How should the church in Europe respond to the growing visible presence of Muslims in our continent? I suggest in a fourfold way, with i. a compassionate heart; ii. an informed mind; iii. an involved hand; and iv. a witnessing tongue. Nevertheless, before we seek to touch the hearts of our Muslim friends with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we need to honestly look at our own hearts.

Fear of Eurabia and its consequences
The growing visible presence of Muslims in Europe is a cause of concern to many Europeans, including Christians. There are many people across Europe who fear the Islamization of Europe. They believe that Islam is considered a problem or an obstacle to modernization and point out that the tense relationship between Islam and Europe is a clash of civilizations. Others state that Islam is hostile to and incompatible with the values of the western world and argue that key European values, e.g. secularism, freedom of speech and security, are threatened by the presence of Muslims in Europe.

Some write that the presence of a substantial number of Muslims in Europe is a deliberate strategy to make sure that Muslims will form a demographic majority within a few generations, in order to impose their shari’a law on this continent.

Islam’s progress in establishing itself in Europe continues to be a difficult phenomenon to accept. European societies essentially have a negative response to the growing visibility of Islam in their midst. An Islamophobic attitude continues to remain strong in Europe and is expressed in public with increasing frequency. Islamophobic attitudes can also be found among Christians and who seem to be moulded by the societies in which they live.

“Islamophobic attitudes remain strong in Europe… unfortunately Churches and Christians often share this negative sentiment”

These negative sentiments have several consequences. Firstly, it leads to a marginalization, discrimination, and exclusion of Muslims in finding housing, jobs or internships; and secondly it contributes to growing xenophobia and resurgent nationalism.

Unfortunately, often Churches and Christians share the negative sentiment that permeates the societies they are part of. This might be one of the reasons why many of them are not interested to look more closely at what actually takes place within the Muslim communities across Europe.

Phases of Relations between Islam and Europe
When we look at the relationship between Islam and Europe in history, we can identify several phases. A long first phase, lasting for at least the first ten centuries of the history of Islam, was one of major conflicts, symbolized by the Crusades. The second phase can be seen historic waves of Islam in Europe that have left an imprint on Europe till the present day, such as: the Islamic civilization in Iberia, the Muslim Tatars in the northern Slav regions; the Ottoman Empire. In the third phase, we see European dominance of Islamic lands, through colonialism and economic globalization. In the fourth phase, beginning in the 1950s and 1960s Islam began to spread in Europe through migration of first-generation immigrants coming from former colonies and labour migrants in response to European demand. In the fifth phase we see an increasing indigenization of Islam in Europe. The result of this is the formation of a European Islam, with its own pronounced identity different from that of Arabic Islam or that of countries of origin. This can be considered the sixth phase.

Today, most European countries find themselves somewhere between the fourth and fifth phases and in some countries we see the development of the sixth phase. I see three trends among Muslims in Europe, namely i. immigrants have become citizens; ii. Islam is being revitalized in the Balkans and Russia; iii. Islam in Europe is not a monolithic entity but expresses itself in a variety of ways.

Generally speaking Muslims in Europe are urbanized, young, economically less well off and diverse.

The number of Muslims in Europe is expected to continue to grow from about 44 million now (6% of the population) to 58 million by 2030 (8% of the population). Depending on future migration, the number of Muslims in Europe in 2050 might be as high as 75 million (14% of the total population).

It is important to be careful in using demographical statistics. Statistics often do not give any indication of the religious commitment, beliefs and practices of a person. Some believe that only a third of all Muslims in Europe actively practice their Islamic faith.

Gradual Europeanization of Muslim theology and practices
I see several changes taking place within Islam in Europe.

Regarding structure I see an institutionalizing of Islam in Europe with the establishment of National Islamic Councils; the emergence of Muslim political and civic leaders; the formation of organizations, such as associations, schools, mosques; the westernization of mosques and the democratization of religious authority, where ‘cyber imams’ compete with mosque imams.

