What Is the Church’s Mission, Social Action or Evangelism?

 By Al Baker - Posted at Forget None Of His Benefits:

Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word, Acts 8:4.

David Bosch, a white South African from the Dutch Reformed Church (NGK) was a well known missiologist and a major player in the anti-apartheid movement in his country. His book entitled Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission has a chapter, “Mission as Evangelism”, in which he addressed the issue of evangelism. Bosch gave this long definition.

Evangelism is that dimension and activity of the church’s mission which, by word and deed and in the light of particular conditions and a particular context, offers every person and community, everywhere, a valid opportunity to be directly challenged to a radical reorientation of their lives, a reorientation which involves such things as deliverance from slavery to the world and its powers; embracing Christ as Savior and Lord; becoming a living member of his community, the church; being enlisted into his service of reconciliation, peace, and justice on earth; and being committed to God’s purpose of placing all things under the rule of Christ.[1]

In light of the church’s task to evangelize and disciple the nations, the clause, “being enlisted into his service of reconciliation, peace, and justice on earth. . . “ raises my concern. So does the absence of any word on the horrors of hell which await all unrepentant sinners.

From July 16-25, 1974, 2300 evangelical leaders from 150 countries, called by Billy Graham, gathered in Lausanne, Switzerland for the International Conference on World Evangelization. The theme was “Let the Earth Hear His Voice.” Many consider this a monumental moment in 20th Century evangelicalism. Lausanne I, as it is now called, produced the Lausanne Covenant as a statement of faith which evangelical leaders world wide embraced. Generally speaking, the Lausanne Covenant was a good declaration of the importance of evangelizing all the peoples of the world. It did, however, open the door to what would come later at Lausanne II and III. Concerning Christian Social Responsibility, the Lausanne Covenant said,

Although reconciliation with other people is not reconciliation with God, nor is social action evangelism, nor is political liberation salvation, nevertheless we affirm that evangelism and socio-political involvement are both part of our Christian duty.

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