Discerning The Lausanne Movement

The Fourth Lausanne Congress has convened and much of Christian media is beginning to report on this longstanding movement. The Lausanne Covenant is a statement of faith and mission that was adopted by the participants of the International Congress on World Evangelization, held in Lausanne, Switzerland, from July 16 to 25, 1974. The congress was organized by Rev. Billy Graham and brought together over 2,700 evangelical Christians from 150 countries.

We affirm that God is both the Creator and the Judge of all men. We therefore should share his concern for justice and reconciliation throughout human society and for the liberation of men and women from every kind of oppression. Because men and women are made in the image of God, every person, regardless of race, religion, colour, culture, class, sex or age, has an intrinsic dignity because of which he or she should be respected and served, not exploited. Here too we express penitence both for our neglect and for having sometimes regarded evangelism and social concern as mutually exclusive. Although reconciliation with other people is not reconciliation with God, nor is social action evangelism, nor is political liberation salvation, nevertheless we affirm that evangelism and socio-political involvement are both part of our Christian duty. For both are necessary expressions of our doctrines of God and Man, our love for our neighbour and our obedience to Jesus Christ. The message of salvation implies also a message of judgment upon every form of alienation, oppression and discrimination, and we should not be afraid to denounce evil and injustice wherever they exist. When people receive Christ they are born again into his kingdom and must seek not only to exhibit but also to spread its righteousness in the midst of an unrighteous world. The salvation we claim should be transforming us in the totality of our personal and social responsibilities. Faith without works is dead. [Empahsis added]

The covenant emphasizes the central role of the gospel in addressing spiritual, social, and political issues. It affirms the uniqueness of Christ, the authority of Scripture, and the necessity of personal conversion. The document also addresses issues such as the church’s role in social action, the relationship between evangelism and Social Justice, and the importance of unity among Evangelical Christians despite their cultural and denominational differences. As a result, several issues are labeled gospel issues by those in the Lausanne Movement, which has transformed everything into a gospel issue, including HIV/AIDS and global warming. This is reflected in the emphasis on the ambiguous meaning of “injustice” in their doctrine.

The Lausanne Covenant has had a significant impact on global Evangelicalism, influencing the direction and focus of many Evangelical organizations and churches. It has been translated into numerous languages and has been widely distributed and discussed within Evangelicals. Proponents of Critical Race Theory have had no problem hiding behind the Lausanne Covenant nor would communists have issues weaponizing “exploited” in favor of a color revolution. Rather than appeal to Christ as King of Kings over all nations, thereby making the nations subordinate to Him and His standards, the Lausanne Covenant presents an earthly lens by which to view Christian social duty and is reliant upon a secular understanding of ideas pertaining to “alienation, oppression and discrimination” to render definition to these terms rather than use a biblical standard.

Moreover, in Article 13 of the Lausanne Covenant, it appeals to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is reliant upon secular creeds for orthodoxy. The elaborated Manilla Manifesto would clarify and consolidate these articles, but the same issues exist pertaining to ambiguous language regarding justice. In 2010, the movement formulated the Cape Town Commitment which adds environmentalism to mission work.

The Lausanne Covenant is a major red flag when searching any church’s website, and stands as a major red flag for the He Gets Us campaign. But another major concern is who is a key representative for America in the Lausanne Covenant organization: Ed Stetzer. Ed Stetzer is an academic who has never successfully planted a church yet has used credentials to bill himself as a church growth guru wreaking havoc at the Southern Baptist Convention, Wheaton College, and now Biola Univeristy. Additionally, he is a Christian media mogul running Church Leaders. Of the Evangelical news outlets that are overtly Christian in their audience, Church Leaders is by far the most gay-affirming, even more so than Christianity Today, Christian Post, and others, as Church Leaders was the staunchest defender of Andy Stanley, currently.

America is clearly not sending its best to this world congress, though perhaps the other Evangelical delegations, most importantly South Korea, are not as bad, as they are the host nation. Yet, despite how few Christians are familiar with the Lausanne Movement, the impact that it has had on liberalizing the church cannot be understated.