This institutionalization of Islam in Europe is a complex issue and not completed. Governments in North Africa, Turkey and Middle East are still a highly influential force on Islam in Europe. There are still a large number of mosques that are foreign-run and foreign-staffed. There is still a big need to educate imams in Europe and to develop domestic sources of financing for Islamic institutions.

Regarding practice, I see an individualization of Islamic religious beliefs and practices. It is an Islam where the believer decides autonomously which elements of Islam (s)he considers to be binding or not. The individualization expresses itself in the following ways: the development of an Islamic Youth Culture; decreasing influence of traditional law schools; the development of European Fatwahs; the organization of slaughter during the feast of sacrifice and growing diversity in religious practice and convictions among Muslims.

“Islam in Europe should be higher on the agenda of the Church… What happens to Europe and Islam is not something the Church can ignore”

The outcome of this individualization of Islamic faith and practices does not automatically mean a decline in religious practice, nor a liberalization of Islam, although some of this is happening. It sometimes leads to a critical attitude among second-generation Muslims towards the Islam of their parents and religious authority. Some break away from the Islamic culture of their parents in search of pure Islam.

Regarding theology, I see the development of a new hermeneutics of interpretation of the Qur’an and Sunnah, particularly in the writings of four renowned Muslim reformers, based in Europe: Bassam Tibi, Tariq Ramadan, Tareq Oubrou, and Abdennour Bidar. These four are all contributing to the idea of a European Islam. Other theologically inspired developments I see are: A desire for gender equality, expressed by Muslim female theologians who explain, define and redefine several key concepts of Islam. Changes in the ways shariah is being interpreted. Changes in how the law of apostacy is being interpreted. Discussion about the legal conditions connected to minority status in Europe.

A growing number of Muslim scholars in Europe believe that European Islam is possible, both theologically and politically. But we have to understand that it is not yet an existing fact, but an ongoing process. In their understanding, such a European Islam integrates modernity values and links them with the divine. It preserves the divine in its modernity.

The response of the Church: bystander, follower or trendsetter?
The presence of Islam in Europe should be high on the agenda of the Church in Europe. What happens to Europe and Islam is not something that the Church can ignore. We cannot afford to be a bystander when Europe and Islam sort out their future together. Nor, should we be following the mindset of Europeans at large. Instead of agents of change and transformation in a society estranged from God, many European Christians mimic its sentiments towards Muslims. I believe we should speak of and with Muslims with attitudes that are influenced by the way God deals with us. Our thinking, attitude, behavior with regard to Islam in Europe should be guided by God’s self-giving love manifested at the cross of Golgotha. I suggest that Churches and Christians across Europe respond to the presence of Muslims in Europe with: a) a compassionate heart; b) an informed mind; c) an involved hand; d) a witnessing tongue.

The Church can shape the future of Islam in Europe when we are willing to reflect the truth, the glory and attitude of God in the way we relate to Muslims in our midst.

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However, this is not an article about how to get out of this dilemma. Nor is it an argument for us as Evangelicals to change our theology in the area of sex and relationships. The more I have researched these issues – and I have written a handful of books on the subject – the more convinced I have become of the relevance of classical theology in our own day, especially in the area of sex and relationships. Instead, I want to reflect on what the sexualised culture actually stands for. Linked to this, I want to stimulate a conversation, not primarily about evangelical sexual ethics, but rather about what is going on beneath the surface. What lies behind the slogans of secular culture?

A Better Story
A good point of reference in such a conversation is Glynn Harrison’s book A Better Story: God, Sex and Human Flourishing. Harrison is a retired professor of psychiatry living in the UK and in his book he convincingly describes how the secular humanist and the Christian view of sex go back to two very different stories.

The secular humanist story is built around the idea of the autonomous self; the idea that true self-realisation presupposes a form of rebellion against previous generations, traditions, and values. Increasingly, it is also based on the idea that each individual possesses the power to define their own identity. The latter becomes particularly clear in matters concerning gender and gender identity, where it is more and more taken for granted that no individual should have to submit to biological or other factors that are contrary to one’s own self-image.

