LIBERTY UNIVERSITY

LAUSANNE OCCASIONAL PAPER 39:

THE WILLOWBANK REPORT: CONSULTATION ON GOSPEL AND CULTURE

- A JOURNAL RESPONSE

A PAPER SUBMITTED TO DR. JONES KALELI

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR

THE COURSE ICST 650

LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

BY

ELKE SPELIOPOULOS

DOWNINGTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2012

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1

THE KEY ELEMENTS OF THE FORUM’S REPORT................................................................1

MISSIONAL CONGREGATIONS.................................................................................................2

TENTMAKING...............................................................................................................................6

REFLECTION.................................................................................................................................7

CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8

BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................................9

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INTRODUCTION

The Lausanne Occasional Paper 39 focused on the theme of “A new vision, a new heart,

a renewed call.” 1,530 participants from 130 countries assembled in Pattaya, Thailand for one

week in October 2004 (Sep. 29 – Oct. 5). The hope was to have younger emerging leaders come

together to address 31 issues that had been chosen through a global research program. In

addition, the hope was to engage those leaders in particular who were from parts of the world

where there are current trends of rapid church growth.

As the group described, there have been tremendous and unprecedented challenges for

the church in the area of evangelization. These new realities form a basis for the discussion

around the 31 topics to be discussed, which include “the HIV pandemic, terrorism, globalization,

the global role of media, poverty, persecution of Christians, fragmented families, political and

religious nationalism, post-modern mind set, oppression of children, urbanization, neglect of the

disabled and others.”1

An additional area of consideration is a look at how tentmaking operations can serve in

international evangelization. The group considered what tentmaking means, and how tentmakers

can be found and trained. The Lausanne Occasional Report No. 39 is an important paper for

global missions, which sprang from the efforts of a group brought together through the Lausanne

International Committee.

THE KEY ELEMENTS OF THE FORUM’S REPORT

This report is broken down into two major sections. Part A deals with the topic of “The

Local Church and the Great Commission”. Part B discusses “Tentmaking as a means of using

professional gifts in obedience to the Great Commission”. In the context section at the beginning

1 Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, The Local Church in Mission: Becoming a Missional Congregation in the Twenty-First Century Global Context and the Opportunities Offered Through Tentmaking Ministry (Lausanne Occasional Paper No. 39) , http://www.lausanne.org/docs/2004forum/LOP39_IG10.pdf (accessed February 26, 2012), Introduction.

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of the Lausanne Occasional Paper No. 39 (LOP 39), the issue group assembled established a

number of affirmations, which all participants agreed to. These include the definition that the

goal of evangelism must be targeted to those without access to the gospel, that those on the

margins of society need to be reached in love and with compassion, that it is acknowledged that

church growth is accelerated outside the West, that oral learners make up a large portion of the

unreached world, that media needs to be a tool used to draw non-believers to Christ, and that the

church is made up of a priesthood of believers, which includes women, men and youth. In

addition, the group affirmed that efforts to share the Christian faith need to be elevated “above

all political entities”0. Parts A and B form the body of LOP 39 and consist of twenty-eight

subpoints that provide a definition of a missional congregation and a section on tentmaking,

which focuses on defining the term, how to find tentmakers, how to train them, and

differentiating to other disciplines.

MISSIONAL CONGREGATIONS

The individual paragraphs regarding missional congregations are typically short and often

include anecdotes to illustrate the point. Missional congregations, based on the group’s

definition:

abandon a Constantinian model of church life, i.e. do not wait for non-believers to come to

church, but go out from its “safe building” to where they are,

build relationships, i.e. work from the understanding that almost 90% of believers came to

faith through family and friends,

address different cultures, i.e. respect that no culture is superior over another and instead try

to engage the culture as is,

meet needs, i.e. understand that Christ called believers to care for the widows and orphans,

