission engagement with the Muslim world. Lausanne Issue Networks, theological educators, church planters, and MBB leaders must create platforms for shared learning and mutual encouragement. Digital tools, interfaith forums, and academic research initiatives should be leveraged to connect the global church in understanding and reaching Muslims. In this spirit, Lausanne’s ongoing emphasis on listening, learning, and loving well is foundational for the church’s credible witness in the Islamic world.
This edited summary was produced from the AI-generated report on the collective insights gained from the collaborate group discussions at the Fourth Lausanne Congress.