EGN NEWS DESK
Following the conclusion of the Fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization held in Incheon, Korea from September 22-28, Christian Daily International had a chance to sit down down with Congress Co-Chair Rev. Jaehoon Lee for an unique interview. Looking again on the historic occasion that was generously supported by many Korean church buildings and introduced collectively almost 5,400 members from 200 international locations and territories, Rev. Lee took a second to share his reflections. He spoke about historic adjustments as Lausanne 4 preparations mirrored extra of the Church’s shift to the worldwide South; his hope for the Korean Church to be actually a part of the worldwide physique of Christ; a number of the dynamics surrounding the Seoul Statement; and the only best spotlight for him on the occasion.
Rev. Lee, who serves as Senior Pastor of Onnuri Church in Seoul, started by pointing to his position within the Congress as an indication of how Lausanne 4 was completely different from earlier Congresses from the beginning. It was the primary time in Lausanne’s 50-year historical past that there was a transparent recognition of the shifting Church panorama to the Global South as they appointed a consultant from the host nation as Co-Chair of the Congress. There was no such title prior to now, he stated.
Rev. Lee’s appointment to this position “means the Lausanne Movement wished to replicate the change within the map of world Christianity, from the worldwide North and West to the worldwide South and East. And on the middle of the worldwide South and East, there may be the Korean Church,” he stated.
“They wished to acknowledge the brand new actuality of polycentric mission and emphasize collaboration with us as host nation.”
As Co-Chair, Rev. Lee stated he had the chance to advocate leaders from Global South areas, reminiscent of Asia and Africa. A selected suggestion was Dr. Patrick Fung, on the time the director of the Overseas Mission Fellowship (OMF), as Program Chair.
“He deliberate and designed the entire program based mostly on the e book of Acts. From Bible expositions to the varied Congress subjects, all of the completely different program parts had been taken from Acts, which may be very biblical and missional,” Rev. Lee stated.
The three earlier program administrators of the Congresses in Lausanne in 1974, Manila in 1989 and Cape Town in 2010 had been all Western leaders. This time, it was completely different, and Rev. Lee was very happy with this alteration as a result of he felt the worldwide South voices had been extra strongly represented on the Fourth Congress.
Korean Church might genuinely change into a part of the worldwide Church
Asked in regards to the Korean participation in Lausanne 4, Rev. Lee stated he wished the Korean Church to be taught from the worldwide Church and acquire a extra world perspective.
“For a few years, the Korean Church has been very remoted from different church buildings. Korea is homogenic as a nation with one heritage, and so they realized to be one physique. For a very long time, they’ve been very energetic, and so they have change into influential on the earth, however they haven’t been world,” Rev. Lee stated.
He believes that this world Congress helped Korean Christians to genuinely change into a part of the worldwide Church.
“The Korean church buildings, the management and congregations, had been uncovered to many voices from church buildings world wide. Especially after we heard the voices from church buildings in persecuted nations, we realized so much. And we might additionally replicate on our previous, the time when our personal ancestors had been persecuted for his or her religion,” he stated.
Similarly, he hopes that the Lausanne Movement would assist Korean missionaries to change into extra built-in into world mission networks. As the second largest mission sending pressure on the earth, 1000’s of Korean missionaries have been dispatched to each nook of the world. But Rev. Lee believes they’ve but to be taught to work along with missionaries from different international locations.
“They have lacked a spirit of collaboration,” he stated, referencing a core theme of the Lausanne Congress this time. “They work collectively however solely inside Korean networks, not world networks that embody missionaries from different nations,” he added, and stated he hopes they’d prolong their collaborative relationships, probably additionally via the Lausanne Movement that might function a platform.
Apart from the necessity for collaboration, one other space that Lausanne 4 highlighted this time was the significance of together with individuals within the office as members within the Great Commission. Rather than limiting the duty of sharing the gospel to pastors, church leaders and missionaries, fulfilling the Great Commission requires the participation of everybody within the Church, the Congress heard.
Asked how this emphasis resonated with Korean church buildings, Rev. Lee stated that it is a matter that has already been acknowledged and lots of church buildings have developed workplace-related ministries. “That is why many office leaders had been invited to the Congress this time. Among the Korean members, there weren’t solely pastors and missionaries. Around 30% had been office leaders,” he stated.
State of the Great Commission report & Seoul Statement offered a brand new method
Each of the earlier congresses left a legacy within the type of a doc that emerged from the occasion, together with the Lausanne Covenant (1974), the Manila Manifesto (1989) and the Cape Town Commitment (2010). In Korea, many members had been caught abruptly when the Seoul Statement was offered as a remaining product mere hours earlier than the occasion was about to start.
