Cape Town 2010 Advance Paper

Calling the Church Back to Humility, Integrity and Simplicity

Author: Chris Wright
Date: 01.07.2010
Category: Integrity & Humility

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Editor’s Note: This Cape Town 2010 Advance Paper has been written by Chris Wright as an overview of the topic to be discussed at the Morning Plenary session on “Calling the Church of Christ Back to Humility, Integrity and Simplicty.” Responses to this paper through the Lausanne Global Conversation will be fed back to the author and others to help shape their final presentations at the Congress.

The Lausanne Covenant is wonderfully balanced in the way it binds together two dimensions of Christian confession. On the one hand there is the confession of faith – that is, affirming the great truths of our biblical faith. On the other hand there is the confession of failure – that is, accepting that in so many ways we Christians do not live up to the calling of God. We do not behave as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. So there is both proclamation and penitence: rejoicing over what we believe and repentance over how we have failed to live it out.

This is a balance that reflects some great occasions of covenant renewal in the Bible. For example: Deuteronomy 29-31, Joshua 23-24, 2 Kings 22-23, Nehemiah 8-10. These all included recognition of failure and sin. They all called people back to repentance and re-commitment.

It is tragic that many of the things that the Lausanne Covenant called us to turn away from, back in 1974, are still the very things that afflict and infect the church 36 years on. However, this should not depress us or paralyse us. Rather, it challenges us to come back yet again to our gracious God in renewed repentance and recommitment in our own generation.

Points of Penitence in the Lausanne Covenant

It is worth reading through the Lausanne Covenant and taking note of those places where it expresses failure, or a sense of shame and sorrow, or where it calls for repentance and change. The Covenant still speaks powerfully today. Here are several passages worth thinking about, in a spirit of prayer and humility. The numbers on the left refer to the paragraphs of the Lausanne covenant.

Paragraphs:

1 The Purpose of God

We confess with shame that we have often denied our calling and failed in our mission, by becoming conformed to the world or by withdrawing from it.

4 The Nature of Evangelism

In issuing the gospel invitation we have no liberty to conceal the cost of discipleship. Jesus still calls all who would follow him to deny themselves, take up their cross, and identify themselves with his new community. The results of evangelism include obedience to Christ, incorporation into his Church and responsible service in the world.

Costly obedience, self-denial, identification with the cross, commitment to the church, and practical service – these are all things that need to be included when we engage in evangelism. If we avoid these things, our message and method lack integrity and become manipulation.

6 The Church and Evangelism

The Church is at the very centre of God’s cosmic purpose and is his appointed means of spreading the gospel. But a church which preaches the cross must itself be marked by the cross. It becomes a stumbling block to evangelism when it betrays the gospel or lacks a living faith in God, a genuine love for people, or scrupulous honesty in all things including promotion and finance.

This powerful statement highlights the fact that the church is not just the delivery mechanism for a verbal message. Rather, God intends the church to be a model of the gospel it preaches – especially modeling the way of the cross. Three things are “stumbling-blocks” – that is, they make our evangelism fail: lack of faith, lack of love, and lack of honesty. There must be integrity between our words and our living. And we must repent when there isn’t.

6 The church is the community of God’s people rather than an institution, and must not be identified with any particular culture, social or political system, or human ideology.

The danger described here is a constant temptation. We can be filled with unbiblical pride in our own culture. Or we have a sense of national or racial superiority. Or we put absolute faith in our economic system. As a result, the church becomes captive to the idols and ideology that surround us.

9 The Urgency of the Evangelistic Task

We cannot hope to attain this goal without sacrifice [“the goal” of enabling everyone to hear the gospel]. All of us are shocked by the poverty of millions and disturbed by the injustices which cause it. Those of us who live in affluent circumstances accept our duty to develop a simple life-style in order to contribute more generously to both relief and evangelism.

The call to simplicity of life is part of Christlike discipleship. But we are so tempted by the seductive power of greed and self-gratification. The call to sacrifice and simplicity needs to be heard again, for it is so much contradicted by the desire for prosperity and success.

