Full Text for A Report on the Laussane International Congress on World Evangelization (Text)

THE SPRINGFIELDER April 1974 Volume 38, Number 2 A Report on the Laussane International Congress on World Evangelization I N 19 10 f\'T I,1)1NBV1:GI-l, SCO'I'LANI), hunclreds of ~nission- aries fl:om a11 ci\;cr tllc world and a few lcatlers froli~ thc J-oung nlissioll chtlrclies came to~ther for thc first world confercncc to dis- ct~ss thc strategy of evangelizing the i.r.orld. 64 \;cars liltel: thousantls of men and women, young ant1 old, clergy ;)nil lait\;, ~uissionarics a~ld national church lendc~s from 150 natiol~s i~nd frhni nearly every cvangclical dcnonlination i111d church orgnni7,:itioli in thc ~vorld gathcrcd at L,aussanc, Switzei:land, Juli. 1 6-25, 1 9 74, for an In tcrnat innal C:ongrcss on \\!orld E~nn~clizntion'. In 11is olw11i11g at1tl1.e~~ the I~onorar\. C:Il;lirinan, Dr. Bill\. Gralialn. hol,nl illid I>T~I\;CCI th:~t th~ (;o~i~r(~ss~~~oi~ld ~~tii1.11 t~ tll~ thi~~l~~i~ill, 0. 111ougli 11ot thk political 01- socioJogic;~l, visions ant1 c.onccspts 01 thy 11 istoric F,(l illl)~~ rgki (:OII~C~C'IIC.C' ;111d ei~rlicr confcrc!lit:es. 'I'otla~'~ I'i'orld Council of Churchcs that \.iias forn~ctl in 1948 grew out c;f Edinburgli airrl thc ~vorltl confercnccs that it spa~vnctl. 13~1t: it 713s no\ir lost lnuch of t1ic cvangclistic \:isic!n ancl zcnl of ]:din- 1)llrgli. Ilr. Gr;ilialn saiv tlirce prirnar), reasons for this: " 1 ) thc loss of tllc :~iltl.iority of the incssiigc of the Gospel; 2) thc ],reoccupation with social ;~ntl political problen~s; and 3) thc cclual preoccupation with organizational unit!. Hc went on to sail that ollc of the four I~asir reasons for convening the Congress was to re-emphasize these Biblical concepts which arc csscntial to evangelism : 1 ) t11c a~thority of Scripturc; 2) the lostncss of man apart from Jesus Christ; 3) sal- vation .is in Jesus Christ alone; 4) witness must bc by both wort1 and deed; 5 ) tlie necessit~ of c\7angelism ." Laussane was a congress of F.va~lgelieals from within tlic tradi- tionally Christian protestant denominations, although Roliian Cath- olics, Greek Ortl~odox ancl others werc rc17rescnted among tlie 1000 visitors. Thcre were 2 7 00 official participants. The major~ty of thcse ivcrc from outside the USA and inclutletl 1000 third world partici- pants of whonl 60 or more were on the program. Those who took varl: in the Congress came 11). inclivitlur-11 invitation only. There were no official representatives of church bodies. 23 individuals fro111 the R.lisso~rri Synod attcncled the Col~gress, 4 of who111 are on the Bor~rd for h4issiol1s. ?'\.cro-thjrds of the S3.3 million budget was contril~utccl I]!: interested churches. In their C;111 to the ICOWE the Evan~elicals have b~:iefl? sum- rilarized their beliefs as thcir "desire to be kaithful to the Gospel of Tesus Christ and to historic evangelical theology revealed in the Scriptures, confessed by the Church through the centuries, rcaffirnird at Berlin in 1966 and bv evangelistic Congresses which follo\\cO at Singapore, Bogata, ~nIst&dam, and rlse~vhere." In challenging the evangelistic position epitomi/ed b\- the l'i'o~l~! C:ou~)cii of (;l~r~rcl~cs at its cvangclism confcrt!ncc ill 13ar1gkol<, '1 973, t1.w (:ong~.css p1.oposcd : ''1. 'T'o j>u)dlni]n t1.x Biblical 01' cvangclisln il-1 :I dn): of theological confusioli and cxalninc our mc:ssagc anc'l nicthods I)\) this st;lndartl. . 'To rrlatc IIiblic:~l trut1.1 to crucial jss~~cs f;~cing Cl~ristians c\.er\;~vhe~-c. 3. T'o share anti strengthen our unity snii love in (;llrist. 4. 'T'o iclelltify those \\;]lo are as vc't unreachcci or alienated from thc Gospel. 5. 