Lausanne World Pulse – Themed Articles – Challenges and Opportunities for the U.S. Church over the Next Ten Years

By Paul Cedar
December 2010

God is giving us the opportunity to repent of this sin. It will require that we get along with less, sacrifice more, and be increasingly dependent upon the Lord for his miraculous supply. I am sorry for those who are suffering as a result of our recession, but I am convinced that the redemptive possibilities far outweigh the negative consequences.

Persecution. I have personally heard of more instances of persecution of Christians in the U.S. during the last couple of years than in the past fifty years combined. Although our experiences of persecution pale in comparison to many of our brothers and sisters around the world, persecution is beginning to take place in growing proportions in this nation.

Biblical and church history teach us that the Church has grown most vigorously and deeply during days of persecution. That trend began shortly after Pentecost and continues to this day. We pray that our Lord will use any persecution that we may experience to strengthen and deepen Christians and the Church in the U.S.

Secularization. Most of us recognize that many negative expressions of the secularization of the Western World have been wrought upon the Christian Church. However, I would contend that the secularization movement also offers opportunities for effective evangelization. A number of years ago I had the privilege of participating in my first Lausanne international consultation. I was assigned to the working group that was focusing on evangelizing nominal Christians.

We identified that sharing the gospel in deed and word with nominal Christians was perhaps the most difficult type of evangelism we experienced within the North American culture. Those who were merely cultural Christians (not authentic Christ followers) frequently did not sense the need for genuine spiritual conversion. They believed they were Christians and did not need to deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow Jesus. There are still many nominal Christians in the United States.

There are also increasingly large numbers of Americans who are totally ignorant of Jesus Christ and the Christian faith. This gives us the opportunity that Paul and others had in the first century. We need to share the gospel in deed and word with freshness, simplicity, and power.

Collaboration. If there is any one lesson our Lord has been teaching those of us involved in the U.S. Lausanne Committee (Mission America Coalition) during the past seventeen years, it has been the power of spiritual collaboration in evangelizing. We have experienced an incredible move of the Holy Spirit in drawing Christian leaders together to collaborate in sharing the gospel with men, women, young people, and children. We have 483 Christian leaders from various denominations, ministries, city/community movements, ministry networks, local churches, and marketplace ministries.

We invite you to join us by connecting with us at www.MissionAmerica.org, www.Cityreaching.com, Mission America Coalition on Facebook, or www.mac-global.net. We also invite you to save the dates of 4-7 April 2011 for the Mission America Coalition annual gathering in Orlando, Florida. This will be a strategic meeting flowing out of the Lausanne Cape Town 2010 Congress as we prayerfully strategize concerning the next ten years of mission.

In many ways, we are living in perilous times. But they are also times of great opportunity to pray for lost people, care for them with the love of Jesus Christ, and share the good news of the gospel.

Dr. Paul Cedar serves as chairman of the U.S. Lausanne Committee/Mission America Coalition. He has served as president of the Evangelical Free Churches, senior pastor of Lake Avenue Church, executive pastor of Hollywood Presbyterian Church, and as a crusade associate with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.