This was a challenge that led to a whole consultation and statement, “The International Consultation on Simple Lifestyle”, at Hoddesdon, 1980. The statement can be read in Lausanne Occasional Paper 20, or at http://www.lausanne.org/hoddesdon-1980/hoddesdon-1980.html

11 Education and leadership

We confess that we have sometimes pursued church growth at the expense of church depth, and divorced evangelism from Christian nurture.

This plague of “growth without depth” has become even worse after 1974. As the end of the millennium approached many mission strategie

s and organizations arose that were obsessed with speed and “getting the job finished”. “Christian superficiality has become a worldwide phenomenon. Many converts never grow up in Christ” (Lausanne Occasional Paper 3 p. 40). In some organizations, theological education and training were even dropped from the mission agenda and investment, which seems tragically short-sighted.

But if we fail to obey the Great Commission Line Three (“teaching them all that I have commanded you”), we are actually failing to obey it at all in “making disciples”. And the result is seen in widespread nominalism in so-called “reached” nations.

11 We long that every church will have national leaders who manifest a Christian style of leadership in terms not of domination but of service.

This is reinforced by the exposition:

“National leaders are no more immune than missionaries to the sins of pride, power-hunger, and pomposity. So our longing is for national leaders who manifest a Christian style of leadership, drawing their inspiration not from secular government but from Christ’s teaching and example, a leadership in terms not of domination but of service.” (Lausanne Occasional Paper 3, p.39)

The temptation to seek power and status is very strong, and sadly very many evangelical leaders give in to it, and do not follow either Christ’s teaching or his example. “Domination” can take many forms within the church itself by leaders and pastors, including abuse of trust, exploitation for personal gain, suppression of women, manipulation of money or power.

12 Spiritual Conflict

We detect the activity of our enemy, not only in false ideologies outside the Church, but also inside it in false gospels which twist Scripture and put people in the place of God ... At other times, desirous to ensure a response to the gospel, we have compromised our message, manipulated our hearers through pressure techniques, and become unduly preoccupied with statistics or even dishonest in our use of them.

Deception and manipulation are the hallmarks of Satan’s character and work, and this paragraph warns us to be alert to their presence within the church – even in what looks like enthusiastic and successful mission. Once again John Stott’s exposition is powerfully clear.

“The numerical growth of the church has become almost an obsession with us. And therefore, desirous (even determined) to ensure a response to the Gospel, we have resorted to doubtful methods, which Paul would almost certainly have included in the "disgraceful underhanded ways" which he said he had renounced (II Cor. 4:2). Either we have compromised our message ("tampered with God’s Word";II Cor. 4:2), eliminating such unfashionable elements as self-denial and judgment in order to make it more palatable to modern man; or we have manipulated our hearers through pressure techniques, which is to treat human beings as less than human; or we have become unduly preoccupied with statistics (as if the work of the Holy Spirit of God could ever be reduced to mere statistics!), or even dishonest in our use of them (publishing reports which are not strictly true). It is an ugly list of misdemeanors.” (Lausanne Occasional Paper 3, p.45)

The core issue here is the danger of manipulation and dishonesty. We need to return to rigorous integrity in all our efforts to promote the gospel. Satan is at work whenever Christians surrender their integrity and go along with what is untruthful and dishonest (even if they believe it is for good motives).

Three Key Challenges

Most of the challenges addressed to the church in the Lausanne Covenant could be gathered under three main topics. These are topics that are also major issues in the Bible. Everywhere in the Bible, God constantly calls his people to turn away from idols of power, success and greed, and to live according to his demand for humility, integrity and simplicity.

The idolatry of power, and the call to humility

The temptation to seek power and status is very strong. It reflects our fallen nature, since the essence of the fall was to usurp God’s authority by exalting our own status over against God. That is also one of the fingerprints of Satan. So it is tragic that so many Christian leaders fall into this sin and exalt themselves. We urgently need to recognize and denounce this for the sin that it is.

By contrast, humility is one of the essential marks of Jesus Christ, and ought therefore to characterize his followers – especially those called to leadership.

The idolatry of success, and the call to integrity

The temptation to impress others with our accomplishments, skills, or miraculous powers is also very strong. We crave for success and recognition. But this easily leads to distortion of the truth and manipulation of people. It leads to dishonesty in reports, in finances, in personal life and relationships. We need to hear again the Bible’s constant call to integrity, in private and public, in every corner of our lives and ministries. There is no biblical mission without biblical ethics.