Linked to sexuality, this humanist story has emerged in close interaction with societal development in general, where such things as the post-war welfare state, changed laws regarding marriage and divorce, and the introduction of safe and cheap contraceptives, all play a crucial role. It has simply become possible to live in an autonomous way that was previously not an option. What has happened along the way is that the sexual liberation – the “sexual revolution” – has become a central part of modern man’s self-image as free, autonomous, and future-oriented.

The Christian story, on the other hand, is based on the idea that an individual – in addition to his or her responsibility and personal relationship with our Creator – flourishes in communion with others. This deep communion, described as the man and woman “knowing” each other (cf. Gen 4:1), presupposes a transfer where both parties renounce some of their own autonomy. This is especially important for the concept of the family. Consequently, those who have lost the most on the altar of radical individualism, are the children of adults who go their separate ways or never even marry at all.

We can already see the results of what the two different stories lead to. Glynn Harrison points to research that shows that very few of the promises of the sexual revolution have actually been realised. Surely, there were things that needed to be dealt with in the old system, but the fact remains that today we have neither more nor better sex than in the old days. We also cannot talk of qualitatively better romantic relationships than before. In addition, as has already been noted, the new generation of children can, in many ways, be seen as those having lost the most in the sexual revolution.

Despite this, the new and individual-centred view of sex has become a central part of today’s Western culture. A telling example can come from my own country Sweden, where a few years ago we did a review of the four most widespread teaching aids for sex education in high schools and colleges. It turned out that, in these materials, sex was consistently presented as an extramarital phenomenon. They never even mentioned that you can have sex in a marriage union! Furthermore, there was a complete lack of information about dating and family formation, and in three out of four materials the authors chose to completely separate sex education from questions concerning conception, pregnancy, and childbirth. The link between sex and childbearing was simply obliterated.

Physical Appearance
There are other dimensions to the sexualisation of Western society. Sex has changed from being what completes and confirms two individuals’ surrender and love for each other, to what normally initiates a relationship (which sometimes, but far from always, leads to the formation of a family). This has led to a fundamental change in our relationship patterns. Recently, technology has become a driving force in this, with dating apps such as Tinder, Hinge, and Match. Many young people today actually think that you are being “pushy” if you approach a person whom you have not first been in contact with through a dating app. That Tinder, and other apps, put physical appearance at the forefront goes without saying.

Physical appearance also dominates the entertainment and advertising industries. As the American Christian band, Switchfoot, put it in the song Easier Than Love:

Sex is currency
She sells cars,
She sells magazines /… /
Sex is industry,
The CEO, of corporate policy
Skin-deep ministry,
Suburban youth, hailing so-called liberty.

At the end of the song, Switchfoot asks what are probably the most crucial questions in this context:

Feeling alone,
What have we done?
What is the monster we’ve become?
Where is my soul?

It is not that physical appearance or beauty are unimportant. But there is something deeply unsatisfactory about sex reduced to a commodity; sex as a body, without any soul. This is probably the main reason why the sexual revolution has proven to hold so little of what it once promised.

Body, Soul, and Identity
The relationship between body and soul also forms the basis for another important exploration of our time and culture, and it has to do with the great identity project of our time. It is clear that sexuality has become more central to many Europeans’ identity than it used to be. This is particularly obvious within the LGBTQ movement, which to a large extent speaks of sexual orientation as a basis for every person’s identity.

Here too, one can say that the two different stories challenge one another. The Christian narrative of identity is tied to the belief in God as our Creator. As such, God is both our origin and our future destination. In addition, our unique value in creation lies in the fact that we are created in the image of God. In the New Testament, we can read that our deepest and truest identity is the one given to us by God in Christ, who in our place has borne the burden of giving us the value, the identity, and the salvation that we otherwise try to create in our own might.

