Forty-five years ago this week (July 16-25, 1974), 2700 participants, from 151 countries, gathered in Lausanne, Switzerland for the International Congress on Global Evangelization. This gathering was the result of a great deal of planning with much leadership provided by Billy Graham and John Stott. The desire: bring global evangelical leaders together to address the great need of making disciples of all nations.
That event launched one of the most significant Great Commission movements in Church history. The 20th century was a time when the World Council of Churches, among others, was moving away from calling the nations to repentance and faith (Acts 20:21), to doing good deeds and having inter-religious dialogues. Gospel proclamation, lostness of mankind, judgment, hell, and the exclusivity of salvation in Christ were an embarrassment to many. Unhealthy missionary practices of paternalism and years of colonialism resulted in church and mission leaders deciding that the best thing the West could do was follow the “missionary go home” philosophy and/or focus on social development in Majority World contexts.
The Lausanne meeting was birthed in this milieu.
In my book, Kingdom Expressions, I devote a chapter to the Lausanne Movement and address six significant results that continue today:
The Covenant. A covenant was published during the 1974 meeting that served as a call to global evangelization and unifying document for evangelical partnership.
Evangelism and Social Justice. The Movement noted the importance of these Kingdom responsibilities in the world. The initial Lausanne meeting made it clear, though not to the liking of some evangelicals: the priority is evangelism. When the third global congress gathered in Cape Town in 2010, I questioned whether the Lausanne Movement was losing the 1974 spirit. You may read my post HERE. John Piper felt it too. During his plenary session he emphasized we should care about all suffering, especially eternal suffering.
Unreached People Groups. Lausanne brought the concept of unreached people groups to the attention of the Church. Ralph Winter’s presentation challenged the Church to give the “highest priority” to cross-cultural evangelization. He spoke of “hidden” peoples which eventually became popularized as “unreached” people groups.
Majority World Church. The Lausanne Movement began as a diverse movement and continues in this direction. Lausanne helped churches in the West recognize the size and health of churches throughout the Majority World. The 2010 gathering was even more diverse than the 1974 meeting.
Partnerships. Lausanne has placed a great deal of emphasis on the development of global partnerships for disciple-making. Churches, agencies, and institutions have been encouraged to collaborate for the sake of Kingdom work.
Leadership. The Movement not only attempts to develop leaders but has brought together some of the most significant evangelical leaders over the past 45 years. The list of names is too long to mention in this post. However, you would likely recognize many of them throughout the movement’s history.
In light of this year’s anniversary, I put together this brief video on my YouTube Channel. Check it out! Be sure to strike Like! And, don’t hide, but subscribe.