The idolatry of greed, and the call to simplicity

“Covetousness which is idolatry”, said Paul (Col. 3:5). To break the tenth commandment is to break the first. The Bible recognizes legitimate wealth as a good gift of God’s generosity. But the Bible speaks far more often about the idol that wealth can easily become. Throughout the Bible there are warnings against greed and the dangers of seeking wealth, some of them from the mouth of Jesus himself. Jesus and Paul both modelled simple dependence on God and contentment with ‘enough’.

Biblical Resources

In preparation for the late morning plenary session on Day 5, you could study some Bible passages on each of the above major themes. Here are some to start with. Perhaps you could add more.

Humility vs Power:

Isaiah 2:12-17,Micah 6:8, Prov.11:2, Luke 22:24-27, Matt. 5:1-12, Eph. 4:1-2, 2 Tim. 3:1-5

Integrity vs Success:

Ezek. 13:1-7, 1 Chron. 29:17, Pss. 15, 24, Prov. 11:1, 3, Matt. 5:33-37, 2 Cor. 2:17, 4:1-2, Rev. 22:15

Simplicity vs Greed:

Mic. 3:5,11, Jer. 22:13-17, 1 Kings 21, Matt. 7:21-23, Luke 12:13-21, Eph. 5:5, 1 Tim. 6:5-10

Jesus faced all of the three temptations we have identified.

The devil offered him power and status over all nations, from a high mountain. Jesus refused it, choosing to worship God alone.
The devil suggested he manipulate the crowds by a spectacular death-defying miracle. Jesus recognized the satanic twisting of Scripture and preserved the integrity of his trust in God.
The devil dangled before him the lucrative prospect of abundant food for himself and the hungry masses. Jesus resisted with the scriptural truth that God could supply bread, but human beings need greater food for life than that.

Sadly, it seems that so many Christian leaders (including mission leaders) blatantly fail these tests at precisely the points that Jesus overcame them. They cannot resist the temptations of abusive power, manipulated success and selfish greed. The church as a whole pays the cost of their failure, in the loss of integrity and credibility.

Contemporary Concerns

Here are some of the things we need to think about as matters for repentance – for “coming back to God in humility, integrity and simplicity”.

Abuse of power and status

The “crisis of leadership” could be better described as a “crisis of servanthood”.
There are mega-pastors lording it over churches, with unaccountable power and phenomenal wealth.
Some of us wield power that comes solely from the dominant culture to which our churches or organizations are bound. We abuse our ethnic or cultural power.
Power and status can be abused in many ways, including the superiority complexes of caste, race, tribe or gender.

Lack of integrity

Can we trust all the inflated statistics thrown around the world of Christian mission? What are they there for? What do they prove? Whom do they flatter? Whom do they diminish? What damage can they do?
Exaggeration or sheer invention are commonly admitted to (in private if not in public) by those who have to produce reports on the “success” of their mission, sometimes under pressure from those who demand them as a condition of funding.
Are there methods of evangelism that are simply unbiblical and unethical, driven by “success” and “speed”, rather than by obedience to all that Jesus commanded?

Greed

The Prosperity Gospel is one of the most widespread manifestations of Christianity on earth today. How should it be evaluated biblically? To what should its rampant success be attributed?
Those who preach Prosperity often quote the Bible, but do they do so with integrity?
Some Prosperity Teachers emphasize the biblical exhortations to work hard and take responsibility for oneself. But many others appeal to sheer greed and ambition.
The teaching flourishes in contexts of poverty and lack of opportunity, but does it provide a biblical answer to such need, especially if it pays little attention to issues of justice that the Bible emphasizes?

Keywords: Humility, integrity, simplicity, Lausanne Covenant, penitence, repentance, recommitment, pride, success, greed, prosperity, discipleship, idolatry, temptation, confession

Conversation Post Comment

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: Reply Flag 0 Thumbs Up Thumbs Down katieroam (0)
United States

Thank you for your contribution.

I think your diagnosis of the church’s problems are dead on. If we cannot be known both individually and corporately for our humility, integrity and simplicity, what distinguishes us from the surrounding culture?

