THE LAUSANNE COVENANT
INTRODUCTION
We, members of the Church of Jesus Christ, from more than 150
nations, participants in the International Congress on World
Evangelization at Lausanne, praise God for his great salvation and
rejoice in the fellowship he has given us with himself and with each
other. We are deeply stirred by what God is doing in our day, moved
to penitence by our failures and challenged by the unfinished task
of evangelization. We believe the Gospel is God's good news for the
whole world, and we are determined by his grace to obey Christ's
commission to proclaim it to all mankind and to make disciples of
every nation. We desire, therefore, to affirm our faith and our
resolve, and to make public our covenant.
1. THE PURPOSE OF GOD
We affirm our belief in the one-eternal God, Creator and Lord of the
world, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who govern all things according
to the purpose of his will. He has been calling out from the world a
people for himself, and sending his people back into the world to be
his servants and his witnesses, for the extension of his kingdom,
the building up of Christ's body, and the glory of his name. We
confess with shame that we have often denied our calling and failed
in our mission, by becoming conformed to the world or by withdrawing
from it. Yet we rejoice that even when borne by earthen vessels the
gospel is still a precious treasure. To the task of making that
treasure known in the power of the Holy Spirit we desire to dedicate
ourselves anew.
(Isa. 40:28; Matt. 28:19; Eph. 1:11; Acts 15:14; John 17:6, 18; Eph
4:12; 1 Cor. 5:10; Rom. 12:2; II Cor. 4:7)
2. THE AUTHORITY AND POWER OF THE BIBLE
We affirm the divine inspiration, truthfulness and authority of both
Old and New Testament Scriptures in their entirety as the only
written word of God, without error in all that it affirms, and the
only infallible rule of faith and practice. We also affirm the power
of God's word to accomplish his purpose of salvation. The message of
the Bible is addressed to all men and women. For God's revelation in
Christ and in Scripture is unchangeable. Through it the Holy Spirit
still speaks today. He illumines the minds of God's people in every
culture to perceive its truth freshly through their own eyes and
thus discloses to the whole Church ever more of the many-colored
wisdom of God.
(II Tim. 3:16; II Pet. 1:21; John 10:35; Isa. 55:11; 1 Cor. 1:21;
Rom. 1:16, Matt. 5:17,18; Jude 3; Eph. 1:17,18; 3:10,18)
3. THE UNIQUENESS AND UNIVERSALITY OF CHRIST
We affirm that there is only one Saviour and only one gospel,
although there is a wide diversity of evangelistic approaches. We
recognise that everyone has some knowledge of God through his
general revelation in nature. But we deny that this can save, for
people suppress the truth by their unrighteousness. We also reject
as derogatory to Christ and the gospel every kind of syncretism and
dialogue which implies that Christ speaks equally through all
religions and ideologies. Jesus Christ, being himself the only
God-man, who gave himself as the only ransom for sinners, is the
only mediator between God and people. There is no other name by
which we must be saved. All men and women are perishing because of
sin, but God loves everyone, not wishing that any should perish but
that all should repent. Yet those who reject Christ repudiate the
joy of salvation and condemn themselves to eternal separation from
God. To proclaim Jesus as "the Saviour of the world" is not to
affirm that all people are either automatically or ultimately saved,
still less to affirm that all religions offer salvation in Christ.
Rather it is to proclaim God's love for a world of sinners and to
invite everyone to respond to him as Saviour and Lord in the
wholehearted personal commitment of repentance and faith. Jesus
Christ has been exalted above every other name; we long for the day
when every knee shall bow to him and every tongue shall confess him
Lord.
