Editor's Note
This Lausanne Occasional Paper is accompanied by a video introduction from the author, offering insights into the key themes and context of the paper. It is part of the Theological Foundation Papers collection, which provides a biblical and theological framework for key questions and trends from the State of the Great Commission Report .
Introduction
The Lausanne Covenant that emerged from the First Lausanne Congress in 1974 served as a rallying cry for Evangelicals in the latter part of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century. The Covenant has been instrumental in shaping the modern evangelical movement as an enduring expression of evangelistic commitment. Nearly 50 years after the First Lausanne Congress, the legacy continues to grow and deepen, even as the landscape of global evangelical Christianity continues to change and develop. The priority and emphasis of evangelism as an expression of the gospel and evangelical activism has been at the center of the Lausanne Movement. But also evident throughout the story of the movement was a concern for the work of God through Biblical justice and social concerns.
Historical Context
Lausanne has been viewed as a quintessential evangelical movement embodying key characteristics of late twentieth and early twenty-first century Christianity. However, defining evangelicalism as a term applicable to a movement as broad as Lausanne presents an elusive task. For the purposes of this paper, I will differentiate between Big “E” Evangelicalism and little “e” evangelicalism.
Big “E” Evangelicalism has its most prominent expression in the United States and refers to a movement built upon relationships, networks, and connections. Big “E” Evangelicalism was built upon little “e” evangelicalism, which is built upon central theological concepts. U.S. “E”vangelicalism has often dominated the religious landscape (social and political) while global “e”vangelicalism prioritizes theological identity. These two expressions of evangelicalism have often confused what religious scholars may define as evangelicalism.
Despite the movement’s amorphous nature, general agreement may be determined regarding key characteristics. Defined more as a theological, ecclesial movement rather than as a social, political movement, evangelicals hold to
a high view of Scripture, a high Christology with a cruci-centric emphasis, a belief in the importance of conversion, an active and revivalistic faith, which is all encased in a trans-denominational movement … Evangelicals assumed that they were part of a larger historical movement with a solid theological framework and foundation.1
Historically, biblical and theological reflection has been central to evangelicalism.
By the turn of the twentieth century, American Protestantism began to splinter along theological lines. … Many liberals who identified with the Social Gospel movement energetically carried out justice activism as the centerpiece of their mission but de-emphasized evangelistic proclamation. In reaction, evangelicals vehemently rejected evolution and preached even stricter views of biblical inerrancy. The focus for those who identified as theological conservative evangelicals turned to the priority of global missions and personal evangelism. The proclamation of the gospel was the highest priority and orthodox faith needed to be preached faithfully.2
Numerous conflicts with Protestant liberals and with social, cultural, and political forces in US society (e.g. – Scopes Trial), led many American evangelicals to distance themselves from social issues and social concerns. “Scholars call this rejection of social concern the Great Reversal because of its striking contrast with nineteenth-century activism.”3
In its early iteration, American evangelicals were seen as responding negatively to social needs and concerns. Missiologist Al Tizon notes,
Evangelicals have indeed suffered from a kind of myopia… viewing mission narrowly in terms of verbal proclamation (evangelism) and church planting at the expense of social justice. Scholars across disciplines… agree that it largely developed as a reaction to ultra-liberal definitions of mission in the early part of the twentieth century that emphasized social justice at the expense of evangelization – a myopia of another sort.4
The defining of Evangelicalism can be rooted in a defensive posture to society, rather than to theological assertion. Evangelicalism, therefore, has often been straddled with sociological categories rather than theological ones.
However, within the global evangelical movement, the integration of evangelism and justice has been notable. One of the most salient examples has been the work of the Lausanne Congress in asserting this integration. As Al Tizon notes,
The first Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in 1974 marks the first serious corporate attempt to correct this shortsightedness among evangelicals. The Lausanne Covenant… includes ‘Christian Social Responsibility’ as one of fifteen key articles. This inclusion started a lively debate among evangelicals between those who wanted to retain the primacy of evangelism and those who saw works of compassion and justice as equal to evangelism.5
Acts of justice on the scale of global evangelicalism have been properly expressed as a part of the work of the gospel and rooted in the call of Scripture.