'To learn from cach other the patterns ot' cv;lngelis~n the I-Iolp Spirit is using totla\: in our chu~ch~s, fclloxvshil~s, and missionary societies. 6. 'To i~wakcn oui: Cllristiou consciences to the in~plications of cspressing C1lris~'s love :ill attitude ;inti. action to nlen of o\!c~-!~ class anif color. '. 'To ~~COL~L';I~C cool)~rnti\?~ strategies to~'c7;trd rcacl~ing all men For Christ. I. 'Po prny togethcr for \vol-ld c~vange1izatioi.i in this eelitury aslting that tlw Clongrcss Innv colltrihutc sigl2ilicitntlx! t-o this cntl. 3. 'T'o I)c Gocl's peoplc, avnilablc for id1 Ilis pLrrposcs in thc vvorltl." \\~o.~-Iarticipants prcttv \\,ell accoml~iislied what it set out tc:. do. \\?ithout heconling a legislative body or an ofJicial 01-gai~iiratio~i wit11 clcctetl church delegates, thc Coi~gress was ])art of L? jrlnc:cs.s 1.at1lcl- tllan an cver~t. lT!hat happened before, during arld aftel: \(.as cc~iiall!; jn~port:~lt. h~'lont1.1~ bcforc the Congress con\,cncd Riblical fountlation and rs?;r!c st'ratcg! papcrs wcrc sent to the selected participants fo~: study ! 7 illit1 rcsponsc. T liev were I-cquestcd to return gencral co~~imeii ts, raise (lncstio~~s, iildicate points that the!. thought should l~nvc been in- cjutlctl, list practical implications, and point out :I?; 1111clcar parts. At tlic Cor~gress tl~c lvriter of the lxq3el: xvas to rcspond to all these I-cmarlis. Also before the meeting those involved were give11 n clla~lce to sc1cc.t small group forums for dcn~onstration and discussio~~ at thc C:ongrcss, and were sent papers in advance. Z'reparation was extensive ;III(~ intcnsivc. R,lisso~~ri Synod participants met in Clliciigo tlic clay l~efore de- part~irc antl discussed thc main essays antl their role in the Congress, ''T'lle!. pravctl God's blessing upon the C:ongrcss 2nd asked for His gu idance. During tht tcl.1 days of con~rel~tio~~ a rigoro~ls worl< schedule was adhered to with pleasing punctuality. I-Iowever free time was built into the program, vvlijch \%:as used to relax, shop 01: tour. Alcaltimes providetl additional opportunit! to gct acquainted with others and talk about the topic for thc day, or about: eva~lgelistic methods and strategy, or simply sha~:c faith \\-it11 one another. h/leeting ~eople from all oi:ej: thc world iu~d shilril~g n common concc1:n ;~bo~lt the cvilngeli- zation of: thc .cs'orlti \vas ;I trcn~eliclous esperiencc. l!xcellent ~.ocalists, group singing,. talented musici;lns, multi- n~ctlia prcscntations, pa11c1 ~~SC~LSSIOIIS, ~nter\~ie\l:s, special sl~ealiers, all addecl variety and spil-itual edification to all already challei~ging program. Ea~:l.y morrlings were occupicd with Bible study and the presen tittion of the issuc papers. Aftcr morning coffee brcali oroups '.a wit11 a comnIon cmltural baclerso~~al si~l'iiatiori. But- lorr clon1fgo f~:o~n f;l.st to thc' hc11ch ant1 wait for tlie rnpturc," hc said. "Second lxisc is tl.1~' ~'isil)J.c I)~.othcrhood of all bc1icvc1.s where our love for onc anotllc~: ailtl oul: hchavior shine fortli. You can't gct tllere cross thc pitcl~cr's mountl, and \:OLI don't hold hands on second and wait for C1.1rist to return. On thktl, Chrjstialls fillcd with agape-love clothc t-he izr~kcd and fccd tllc' hu~~gi-y. Nan! arc saying that third ~iloile is where ivc concentrate our efforts and ignore the other 11:tses. \.Ye totrcli all bases. 13ut don't leave 111c on thlrd. ?'aloull(laries will thcy IIC able to reach thc relnainder of soille 23 8 7 inillion (8 7 CTc ), ollc billion of \vho~n arc ill r:~tlically diffc~:cnt cultures i~ntl can rcaclied only I));! stl-cn~~ous effort. \\/inter's and b:1cC;avrarrJs presentations einphnsized the urgency of the Church's task, us did everyonu on the prograin. This Icas cap- ILITC'C~ ill section 9 of tllc C:ovenant: "1Ve are ashitmect that so man! lln\le hccn neg1.cctctl; it is n standing rebu1;e to 11s and to the \i;llolc churcl~ . . . '1-hc goal sl.