(Gal. 1:6-9;Rom. 1:18-32; I Tim. 2:5,6; Acts 4:12; John 3:16-19; II
Pet. 3:9; II Thess. 1:7-9;John 4:42; Matt. 11:28; Eph. 1:20,21;
Phil. 2:9-11)
4. THE NATURE OF EVANGELISM
To evangelize is to spread the good news that Jesus Christ died for
our sins and was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures,
and that as the reigning Lord he now offers the forgiveness of sins
and the liberating gifts of the Spirit to all who repent and
believe. Our Christian presence in the world is indispensable to
evangelism, and so is that kind of dialogue whose purpose is to
listen sensitively in order to understand. But evangelism itself is
the proclamation of the historical, biblical Christ as Saviour and
Lord, with a view to persuading people to come to him personally and
so be reconciled to God. In issuing the gospel invitation we have no
liberty to conceal the cost of discipleship. Jesus still calls all
who would follow him to deny themselves, take up their cross, and
identify themselves with his new community. The results of
evangelism include obedience to Christ, incorporation into his
Church and responsible service in the world.
(I Cor. 15:3,4; Acts 2: 32-39; John 20:21; I Cor. 1:23; II Cor. 4:5;
5:11,20; Luke 14:25-33; Mark 8:34; Acts 2:40,47; Mark 10:43-45)
5. CHRISTIAN SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
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.
(Acts 17:26,31; Gen. 18:25; Isa. 1:17; Psa. 45:7; Gen. 1:26,27; Jas.
3:9; Lev. 19:18; Luke 6:27,35; Jas. 2:14-26; Joh. 3:3,5; Matt. 5:20;
6:33; II Cor. 3:18; Jas. 2:20)
6. THE CHURCH AND EVANGELISM
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. But a
church which preaches the cross must itself be marked by the cross.
It becomes a stumbling block to evangelism when it betrays the
gospel or lacks a living faith in God, a genuine love for people, or
scrupulous honesty in all things including promotion and finance.
The church is the community of God's people rather than an
institution, and must not be identified with any particular culture,
social or political system, or human ideology.
(John 17:18; 20:21; Matt. 28:19,20; Acts 1:8; 20:27; Eph. 1:9,10;
3:9-11; Gal. 6:14,17; II Cor. 6:3,4; II Tim. 2:19-21; Phil. 1:27)
7. COOPERATION IN EVANGELISM
We affirm that the Church's visible unity in truth is God's purpose.
Evangelism also summons us to unity, because our oneness strengthens
our witness, just as our disunity undermines our gospel of
reconciliation. We recognize, however, that organisational unity may
take many forms and does not necessarily forward evangelism. Yet we
who share the same biblical faith should be closely united in
fellowship, work and witness. We confess that our testimony has
sometimes been marred by a sinful individualism and needless
duplication. We pledge ourselves to seek a deeper unity in truth,
worship, holiness and mission. We urge the development of regional
and functional cooperation for the furtherance of the Church's
mission, for strategic planning, for mutual encouragement, and for
the sharing of resources and experience.
(John 17:21,23; Eph. 4:3,4; John 13:35; Phil. 1:27; John 17:11-23)
8. CHURCHES IN EVANGELISTIC PARTNERSHIP
We rejoice that a new missionary era has dawned. The dominant role
of western missions is fast disappearing. God is raising up from the
younger churches a great new resource for world evangelization, and
is thus demonstrating that the responsibility to evangelise belongs
to the whole body of Christ. All churches should therefore be asking
God and themselves what they should be doing both to reach their own
area and to send missionaries to other parts of the world. A
reevaluation of our missionary responsibility and role should be
continuous. Thus a growing partnership of churches will develop and
the universal character of Christ's Church will be more clearly
exhibited. We also thank God for agencies which labor in Bible
translation, theological education, the mass media, Christian
litterature, evangelism, missions, church renewal and other
specialist fields. They too should engage in constant
self-examination to evaluate their effectiveness as part of the
Church's mission.
