The Global Conversation

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The Lord of Public Life

To facilitate a truly global conversation, we ask Christian leaders from around the world to respond to the Global Conversation's lead articles. These points of view do not necessarily represent Christianity Today magazine or the Lausanne Movement. They are designed to stimulate discussion from all points of the compass and from different segments of the Christian community. Please add your perspective by posting a comment so that we can learn and grow together in the unity of the Spirit.

What does it mean for the whole gospel to be taken by the whole church to the whole world? It means asserting the lordship of Christ in all areas of life even as we confront the realities of our various contexts. For me the context is the African continent and more particularly Kenya.

We cannot relegate the lordship of Christ to the private realm so that in the public life we are guided by our ideologies of nationalism, militarism, or tribalism. Christ must be Lord in all areas of life—social, political, economic, and, spiritual. In Africa, for example, we value community as expressed by one of our philosophers: "I am because we are and because we are therefore I am." But what we see now in social relations is the breakdown of the family due to urbanization. The communal element is threatened by the forces of individualism and xenophobic responses witnessed in many African nations, including Rwanda, Kenya, and, more recently, South Africa. We have been scarred by wars from the north to the south due to the hoarding and misuse of resources by greedy leaders in collusion with multinationals. We need to restore the type of caring for one another that is the hallmark of biblical Christianity. We need good governance in our countries so that we can deal with corruption. We long for leaders who care for the downtrodden and serve the people rather than leaders whose main aim is to accumulate wealth. Africa is a rich continent. We need to ask: How can its resources be used for the good of the needy rather than for the greed of a few who are in power?

Kenya is 80 percent Christian, but Christianity has not had an impact on politics and economics. Rather than preaching the whole gospel, we have preached a one-sided gospel that has failed to meet people's material needs. Some have reacted to this by preaching the prosperity gospel. Though this reaction is skewed, it is a clear wakeup call. We need to carefully consider Wright's words about drawing from both testaments. The example of Jesus seeing his mission from Prophet Isaiah will show us the way: "The Spirit of the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor." This has been known as "God's preferential option" for those who are oppressed and downtrodden, bringing release to the captive in all kinds of situations.

Due to the enormity of the task, one part of the church cannot do it alone. Though we have been divided, we need to recapture the holism of the church as affirmed in the Apostles' Creed: we believe in the "holy catholic Church" and "the communion of the saints."

Aaron Benscoter, US

May 13, 2011  10:27pm

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

March 03, 2011  11:17am

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

November 17, 2010  4:01pm

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

October 07, 2010  1:31am

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

October 06, 2010  3:05am

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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For More Conversation

After Lausanne 1974, John R. W. Stott explained the process behind the covenant the Congress had adopted, and its key points of significance.

Chris Wright talks about the breadth and depth of the phrase "the whole church."

Samuel Escobar describes some of the many distinctive contributions from Global South theologians in the wake of the 1974 Congress.

Can Christians address poverty without personal relationships with the poor? Christopher Heuertz suggests why our approach to poverty is often inadequate.