0 Ibid., Introduction.

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maintain a long-term perspective, i.e. understand that “incarnational ministry may not result

in mass conversations”0 and may require touch points over many years,

are called by the Holy Spirit, i.e. recognize that only the Holy Spirit’s transformative power

can compel them,

pray for renewal, i.e. realize that prayer for renewal is needed when the only way a change

can come is through the power of God,

pray with those outside the community, i.e. allow people to approach them and pray with

them as they become conveyors of the love of Jesus,

have missional church structures, i.e. acknowledges that while structure is needed when

people come together, the New Testament does not have a prescribed way of organization,

create holistic structures, i.e. live out “loving your neighbor as yourself” in daily practices of

their members in order to win people to Christ “through life, witness and community”0,

structure for a lay-leadership orientation and broad delegated authority, i.e. are willing to

equip lay leaders to minister to the church,

structure for worship, community and mission, encourage their members to have outlets for

their faith outside of church in order to not become “like the Dead Sea, without any outlet”0,

structure for clan, synagogue and temple, i.e. accept that forms of gathering together may

range from small house groups to Christians living together when gathering in larger groups

can only happen on occasion, and also accept that they may not call themselves “Christians”,

0 Ibid., 2.5.

0 Ibid., 2.10.

0 Ibid., 2.12.

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structure for come and go, i.e. find room for both a coming and going model (modality and

sodality, as termed by Winter)0,

allow every member to serve in mission, i.e. allow members to minister and witness in

whichever place they find themselves in society,

reflect the priesthood of all believers, i.e. forego the dichotomy of clergy and lay persons in

order to live the biblical model of the “divine imperative for all believers”0 to engage in

evangelism,

create multiple options for maximum involvement, i.e. engage their members to be able to

use all their gifts and passions within the local body by providing multiple outlets,

train their members as missionaries, i.e. school believers to share their faith readily and

engage from a pastoral level in these activities with them,

have members who are trained to be disciples, i.e. lead their congregations to a higher-level

understanding of their salvation beyond the assurance of eternal life through Bible study,

prayer, worship, and other expressions,

provide leadership for missional congregations, i.e. those that challenge congregations to

cease being comfortable and to have a hunger for missions,

demonstrate missional leadership that flows out of a new understanding of

priesthood of all believers, i.e. develop a model of functional leadership that engages

professional clergy and lay people equally for kingdom work,

have leaders that share leadership, i.e. recognize that a one-leader model carries with it a

level of danger and that a fully functioning body of Christ encompasses leaders on all levels,

0 Ibid., 2.14

0 Ibid., 2.16.

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have leaders that model a way of life, i.e. show through their leader’s daily living how the

Christian life is to be lived and gives believers the chance to emulate this lifestyle,

utilize many models of leadership, i.e. acknowledges that leaders have different

complementary styles that provide vision, cultivation, poetry, prophecy and apostleship,

have leaders that remind the congregation of their vision, i.e. present a vision to the

congregation, remind them of it, and develop “executable strategies”0,

are interconnected, i.e. believe that, while congregations are perfectly capable to operate on

their own, they can be successful parts of larger structures that allow God’s work to be

accelerated,

connect with other congregations, i.e. recognize that connecting with other congregations can

bring “economies of scale” that allow projects and strategies to be pursued that could not be

achieved by a single congregation, and

connect with mission organizations, i.e. take the concept of connection to yet another level to

operate in areas that they as a congregation could not reach, e.g. global work in remote

locations around the world.