Now, how do we as a universal body of believers move away from the manipulation, greed, and pride that have tainted our ministry and our identity for so long?

18.07.2010

: Reply Flag -1 Thumbs Up Thumbs Down JessJess (0)
United States

"Three things are “stumbling-blocks” – that is, they make our evangelism fail: lack of faith, lack of love, and lack ofhonesty. There must be integrity between our words and our living. And we must repent when there isn’t." I really liked what you said here. It really makes sense that one of these or all three could be stumbling blocks in our evangelism. I also agree with "the plague of ’growth without depth’" and how this is an issue. Discipleship is so important. I really enjoyed this paper and the different points brought up like these.

18.07.2010

: Reply Flag 0 Thumbs Up Thumbs Down Sarah_Bordewick (0)
United States

I really appreciate your thoughts here. Humility individually and corporately is a difficult. I think our inkling typically is to justify ourselves. We want to either blame others for our actions or words, or we want to make it seem like what we do or say was in no way wrong. Taking responsibility seems to be the opposite of what we want to do. Acting and responding in this way only hurts our ability to share the gospel effectively. It also shows our fallen nature. Thankfully, as you said, we have the grace of God we can cling to. I think it is really great how the Lausanne Covenant does show corporate humility in confessing wrongs, but this is one document. I wonder how we can do this corporately within our churches and ministries.

18.07.2010

: Reply Flag 0 Thumbs Up Thumbs Down Allison (0)
United States

I really appreciate that you shared this issue in such a manner as to encourage the Church to humble ourselves rather than bitterly ranting on areas where we have fallen short. I am strongly convicted and still thinking about the call to humility, servanthood, and a simple lifestyle. This is not something I will soon forget. I would like to echo Katherine’s thoughts on knowing how to personally implement many of these things in my life but not sure of how this works on the scale of the global church. Perhaps that is part of why Lausanne exists, though- as the first steps of making this repentance and humility a global movement in the body of Christ.

18.07.2010

: Reply Flag 1 Thumbs Up Thumbs Down Jeri_Entrekin (2)
United States

Thanks for sharing this. I appreciate the encouragement to return to God with renewed repentance and recommitment instead of being depressed or paralyzed by our failures and sins. It is very true that as humans, as the church, we are all to often defeated over and over again by the same old struggles and sins but as you are saying we can’t get stuck there. We must daily look to God’s grace and the example of overcoming temptation that Jesus demonstrated to move on from those struggles and sins. I think that recognizing how much we must continually look to Him to overcome our sins will help keep us humble as we seek to share the hope we have found in Him - interested to learn more about how we do this together, as a church body, as the global church.

Thanks again for sharing. I’m looking forward to more discussion on this topic.

17.07.2010

: Reply Flag 0 Thumbs Up Thumbs Down MisionGloCal1Scott (12)
Argentina

Excelente presentación. Destaco: El problema de la obsesión por la aceleración o velocidad. El crecimiento sin profundidad. Superficialidad. Nominalismo. Falta de enseñaza de toda la Palabra de Dios. Problemas en el liderazgo en cuanto el amor al poder en vez del poder del amor. La funcionalidad distanciada de los principios bíblicos. La teología de la productividad que afecta y perjudica la formación del Pueblo de Dios. El éxito ministerial en mostrar resultados y no una vida de humildad. La competencia que afecta a la unidad en el cuerpo de Cristo.

Esquemas empresariales basados en criterios de utilitarismo, mercantilismo y números. Estadísticas y porcentajes que no son necesariamente sinónimos de transformación. Las demandas del evangelio sacrificadas en el altar de los números. El problema del crecimiento numérico que se ha tornado un objetivo en sí, y para muchos, el objetivo justifica los medios. Cualquier método que favorezca el aumento de miembros en la iglesia es válido y la búsqueda por las estrategias que son más eficaces, en este sentido, ha llevado a metodologías que reducen el evangelio y ponen en riesgo los principios bíblicos. Iglesias que tienen clientes y estos siempre tienen razón. Estudios bíblicos que hacen referencia a textos aislados, fragmentarios. La desnutrición espiritual, herejías, superstición, división, etcétera.