~o~il<\ he, 1)y all available lneans and at the ear]icst possible ti~ne, that ewry person lvill have the opportunity to hear, unclet-stand, ancl rcccivc thc Goocl Sews." 'They stressecl the global responsibility of evcry living Christian, ~vllich was expressed ill several sections of the Covenant: "In the ch~~rcl~'s mission of sacrificial service evangclisnl is lx-i111ary. \Vorld evangelization l:cqui~:es thc wholc Cliurch to ta1;c thc whole Gospel to thc ~vhole ~x:orltl." (Scct. 6) "\.V,le rejoice that il llc\.ir missionary era has ila~vnetl. ?'llc clominal~t role of western missions is East disappearing: God :is r;iisi~,g ~11) froin the yo~117g~'l- CIIL~TC~CS a grcat new resource for ~vorlil evan- gelization, iind is thus dc~ilonstratjng that the responsibilit): to evan- gclizc belongs to thc whole llo;l\: of Christ. All churcllcs should tllerehue bc ;lsRing God and thei~~sel\~es ~rhat they sho~~ld bc doing hot11 to rcacll their ontn area ancl to send niissionaries to otllel: parts of thc ~~.orlcl." (Sect. 8) "\Ve urge the clevelopme.nt of regional and functional cooperatioi~ for thc furt'herancc of the Church's mission, for strategic planning, for niutual. cnco~iragcinent, and for the shar- ing of resources ant1 c.sl~cricncc~." (Scct. 7) Alichael Green, tlie d\,namic principal of St. john's College, Nottingham, Ti,nglaud, in his -paper and response concer11ii1g nietho(1s ancl stratcgy ill cvangclisin in the earl!. church said: "Pcrhaps this is tllc grcatcst Icsson we can learn froni thc enrlv church in the very cllitngetl situation of o~ir 01.i.n cln!.. 711e 171ost' effective inethotl of c\:angclisiii ancl thc n no st rvidcsl,reacl, in tl.1~ long run, in its rcsults, is cc~iz~ersion clvn~~geiisrrz (underlining ours), where onc who has found Jcsus shares his tliscover~), his problems, his joys and his sorro.tvs with one ii111o is still groping in the t1;rrlc." Green suggestecl total flexibility RS tlic key factor for approiicll, and that the J201rte nzeeti.ng was and can I)e used as oilc of the niost cffecti\-cl nieans for spreading the Gospel. The nlany t~pes of contemporarv evangelism practices were helpRlllr sommariz.c~l hv Dr. Gcorge \v. l'cters, Professor of \Vorlcl Missions at Dallas ~hcoli)~ical Seminary. Thc E\~angelicals at ]Laussane tledicatecl then-.lscl\~es anel!- in the po.cvcr of thc Holy Spirit to God's inissioil for the glory of His nainc, and staunchly :~ffiri~~cd "the divine inspiration, trutllfulncss and au- thority of both Old and New Testarncnt Scriptures in their entirety as the only writtcn IVord of God, without error in a11 that it ;tf;lrnls, and the only infallible rulr of faith all0 a~ld "thc polrcr of Gocl's \Vord to accomplish His purpose of salvation." (Sect. 2 of thc C;ovonant) Japanese Presbyterian seminary professor, Dr. Susulllu Uda, did a good job of expounding this Biblical authorjty ancl linking it with evangelism. As there is no other way of lcnowing the way of salvation in Christ than through the revealed will of God in the Bible, so also the Congress affirnleit that the only God-Man Jesus Christ is the only hlcdiator between God and all men. Its statement rejected "as tleroga- torv to Christ and thc Gospel every kind of syncretism and dialogue w~;ich implies that Christ speaks eclually through all religious and ideologies." (Sect. 3) - All Congress l~articipants wrestled with the nature of evan- c~clisnl, anti finally clncapsulecl this statement in the fourth section of '? ; the Covenant: "Our Christian presence in tlze world is