TENTMAKING

The group defines tentmaking through the definition given by the Lausanne II Congress:

“Tentmakers are… ’believers in all people groups who have a secular identity and who in

response to God’s call, proclaim Christ crossculturally. Tentmakers witness with their whole

lives and their jobs are integral to their work for the Kingdom of God.’”0 The group

acknowledges that this definition is shifting and may be better defined as “tentmaking in cross

0 Ibid., 2.25.

0 Ibid., Part B., 1. Tentmaking is…

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cultural mission is undertaken by Christians whose presence in another culture is secured by their

workplace identity and whose intention is to act to share the gospel in that setting.”0

Tentmakers interact with the peoples of the world in many different ways and have

experienced cultural influences that have shaped the ministry role they play, among them

globalization with its workforce on the move, the post-Christian West, which has turned mission-

sending countries into mission fields, and religious pluralism and intolerance which has created

antagonistic behavior toward Christians both in countries with Christian and with non-Christian

majorities. In addition other topics have impacted tentmakers: urbanization, which has brought a

large portion of the world population into urban centers in search for work and prosperity,

immigration and the refugee problem, which has caused the moving of people groups to other

countries voluntarily or involuntarily, other unreached people groups who have not had an

opportunity to hear the gospel, and other forms of missions that impact the shape of the

definition of tentmaking, such as Business as Mission, or Workplace Ministry.

The paper addresses who tentmakers are, how they can be found and then trained (in

terms of supply – the where, curriculum – the what, and delivery methods – the how), and finally

how tentmaking does and can interrelate to other disciplines. The section on tentmaking ends

with a look at courses that can serve as training instruments for future tentmakers and a

suggestion for a drama to promote tentmaking.

REFLECTION

It is refreshing to see how many leaders can find consensus in the body of such a

document on topics that could certainly lead to theological discussions. Understanding that the

Great Commission was not given to the apostles alone, but that it is the role of the church to

carry the gospel of Jesus Christ to the four corners of the globe is a solid starting point – and not

0 Ibid.

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always agreed to by all Bible-believing Christians. There are those who see the Great

Commission as fulfilled in the first century, but these probably were not part of this working

group.

As a woman, this author is encouraged to see the emphasis on the priesthood of all

believers with an emphasis on the inclusion of women and youth. The distribution of leadership

to the body, based on talents, not role, is another welcome agreement, as is the willingness to

take the gospel outside of the four walls of the church. A confession that Christianity cannot be

tied to any political entity is a message that speaks forth from 2004 to today, as the United States

currently sees a dangerous coupling of religion with politics, making sharing of the gospel

difficult, if party association is a point on which agreement is needed.

The report sets a framework for missional congregations, which is easy to translate into

other cultures and encourages all believers to be active participants in sharing the good news of

Jesus Christ with others. The flexibility provided through the recommendations allows for a

plethora of options for worship, sharing faith and loving one’s neighbor. In particular the focus

of reaching beyond the church’s walls to those around us, especially those who need help, is

commendable and encourages emulation.

What was a bit surprising in the reading was the lack of emphasis on the actual 31 issues

given as the impetus for the paper originally. There is nothing in the body of the text that truly

addresses how the church can or should deal with problems such as HIV, poverty, or the

oppression of children, just to name a few. This should have been addressed in a greater context

within the paper.

CONCLUSION

The Lausanne Occasional Paper 39 focuses on two key areas: missional congregations

and what they should look like, and tentmaking, and how tentmakers are found and trained. It

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encourages believers to seek out new models of taking the good news of Jesus Christ to the non-

believing world. By suggesting open and flexible models for congregations and for evangelism,

the focus group has provided a globally applicable framework for the twenty-first century

church. Its emphasis on the priesthood of all believers is the platform from which participation

by all springs. It is an encouragement to the broader body to understand that Christ values every

member, regardless of how insignificant that particular member may feel. Only when all talents,

skills and personalities are brought to bear does the gospel message truly have “feet” to carry it

out to the world, and this is the message that the participants from around the globe emphasize in

their conclusions.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization. The Local Church in Mission: Becoming a Missional Congregation in the Twenty-First Century Global Context and the Opportunities Offered Through Tentmaking Ministry (Lausanne Occasional Paper No. 39) . http://www.lausanne.org/docs/2004forum/LOP39_IG10.pdf (accessed February 26, 2012).