The Church and Evangelism (Part 1)

Today’s reading is Section 6 of the Lausanne Covenant - The Church and Evangelism. Read Here.

We affirm that Christ sends his redeemed people into the world as the Father sent him, and that this calls for a similar deep and costly penetration of the world. We need to break out of our ecclesiastical ghettos and permeate non-Christian society. In the Church’s mission of sacrificial service, evangelism is primary. World evangelization requires the whole Church to take the whole gospel to the whole world. The Church is at the very centre of God’s cosmic purpose and is his appointed means of spreading the gospel.

So far the Lausanne Covenant has considered the desire of God to form a people for himself, and the general purpose for this body, the Church. It now turns to the Church’s mission, integrity, and unity.

The Mission of the Church

Christ’s mission is the model for the Church’s mission. Just as the Son was sent into the world, so we are sent (John 17:28; 20:21), even if this engagement with the world is costly (Galatians 6:14, 17). The Son of God penetrated fully into our humanity, embracing the cost of vulnerability, temptation, and suffering.

The Covenant affirms that the Church’s mission of evangelism is a sacrificial service. But evangelism remains the Church’s primary mission. The call to world evangelisation requires the whole church to take the whole gospel to the whole world (Acts 1:8; 20:27). We can speak about three kinds of evangelism:

• Reaching people within our own culture and language.
• Reaching people of a similar culture and language.
• Cross-cultural evangelism, bridging major cultural and linguistic divides.

All require us to identify with those we seek to reach, entering into their worldview with humility and understanding. The third kind of evangelism, however, is often the most demanding, as it calls for the greatest cultural and relational bridge-building.

So the ‘sacrificial service’ of the Church includes both evangelism and social action. Normally, the local church should embrace both, but when forced to choose, evangelism is the primary service. Unless the whole Church is mobilised to take on this primary service, the whole world will not be reached, as the Church is God’s chosen means of spreading the gospel. And without the gospel, no true reconciliation with God is possible.

We have a huge task which calls for focused, prayerful strategy. God’s purpose and the desperate needs of the world converge into a single, urgent call: the Church must evangelise, making Christ known to every culture, people, and nation until his kingdom comes in its fullness.

Reflection:

How can you follow Christ’s example and enter the world with humility, courage, and sacrificial love?

Prayer:

Lord, send me into the world as you were sent—ready to serve, suffer, and proclaim your gospel with love.