Justice in Scripture: Old Testament
Evangelicals see themselves in the line of orthodoxy evident throughout the history of the church. The high value of Scripture and the active application of Scriptural and theological truths serve as a central characteristic of evangelicalism. Scripture, therefore, should inform any engagement with the practices of the church, including evangelism, church planting, social concerns, and the pursuit of biblical justice.
In the following sections, we will examine how Scriptures provide a clarion call for the church to be engaged in ministries of justice as an expression of the gospel of the Kingdom of God. While not comprehensive in coverage (there are many more passages, themes, and Biblical motifs that address justice), it attempts to provide snapshots of Scriptural passages that move our conversation forward as global evangelicals who affirm Scripture’s priority in the formation of faith and practice.
In the Old Testament, a key theological term that shapes the life of the people of God is the Hebrew word, shalom. Oftentimes translated as “peace” in the English versions of the Bible, our language biases may push our definition of shalom as the absence of war or the absence of conflict as our simplistic understanding of the word peace. However, the semantic field in the Hebrew Scripture for shalom is much larger than simply the absence of conflict.6
Shalom in the Old Testament can be defined as “totality or completeness… fulfillment, completion, maturity, soundness, wholeness (both individual and communal), community, harmony, tranquility”.7 Shalom is not simply the absence of war, but the presence of the wholeness and fullness of God, encompassing both individual and communal expressions. Shalom, therefore, is expressed in the consummation of God’s activity in the covenant and the fulfillment resulting from God’s presence.
Justice, therefore, is an aspect of God’s shalom. In the Old Testament, two words (often in tandem) express justice: sedeq and mispat, with both words referencing justice, judgment, and righteousness. Justice “from the time of Moses and onwards (cf. Deut. 32:4), comes to distinguish that which is God’s will and those activities which result from it”.8 Justice is the sovereign will and action of God that moves towards shalom. God is the source of shalom and, therefore, actions that move towards that shalom are acts of justice.
Shalom for a community requires wholeness for the entire community.9 Justice and righteousness should be available for the powerless as well as for the powerful. Widows and orphans are often the most powerless in society, so the people of God are called to defend the powerless as an act of justice moving towards God’s shalom for the community.
The Old Testament prophets, therefore, are called to speak on behalf of God’s shalom. The prophet Amos continues the clarion call of God to speak and embody justice. Amos 5 declares: “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream (Amos 5:24, ESV).” The words translated into English as justice and righteousness, again draw from the two terms in Scripture used for justice, sedeq and mispat.
The prophet Amos was not trained as a typical prophet but was probably a shepherd. He could be compared to a typical lay person – a small businesswoman, a mid-level manager, a local farmer, or an assembly line worker. Despite his lack of prophet training and seminary education, Amos serves the role of an Old Testament prophet with integrity, passion, and boldness and speaks clearly about God’s call for justice in the world, out of his conviction and not merely out of his job description. Amos knows God’s heart and therefore speaks out for justice.
In the writings of Amos, we learn that Israel had replaced justice with false worship. They exhibited the external acts of worship festivals but were engaged in a form of idolatry. Israel was worshiping wealth, prosperity, and injustice and believed that ritual worship would be sufficient to cover their idolatry. Amos challenges their materialism, their excessive accumulation of wealth, and their obsession with power with a call for justice.
As a prophet, Amos serves as a covenant mediator. In other words, Amos is akin to a district attorney who brings charges on behalf of God the plaintiff, against the defendant—the people of Israel. Amos the prosecutor is not presenting an argument for himself, but instead offers God’s word on behalf of God. Amos knows the truth of God’s word. He understands that justice has been thwarted and that he must advocate for God’s justice in the world
In the same way, God’s people, no matter what our standing in the world or in God’s kingdom, are called to declare and advocate for God’s justice in the context of injustice. This prophetic call for justice requires knowing the heart of God for justice and seeking to restore what is good and what God originally intended in the world – the shalom of God.
