This is an invitation to listen to the echoes, following the recent Fourth Lausanne Congress on Evangelization held in Incheon, South Korea. When the noise dies down and silence starts to reign, what are evangelical Christians hearing and seeing? What is rising within? So far, I’ve heard exuberant joy and life-changing impact on some participants at one end of the spectrum, as well as heartbreaking lament and ire from others at the other end, and everything else in between. Here I share a small glimpse from the standpoint of an external observer and virtual participant.
The theme of the congress was: “Let the Church Declare and Display Christ Together.” The leaders of the congress put this in more elaborative terms: that the body of Christ as the Bride is to be unified and beautified to accelerate global missions.
Lausanne 4 gathered almost 5400 people in-person and 2000 online from diverse backgrounds in over 200 nations, seeking to consider gaps and opportunities in global missions, while advocating collaboration and unity against comparison and competition in the body of Christ.
Overall, in comparison with the previous congress, the plenary presentations were spectacular with more balanced global representatives, more women leaders from the Global South and more lay participants focusing on workplace ministries. 29% of women participants was hailed as an all-time high percentage in the history of Lausanne. It is, however, far less than the demographic data of 52% (and more) female in the global church.
The inclusion of inter-generational discipleship, digital missions, and creation care were also applaudable attempts to address some urgent issues more unique to this day and age. I can imagine that to sit at a discussion table, and to worship God with brothers and sisters from around the world, especially for many first-time participants, would be a once-in-a-lifetime encounter.
Listening as the first expression of unity
No doubt, at such a gathering, there were multiple voices and diverse opinions, generating some controversies and disputes amongst the evangelical Christians due to various theological, political, cultural and racial stances. How would Russian Orthodox representatives who support Putin’s war respond at the congress that clearly sided with Ukraine? How would people from the Global South and indigenous communities feel with one form of worship led by the Gettys, the Korean and Japanese band? Despite their beautiful and inspiring worship, their monocultural and monovocal styles exhibited a single lens of the possible range of choice.
The dissonance on Israel and dispensational theology stirred up some storms. Even before the conference, some questioned the end goal of such a gathering with the enormous energies and resources pouring to the event. The critique of 25 “Great Commission Gaps” challenged the Eurocentric theological assumptions in forming the gaps that overlook the contexts and their inter-connectedness.
Jay Mātenga, one of the commentators, thought that the industrial, universal, context-free, and pathological approach of the Great Commission Gaps framework neglects the indigenous, holistic, well-being, approach (missions from below), therefore only presents one side of a coin. He has also published a personal reflection on his Lausanne 4 experience. The complexity of Chinese diasporas as people on the move and its implication for the missions movement further adds to the complexity that is not adequately addressed by the 25 Gaps.
What would it look like for the bride of Christ to join God in his mission in unity and diversity (1 Corinthians 12: 12-26; Ephesians 4: 11-13)? My pre-Lausanne post published as part of the Lausanne Global Analysis back in March 2023 invited a posture of deep listening together before the eternal and living Listener (see my article explaining deep listening). This act of deep listening should continue, even more importantly, during and after the congress.
The congress could have been a testing ground to practice such an art of listening, as uncomfortable or disturbing as it may be.
The congress could have been a testing ground to practice such an art of listening, as uncomfortable or disturbing as it may be. It could also have been a contemporary laboratory to “display Christ together” by embracing an open posture—listening to multiple voices with cultural sensitivity and Spirit-inspired imagination without predetermined judgment and prejudice.
It is not just when propositional statements are made and agreed upon, but when the voices are listened to and held in love that we can find true unity and shalom in our midst, despite our differences in theological, social, cultural, and political standpoints in a post-secular world. Could this be a priority, the first expression of unity as the body of Christ?
Intimacy with God vs. missions activities
Our small virtual group of the collaborative gap integrating spirituality and mission reflected upon the relationship between intimacy with the Triune God and missions activities by creating a matrix of low intimacy/low activity; low intimacy/high activity; high intimacy/low activity, and lastly high intimacy/high activity.
Recognizing that such a matrix is fluid, and missio Dei is derived from the Triune God in both personal and communal life (in Jurgen Moltmann’s words, “the mission of the Son and the Spirit through the Father that includes the church”), we identified challenges of each quadrant and offered ways to “close the gaps.” It took us a while to work out where to start and until today we are still unsure about the expectations and the outcome of our creative matrix. Nevertheless, this “pathological” approach (to borrow Jay Mātenga's perspective) was coupled with relational interactions amongst people from eight nations, with much laughter and growing friendship.
Not surprisingly, many evangelical Christian leaders fall into the category of low intimacy/high activity, resulting in stress, burnout, fear of failure and a sense of shame. These prevalent experiences of Chinese Christian Leaders are not far from those in the Caribbean or African regions. Their situations demand urgent attention for rest, sabbath, retreat, spiritual renewal and companionship.
If missions is the key drive of the Chinese church movement as said by one of the speakers, then intimacy with God needs to be placed as the first and foremost priority in the participation of God’s mission. Missions activities ought to be an overflow of the intimate relationship with the Triune God, in other words, contemplation leading to action.
It is not the slogan or zeal of the church that changes the world, but the participation of God’s sending love towards the whole creation
It is not the slogan or zeal of the church that changes the world, but the participation of God’s sending love towards the whole creation that moves and shapes the future of global missions. This too demands deep listening (to God, each other, and ourselves), discernment, and insight in the spiritual formation of leaders.
Ample Christian literature has addressed this very issue with the same conviction: from everyday spiritual intimacy leading to action by Brother Lawrence, the invitation to inner journey as the foundation of Christian mission by Dallas Willard and M. Robert Mulholland Jr., to the most recent articulation that missions flows naturally from a deep understanding of God’s nature and the scriptures by the former chair of Lausanne Theology working group, Christopher J.H. Wright. Henri Nouwen most clearly articulates the sequential flow of Christian life, from communion, community, to ministry.
However, none of these Western writers addresses the contextual issues of spirituality and mission that are urgently needed for the global church today, particularly in East Asia. For example, what would Chinese missions look like if it arose from a deeply rooted spiritual life? What would the paradigm of high intimacy/high activity in the context of the Chinese church movement look like? What are the challenges and how can they be overcome?
Can the gaps be truly closed at all? What if this is an ongoing, unfolding, intimate dance that enlivens and enlightens us as one body of Christ? Despite her fragility, woundedness, and pain, the Bride of Christ yearns to abide in and follow the steps of the Groom who invites her to move and dance in sync with him. In a future contribution, I plan to share a pathway to declare and display Christ in a contextual poetic form. In the meantime, let us continue to abide well and ensure our missions activities flow from our intimacy with God.
Originally published by ChinaSource. Republished with permission.
Rev. Dr. Xiaoli Yang is an Australian Chinese theologian, pastor, poet, and spiritual director. She is currently serving Australian Association of Mission Studies and on the editorial board of Australian Journal of Mission Studies.
ChinaSource is a trusted partner and platform for educating the global church on critical issues facing the church and ministries in China, and for connecting Christians inside and outside China to advance the kingdom of God globally. ChinaSource's vision is to see the church in China and the global church learning and growing together, engaging in ministry that powerfully advances the kingdom of God.
The views expressed in this or any other opinion article do not necessarily reflect the views of Christian Daily International.
