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Learning from Lausanne: Reflections on an Evangelical Movement of World Missions

As many of us in America turned our eyes to the recent political election, you might’ve missed what happened a couple months ago when 5,000 believers from 200 countries gathered together in Seoul, South Korea for the Lausanne Movement’s Fourth Congress on World Evangelization. Prior gatherings had been held in Cape Town (2010), Manila (1989), and Lausanne (1974). The original congress in Lausanne, Switzerland was a gathering of 2,400 evangelicals from 150 countries, spearheaded by the likes of Billy Graham and John Stott. TIME magazine called it a “formidable forum,” and it certainly was not lacking in global effects, as indicated by its impact on evangelical missions strategy and ongoing conversations and congresses.

The 1974 Lausanne Congress actually grew out of a smaller, but still significant, meeting of evangelicals in Berlin in 1966. Meeting under the theme of “One Race, One Gospel, One Task,” leaders like Graham and Carl F.H. Henry brought together leaders in a setting that juxtaposed that of the increasingly liberal congresses of the World Council of Churches (WCC). While the WCC’s ecumenical nature and theological wideness opened the door for an increasing departure from biblical fidelity, the 1966 Berlin gathering sought to address the need for world evangelization from an evangelical perspective. Eight years later, Lausanne did so on a more global and movement-making scale.

Why was the Lausanne Congress so significant? And why have three subsequent congresses sought to continue to grapple with the task of global evangelization in a changing world? Three main forces, which Justin Schell helpfully touched on this past summer, made the Lausanne Congress particularly impactful. Though Seoul’s Fourth Congress is worth discussing, each of the three main takeaways from the Lausanne ’74 are also worth remembering even now.


“The 1966 Berlin gathering sought to address the need for world evangelization from an evangelical perspective.”


What were those three main takeaways? First, in preparation for the congress, John Stott and others prepared the Lausanne Covenant as a theological manifesto of sorts, which was then edited by many and signed by most attendees. Theology still matters. Secondly, at Lausanne, a paper presented by Ralph Winter popularized the concept of unreached people groups, reminding us that our task remains unfinished. Thirdly, following the congress, Lausanne provided momentum and a sense of identity to evangelicals on a global scale to a degree not seen before, thus helping to unify Christians around mission. So, let’s pause and ask what we have to learn from these takeaways half a century later.

1. Theological precision still matters for understanding the task ahead of us.

Possibly the greatest thing to come out of Lausanne in 1974 was the Lausanne Covenant. In reflecting on the covenant, Robert Coleman said, “The Lausanne Covenant still to this day is probably the best representative statement of where the evangelical comes down, not just on evangelism but on other issues: the inspiration of Scripture…on social compassion, on many other areas…of concern.”

Though the immediate context of a congress on world evangelization meant the covenant addressed well issues like the relation between evangelism and social concern, the wider context of liberalism in mainline churches meant that it also addressed simple matters like the authority of Scripture. This year’s Seoul Statement sought to bring theological precision to pressing issues like sexuality and technology that also arise out of contemporary concerns. In any day, it is the constant task of the church to seek out theological precision to the glory of God.

Oftentimes, conflicting views of the relationship between evangelism and social concern in the mission of the church receive focus in reflections on Lausanne (no doubt because it’s an ongoing discussion for evangelicals). But it’s also important to realize that Stott and others had to directly push back against the ways in which liberalism had derailed churches of their day.


“Stott and others had to directly push back against the ways in which liberalism had derailed churches of their day.”


The WCC had for decades begun to lose sight of the mission of the church due to an increasing departure from trust in the authority of Scripture. Even as early as 1966, when many evangelicals held a very different meeting in Berlin, the WCC had abandoned biblical infallibility, opened the door for universalistic tendencies, reframed sin in terms of social wrongs rather than rebellion against God, redefined evangelism as social action, and responded through a drastically different mission for the church. Theological precision still matters for understanding the task ahead of us (as well as for a myriad of other reasons).

These days, our churches can be tempted to allow the prevailing culture to define our task, but I also see ways in which good-hearted but misguided theology can confuse churches as well. Many reading this are likely from churches in the Restoration Movement, and it’s no secret that many of our churches operate as if the mission simply involves restoring the original forms of the New Testament church. As a result, churches can fall into a lifeless routine. More recently, many within the Churches of Christ (a branch of the Restoration Movement) have started viewing the mission of the church in ways that the WCC began to do. As a result, the physical concerns of the world rightly receive great focus, but the urgency of the spiritual concerns of the lost take a back seat. Without a consistent reminder of the church’s mission to make disciples of all nations, the current seems to take us elsewhere. It’s imperative that we allow theological precision arising from a faithful reading of Scripture to define the task ahead of us.

