A Case-Statement for the Third Lausanne Congress

By Doug Birdsall, Executive Chair

We are living in a time of enormous threat and amazing opportunity for the church. The life and witness of the church around the world is being assailed by external pressures while simultaneously being weakened by internal troubles.  Yet the church also faces unprecedented global opportunities for the spread of the gospel and open doors for ministry in regions traditionally closed to the witness of Christ.  Unfortunately, a concerted and well-reasoned response to these global issues and opportunities has been difficult because the church, and evangelicalism in particular, is highly fragmented.

Even so there is reason for hope.  Next year 4000 leaders from 200 countries will come together 16-25 October 2010 for The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization: Cape Town 2010.  These leaders, carefully chose from thousands of applicants, will represent the demographic, theological and cultural realities of the global church.  Young and old, men and women, mission leaders, pastors and theologians, Kingdom-minded leaders  from the worlds of business, government, education, medicine and the media – the Congress is drawing the best minds and most creative and courageous leaders the church has to offer.  In addition to the 4000 leaders who will be onsite in Cape Town, this Congress is providing an historic opportunity for people around the world to participate in Cape Town 2010 through the Internet-based Lausanne Global Conversation and Cape Town GlobaLink.

GLOBAL ISSUES
Together these leaders will wrestle with six issues that are of paramount importance to the future of the church and world evangelization, in terms of profound theological reflection and strategic action.  The Church is the most thoroughly global entity in the world with the majority of Christians now in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.  Together, we must establish a new global equilibrium for the church whereby we relate to one another on the basis of our shared vision, our shared calling, our shared wealth and our shared poverty and come together to address these issues:

1. The Challenge of the New Atheism.  World evangelization is based on foundational truth claims about the uniqueness of Christ, the centrality of the cross and the authority of Scripture.  In light of the aggressive attacks on truth by the New Atheism, we must make a compelling case for TRUTH.  We cannot afford to lose the battle for the minds of this generation or the next.
2. The Impact of Hedonism.  We are bombarded everyday with images and messages that serve to undermine our moral and biblical foundations.  The church is being impacted by nominalism, superficiality and the troubling consequences of the prosperity gospel.  We must respond with a prophetic critique of the church which calls us to AUTHENTICITY and INTEGRITY.  We must call Christians to a deeper level of repentance, renewal and discipleship.
3. The Reality of Islam.  Islam is a missionary faith with a global vision.  With a very deliberate strategy, Islam’s mission and impact has spread beyond the Arab world to significantly influence universities and governments in Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas.  The church must develop an equally deliberate strategy that enables us to live in fidelity to the gospel, influence public institutions and faithfully witness to men and women in all WORLD FAITHS.
4. The Globalized World.  Mega-cities, Diaspora, New Technologies, Social Networking, Political Corruption and Uncertain Futures for the Next Generation, are only a sampling of the challenges and opportunities of a Globalized World that require us to establish NEW PRIORITIES for world evangelization.
5. The Brokenness of Our World.  If our witness is to be prophetic, we must identify with the pain and suffering in the lives of individuals, families, communities and nations.  Not only must we connect with the brokenness but we must also be people of hope and peace as agents of RECONCILIATION, emphasizing the core theme of Cape Town 2010, “God in Christ Reconciling the World to Himself.”
6. Seismic Shifts in Global Christianity.  Global PARNTERSHIPS for world evangelization, unlike anything possible in the previous twenty centuries, are now attainable as we develop relationships that are based on mutual respect – acknowledging that God has called us to be one in Him.  These new partnerships, increasingly led by visionary leaders from the majority world, will also involve more lay people who comprise the vast majority of those who bear witness to Christ in this Century.  By sharing the best available resources and best practices, together “the whole church (will) take the whole gospel to the whole world.”

GLOBAL DIALOGUE
Technology is allowing us to broaden the impact of Cape Town 2010 far beyond the physical location of Cape Town and the ten days in October 2010, to a Congress that will influence the next decade of mission and ministry.  The Lausanne Global Conversation (LGC, www.lausanne.org) will provide an online place for ministries, groups, educational institutions and individuals to engage in significant dialogue on the CT2010 issues.  Central to the LGC is a 12 month series of articles from Christianity Today International, running from October 2009 to October 2010.  The LGC will include online discussion forums, blogs, Facebook and Twitter and will be supported by videos, resources and links to Lausanne partners.

We believe the LGC will:

• Increase the impact of CT2010 by elevating the profile of the issues to be discussed at the Congress and focusing the church on world evangelization
• Seek relevant and timely approaches to the issues, inviting new voices to the conversation and building bridges with discussions already taking place
• Identify and equip younger leaders in world evangelization by going to where these leaders are already talking together, online
• Feed cutting edge stories, ideas and solutions to the CT2010 Programme Committee
• Enhance and expand the live CT2010 event, online and for onsite participants

As part of the LGC, Cape Town GlobaLink sites will connect (through Internet technology) to the Congress event in Cape Town.  GlobaLink sites will include seminaries, Bible schools, theological institutions and mission organizations worldwide.  Each site will personalize their own program and schedule and will connect with other GlobaLink sites, using resources provided by Lausanne:

• Advance copies of key CT2010 documents and resources
• Curriculum and programming options
• Video and audio streaming of CT2010 events
• Interactive feedback mechanisms with the Cape Town event and other GlobaLink sites worldwide
• Tools for collaboration and follow-up

We believe GlobaLink sites will be of tremendous benefit to staff and faculty, students and community members as they connect and dialogue with Christians around the world in praying and planning together for world evangelization.

