Published on September 28, 2024, 12:44 am

Image source: Fox News

In the recent Fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization held in Incheon, South Korea, more than 5,000 Christian leaders from over 200 countries convened to discuss critical issues facing the global Church. The dialogue was led by Chris Wright, a highly respected leader in Christian evangelization and key figure behind the integral 2010 Cape Town Commitment.

Wright recalls his early involvement with The Lausanne Movement back at the second congress in Manila in 1989. His formative influences included John Stott, an eminent theologian whose commitment to a synergy of evangelism and social action greatly resonated with Wright and many young evangelicals at that time.

However, following the Manila congress, there was a period when less activity surrounded Lausanne due to multiple evangelistic initiatives spearheaded by big names like Luis Bush during the significant decade of evangelism in the 90s. It was only after Doug Birdsall assumed leadership and organized the conference in Pattaya, Thailand (2004) that Wright returned to participate.

Over tea at this conference, Birdsall expressed his desire for Wright to chair the Theology Working Group – leaving Wright stunned enough to seek solitary prayer for guidance. After more than a year’s deliberation and with full backing from Stott and Langham Partnership—an organization founded by John Stott himself—Wright accepted the role.

Upon taking charge of this pivotal responsibility, one of their first assignments was defining Lausanne’s vision: “The whole Church taking the whole Gospel to the whole world.” It took him months of hard work with his team – organizing consultations, theological talks and working groups – before they were able to shed light on these critical questions about overarching concepts such as ‘whole Church,’ ‘whole Gospel’ and ‘whole World.’

Ten months before Third Lausanne Congress scheduled for Cape Town (2010), Wright had a eureka moment while pondering two biblical verses about love for God and neighbor. Enthused by this revelation, Wright crafted a theology statement encompassing these themes of godly love – an initiative that eventually evolved into the influential Cape Town Commitment.

In retrospect, Wright admits measuring the impact of the Cape Town Commitment is challenging since it has been adopted in various ways across different churches and organizations. However, he does hear of believers affirming its principles and living them out practically—an indication that perhaps the document’s holistic theology of mission is indeed gaining traction in Christian congregations.

At present, Wright’s vision for Lausanne includes maintaining its core identity as a catalyst and facilitator rather than being an operational entity itself. Reflecting on future global challenges facing Christianity, Wright identifies environmental issues like climate change, migration trends involving diaspora communities, human sexuality debates related to identity etc. as key battlegrounds.

In conclusion, Chris Wright reaffirms his vision for Lausanne emphasizes a clear Christian worldview—keeping committed to the biblical foundations such as holistic understandings of mission that speak into individual lives, societies and creation. In overcoming divisive dichotomies (like evangelism vs social action) in modern discourse, he hopes the Church will embody its integrated Gospel essence more faithfully—thus retaining a true commitment to trusted news in Christianity.