Evangelical Missiological Society, "EMS Southwest Regional Meeting", April 4th 2024

Jose Abraham, Fuller Seminary

Deep Listening in Christian-Muslim Engagement: An Ecclesiological Imperative for Mission

The church, as the Body of Christ, is called to bear witness in a world of religious and cultural diversity. Yet, Christian engagement with Muslims has often been characterized by apologetics and polemics rather than presence and relational understanding. This paper argues that deep listening is an essential ecclesiological and missional practice that fosters meaningful Christian-Muslim engagement.

Drawing from biblical, theological, and historical perspectives, this paper examines how listening shaped early Christian encounters with Muslims, particularly in the Middle East. It explores the contributions of Arab Christian scholars who engaged Islam through dialogue, demonstrating that listening was not passive but an active and strategic missional approach. Further, it critiques the impact of colonial representations of Islam, which shaped Western Christian attitudes and limited genuine engagement.

This study proposes that a listening church is a missional church, one that moves beyond monologue to mutual understanding. Deep listening challenges Islamophobic narratives, enhances contextualization, and cultivates spaces for authentic witness. In an era of growing interfaith tensions, the church must recover listening as a theological and missional virtue, embodying Christ’s incarnational love in relationships with Muslims.

This paper contributes to the discourse on ecclesiology and mission by asserting that deep listening is not merely a tool for engagement but a core expression of the church’s identity and witness in an increasingly pluralistic world.