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A 21st Century Reformation: Return to First Principles
Leaders from Malaysia, Argentina, Nigeria, and the United States share their dreams for major changes in the global church.
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.
The Reformation of the 16th century was a revolution of mythic proportions. Scholars and pastors with fresh scriptural insights took advantage of revolutionary changes in the arts, science, humanities, politics, travel, and commerce to turn the Western world upside down. It marked both a return to biblical roots and a leap into the future. In the 21st century, what major changes in the church should Christians be hoping and working for? In the final installment of the Global Conversation, four key leaders from four continents reveal their hopes.
A key problem of evangelical churches worldwide is the unilateral emphasis on numerical growth. For the sake of it, the gospel is watered down, church services are turned into entertainment, and Jesus' commandment to make disciples is replaced by a strategy to enroll as many converts as possible. In my frequent travels, I find an increasing number of megachurches with a high rate of numerical growth but a low degree of concern for faithfulness to the whole gospel and the ethical dimensions of whole-life discipleship. One wonders what has happened to the vision of whole-life discipleship projected in 1974 by the First International Congress on World Evangelization (Lausanne I) in its celebrated Lausanne Covenant.
Lausanne I is regarded by many as the most significant world evangelical gathering of the 20th century. It is no exaggeration to say that the main significance of the conference was the rediscovery of the absolute importance of the socio-political dimensions of the gospel for church life and mission. According to paragraph five of the Lausanne Covenant, because "God is both the Creator and Judge of all people," Christians "should share his concern for justice and reconciliation throughout human society and for the liberation of men and women from every kind of oppression." From this perspective, the mission of the church must not be reduced to the oral proclamation of the gospel, as "evangelism and socio-political involvement are both part of our Christian duty." The traditional dichotomy between evangelism and social responsibility is thus practically discarded.
Several consultations organized during the late 1970s and early '80s by the theological commission of the Lausanne Movement—a commission chaired by John Stott—explored in depth the implications of these and similar statements made in the covenant. The various statements that emerged from these consultations provide both a solid basis and a rich agenda for Christian action in the world.
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ms muse
Come on, guys. This is funny. It's a joke. Don't take yourselves so seriously.
Matt J
At least spell Ingmar Bergman properly. Also, I'm not sure what you guys are going for here. Is this an attempt to draw a parallel between semi-decent taste in cinema and worldliness in the "hipster church"? It seems callous and lacking in grace (not to mention lacking in journalistic integrity, or dialogue with ANYBODY whose church was detailed in the article. perhaps that would have been a useful perspective, but heck, when painting with a wide brush it's good to leave other sizes aside.) I'm sorry, this is just frustrating.
Grenville greenroom2001@hotmail.com
What a silly article. Hipsters DO NOT LIKE being called Hipsters! And what a surprise, at 49 I find I am a Hipster. Except... DON"T CALL ME THAT!
Elisa Melbourne
I find this rather ridiculous. Are christians becoming more relevant to the world that they're irrelevant to God's purpose? And how in the world would you 'research' what so-called "hip christians" are into anyway? The medium may change but the message shouldn't and that should really be the focus for any generation. Honestly, give some of us "hip christians" credit who also happen to have strong moral convictions and are not tossed too and fro by the latest social fad infiltrating the church....
Dale Fincher
I'll comment on what I know... the authors. I cannot believe some of these authors are on the same list... some are considered great literature by liberal arts programs and the Academy of Letters and some are just pop-cultural disposable stuff that found a trendy evangelical readership. If half of the good authors on this list influenced the hipsters, the hipsters would be larger-minded and less hip. Heck, if the church in general could just start with learning C. S. Lewis, a dramatic shift would happen. The evangelical church, which claims to love Lewis so well, still hasn't caught up with him 50 years later.
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