Holistic Mission for the Church
Reintegrating the Christian Mission in the World.
The Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, or the “Lausanne Movement,” is an international collaborative movement to mobilize Christians for world evangelization. It was founded in 1974 by key leaders Billy Graham and John Stott. According to the “About” page of the Lausanne Movement website, the movement’s fourfold vision is to see “the gospel for every person, disciple-making churches for every people and place, Christ-like leaders for every church and sector, and kingdom impact in every sphere of society.” Sadly, few American evangelicals are familiar with what has been at the forefront of world mission for five decades. We have a lot to learn from our brothers and sisters from other places in the world.
Christopher Wright, in addressing the Lausanne Committee, wrote,
“Holistic mission includes the whole of what God calls and sends us to do. Evangelism without social action is not holistic mission. Likewise, social action without evangelism cannot be holistic mission either.”
The integral and dynamic exercise of all dimensions of mission.
In 2010, the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization convened, and the result was “The Cape Town Commitment: A Confession of Faith and a Call to Action,” The commitment was to “the integral and dynamic exercise of all dimensions of mission” which is summed up with two bullet points:
“God commands us to make known to all nations the truth of God’s revelation and the gospel of God’s saving grace through Jesus Christ, calling all people to repentance, faith, baptism and obedient discipleship.
“God commands us to reflect his own character through compassionate care for the needy, and to demonstrate the values and the power of the kingdom of God in striving for justice and peace and in caring for God’s creation.”
This is from the Lausanne Movement on World Evangelization – founded by Billy Graham and John Stott, and this document’s primary architect was Christopher JH Wright, one of our generation’s most respected biblical scholars.
And yet, much of the American evangelical church remains suspicious of that second bullet point, mainly because American conservative politics has co-opted the mission of God’s people.
Conservatives bristle at phrases like “striving for justice” or “caring for God’s creation” because they’ve been conditioned to see that as “liberal” or “not very important.”
But the Christian mission in the world must not be an either/or, but a both/and.
Image is the graphic portion of the Lausanne Movement’s logo.