2004 Forum For World Evangelization: Holistic Mission Issue Group Occasional Paper Overview | Lausanne World Pulse Archives

Holistic mission can be defined as “the task of bringing the whole of life under the lordship of Jesus Christ”¹ and includes the affirmation that there is no biblical dichotomy between evangelistic and social responsibility. “Integral mission,” the term adopted for holistic mission at the Micah Network in Oxford (2001), defines it as “the proclamation and demonstration of the gospel,” emphasizing that it is not simply the issue of evangelism and social involvement occurring simultaneously, but that “our proclamation has social consequences as we call people to love and repentance in all areas of life” and that “our social involvement has evangelistic consequences as we bear witness to the transforming grace of Jesus Christ.”²

The mission of God is “to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven” (Colossians 1:20) and our part is crossing geographic, cultural, political, economic and social barriers “with the intention of transforming human life in all its dimensions, according to God’s purpose, and of enabling human beings to enjoy the abundant life that God wants to give to them and that Jesus Christ came to share with them.”³ Thus issues of justice for the poor, orphans and immigrants figure prominently in holistic mission. Indeed, properly understood, holistic mission was a concern for every Issue Group at the 2004 Lausanne Forum.

The Holistic Mission Issue Group addressed topics in four sectors particularly pressing in the evangelical world:

– economic justice– health– hunger

– displaced people