(Rom. 1:8; Phil. 1:5; 4:15; Acts 13:1-3, I Thess. 1:6-8)
9. THE URGENCY OF THE EVANGELISTIC TASK
More than 2,700 million people, which is more than two-thirds of all
humanity, have yet to be evangelised. We are ashamed that so many
have been neglected; it is a standing rebuke to us and to the whole
Church. There is now, however, in many parts of the world an
unprecedented receptivity to the Lord Jesus Christ. We are convinced
that this is the time for churches and para-church agencies to pray
earnestly for the salvation of the unreached and to launch new
efforts to achieve world evangelization. A reduction of foreign
missionaries and money in an evangelised country may sometimes be
necessary to facilitate the national church's growth in
self-reliance and to release resources for unevangelised areas.
Missionaries should flow ever more freely from and to all six
continents in a spirit of humble service. The goal should be, by all
available means and at the earliest possible time, that every person
will have the opportunity to hear, understand, and to receive the
good news. We cannot hope to attain this goal without sacrifice. All
of us are shocked by the poverty of millions and disturbed by the
injustices which causes it. Those of us who live in affluent
circumstances accept our duty to develop a simple life-style in
order to contribute more generously to both relief and evangelism.
(John 9:4; Matt. 9:35-38; Rom. 9:1-3; I Cor. 9:19-23; Mark 16:15;
Isa. 58:6,7; Jas. 1:27; 2:1-9; Matt. 25:31-46; Acts 2:44,45;
4:34,35)
10. EVANGELISM AND CULTURE
The development of strategies for world evangelization calls for
imaginative pioneering methods. Under God, the result will be the
rise of churches deeply rooted in Christ and closely related to
their culture. Culture must always be tested and judged by
Scripture. Because men and women are God's creatures, some of their
culture is rich in beauty and goodness. Because they are fallen, all
of it is tainted with sin and some of it is demonic. The gospel does
not presuppose the superiority of any culture to another, but
evaluates all cultures according to its own criteria of truth and
righteousness, and insists on moral absolutes in every culture.
Missions have all too frequently exported with the gospel an alien
culture and churches have sometimes been in bondage to culture
rather than to Scripture. Christ's evangelists must humbly seek to
empty themselves of all but their personal authenticity in order to
become the servants of others, and churches must seek to transform
and enrich culture, all for the glory of God.
(Mark 7:8,9,13; Gen. 4:21,22; I Cor. 9:19-23; Phil. 2:5-7; II Cor.
4:5)
11. EDUCATION AND LEADERSHIP
We confess that we have sometimes pursued church growth at the
expense of church depth, and divorced evangelism from Christian
nurture. We also acknowledge that some of our missions have been too
slow to equip and encourage national leaders to assume their
rightful responsibilities. Yet we are committed to indigenous
principles, and long that every church will have national leaders
who manifest a Christian style of leadership in terms not of
domination but of service. We recognise that there is a great need
to improve theological education, especially for church leaders. In
every nation and culture there should be an effective training
programme for pastors and laity in doctrine, discipleship,
evangelism, nurture and service. Such training programmes should not
rely on any stereotyped methodology but should be developed by
creative local initiatives according to biblical standards.
(Col. I:27,28; Acts 14:23; Tit. 1:5,9; Mark 10:42-45; Eph. 4:11,12)
12. SPIRITUAL CONFLICT
We believe that we are engaged in constant spiritual warfare with
the principalities and powers of evil, who are seeking to overthrow
the Church and frustrate its task of world evangelization. We know
our need to equip ourselves with God's armour and to fight this
battle with the spiritual weapons of truth and prayer. For we detect
the activity of our enemy, not only in false ideologies outside the
Church, but also inside it in false gospels which twist Scripture
and put people in the place of God. We need both watchfulness and
discernment to safeguard the biblical gospel. We acknowledge that we
ourselves are not immune to worldliness of thoughts and action, that
is, to a surrender to secularism. For example, although careful
studies of church growth, both numerical and spiritual, are right
and valuable, we have sometimes neglected them. At other times,
desirous to ensure a response to the gospel, we have compromised our
message, manipulated our hearers through pressure techniques, and
become unduly preoccupied with statistics or even dishonest in our
use of them. All this is worldly. The Church must be in the world;
the world must not be in the Church.