When injustice rules over the world, we are called as God’s people to lament over a broken world. In the book of Lamentations, we read a story of profound suffering and pain experienced by Israel. After many generations of rebellion, disobedience, and idolatry, Yahweh inflicts the most extreme punishment and curse upon His people with their removal from the promised land and their exile to Babylon. It is at this lowest moment in Israel’s history that the book of Lamentations is composed. Rather than offering quick and simplistic answers to their suffering, God’s people are called to a time of lament over the reality of suffering.
The Book of Lamentations is often attributed to the prophet Jeremiah. He may have been the only literate person remaining after the fall of Jerusalem. However, the style of writing in Lamentations differs too starkly from Jeremiah to conclude that it is the same author. In all probability, Jeremiah wrote down the words of Lamentations, but he is reflecting the words of the widows, the orphans, and the remnant of Jerusalem who have suffered most profoundly
Lament, therefore, emerges from the voiceless victims of injustice. Part of the work of justice is the example of Jeremiah, the privileged prophet, who chooses not to assert his own words, but to advocate and raise the voice of the voiceless and the oppressed victims of injustice. Lament requires not the silencing of the victims of injustice, but the centering of these voices so that the covenant community can move more towards the shalom of God and the justice of God.
Justice in Scripture: New Testament
Themes in the New Testament continue from the Old Testament. God is at work in the world to bring about his redemption. In both testaments, therefore, justice is the expression of God at work. The theme of the gospel as good news (euangelion) is presented in the New Testament. This Greek word that is often translated as “gospel,” can also be translated as “good news.” In the Greco-Roman context of the New Testament, euangelion referred to the proclamation of the good news that an Emperor has born a son and that the Empire will now continue. These words must be accurate and they must be heard, emphasizing the proclamation of this specific message.
But recognizing that the New Testament is written in the context and culture of the Hebrew Testament and the Jewish people requires that we engage the word “gospel” at the intersection of the Old Testament and the New Testament world. By engaging both the Hebrew and Greek nuance of the “gospel,” we again see that the gospel is both the proclamation and demonstration of the Kingdom of God.
In Isaiah 52, we are given a description of what the word good news means: “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news… who proclaim peace…, ‘Your God reigns’” (Isa. 52:7, NIV). The restoration of Israel is good news, but more specifically that “God Reigns” is the fullness of the good news. The reign of Yahweh is evident, the plan of God is at work, the shalom of God is fulfilled, and Yahweh’s sovereign authority over the world is being demonstrated. In Isaiah 61, the good news is the proclamation of the good news, but it is good news to the poor. The good news is to bind up the brokenhearted, freedom to the captives, and release for the prisoner. The good news is the demonstration of justice.
This theme is reiterated in the Gospels. In Luke 4, Jesus cites Isaiah 61 as a centerpiece of the gospel message and the fulfillment of the Gospel message in his incarnation, presence, teaching, and ministry. Jesus draws upon both the Greco-Roman expectation of good news: “A son is born and the Kingdom is here” and the Hebraic expectation of good news: “The King is here and the shalom of God is being demonstrated.” The gospel is both the public proclamation of evangelism and the demonstration of shalom through justice.
The celebration of Pentecost, which is often understood as the birth date of the church, emerges from the Jewish festival of Pentecost. It is consequential that the birth of the New Testament church is steeped in the story and history of the Old Testament Jewish community. The gospel narrative emerges from the prophetic narrative of the Old Testament. The Jewish festival of Pentecost, also known as the Festival of Weeks in the Old Testament, (See, Exod. 23:16; 34:22; Lev. 23:15-22; Num. 28:26-31; Deut. 16:9-17) provides the social, theological context for the birth of the New Testament church. The Jewish festival of Pentecost was a time of renewing and affirming the covenant between God and his people.