2. That task ahead of us still remains unfinished.

Certainly the most significant paper presented at Lausanne came from Ralph Winter when he popularized the idea of unreached people groups. At that point, many in liberal, mainline denominations had begun to reframe not only the mission of the church but also the scope of that mission. By that point, followers of Christ existed in every nation-state on earth, so evangelism was no longer seen as taking the gospel to the ends of the earth, but rather helping people around the world live into and establish God’s kingdom here on earth. Even many evangelicals with a more biblical view of missions saw the Great Commission as nearly completed.

By contrast, Winter pointed out that the ethne of which Matthew 28:19 spoke referred not to nation-states, with ever-changing borders, but to ethno-linguistic groups around the world. Winter was not the first to bring a focus to ethno-linguistic groups (Cameron Townsend had done so through Bible translation efforts and then Donald McGavaran through the Church Growth Movement), but his paper was the turning point for evangelicals. He spoke of countless “hidden peoples” that may reside in a country with believers but still had millions of people with no indigenous church movement, as well as the vastly disproportionate placement of missionaries in relation to the need of unreached peoples.


“Winter pointed out that the ethne of which Matthew 28:19 spoke referred not to nation-states, with ever-changing borders, but to ethno-linguistic groups around the world.”


It’s hard to understate how significant Winter’s focus on unreached peoples, a concept taken for granted by many today, has been on evangelical missions strategy. Admittedly, the idea has its limitations. Researchers are constantly discovering new people groups as well as debating what delineates one people group from another. Beyond that, Scripture gives no clear answer of when a group of people has been sufficiently evangelized. How exactly do you quantify Matthew 24:14 (NIV): “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come”? A strong indigenous church movement able to evangelize its own people is a great goal, but when have we actually reached that mark? Despite the ongoing struggles in quantifying how much of the task still remains unfinished, it’s undeniable that we still have a long way to go.

It has become apparent that 468 million people still lack a full New Testament in their mother tongue, 165 million of which have no Scripture in their heart language at all. Furthermore, 42% of the world’s population lives within a people group with less than 2% evangelicals. Estimates vary depending on the source, but to this day, we struggle to send workers to the places needed most, with less than 10% going to unreached peoples.

Until our hearts as leaders are aflame with passion for God’s glory among the nations, our churches will not send like we ought. But how much time do we as leaders spend praying for the God of the harvest to send out workers into his fields? I for one could probably benefit from some Spirit-led, sleepless nights of soul-searching regarding my commitment to Christ’s commission, and I imagine I’m not alone.


“How much time do we as leaders spend praying for the God of the harvest to send out workers into his fields?”


Thankfully, the task is not all ours to complete, nor has God demanded that it be done in our lifetime. But as for me, when I get to the throne of God, I want to know that I played some small part in the praises of Christ being received from people of every language. The task ahead of us still remains unfinished, but this means that so too does the privilege of world evangelization.

3. Unity in Christ still matters for completing the task ahead of us.

Beyond the Lausanne Covenant and its implications on giving evangelicals a common point of theological agreement, and beyond Winter’s and others’ papers and the impact that they made on missiological strategies, the Lausanne Congress was incredibly impactful in bringing a sense of identity and momentum to evangelical Christianity.

In some sense, it seems a bit odd to talk of evangelical identity strengthening fifty years ago—since the history of the church (genuine Christianity, at least) has always been that of an evangelical faith (in the broader sense of the term). Nevertheless, Lausanne was significant in just how many believers it brought together from various denominations and countries. Since then, the global diversity of the church has only grown and become more celebrated, particularly at more recent meetings of the Lausanne Movement.

As wonderful as the evangelical unity at Lausanne has been, it needs to be viewed alongside the unhealthy ecumenism of the World Council of Churches. Unity in and of itself is not the goal, but rather unity in Christ. Once the WCC sought out unity apart from a strong adherence to the teachings of Christ himself, it lost all ability to effectively carry out the task of the church. Time will tell how long Lausanne is able to hold to biblical fidelity while still upholding global collaboration (hopefully until the task is complete), but for the past half century it has done this relatively well. As a result, many Great Commission partnerships have come between churches and mission agencies around the world.


“Lausanne was significant in just how many believers it brought together from various denominations and countries.”


Discerning how big our tent ought to be is no easy task, but it is imperative for completing the task Christ has entrusted to us. On the one hand, we can be tempted to take the path of sectarianism to be sure that we never work with those who may be theologically off-base. On the other hand, we can begin to downplay theological and missiological precision for unity’s sake, to our own detriment. Historically, various portions of the Restoration Movement have taken and continue to take each avenue. It remains to each generation to hold to biblical truth and collaborate in Christ-honoring unity for the glory of God in the world.

Lausanne not only provides opportunities for believers to continue to collaborate for the sake of global evangelization, but provides teaching points for us. Half a century later, theological precision still matters for understanding the task ahead of us. That task still remains unfinished, and unity in Christ still matters for completing it. Let’s live with urgency and passion for the glory of Christ among the nations.

“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’” (Revelation 7:9-10, NIV)

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