My wife and I were in Switzerland for a hectic month marked by two major events, one a peak and one a valley. First, the peak: the International Congress on World Evangelization at Lausanne, for which I served on the convening, planning, and program committees. The congress was one of the crowning experiences of my life. It left me with the conviction that evangelicals do indeed have a common theology, a spiritual unity, and a serious commitment to the task of preaching Christ to the nations.
There were some cross-currents at Lausanne, but nothing vitiated the feeling of community or distracted us from the main thrust of world evangelization. Our readers whose gifts helped to make Lausanne possible should know that their money was used for a very good purpose and with a great goal in mind.
The second event was the resignation of Richard M. Nixon. Even though the resignation was expected, it came as a shock. It was, after all, something that had not happened before in the almost two hundred years of our history. Evangelicals have had widely varying opinions about Richard Nixon throughout his presidency, and they still do. But they should not let what has happened damage their own unity—so clearly displayed at Lausanne—nor should they fail to pray that God will work in saving power in the hearts of all the people involved in the Watergate tragedy, and that all, like Charles Colson, will openly repent, place their faith in Jesus Christ, and receive forgiveness for their sins.
