Integral mission is defined as ‘the task of bringing the whole of life under the lordship of Jesus Christ’ and includes the affirmation that there is no biblical dichotomy between evangelistic and social responsibility in bringing Christ’s peace to the poor and oppressed. This was further clarified at the 2001 meeting of the Micah Network in Oxford as ‘the proclamation and demonstration of the gospel,’ emphasizing that it is not simply the issue of evangelism and social involvement being done alongside each other but rather 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.’
The Integral Mission issue group of the Lausanne Movement exists for the following purposes:
- To be a voice, to guide the church in developing theological and philosophical underpinnings for integral mission.
- To offer themselves as a resource for others seeking to practice integral mission.
- To advocate that the church fulfill her calling to integral mission through word and deed.
- To gather and make resources, models and standards available through the Integral Mission website.
The gospel challenges the idolatry of rampant consumerism. We are called, as those who serve God and not mammon, to recognize that greed perpetuates poverty, and to renounce it. At the same time, we rejoice that the gospel includes the rich in its call to repentance, and invites them to join the fellowship of those transformed by forgiving grace. The Cape Town Commitment II-B-3
