Lausanne World Pulse – Themed Articles – Building a Solid Theological Foundation for Mission Policy and Praxis

By Samuel Escobar
May 2008

3. Mission in Partnership
At several points, the Covenant addresses the issue of partnership in mission. Paragraphs 8 and 9 are most explicit about it. They state that in view of the urgency of the task of evangelization, “a re-evaluation 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” (Par. 8).

The Lausanne Movement provides many opportunities for networking and cooperation and the evangelical outlook in this area seems to be very positive. During the 2004 Forum for World Evangelization, an Issue Group on Partnership and Collaboration acknowledged that “the divisions in the Body of Christ are a primary roadblock to seeing major breakthroughs in world evangelization.” They also stated that “the natural tendency of Christian ministries, organizations, institutions, etc., is toward disintegration and fragmentation.”³ However, they committed themselves to work in a Task Force toward the development of an International Partnership Network, and then launched the “Company of the Committed,” which started to work immediately in the facilitating of information exchange.

Phill Butler, a mission statesman who has worked for years in the area of networking, has published a useful handbook written with a hopeful note and a practical approach based on experience. He states that “despite centuries of division, disappointment, and even despair, hundreds of individuals around the world are now proving every day that God´s people can work together.”⁴

With the notable growth of missionary concern and commitment in the Majority World, partnership in mission now faces a new challenge: the cooperation of old well-established mission agencies with their Asian, African, and Latin American counterparts. As we think of mission in the future, this new global situation should be kept in mind and faced with creativity. Elsewhere I have proposed that there is a need for new patterns of interdependence in mission. Partnership within global disparities requires special attention to the New Testament principles of mutuality and reciprocity that are evident in the Pauline patters of missionary practice.⁵

4. Preparation for Mission
The Lausanne Covenant states: “We confess that we have sometimes pursued church growth at the expense of church depth, and divorced evangelism from Christian nurture” (Par. 11). The paragraph also explains the need to improve theological education as well as leadership training in churches around the world.

This is a crucial point in mission policy making today. At present, evangelicals continue to be challenged by this confession. Thus, in Latin America we are embarrased by the fact that the reported significant church growth is not accompanied by moral and social transformation, and that the political clout that numbers have given to evangelicals has not been used in a significantly different way from traditional corrupt politicians. At the same time, with a misguided sense of urgency, some powerful mission boards have concentrated on church growth and have abandoned their contribution to theological education and Christian nurture, two things which are desperately needed.

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Samuel Escobar was born in Peru and ministered in Latin America under the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. He was chair of missiology at Palmer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, USA. He spoke at Lausanne 1974 and was a member of the committee that drafted the Lausanne Covenant. Presently he lives and teaches in Spain.