When one severs, like the secular humanist society does, both the beginning and the end of this story – the belief in God as Creator and as ultimate destination in life – it is inevitable that we try to fill our identity with something other than the rest that we find in Christ, and which is the great gift of the Gospel. This is a timeless phenomenon. In all ages people have built up their identity with all sorts of building blocks: money, family relationships, talent, ethnicity, class, beauty, social skills, and so on. But in our time, sexual identity has risen to become one of the most important building blocks of them all. In practice, one can even say that sexuality has taken the place of God in our lives!

In connection to this, the LGBTQ movement has provided us with a new set of ideologies that claim to strike a wedge between our body and our soul. But here, paradoxically, it is the inner qualities of a human being, rather than the outward appearance, that are in focus. The trans movement claims that gender identity is something fundamentally metaphysical, without a necessary connection to either body, biology, chromosomes, or hormones. The equally radical queer movement speaks of identity and sexuality as fluid, which means that during the course of life the same person can move back and forth on a scale of hetero-bi-homo-trans. As a matter of fact, this ideology provides us with an even larger smorgasbord to choose from, and in several countries, there are now between 50 to 70 different gender identities to choose from on Facebook.

The consequence of all this, is that a division arises between body and soul, where the one is not allowed to define the other.

Are we living the Christian story?
In summary, it can be said that the sexualised culture affects a number of areas that are quite different from one another. Ultimately, it goes back to radical individualism, and the recurring focus on physical appearance emphasised by market forces. The LGBTQ movement’s discourse about gender and identity can consequently be seen both as a fruit of today’s individualistic and materialistic culture, and as a driving factor for the radicalisation of the culture at large.

It is clear that the Christian Church lives in a story of identity and sexuality that is, in many ways, at odds with the story that dominates our current European culture. The question is, do we, as Evangelical Christians, really live by the story that has been entrusted to us by the Lord? Only if we do this in a credible way can we be a positive counterweight to the destructive aspects of our current sexualised culture.

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Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn

This spiritual exercise connects the verbal with the visual. Beginning with Origen in the third century, Lectio Divina is an Early Church practice of scriptural reading, meditation and prayer intended to promote communion with God and to increase the knowledge of God's word. Traditionally, Lectio Divina has four separate steps: read (reading the text four times), meditate, pray, and contemplate.

Visio Divina is a form of looking in which we prayerfully invite God to speak to our hearts as we look at an image or a painting. As you gaze, you will be offered some questions for silent reflection, some of which may speak to you, while others you may choose to ignore. At the end of the Visio Divina, you will be invited to share a word or phrase to express your experience of the image.

Let’s start. Take a moment to pause, sit still, and relax. How might God want to speak to you through this passage and painting?

Lectio Divina

Don’t read too fast! Meditate on the passage.

Mark 4:35-41 (ESV)

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.”
And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion.
And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!”
And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”
And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

Pray to quieten yourself and ask for God’s illumination.

1. Lectio (read) – Read the text for the first time. Gently listen; don’t force it. To what is God drawing your attention?
2. Meditatio (reflect) – Read the text for a second time: This is not a study. Pay attention to what God pointed out and reflect further. Does a word or phrase come to mind?
3. Oratio (respond) – Read the text for a third time. Respond with short thoughts you want to capture. Write down your thoughts in a journal or notebook.
4. Contemplatio (rest) – Read the text for a fourth time. This is not prayer or meditation but rather a chance to sit quietly and let God work.

Visio Divina

‘Don’t Look too fast! Gaze upon the image.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, “Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee”, 1633, oil on canvas, 160 cm × 128 cm (62.99 in × 50.39 in). This painting is still missing after the 1990 robbery from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, MA, USA.

About the painter

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606–1669) was a Dutch draughtsman, painter, and printmaker. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in the history of art and the most important in Dutch art history.

