More than 5,200 delegates from 202 countries shared bread and wine in a powerful display of evangelical unity at the end of the 2024 Lausanne Congress on World Evangelisation held in South Korea.
The informal Lord’s Supper was led by Korean and Japanese individuals as an example of how reconciliation in Christ brings different individuals and nations together.
That final act brought to a climax a momentous few days which saw an unprecedented range of evangelicals coming together from across the globe.
But the event also saw some controversy, with disquiet expressed over remarks by one of the speakers, Ruth Padilla DeBorst, in relation to dispensational eschatology. And there was some frustration by participants that they were not able to give more input into the Seoul Declaration (see extracts below).
The first Lausanne Congress was held in Switzerland in 1974, and produced the Lausanne Covenant, a landmark document in recent evangelical theology. British evangelical leader John Stott headed the drafting committee. The second Congress took place in Manila in 1989, with the third in Cape Town in 2010.
At this, the Fourth Congress, in Incheon, South Korea, proceedings opened with executive director Michael Oh presenting the theme: ‘Let the church declare and display Christ together.’ The aim of the event was for there to be greater global collaboration between gospel partners to further mission across the planet.
On day two, there was an exposition of Acts 2, highlighting the need of the Holy Spirit for mission. And there were presentations about how the Spirit has moved throughout history and in modern missions, including the Welsh Revival of 1904-5 and church growth in Korea. ‘One of the practical points is that revival often begins with prayer and repentance. Table groups then discussed what that means for their countries and context,’ wrote Caleb Davison, from Union Theology, on his daily updates on the en website. My table had a specific time of prayer asking God to move in the country of Bosnia where the church is small.
Later in the Congress there were celebrations of Lausanne’s 50th anniversary, and also a focus on the persecuted church. Caleb Davison wrote on the en website: ‘Two individuals shared about their experiences of being put in prison for their faith in the Middle East and another shared from South Asia. They spoke with smiles, joy and hopeful expectation of how God is moving to bring many to faith. Their experiences are foreign to many Westerners and their response even more so – how can one respond with joy in suffering?’
Another session looked at the workplace as a location where the Great Commission can be taken forward. And on day six, Phil Ryken, from the board of directors for the Lausanne Movement, spoke on ‘Christlike Servanthood’, casting a vision for a church that serves the word, Spirit, church, leaders and the lost. The final day saw speakers addressing global missions to the ends of the earth. Michael Oh brought home the need to see collaborative action as the strategy for finishing the task of global missions. Mission is no longer ‘the West to the rest,’ he said. Rather, mission is already happening in every direction.
Controversy arose when theologian Ruth Padilla DeBorst addressed the Congress. She said: ‘What makes God’s people as such are not superficial expressions of religious piety, “Christianese” jargon, worship jingles, or colonialist theologies that justify and finance oppression under the guise of some dispensational eschatology...’ She added: ‘“There’s no room for indifference towards all who are suffering the scourge of war and violence, the world around the uprooted and beleaguered people of Gaza, the hostages held by both Israel and Hamas and their families, the threatened Palestinians in their own territories.’
This led to Congress director David Bennett saying Padilla’s remarks were inappropriate, as her speech ‘singled out “dispensational eschatology” in a critical tone, implying that it contributed to violence and injustice, and which failed to note that many theologies have been misused and misapplied as justifications for violence.’ He also said ‘her presentation … did not express comparable empathy for the suffering of Israeli people, nor adequately express concern for many other peoples and nations of the world that are currently in the throes of violent conflict.’
Padilla later denied that her comments on dispensationalist theology were ‘a blanket dismissal of dispensational theology and, even less, of sisters and brothers who subscribe to that stance. For the pain my statement might have caused, I am sorry. What I am naming is the troubling theological rationale sustained by some people to perpetrate injustice against certain other people.’
This Congress’s focus on collaborative action set it apart from previous gatherings. Michael Oh challenged delegates, saying: ‘The four most dangerous words in the global church today are “I don’t need you”.’
As with previous Congresses, Lausanne 4 produced documents to serve the global church. This included the Seoul Statement, which seeks to serve as a helpful theological reflection on new or renewed issues facing the church. It was drafted by a team of theologians and scholars from 33 nations.
However, Evangelical Focus reported: ‘A wide-ranging document began to circulate in various WhatsApp groups, proposing the revision of some aspects of the Declaration and requesting the addition of several issues that, according to the opinion of its promoters, were not being addressed and required attention…
‘[In response] the Lausanne organisation set up a template so that participants could send their suggestions, so that the theology commission could work on them in the coming weeks.’
Extracts from the Lausanne Congress Seoul Statement 2024
lausanne.org/statement/the-seoul-statement
‘We rejoice over what God has done through the church’s commitment to the great apostolic priority of proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ in order to bring salvation to people lost in sin. Even so, the task of evangelisation remains urgent as billions remain outside the reach of the message of God’s love and grace in Christ…’
‘The Bible is God’s self-revelation and therefore the church’s Scripture: its authoritative, unerring, set-apart text that gathers and governs God’s set-apart people. It is wholly true and trustworthy, and the supreme norm for the church’s life…’
‘We lament any distortion of sexuality. We reject the notion that individuals may determine their gender without regard to our createdness … Marriage is a unique and exclusive covenant-relationship between one man and one woman… The biblical teaching is consistent that covenant marriage is the only legitimate context for sexual intercourse… We lament all attempts in the church to define same-sex partnerships as biblically valid marriages.’
‘[There] has been a steady stream of reports of financial mismanagement, of sexual misconduct and abuse, of abuse of power among leaders, of efforts to cover-up these failures while ignoring the pain of those who have suffered because of them, and of spiritual anaemia and immaturity in evangelical churches around the world. We grieve these failings; we lament our sin; we humbly repent…’
‘As innovation in artificial intelligence accelerates, we call for Christians, especially those who work in this industry, to engage both in the development and use of this technology that honours the Creator and human createdness by promoting safe, equitable, and dignifying applications…’
‘Help us, O God, we pray, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.’
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