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printWhole Gospel, Whole Church, Whole World
We must believe, live, and communicate all that makes the Christian message staggeringly comprehensive good news.
For 35 years one of the simplest ways to define evangelical Christianity has been to refer to the Lausanne Covenant, the document that emerged from the International Congress on World Evangelization in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1974. Convened by American evangelist (and Christianity Today founder) Billy Graham and British clergyman John R. W. Stott, the congress brought together 2,300 church and missionary leaders from 150 countries, including a substantial number of leaders from the then-nascent evangelical communities of Africa, Latin America, and Asia. The Lausanne Covenant became a milestone in evangelical history, confidently proclaiming the continued need for evangelism when much of mainline Protestantism had lost confidence in biblical faith, while also reclaiming social responsibility when many fundamentalists disdained justice as a "liberal" concern. (Read the Lausanne Covenant at Lausanne.org/covenant.)
In October 2010, the Lausanne Movement will convene another congress, this time in Cape Town, South Africa. The majority of participants will be from the Majority World, where evangelicalism is now thriving dramatically. For the next year, Christianity Today, in partnership with the Lausanne Movement and fellow Christian publications around the world, will address some of the principal issues that confront the contemporary church as we seek to proclaim and demonstrate the gospel in all its historic depth and breadth. We are calling these articles the Global Conversation.
Taking the gospel to the ends of the earth, in obedience to the Great Commission, is an inescapable imperative. A definition of world evangelization that has won assent from Christians of all stripes was memorably summarized in the Lausanne Covenant—the document substantially crafted by John R. W. Stott and affirmed by the Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in 1974: "Evangelization requires the whole church to take the whole gospel to the whole world."
The "three wholes" in this ringing phrase had been part of Christian discourse for some years before Stott drafted the covenant. Indeed, they go back to the apostle Paul, if not to the patriarch Abraham. But to keep the conversation within living memory, a stirring statement by the Dutch theologian Willem Adolf Visser't Hooft makes the point:
The command to witness to Christ is given to every member of his church. It is a commission given to the whole church to take the whole gospel to the whole world. When the church recognizes that it exists for the world, there arises a passionate concern that the blessings of the gospel of Christ should be brought to every land and to every man and woman.
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Aaron Benscoter, US
Encouraging to see that more and more followers of Jesus are identified that the Gospel is bigger than one transaction. A focus on the full biblical message will likely appeal to today's cultural pastors-educators and academica and the media-instead of drawing their (perhaps well-placed) ire. Carry on.
Erin Anthony
I was so encouraged when reading this article. So many times in Christian/Evangelical churches today, "feel good" messages are preached. While I do believe there is a time and place for these messages, I also think that through time, the Gospel has been watered down to reach people emotionally, rather than preaching the "whole Gospel". Without teaching the effects of sin at the Fall, there would be no need for redemption through Christ's death on the cross. The "whole Gospel" connects through the entire Bible, thus reestablishing our ultimate goal on Earth to bring glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Trent Ballard
Finally, someone talking about the whole gospel from the whole bible. Too many missiologists are NT only which is ridiculous. Mission is rooted in creation as evidenced by Gen 1:26-28--that we are blessed to take the image and realities of God and his kingdom to the ends of the earth. And we must not forget, ROM 1:15 that we are to preach the whole gospel both to the unbelievers and to believers. Grace is not just to get us saved, but from where we live our lives in the resurrection power of Jesus every day. Its time for the sons and daughters of God to be revealed----you are God's people OT and NT ekklesia----live like it!
Suman Aghamkar, India
I congratulate to you for writing a thought-provoking paper. Yes the Church of Jesus Christ will not grow with paid workers, the whole church needs to take the gospel to the whole world. It will not be done unless we train our laity, encourage them to take the Great commission seriously. Apart from this, we also need to take the market place ministry seriously. There is a huge number of Christians working in secular field and we need to train them, equip them so they can share the Gospel with their co-workers. Thus training and equipping Christians is very important, when we think of reaching the whole world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Danny Pasquale
The article is inspiring and challenging. It brings balance to a way of living out the Christian faith and evangelization that is solely private and only focused on waiting for the return of Christ. Yet, the call to social transformation as a result of an wholistic faith must never loose sight of the fact that the complete transformation will occurr only when Christ will return. He is the One that will settle all things, bring justice and peace. Our job is to live this reality, testifying of the power and love of Christ, making disciples, but keeping the "not yet" side of the equation always in mind. 1 Thes. 1:9-10 says it best :"you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven..." May God help us to keep the balance!
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