GLOBAL IMPACT
Cape Town 2010 (Lausanne III) will build on the historic influence of the first two Lausanne Congresses and subsequent smaller regional and topical gatherings. The first Lausanne Congress convened by Rev. Billy Graham, Bishop Jack Dain and Dr. John Stott (Lausanne, Switzerland, 1974) gave three major gifts to the global church:  

• The Lausanne Covenant, deemed to be one of the most influential evangelical theological documents in recent memory
• A New Paradigm for understanding “nations” as People Groups from Dr. Ralph Winter
• The Re-Discovery of Holistic Mission from Dr. Samuel Escobar and Dr. Rene Padilla

Lausanne II (Manila, 1989), served to bring Pentecostals and Charismatics together in dialogue and partnership with those of other evangelical traditions while the Manila Manifesto re-emphasized the importance of holistic evangelism.  Lausanne II participants also received fresh inspiration and vision on networking and partnerships, and in the ten years following the Congress, participants established more 300 new partnerships and organizations for world evangelization, to the glory of God.

Just at Lausanne I produced The Lausanne Covenant, and Lausanne II produced the Manila Manifesto, Cape Town 2010 will also produce a major document that we pray will help unite and guide the Church in the years to come by helping establishing missions and evangelization priorities: 

1. Clarity.  Providing strong leadership to Evangelicals in developing a clear affirmation of identity and beliefs, including a fresh declaration of faith in Christ that is both theologically clear and spiritually powerful.
   
   We are gathering a group of ten senior evangelical theologians from around the world who are looking at the essentials of the gospel.  At the end of the Congress, we will produce a document with two dimensions - a statement of evangelical affirmations, followed by a call to evangelical action. 
   
   
2. Identification. Demonstrating a realistic analysis of the world in which we live and the issues faced by the church along with a vision for positive, constructive engagement of difficult and divisive issues.
   
   More than twelve regional consultations have been held (covering each part of the world) reflecting on the major issues facing the evangelical church.  The responses from these consultations have been fed to the CT2010 Programme Committee, the group that is now helping us focus on these issues in our discussions leading up to and including Cape Town.  We obviously won’t be able to solve all the world's problems, but we are talking about them and planning the beginnings of a biblical response. 
   
   
3. Partnerships. Providing examples of - and an ongoing biblical foundation for - Unity in the body of Christ.
   
   One full day of the Congress will focus on the nature of biblical partnership and how we express that with like-minded Christians who represent the rich diversity in today’s world.  Everyone onsite at the Congress will be in small groups with people involved in similar ministries.  It’s in these small groups that leaders will discuss the key issues of the day throughout the Congress, including the importance of partnerships.  We trust these small groups will also help cement friendships that lead to global partnerships beyond 2010.
   
   
4. A Call to Action: Evangelicals praying, planning and working together for world evangelization.
   
   In addition to the document at the end of the Congress, we trust that many people will take away fresh ideas, and that new initiatives will come into existence through the interaction of all who attend the Congress and participate through the Cape Town GlobaLink and the Lausanne Global Conversation.  Together we will be challenged anew to take the gospel to the ends of the earth - both the geographical ends of the earth and every area of society - with a call to:
   
   A) A commitment to personal holiness, obedience, discipleship and dependence upon the Holy Spirit
   
   Calling the Church to reformation and renewal so that our lives will be authentic and our witness to the world will be prophetic (affecting all of us)
   
   B) A commitment to preach a pure Gospel
   
   C) A commitment to one or more strategic evangelization priorities

1. Taking the gospel to the remaining 3,300 Unengaged, Unreached People Groups where no church or missionary is working (reaching 540 million people)
2. Providing Scripture for the 2,251  language groups that have not even one verse of Scripture translated (impacting 200 million people)
3. Communicating the Gospel in an Oral form to the 60 percent of the world who learn primarily by hearing, not reading (touching 4 billion people)
4. Launching breakthrough strategies in the Majority world and the Western world to share Christ more intentionally with Muslim mullahs, Hindu priests, Buddhist monks and other adherents to those faiths (connecting with 1.2 billion Muslims and others)
5. Beginning many more societal compassion projects to demonstrate God’s love
6. Initiating personal contact with others to help to develop contextual worship patterns
7. Urging Christians to consider careers in business, government, education, medicine and the media

Cape Town 2010 will be an unprecedented gathering of thousands of global Christian leaders – those onsite in Cape Town and those participating through the Lausanne Global Conversation and Cape Town GlobaLink.  We trust that it will be said of the participants of this Congress as it was said of the men of Issachar, “They understood the times and they knew what to do.”

Together let’s seek God’s voice and respond with joyful obedience and sacrificial service – until He comes!