Lausanne World Pulse – PUBLISHER'S MEMO – Bringing God's Best to Our Broken World in 2010

By Doug Birdsall
October / November 2013

The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart….the earth was filled with violence. (Genesis 6:5-6, 11)

With the fall of humanity, sin, pain, and suffering have marred our world. Advances in information technology and global communication have made the images, sounds, and stories of the pain and suffering of millions of people around the world more tangible in our living rooms at a touch of a button. From the wars in the Middle East and Central Asia, to the ethnic conflicts in Africa and Southeast Asia, famine, tsunamis, HIV/AIDS, slavery, trafficking, and exploitation, it is evident that death, violence, pain, and suffering are ever with us. What can we say and what can we do in the face of such bleak and overwhelming darkness?

It is into this world, a very broken world, that Christ calls us to boldly follow him as his disciples and to share the good news of his love and grace. It is counterintuitive and even subversive for us to follow him and to become like him, as it calls upon us to first relinquish our own powers and abilities and submit to his. As our brother Isaiah Dau (Sudan) writes,

We live in the tension of faith and suffering even as we walk in the “already and the not yet” of our salvation and deliverance from all that ails us. This faith offers us the option of continuing to trust God even while we accept the limits of our humanity…

This faith calls for us to follow Christ on his terms, in his strength, and in his spirit, not our own (Zechariah 4:6).

In the opening address of the first International Congress on World Evangelization held in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1974, Billy Graham spoke of the Spirit of Lausanne. This Spirit of Lausanne is a spirit of humility, reflection, partnership, study, and hope. It is with this Spirit we look to face the great and many challenges of 2010.

As Christians, we are not immune to what is happening around us, and often we are even complicit in the brokenness of this world. But it is with this spirit that we must seek the Lord to shed light on where we have been complicit in the sufferings of those around us, with humility confess our sin, and take hope in the power of the Lord to overcome such adversities.

Just as Christ himself was not exempt from hunger, loneliness, persecution, violence, and death yet he overcame, we too shall overcome. Just as he carried his cross, he calls his followers to carry their crosses and to follow him. We do this because our hope is in his promise to be with us until the very end of the age (Matthew 28:20). Our hope is in his promise to return and to restore all things, and make all things new (Revelation 21:1-5)—all things to be as they should be.

As we begin the New Year, we stand at a crossroad. We can either continue to go as we have always gone, or we can do something different. We celebrate the New Year with hearts full of hope because we desire to leave the old behind us and to start afresh. Many make resolutions and resolve to change their ways; but sadly, many fail to make any lasting change to their lives.

Doug Birdsall is executive chair of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization. He served as president of Asian Access from 1991 to 2007 and continues to serve on their board of directors. Birdsall is a graduate of Wheaton College, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and Harvard University. He is co-publisher of Lausanne World Pulse.