Destaco en la Naturaleza de la Evangelización: El llamado a la obediencia, la abnegación, la identificación con la cruz, el compromiso con la iglesia, el servicio en el mundo. Si evitamos predicar sobre esto nuestro mensaje carece de integridad y se convierte en manipulación. Destaco En la Iglesia y la Evangelización: La iglesia no solo debe entregar un mensaje verbal. Que la Iglesia este modelada por la Cruz, sea un modelo del Evangelio. Integridad en palabras y acciones.

10.07.2010

: Reply Flag 1 Thumbs Up Thumbs Down Katherine_Lorance (4)
United States

Thanks for sharing these thoughts. In reflecting on the Bible passages mentioned on covenant renewal, I realize that I am not sure what corporate confession and repentance look like in my context. I know some basics on how to repent and recommit myself as an individual but I don’t know how to do this as part of a group. I think my church tradition and cultural backgrounds have not provided many guidelines on public, corporate admission of failures. To me, this seems to reflect/foster a lack of corporate sensitivity to the Spirit.

I know that I can pray and fast about this (and please pray that I will), but what can we do?

10.07.2010

: Reply Flag 0 Thumbs Up Thumbs Down Jim_Harries (-3)
Kenya

Thanks Chris for this. Let’s hope all of us continue to take this message to heart. Human motivations to ’success’ and ’prestige’ are very strong. What makes the church strong, is if / when we put those aside and truly serve our Lord.

08.07.2010

: Reply Flag 0 Thumbs Up Thumbs Down ChristineDillon (11)
Taiwan (ROC)

Thank-you Chris for your words in this article. Sometimes I regard my work in training others in evangelism and discipleship as ’undoing the bad models they’ve been exposed to.’ Some verses that has been of tremendous use in my life are found in 1 Cor 3 where Paul is dealing with a church who are in an ungodly series of power struggles between factions. Seems like the problem wasn’t the leaders this time but the people using the leaders names to promote their own party. Paul says so clearly,
"What after all is Paul? What after all is Apollos? Only servants...I planted the seed, Apollos watered it BUT GOD MADE IT GROW! So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow." Every year I remind myself of these verses 100’s of times. They release me to not worry about results and so get depressed at their lack AND from pride in any results. What a freedom that is.

YSIC,

Christine

08.07.2010

: Reply Flag 0 Thumbs Up Thumbs Down kshalhoub (0)
United States

Thank you for this exhortation. Fighting within the church for silly and unbiblical reasons and/or lack of unity and teamwork in the Body sadden the Lord. The source is non other than pride, lack of humility and lack of integrity. The enemy rejoices over this.

Mastering John 17, our Lord’s prayer for us and following Jeuss example of Phil 2:5-8 is the recipe for true humility, integrity, lack of greed and simplicity and purity of our devotion to the Lord.

05.07.2010

: Reply Flag 0 Thumbs Up Thumbs Down Devanur (0)
Canada

Mission in the 21st century should emulate the gospel values that "all may be one" which can break barriers and turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones.

Humility can also be translated into acceptance of cross cultural ministerial personnel from all parts of world in the worldwide ministry of God.

05.07.2010

: Reply Flag 1 Thumbs Up Thumbs Down John_Raines (3)
United States

These words are powerful and prophetic, although truly they are difficult as well. As I read this article, which rightly stressed that humility is the path of repentance from this sin, I decided to share some thoughts that I wrote down a few months back which I think complement this idea by stressing that humility is, paradoxically, the stance of true empowerment for mission to the glory of God.

I shared these thoughts here on the Lausanne network, where I direct readers to the following link on my blog:

http://captnsupremo.wordpress.com/2010/04/02/virtue-as-mission-humility-and-reconciliation/

Thanks again for being used of God to speak Truth to His people.

05.07.2010

: Reply Flag 0 Thumbs Up Thumbs Down Notice (2)
Jamaica

The call to humility and integrity is a call that the church should be making to the nations. It is rather painful that within our own ranks we have deviated from the authentic life of holiness called for and exemplified by Jesus Christ.

There is a growing number of Christian leaders that is feeling alienated from today’s church culture. It is a church culture that has promoted individualism and called it biblical prosperity. Commitment to discipleship has waned and as a result the church has weakened its ministry to the nations.

