SUMMARY

One of the topics in the Lausanne Global Conversation at Cape Town 2010 is “Partnership”. The Lausanne Covenant has important sections on “Cooperation in Evangelism” and on “Churches in Evangelistic Partnership”. However, partnership or cooperation among evangelicals is not the same as unity among God’s children. The universal church and the evangelical community are not synonymous.

Partnership is towards a common goal. Partnerships can be between specific parts – smaller parts of the larger whole. Partnership is also often between those with common or similar beliefs. However, there also needs to be unity and oneness among dissimilar and diverse parts within the whole – within the whole Body of Christ, the whole family of God’s children, the Whole Church.

This article seeks to remind ourselves that the church being one is more than partnership among evangelicals, and that it is the church being one which is our Lord’s own prayer. It is the church being one which is necessary that the world may know Christ as God’s Son.

Apart from the work on partnership among evangelicals, is there work by the Lausanne Movement towards unity within the universal church? If not, is this something that needs to be done – especially since that is our Lord’s own prayer, and He Himself links it to the goal of evangelisation?

This article also puts down some simplistic thoughts on different aspects of working towards unity, since all of us need to work towards unity, whether within partnerships or within the family of God.