Questions

1. Look at the image in an intentional way. Don’t over analyze. Simply allow your vision to rest with the image. What parts of the image visually jump out at you?
2. What thoughts or emotions are emerging from the image? Write down single words or short phrases which reflect your response, not whole explanations. There is no insignificant discovery.
3. Slowly, count the characters. Why did the artist paint this number of people?
4. What are the characters doing?
5. Who do you see that you wouldn’t expect to see? Who is in the cabin?
6. Which character in the boat do you most identify with? As you continue in an attitude of prayer, what is the Holy Spirit speaking to your heart? What emotions, desires and longings are evoked?
7. What is your response to what the Holy Spirit has been revealing? Is there something you would like to share with others?
8. Take the time to respond to God in gratitude, supplication, wonder, lament, confession, and praise. What do you need to remember?
9. Bring your prayer to a close by resting in God's grace and love.

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“We long to see greater commitment to the hard work of robust apologetics.”
The Cape Town Commitment

My first encounter with Christian apologetics was during my high school years. I was deeply encouraged as a disciple and witness when I discovered that the biblical Gospel makes sense as a worldview, is founded on historical facts, and can transform lives. These early formative discoveries have influenced my ministry significantly throughout different phases. Today, I am convinced that, as evangelical Europeans, we need to (re)capture a vision of the Gospel as true, good, and beautiful.

Facing up to contemporary challenges in Europe
Pre-Christian, Christian, and post-Christian ideas exist alongside each other in today’s Europe. When sharing the Gospel in more secular contexts, we may find that it does not make sense to our friends, neighbours, and colleagues:

• Christian ideas and images are often viewed through the cultural lenses of post-Christendom. This means that they are seen through stories of mythical and factual abuses of power by churches and Christians throughout history.
• Biblical realities, concepts, and images – such as God, Father, holiness, sin, love, salvation, cross, freedom, and Jesus Christ – are often not being perceived through the lenses of classical Christianity. This is due to the loss of a shared worldview framework.
• The wider cultural milieu may be a context where the biblical Gospel is not seen, heard, or felt as a relevant worldview option, whether in terms of reason (arguments), affections (feelings) or imagination (stories).

Furthermore, in secular European contexts God is often viewed as absent or non-existent. Prayer is only a psychological exercise. The Bible is seen as a collection of irrelevant ancient texts which contain some literary gems. Science has replaced faith in God. Christianity is not seen as unique, but only as one worldview alternative among many. Jesus is an inspiring humanist. The Christian faith is no longer considered as objectively true; though it may function as a source of personal inspiration or as a kind of spirituality which may lead to increased well-being.

God is usually taken for granted within our Christian churches, and sermons may describe his love and goodness. However, the existence of God is hardly ever justified, it is usually only presupposed. The Bible is quoted and applied, but in many cases no reasons are given for the selection and credibility of the biblical books. Jesus is being worshipped, but often no deeper explanation is presented for his uniqueness and his salvation. Prayer, liturgy, and mission are primarily seen as valuable Christian traditions, and thus never argued for in relation to the wider secular context.

Thus, many confessing Christians in Europe (and beyond) are faced with a highly demanding experience of cognitive dissonance between Christian stories, beliefs, and truth-claims within the church on the one hand and dominant secular narratives and arguments in the wider culture on the other hand. This is due to key cultural factors such as secular paradigms in the academy and the media, the increasing presence of worldview pluralism, and the marginalization of Christian faith and practice.

Following the call to apologetics in the Cape Town Commitment
These urgent missional challenges are included in the Cape Town Commitment in the section on “Bearing witness to the truth of Christ in a pluralistic, globalized world” where a call to action is issued in relation to apologetics:

We long to see greater commitment to the hard work of robust apologetics. This must be at two levels.

1. We need to identify, equip, and pray for those who can engage at the highest intellectual and public level in arguing for and defending biblical truth in the public arena.
2. We urge Church leaders and pastors to equip all believers with the courage and the tools to relate the truth with prophetic relevance to everyday public conversation, and so to engage every aspect of the culture we live in.

