Undercurrents swirl amidst unity
Undercurrents of discontent are swirling amidst the remarkable unity that characterizes the mainstream of Cape Town 2010, the third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization. There's been a lot of unity talk all week. In fact, it's one of the major themes in a gathering marked by its wide diversity.
We are more than 4,000 people from nearly 200 countries. We are rich and poor, male and female, Jew and Gentile. We are educated and uneducated, sophisticated and simple, wise and foolish, weak and strong. We are scholars and teachers, preachers and evangelists, welldiggers and tentmakers. We are all these things and countless others, but we do have on thing in common. We are Christians.
Many of us are comfortable being called evangelical Christians, and as such share deep convictions about the saving power of Jesus Christ, a high view of Scripture and the mandate to make disciples of all nations.
But under the broad umbrella of these principled parameters, the people of God gathered in Cape Town harbour a plethora of priorities and agendas. Moreover, we don't always agree with the emphases emanating from the platform and wonder if the documents released in the wake of this conference will be useful or distasteful to us. We don't always appreciate our fellow participants' modes of expression. We are wrestling.
So, what am I talking about? What are some areas of discontent? Much will be familiar. Our dividing lines concern theology (too much Calvinism, or too little); methodology (too much proclamation, or too little); music (too contemporary, or too little); ethnicity (too western, or too global); program (too much exposition, or not enough).
This listing just hints at the multiple divisions that trouble our unity but which need not fracture it. Some of us will read the documents carefully and critically when they are released. We're told that organizers are making heroic efforts to hear the mind of the congress and incorporate input from participants into the final documents. Many of us will simply return home and get back to work.
But the drafters of documents will need great wisdom as they craft the statements that will declare the priorities that will guide a major portion of the global church in the years ahead. Pray that the get it right, regardless of who may be dissatisfied.
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