Reasons for hope - a French perspective on L4

State of play

A single document entitled the State of the Great Commission Report was published prior to the gathering in Seoul offering the world a report on the global state of world mission in response to the missionary mandate Jesus Christ gave to his Church.

The report indicates that, at present, 31% of the world's population is Christian and lives out an active faith. In France this figure is only 1.5%! A terrible assessment, because it shows the number of people who do not know Christ, and who are often not even confronted with the Gospel message. While Christianity has had a major influence, shaping even the very culture of our continent, today many people doubt that a God even exists. And so the road to understanding the authority of the Bible, sin, salvation in Christ, and the hope of the resurrection, seems long and arduous.

“1% of the world’s population is Christian and lives out an active faith. In France this figure is only 1.5%!”

Even more worryingly, many Christians no longer dare to speak frankly about their faith in this secularised context. 60% of European Christians consider that sharing the Gospel with their contemporaries is optional. The lack of coordinated action prevents the work of mission from being thought through in terms of global relevance. Dramatically, Christians are obsessed with their own projects, preoccupied with working for God, but all too often forgetting God's work. Finally, the scandals and affairs of Christian leaders are seriously compromising the Gospel worldwide. Younger generations are tired of money, competition between leaders and works, and sexual scandals that disgust them along with the Church and its hypocrisy.

Reasons for hope

And yet, even with these findings, there are reasons to hope and reasons to mobilise all over again.

The first reason is because God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He continues to act, especially in unexpected places and the most closed areas, such as the concentration camps of North Korea, the ultra-surveyed cities of China, or the troops of Boko Haram. God is without rival!

The second reason is because the Gospel continues to save. The Holy Spirit turns death into life. This is the case for individuals, but also for groups of people who have experienced impressive changes. Violent villages have been transformed into places of both peace and solidarity after the Gospel has been understood and lived out. Revivals are taking place, particularly in some of the world's most hostile countries. The Church's perseverance in these violent places is often the soil that allows the seed of the Gospel to grow and change lives.

The third reason is because the Gospel brings peace and reconciliation to families and nations that have been shattered and ravaged by war. Rwanda, like Burundi, is experiencing something of the healing of forgiveness. God is working through peacemakers, including ethical businesses run according to Kingdom principles that are making a difference in ecological, digital, financial, and other fields.

Finally, global Christianity is focusing more on the 99% of Christians who are not in the clergy (pastors, elders, deacons). More and more of them are realising that their work is a ministry in itself, and that the various places where they live (associations, homes, neighbourhoods) are also missionary fields in which Christians are called to be God's temple, a place of His presence.

What next?

The Lausanne Movement is a reminder that God who himself was mobilised for the salvation of the world, is waiting for us as participants in this work! God's intra-Trinitarian love overflowed for us, at the creation of all things, for our salvation, and still today to accompany the Church in its efforts to bear witness. It is this same love that will mark His triumphant and total return, the resurrection, and new transformation of all things. The Church in France, as elsewhere, is thus called to love as God loves: “By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).

“Jesus gave an example: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (Jn 20:21). This requires the Church to go with humility, with integrity, with a servant’s heart, and with joy and peace, but also to go together.”

We are therefore called to remain in Christ and live together in unity and love in both the local Church and the worldwide Church, but also to follow Christ and to follow his example, with a love that overflows. Jesus gave an example: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (Jn 20:21). This requires the Church to go with humility, with integrity, with a servant's heart, and with joy and peace, but also to go together. In recent years, the CNEF – Conseil National des Évangéliques de France (National Evangelical Council of France) and many church unions have been working towards this goal. It is clear that the contribution of Lausanne IV will be a precious help in going even further, by enabling the Church to be mobilised both when it is gathered together and when it is dispersed in the places where people work and live.

“Let the Church declare and display Christ together!”

Matthieu Gangloff
CAEF - Communautés et Assemblées Évangéliques de France (Evangelical Communities and Assemblies of France) https://www.caef.net/

Endnotes

  1. We can always discuss the contours of the category of “Christian” but the questions asked refer to people who (i) confess an evangelical faith and (ii) have a regular ecclesial life.

  2. https://www.christiandaily.com/news/bishop-hwa-yung-recalls-east-malaysian-revivals-at-lausanne.html

  3. https://www.vox.ie/001/2024/9/28/reconciliation

  4. https://www.christiandaily.com/news/workplaces-offer-a-holy-ground-for-christ-lausanne-4.html

  5. The CNEF wishes to act as a ‘catalyst to extend the momentum of the Congress’, says Erwan Cloarec, Président of the CNEF. To this end, a space for consultation and action will be created, based on the dynamics initiated at this Congress and integrating the perspectives mentioned in the recent CNEF text

Lausanne 4, Northern Europe, Vista 46Matthieu Gangloff