August is mission month in our church again, using the theme, ‘The whole church taking the whole gospel to the whole world’.
In 1974, Billy Graham gathered mission leaders from over 150 countries for the first Lausanne Congress that deliberated on the theme, ‘Let the earth hear His voice’. It developed into what is now the Lausanne Movement, with the tagline – connecting influencers and ideas for global mission.
This birthed the Lausanne Covenant (https://lausanne.org/content/covenant/lausanne-covenant#cov), with John Stott as its chief architect as he contributed most to the formulation of the theme, ‘The whole church, taking the whole gospel to the whole world’.
The Whole Church
The worldwide body of Christ refers to all members of local churches. Committees and missionaries cannot be held solely responsible for the task. As fishers of men, we must all be involved through the avenues of giving, going, praying, etc.
The Whole Gospel
‘Easy believism’ is the accusation that the church preaches the wonderful grace of God without making any mention of His wrath or shares the good news of heaven and ignores the need to “take up one’s cross”. The invitation to “receive Jesus into one’s heart”, must continue with the challenge to ‘follow me’, which points to changed lives rather than a once-off commitment.
The Whole World
Mission statistics tell us that we are still a long way off from fulfilling the Great Commission. For many people, the world revolves around what matters to us. Jesus says in John 4:35b, ‘…Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.’ This is what matters!
May we renew our hearts toward Gospel Outreach.
Elder Richard Lai