In relation to our June Conversation and the upcoming Engage II event, the first level is exemplified by the public ministry of Oxford mathematician and apologist John Lennox, whereas we as Christian leaders need to mobilize the whole people of God for faithful witness in our everyday lives. For this key missional task, we may benefit from a wide spectrum of apologetic resources, such as the video series Exploring the God Question and the movie Against the Tide, both produced by Kharis Productions and both involving John Lennox.   It is fruitful to reflect on this call to apologetics in the Cape Town Commitment in the light of a key sentence in the preface, where the goal of the Lausanne III Congress (and the subsequent statement) is summarized as bringing “a fresh challenge to the global Church to bear witness to Jesus Christ and all his teaching – in every nation, in every sphere of society, and in the realm of ideas.”

We need to let this challenge refresh us. This can be done by unpacking the meaning of this highly condensed sentence. It contains two key parts:

• The second part describes integral Christian mission as an ongoing movement in three dimensions, i.e., the length dimension (“in every nation”), the breadth dimension (“in every sphere of society”), and the depth dimension (“in the realm of ideas”). This means that relevant Christian mission engages with all three dimensions in every context.
• The theological and missiological foundation for this ‘mission in 3D’ is articulated in the first part of this mission statement – i.e., “to bear witness to Jesus Christ and all his teaching”. This means that authentic Christian mission has Christ and his teaching at the centre and emphasizes truth, integrity, and a holistic perspective.

Thus, apologetics should be an integrated part of our contemporary Christian dialogue, witness, and discipleship in a secular and pluralistic world.

When a Christian argues for the Christian worldview as the best explanation of any given evidence, experience, or phenomenon, this takes place in a pluralistic context of competing truth claims and contending apologies. Every religious and secular worldview has its own apologists and its own apologetic contributions. This is the context for a holistic missional approach to Christian apologetics, with pre-evangelism, evangelism, and post-evangelism as the three key categories.

Christian apologetics as pre-evangelism: Answering and agenda-setting.
Apologetics has traditionally been assigned the roles of answering honest questions about the Christian faith, dealing with serious objections to biblical truth claims, exposing influential myths about the Gospel, and positively deconstructing current secular and religious worldview alternatives. These functions of apologetics have often been described as the removal of intellectual stumbling blocks on the way to (potential) personal faith in the God of the Bible. Apologetic argument cannot create belief, but it may create an atmosphere in which belief could come to life.

This is an everyday task for each one of us, in our personal relationships with family, friends, colleagues, and neighbours. As expressed by Paul: “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” (Col. 4:5f)

This pre-evangelistic function also relates to the public agenda-setting role of Christian apologetics, which is crucial in contexts of competing truth claims where the Christian story is often forgotten, neglected, or marginalized. Through being salt and light in mainstream media and in the academy and other educational contexts, Christians in public roles may help to create and sustain a cultural milieu in which the biblical gospel can be heard as intellectually defensible and experientially satisfying. This is clearly a key task when confronted with political correctness, influential secular thought, and alternative religious beliefs.

Christian apologetics as persuasive evangelism: Commending and clarifying.
Evangelism and apologetics are distinct but related activities. Whereas evangelism is the actual proclamation of the Gospel, inviting people to believe in Christ and offering forgiveness and new life in Christ, apologetics is commending this Gospel of Jesus Christ as intellectually compelling, historically credible, and existentially attractive. Along the same lines, the Manila Manifesto “affirms that apologetics and evangelism belong together”.

Apologetics also has a key clarifying role in relation to conversion as a worldview decision. In the absence of an apology that will make sense to and engage outsiders, it is impossible, even in principle, to decide between various worldviews. Therefore, as we share our personal testimonies, we need to be prepared to clarify why the Christian worldview should be preferred, based on God’s revealed truth in general and special revelation.

Within the current European context, one such strategic initiative is FEUER, the Fellowship of Evangelists in the Universities of Europe. This is a network of evangelicals across Europe who are committed to publicly proclaim, commend, and defend the truth, beauty, and wonder of the gospel in the university context to today’s generation of students. Such encouraging initiatives may also inspire evangelical churches and ministries to creative apologetic action on other arenas.