We read in Acts 2 during the Feast of Weeks that the Holy Spirit falls upon the disciples of Jesus and the church is born. A new covenant is affirmed in the context of the Old Testament covenant. The birth of the church involves a new covenant that is affirmed in the context of the Jewish festival of Pentecost (i.e. – the extant covenant between God and God’s people).
One of the external expressions of the church is the preaching of the good news by Peter to a large crowd. Many in the crowd respond to Peter’s preaching and the church experiences its first growth spurt. But in addition to the proclamation of the gospel by Peter is the demonstration of the gospel by the New Testament church.
Most modern, Western interpretations of the Acts 2 passage emphasize the preaching and public proclamation element of the narrative. Peter’s sermon (Acts 2:14-40) serves as the impetus for the growth of the church in Acts 2:41 and 47. In most English translations, Acts 2:41 (“Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day”- NIV) is marked off as the culmination of Peter’s sermon… The twenty century’s prioritizing of the sermon as a means of persuasion reflects the importance of preaching and verbal proclamation in evangelism and church growth.
But what if Acts 2:41 serves as a bridge between Peter’s sermon and the life of the church as described in Acts 2:42-47? … If we examine Acts 2:41-47 as one unit, a structure emerges for these verses that points to another explanation for the growth of the church. Acts 2:41 and 47 serve as framing verses for what occurs between Acts 2:42 and 46. The structure of this passage, therefore, follows the chiastic structure so commonly found in Greek literature. The passage develops in this manner:
A. Numerical growth of the church (Acts 2:41)
B. Characteristics of church life (Acts 2:42-43)
- Fellowship (teaching, breaking bread, prayer)
- Outsiders are amazed
C. Self-sacrificial life of the church (Acts 2:44-45)
B’. Characteristics of church life (Acts 2:46-47)
- Fellowship (meeting in the temple, breaking bread, praise)
- Outsiders are amazed
A’ Numerical Growth of the church (Acts 2:47b)
Chiastic structures often focus on the relationship between the outside statements’ (A) relationship to the center of the structure (C).10 The center statement in this chiastic structure reveals the cause and the outside statement reveals the effect. The cause of the self-sacrificial living of the church (the demonstration of the gospel) results in the numerical growth of the church (evangelism and church growth).11
Conclusion
Throughout Scripture, God’s call for justice is made evident. While specific expressions of evangelicalism have eschewed justice as a Biblical call, the Scriptures themselves testify to a God who calls His community towards a shalom that requires justice. The work of God, therefore, is evident in the evangelistic efforts of the church that seeks the salvation of individual souls through the proclamation of the gospel but also sees the justice of God demonstrated in the world that longs for the shalom of God’s kingdom.
Endnotes
- Soong-Chan Rah, “Evangelicals” in Christianity in North America, eds. Kenneth R. Ross, Grace Ji-Sun Kim, and Todd M. Johnson (Edinburgh University Press, 2023), 246.
- Rah, “Evangelicals” in Christianity in North America, 247.
- Soong-Chan Rah and Gary VanderPol, Return to Justice (Brazos Press, 2016), 10.
- Al Tizon, Transformation After Lausanne (Regnum Books, 2008), 4.
- Tizon, ibid.
- Martin Luther King, Jr., once noted that “Peace is not merely the absence of tension, it is the presence of justice.”
- The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE), Vol. 3, K-P, 732.
- New Bible Dictionary, 644.
- Shalom is experienced on both an individual and corporate level as well as expressed in both proclamation and demonstration. The expression of shalom on all levels would yield: Individual proclamation expressed as personal evangelism / Corporate proclamation as public evangelism / Individual demonstration expressed as social concerns and actions (compassion and charity) / Corporate demonstration – justice.
- This whole section is excerpted from the author’s book The next Evangelicalism : Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity. See, Soong-Chan Rah, The next Evangelicalism : Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity (Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Books, 2009), 109. Also see, Nils Wilhelm Lund, Chiasmus in the New Testament : A Study in the Form and Function of Chiastic Structures (Chapel Hill: University Of North Carolina Press, 2012).
- Rah, The next Evangelicalism, 106-107.