I agree with Chris in calling us back to Christ-like simplicity. Without this the Christian message will become lost in a maize of personality cults where self promotion is the aim instead of the glory of Christ. When we seek God’s glory then we will return to our biblical mission. Those engaged in the bibical mission will abandon the shallow principles and practices of the self driven marketplace. This marketplace driven life is often void of ethical boundaries. The quest for more, more possessions, more positions, more popularity and more pre-eminence dominates daily living.

Chris I yield your call as I seek by th epower of the Spirit to lead the Christ-like life of simplicity, integrity and honesty.

God bless you my Brother.

04.07.2010

Reply Flag 0 Thumbs Up Thumbs Down MisionGloCal1Scott (12)

Argentina

Dear Chris, Thank you very much. Acts 14:8-18 says, “Now when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying…‘The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!’ And Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes…”

In Lystra a miracle takes place that leaves the crowd shocked: there was a paralytic, who was born lame, and who had never walked. Paul orders him, in a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” The result of this miracle was that they treated the servants of God as gods. Paul and Barnabas tell them that they are only men, and that the people must return to God. With these arguments, they are able to dissuade the crowd.

The danger and risk that they ran in those days is the same that we have today. What happens is that people try to transfer their admiration and adoration that only belongs to God to the people that God has sent as messengers. The problem can be even greater if we stimulate these feelings. There are times in the life of the church when little empires are built. They attract followers of people or institutions, but not of Jesus Christ. The church has confronted various dangers like:

· Power and competition

Many times churches live a miserable fight for power, loving power instead of the power of love. Other times functionality has distanced them from Biblical principles. They search for results where people are valued for what they produce in their jobs in the least amount of time. This type of theology of productivity is affecting and creating a prejudice in the formation of pastors and missionaries. It tries to train them in the least amount of time possible. Ministerial success shows results and not a life of humility. The act of allowing Christ to grow, where we are invisible, doesn’t enter in this type of life. This type of living causes competition that demands production. Competition distances churches, and creates jealousy within itself. The unity of the body of Christ is affected by this structure. The consequences are seen: pressure and tension lived in the churches, pastors and missionaries. This can grow to create a secular and mundane environment.

We are not called to form business stereotypes based on utilitarianism, mercantilism and of numbers. Multiplication, numbers and percentages are not synonymous with transformation. We must not sacrifice the demands of the gospel on the altar of numbers. We are living in times that seem like some churches have clients, and like businesses, they are always right. It is the clients that are always content and are the center of everything. We want to encourage people to break these productivity schemes and think in kingdom terms. We want to encourage them to preach the Word of God and give a message that leaves us uncomfortable, causing us to examine our walk with Christ. The concept of success for Jesus was: “Father, I’ve done everything you told me to do.” The results are random. Jesus healed some and others not. He fed many, and others were not sustained. Denying ourselves, knowing Jesus Christ and being like Him in His death is transforming power (Philippians 3:10).

· Lack of teaching the Word of God

We have also observed that sometimes there is a lack of teaching the whole Word of God. In some cases, the practice of discipleship has been little and Bible studies make reference to isolated texts, fragments. Many times, too, we observe syncretism (the combination of differing doctrines), spiritual malnutrition, heresies, superstition, division, etc.

According to the comments of Bertil Ekström, the MC executive director of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), we see that yes, we have grown statistically. But to grow in size is one thing, to grow in maturity is another. Mere numeric growth has changed the objective as such, and for many, the objective justifies the methods. When whatever method that helps grow the membership of the church is valid and the search is for the most effective strategies, the gospel has been minimized and puts Biblical principles at risk.

· Authoritarian leadership and form of government

Leadership sometimes follows the tendencies of global charismatic leaders (with a strong personality and the power to convince), principally centered on founding one’s own church. Diverse research has demonstrated that churches with autocratic and charismatic leaders are the ones that grow the most. At the same time, a new generation of leaders exists that are looking to work in teams, and are much more concerned about quality and a participative local church. Individuals these days don’t accept, in the same way, the dogmatism of an autocratic leadership. The church needs to reflect on its form of government and the ways its leadership functions. The exercise of leadership in the life of local churches must be marked by the model of the suffering servant and evidences it in contrast to an authoritarian leader and other dangers caused by power abuse.