Planting Churches Among the City's Poor - Volume 2

P ART II: C HURCH P LANTING T OOLKIT • 295

d. Any structure, spirituality, or stewardship which enhances the strength and growth of the indigenous church is by definition pro-CPM

IV. Patterns of Religious Authority and Church Structure in Church Planting Movements

Structure and religious authority in CPMs among the Muslims as the outworking of mission where the “smothering fabric of shariah has been frayed by war and rapid social change , Garrison, Church Planting Movements , pp. 99-122.

Luke 10:16 “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

John 13:20 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”

A. The power of Islam and its shariah (its system of social laws), Garrison, p. 99

1. “Islamic shariah constitutes the only major religious system in the world designed to defeat Christianity,” Garrison, p. 100.

2. Elements of shariah and its working historically

a. Shariah prohibits Muslims from converting to Christianity or any other religion (to do so is punishable by death), Garrison, p. 99. b. Christians may not try to convert Muslims to faith, with Christians restricted to practicing their faith within the confines of their own church buildings , Garrison, p. 100. c. A Muslim man may marry a Christian woman, who may retain her faith, but their children must be Muslim, Garrison, p. 100 (Likewise, Christian men may marry Muslim women, but only after they have converted to Islam.)

d. Shariah allows for easy divorce, and up to four wives at a time, Garrison, p. 100.