We may learn in this task from Paul’s encounter with King Agrippa and Governor Festus in Acts 26. After having shared his life story, the apostle faced tough opposition. He responded by commending the gospel of Jesus as true and reasonable, coherent, credible, and life changing.

Christian apologetics as post-evangelism: Affirming and equipping.
Whereas the pre-evangelism and the evangelism contexts describe the external missional task of Christian apologetics, the post-evangelistic context describes the internal missional task of affirming the believer in his or her decision to start (or to continue) to believe in Jesus Christ. We should be ready to offer such affirmations to Christian believers, in ways that are personally engaging and culturally relevant.

As we have seen already, the apologetic task also includes equipping believers to bear witness to Christ and all his teaching, in every part of the world – not only geographically and culturally, but in every sphere of society and in the realm of ideas. This relates to the life-long task of developing a Christian mind, whether in relation to the academy, the media, our workplace, our relationships, or any other areas in our everyday lives.

This post-evangelistic task is at the centre of my own home ministry context in Norway. Inspired by the European Leadership Forum, we have established apologetic initiatives to enable Christians to grow in confidence and to be equipped for personal and public witness. The initiatives include an academic programme, workshops and online resources, a major annual national conference, and a new publishing imprint.

We find the task of affirming and equipping in the New Testament. Luke wanted to reassure Theofilos of the truth he was taught (Luke 1:4). Peter asks his readers to “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” (1 Pet. 3:15) Today, the Christian family, the local church, and other Christian communities are strategic contexts for maturing disciples and preparing for witness.

Finding our own apologetic role
Thus, as evangelicals in Europe we are called to bear witness to Jesus Christ and all his teaching also in the realm of ideas. This is an urgent task, and every believer needs to be mobilized. Let us pray God for wisdom to identify our own apologetic roles, in the context of our own arenas, to enable us to be biblically authentic and culturally relevant in our personal and public witness.

Recommended further reading:

• Lars Dahle: “Truth, Christian Mission and Apologetics: A Response and A Proposal”, Norwegian Journal of Missiology 2013/1
  https://journals.mf.no/ntm/article/view/4285/3602
• Lars Dahle: “Cognitive Dissonance as a Missiological Challenge and Opportunity: An Evangelical Perspective on Western Europe”,
  Theofilos 2018/2
  https://theofilos.no/issues/theofilos-vol-10-nr-2-2018/

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As a lecturer in apologetics, teaching others to defend and commend the Christian faith, I’m convinced that Christianity makes more sense of our human experience than any other worldview, religious or secular. Followers of Jesus, today, need to share a coherent faith that corresponds to the way the world actually is. And we must answer secularist ideas proudly declaring that the material universe is all there is, so ‘God botherers’[1] should get back in their box, privatising their faith. I praise God for the courageous and wise work of intellectual apologists like John Lennox, who swim against the tide of atheist scholars and boost everyone’s confidence to proclaim Christ’s Lordship in the public square.

It’s just that arguing this case to my secular friends often leaves them cold. By itself, it’s not enough.

I remember iniviting one such friend to a university talk I gave on arguments for God’s existence. From most accounts, I was understandable and even-handed while pulling apart common atheistic objections. Together we explored philosophical arguments for why the universe needs a first cause; we judged the fine-tuning of the cosmos as consistent with a wise and powerful Creator; and we considered the historical case – especially through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection – that ‘God is there and not silent’, as Francis Schaeffer liked to say.

My friend politely watched on as, after the talk, I engaged with sceptics angry at my supernatural take, and Muslims appreciative of the Kalam cosmological argument, but questioning the nature of this God. When chatting afterwards, though, it was obvious I’d missed the mark. The arguments failed to speak to the logic of her heart. Her desires. Her loves and hates.

My friend only showed up because she trusted me personally, and could see in our church community a quality of grace in short supply elsewhere. She wasn’t wrestling with abstract questions fired by detractors like Richard Dawkins and the not-so-new atheists. Rather, she was wanting to make sense of why we would give our lives for something bigger than the here-and-now, building a community around Jesus’ way of life.