iniiispensable ! to evangelism, and so is that Itind of dialogue whose purposc is to listen sensitivcly in order to understand. But evangelism itself is the proclamation of the historical, Biblical Christ as Savior arid Lord, .rvith it 18icw to persuading people to come to I-Jim l7ersonally and so IIC reconciled to GMI . . . Tlic rest~lts of evangelism include obedience , to Cliris~, incorporation i~to His Church and responsible service in I tlic worltl." It scelnecl that everyone went out of their way to stress tl~c social responsibility in evangelism or mission. Dr. C. Kene Padilla, ~lssocinte Gcnc.t.al Secretary for Latin America of the Intenlational Felloivship of! f':v;~ngclicsl Stutlents, ant1 Mr. Samuel Escobar, General Secretary of tho Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship of Canatla, ~\~cre thc two ~7rograni participa~lts who led t'hc Congress in this empllasis. 'The folJo.wing Covenant statement indicates that e-tleryone was ansious to affirm that "God is both the Creator and the Judge of a11 mell. TVe thcreforc sl~oultl share His concern for justice and reconciliation thro~igho~~t huii~ali society anit for the liberation of Inen from cvcry Jcrsc;nal ant1 social responsibilities. Faith without ~vorks is dead." (Sect. 5) All ot~tstanciing esponent of this statement in section 12 of the Covenant: "\VC need both watchfulness and discernment to safeguard thc Biblical C;ospeI," was Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer, leader of the L'Al)ri Fello~vship in Switzerland. Emphatically he wrote and re- iteratccl 11erbaIly that "there is no use talking about meeting the threat of the com.ing ti~ne or fulfilling our calling in the midst of the last c,~uarter of the t-tventieth century unless we consciously help each other to have a clear doctrinal position. We must have the courage to maltc no compromise with liberal theology and especially neo- orthodox existential theology. Christianitv is n specific bocly of truth; it. is a system and we must not be ashamed of tl~e word sysiteift, There is truth' and we must hold that truth. There will 11e borderline things in which wc havc differences among ourselves, but on the central jssLles thcrc must be no cor~lj?romise." He co~ltencled for honest ilnskl;crs to honest ipcrtions, a true spirituality of being a true Christ- ian ind\velt by tllc I-Iolv Spirit, and the beaut) of human relationships C1.ll:istial~s who tyer;i. eacIl other with love in the eyes of the world alltl (-11.1l. oivn chil.drcn lest we destroy the truth we proclaim. Ewngelism and Culture; Education and Leadership; inore 011 S13iricllal Conflict; Freedom and l'ersecution; The Power of the Holy Spirit (whicli was oniver-sally proclaimed and atfirmed); The Heturn of Christ ("\TT"c believe that the interim period between Christ's ascen- sion 311d stt~ir11 is t~ he fillcd with the mission of the people of God, who have no liberty to stop before tlie End."); are the remaining sections of the Lailssane Covcn an t. M!c Lutherans ought to thorougI~l\~ studv the entire content of this statement. Aside from what it call contii bu tc n, our i~nderstanding and response to God's mission, we can see that i,\?c. have some Bibl~cal insights and additions to offer to thc ~~orltl of l~.\~angcIic;lIs. ATothirig has beell said in thc Covenant about Baptisn~ and the T,ordJs Suplwr and their role in the evangeli~,a- tion of thc ~vorld. 