(Eph. 6:12; II Cor. 4:3,4; Eph. 6:11,13-18; II Cor. 10:3-5; I John
2:18-26; 4:1-3; Gal. 1:6-9; II Cor. 2:17; 4:2; John 17:15)
13. FREEDOM AND PERSECUTION
It is the God-appointed duty of every government to secure
conditions of peace, justice and liberty in which the Church may
obey God, serve the Lord Jesus Christ, and preach the gospel without
interference. We therefore pray for the leaders of nations and call
upon them to guarantee freedom of thought and conscience, and
freedom to practise and propagate religion in accordance with the
will of God and as set forth in The Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. We also express our deep concern for all who have been
unjustly imprisoned, and especially for those who are suffering for
their testimony to the Lord Jesus. We promise to pray and work for
their freedom. At the same time we refuse to be intimidated by their
fate. God helping us, we too will seek to stand against injustice
and to remain faithful to the gospel, whatever the cost. We do not
forget the warnings of Jesus that persecution is inevitable.
(I Tim. 1:1-4, Acts 4:19; 5:29; Col. 3:24; Heb. 13:1-3; Luke 4:18;
Gal. 5:11; 6:12; Matt. 5:10-12; John 15:18-21)
14. THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Father sent his
Spirit to bear witness to his Son, without his witness ours is
futile. Conviction of sin, faith in Christ, new birth and Christian
growth are all his work. Further, the Holy Spirit is a missionary
spirit; thus evangelism should arise spontaneously from a
Spirit-filled church. A church that is not a missionary church is
contradicting itself and quenching the Spirit. Worldwide
evangelization will become a realistic possibility only when the
Spirit renews the Church in truth and wisdom, faith, holiness, love
and power. We therefore call upon all Christians to pray for such a
visitation of the sovereign Spirit of God that all his fruit may
appear in all his people and that all his gifts may enrich the body
of Christ. Only then will the whole world become a fit instrument in
his hands, that the whole earth may hear his voice.
(I Cor. 2:4; John 15:26;27; 16:8-11; I Cor. 12:3; John 3:6-8; II Cor.
3:18; John 7:37-39; I Thess. 5:19; Acts 1:8; Psa. 85:4-7; 67:1-3;
Gal. 5:22,23; I Cor. 12:4-31; Rom. 12:3-8)
15. THE RETURN OF CHRIST
We believe that Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly, in
power and glory, to consummate his salvation and his judgment. This
promise of his coming is a further spur to our evangelism, for we
remember his words that the gospel must first be preached to all
nations. We believe that the interim period between Christ's
ascension and return is to be filled with the mission of the people
of God, who have no liberty to stop before the end. We also remember
his warning that false Christs and false prophets will arise as
precursors of the final Antichrist. We therefore reject as a proud,
self-confident dream the notion that people can ever build a utopia
on earth. Our Christian confidence is that God will perfect his
kingdom, and we look forward with eager anticipation to that day,
and to the new heaven and earth in which righteousness will dwell
and God will reign forever. Meanwhile, we rededicate ourselves to
the service of Christ and of people in joyful submission to his
authority over the whole of our lives.
(Mark 14:62; Heb. 9:28; Mark 13:10; Acts 1:8-11; Matt. 28:20; Mark
13:21-23; John 2:18; 4:1-3; Luke 12:32; Rev. 21:1-5; II Pet. 3:13;
Matt. 28:18)
CONCLUSION
Therefore, in the light of this our faith and our resolve, we enter
into a solemn covenant with God and with each other, to pray, to
plan and to work together for the evangelization of the whole world.
We call upon others to join us. May God help us by his grace and for
his glory to be faithful to this our covenant! Amen, Alleluia!
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