The management went to nice lengths to elucidate that not like the earlier Lausanne paperwork, the Seoul Statement complemented the sooner paperwork in addition to the State of the Great Commission report that was printed in April, and that it was meant to “inform and encourage” conversations all through the week reasonably than summarize the deliberations. Nevertheless, some pointed to the language within the doc that prompt it was meant as coming from the Congress on behalf of those that attended.
Then, solely a day or two later, edits had been made to 2 paragraphs associated to the problem of homosexuality, which once more raised eyebrows and led to additional requests to open the assertion to suggestions. Ultimately, the Lausanne management introduced on the finish of the week that members could be invited to share their feedback and that Lausanne’s Theology Working Group along with the senior management staff would discern the following steps.
Asked in regards to the dynamics surrounding the Seoul Statement, Rev. Lee acknowledged that “there have been some errors in communication.” But he additionally identified that Lausanne doesn’t have any outlined protocol about how statements are formulated, processed and launched.
“At Lausanne 1, John Stott wrote the Lausanne Covenant throughout the occasion. The second time, it was completely different. And on the Third Congress, the ultimate doc was solely launched months after the occasion. So, there isn’t a precise protocol,” he stated.
Rev. Lee added that he noticed no concern when Lausanne Global Executive Director Dr. Michael Oh launched the assertion on the primary day, as a result of when requests from members got here to touch upon it, the Lausanne management confirmed itself versatile. “They are open, they need to obtain the suggestions from members, and they’ll focus on and revise it once more in some restricted manner,” he stated.
He additionally talked about that there have been a number of new approaches seen in Lausanne 4, such because the publication of the State of the Great Commission report within the lead as much as the Congress. None of the earlier occasions had something comparable, so he believes this was an excellent growth.
‘Korean Church may be very keen to guard the Biblical normal’
Asked extra particularly in regards to the edits that had been made to the doc early within the week within the paragraphs associated to homosexuality, Rev. Lee stated they had been made on the request of the Korean church buildings. He identified that even in different worldwide settings or political occasions, the host nation could affect sure parts of the ultimate doc. As this will probably be remembered because the Seoul Statement, the church buildings from the host nation offered suggestions on some points they wished to see modified.
Rev. Lee identified that Korean church buildings take into account “Europe and North America as very liberal on this matter” and are involved that “that they had strayed away from the Biblical normal.” In Western international locations, the problem will not be seen in the identical manner as in different elements of the world, he commented. “In Asian and African contexts, that is very essential for safeguarding society and the Church from happening that path. So, the Korean Church may be very keen to guard this Biblical normal,” he stated, including that as a result of the Congress was held on this nation, he appreciates that the well mannered request from the Korean church buildings to make these small adjustments was granted.
That the problem is essential to Korean believers was additionally evident when some teams expressed concern about Lausanne within the lead-up to the Congress and on the time when the Seoul Statement was printed.
“Some misunderstood the assertion as a result of the nuance may be very delicate. The subjects of sexuality and gender are very difficult generally, and with out cultural context, issues get misplaced in translation. But when the finalized model got here out, we might translate it precisely, and I believe the controversy is cleared,” Rev. Lee stated.
Focusing on world mission, and reaching the following technology in Korea
When requested what he believes the legacy of the Congress and the Seoul Statement is perhaps, he stated he believes “it is determined by how we ship and talk this doc extra broadly.”
“Lausanne will not be a company, however a motion based mostly on volunteers,” he stated. Therefore, he believes they need to primarily be “involved about collaboration when it comes to mission work”, emphasizing “we’ve to deal with world mission.” He additionally stated that he’s dedicated to persevering with to wish for the motion because it considers the following steps after the Congress.
When trying on the wants throughout the Korean Church, one of many points that stands out is reaching the following technology. Rev. Lee acknowledged that there’s a actual want for change.
“First of all, we should appropriate our method in direction of the following technology. We have to vary and be extra humble and honest to point out the lifetime of the gospel,” he stated. He additionally believes that new abilities wanted to be developed “to evangelize the brand new technology that’s rising up within the period of the Digital Revolution.”
“We should develop new evangelism methods, particularly to succeed in the digital technology, the so-called digital natives,” he stated, and emphasised that it’s “a completely completely different tradition.” Therefore, reaching out to them requires a type of cross-cultural ministry, he stated. “They will not be the identical as we’re, so we’ve to beat the obstacles.”
Reconciliation within the gospel
Finally, Rev. Lee was requested what stood out to him as the only best spotlight from the Congress. “The communion service with my Japanese counterpart,” he stated, referring to the closing session on the ultimate day of the Congress, when he led the communion service along with the Chair of Japan Lausanne, Dr. Masanori Kurasawa.
“It was a logo of reconciliation,” Rev. Lee stated. “We talked about how we had been persecuted by Japan, however within the gospel, we might be reconciled to one another. We wished to point out this reconciliation within the gospel.”
“That was the spotlight for me.”
© Christian Daily International