'The n~nttes of ivho persuades lxople to conle to Christ 12e~.sonally; the appnl-er~tly imlnediate (not tl~rough the means of grace) "visitatio~l of tl~c sovereign Spirit of God;'' and the llroper use of thc La\\; 3~1~1 Gospc.1 ;IYC\ so111c of the ai:eas in which we could still IcnO a 13iblici\l Ii;\ll~l. ;\uclio-i,isunl pi.csentations of various types were made each day tlu~:ing the lul.1~11 periods and othcr free time. 0,ne could bring him- sc!l.I: 1113 to tlatc on God's rnissjo~~ in many lancls and different situa- tio~is. Cassettes ant1 l,hotographs of each day of the Cox~gress' main scssions were av;~ilablc the following day. A daily newspaper with ~~jctt~r~s announced coming CVC~I~S, cllanges in prograix, su~nmnrized inl1)ortant speeches, ant1 kept the entire assembly informed about the tlisci1ssior.1 and action of thc si~~all groups who were convened to con- sider cvcr), aspect of ~voi-ld evax~gelization. It was printed in four Ianguages: I'i~glish, Spanish, German and French. News was made ;~vailable in daily relenscs. All in all the Congress was well run. It Iiad a ivell-balanced program. 'Thcrc was no time or reason for intercst to lag. I~nprcssive was the evident lave for and person.al relationship ivith Jesus of the pal-ticipants, Thej/ worlted and planned and yrayed on-the-jot:, and in their hotel i:ooms ivitll God's written \Vord as their authoritv and guide. Tllev displayed an exhilarating and catching zrnl h~rtlie spread of tlre Gospel. Christo-centric and Gospel-oriented they did not fail to take into consideration the entire LVord of God, parlicularly the Law. Sensitivity for cultural differences, vet real fcllomsbip and partnership were noted. New approaches and stratc- cies nlong with a new tvpe of missionary were fervently sou~ht after. 'I'l~c both/and of proclamation and denlonstration in their proper Uiblical relationship received co~lsiderable attention. Tinlc and again the desire for more and better missionaries was expressed. This was ~nucll greater than the call for a moratorium on missionaries bv a felv. Now. what after the Congress? This was a big item in every- one's ~ni~ld. On Wednesday, Julv 24, the Congress news hulletin under 11112 headline 'The Conyrcss Goes On . . ." :iii~io~~i~cctl. that it was thc clear wish of 86 %I ot the 1 130 p;trticipnnts ~vlio rcsl)ondec7 to the cjuestionnairc that "son~e ltilld of continujug post-congress fello\vship ~vill help to implenlent the vision of :t rcorltl ill ncctl of Christ and the neecl for Christians to get together to rcach it.'" 79 %I intlicated a fir111 approval of appointing of a rcpresentativc group of 25 persons to act as n continuation committee that \voulil seek to carry out the goals ant1 wishes of the Congress, :IS bro11ght to light by the reports of the strateg! and theolog), groups and the final version of the Laussane Covenant. The 25-member continuation colnlnittee will be appointed on the following geographical basis: East Asia 3, '\.Vest Asia 3, North America 6, Africa 3, South America 3, E~irope 5, Oceania 1, h/liddle East 1. 'The Congrcss thcn g:tvc thc Planning Conunittee approvaI to adti five coopted n~cl~lbers to the 25 h)r the purpose of achieving bal;~ncc and filling obvious asps. Thesc 30 representatives .tvould possihl>. develol? plans for 1;van- c~elical cooperation in matters SLIC~ ;is III;~SS coln~ll~inications, theo- '0 logical cducation and social action. Stucly guide materials in thc for111 of a series of six booltlets on the things that were said at the Congrcss ha\le Ixen (levclol>ed ad printul by \lVorld IVide I'ublications. 'Thcse will servc as n reminder la co~itin~ied 13rascr for the eusngelization of the workl. The re- search on the unreachect peoples of- the ~vorlcl that nras bcgun will bc continued until an accurate and colllplete record is obtainc~l. The C:o~~gress may spark more mini-congresses on the regional or national Ic\~cl. If pressetl l~ard enough by the kind of \Vorld Council cvan- (~elisnl that came throucrh at EangI