We were intriguing to her, and broke the mould. Based on media portrayals and some of her encounters with proud apologists quick to answer but slow to listen, she expected Christianity to be full of bigoted hypocrites. Religious conviction looked irrelevant at best, and dangerous at worst, characterised by church abuse, religious violence, financial scandals, and judging the LGBT community over sexual ethics. The apologetic my friend needed would address these stumbling blocks with the evidence of attractive lives. She wanted to see the effect Jesus had in everyday living, at the heart of what was truly important in her worldly experience: work, family, friendship, and managing mental health. What kind of apologetic can do this in post-Christendom Europe?

As countless studies, like the European Values Survey (EVS), demonstrate, Europe continues to secularise. Christian belief and practice is falling away. But for most citizens, they can’t be bothered debating what looks unimportant in their day-to-day. In his analysis of the EVS, Jim Memory concludes, ‘Apologetics that is targeted on atheism is only reaching a tiny proportion of Europe’s population. The much greater challenge is reaching the huge number of unbelieving Europeans who are indifferent to Christianity and consider religion an irrelevance to modern life.’

We desperately need a broader agenda for apologetics.

What if, as John Stackhouse argues, apologetics is ‘anything that points to the plausibility and credibility of the gospel; all we say and do that can help those who are not (yet) Christian take Christianity and the gospel more seriously than they previously did’? How might this shift our imagination and way of representing Christ in the public square? The force of persuasion suddenly shifts from abstract arguments to the integrity of a community whose life together puts skin on the claims of the kingdom. Sacred arguments are embodied in the secular realm.

Take one of the church’s first apologists, Justin Martyr. He made brilliant arguments in the second century to defend Christians against accusations that their brand of religion poisoned everything. He even made the case that Christianity was morally superior to its competitors, drawing on philosophy to defend the freedom to follow Jesus and point people to him in the marketplace. And yet, his neighbours needed more than this for his apologetic to stick.

As historian Rodney Stark explains, it was the whole-life witness of Christian martyrs following Jesus’ path of loving sacrifice that transformed the Roman Empire and made this strange faith worth believing in. When facing plagues far worse than the Covid pandemic, Christians stayed in the cities to nurse neighbours back to health or hold them close as life faded away. It was this embodied ‘moral argument’ that first Christianised Europe.[2]

In Julian the Apostate’s Epistle to Pagan High Priests, written as the last pagan emperor of Rome, he complains of Christian goodness and charity enticing local citizens to change faith: ‘These impious Galileans (Christians) not only feed their own, but ours also; welcoming them with their agape, they attract them, as children are attracted with cakes…. Whilst the pagan priests neglect the poor, the hated Galileans devote themselves to works of charity, and by a display of false compassion have established and given effect to their pernicious errors. Such practice is common among them, and causes contempt for our gods.’

This apologetic is arguably more important in Twenty-First Century post-Christian Europe than it was in Justin Martyr’s day. In a secular age, winning arguments comes less from robust debate or even the historical record, however well we can tell this amazing story. More powerful is the authority of authenticity: lives lived beautifully and compellingly among our neighbours as a witness to something (or someone) beyond the here-and-now.

This is not an intellectual argument, but a moral one. The biblical understanding of ‘the beauty of holiness’ (1 Chr. 16:29; 2 Chr. 20:21; Ps. 96:9; Heb. 13:18) can help us: the NASB translates Psalm 29:2 as calling for us to ‘Worship the LORD in holy array’, in brilliant colour reflecting the rainbow-like unity-in-diversity that is our triune creator. What might this look like today, through our churches sent together as witnesses in the world?

Redemption required incarnation – not a clever tweet from heaven or precise syllogism scrawled onto a sandwich board. Missiologist Michael Pucci explains, ‘for the gospel is not a law or a disembodied message that God wants to convey, but the living, breathing word of the Kingdom exampled in its messengers. … Our brokenness and continuing transformation is a key part of what we testify to. The authenticity of transparency is a powerful vehicle of the gospel.’[3]

In his letter to the scattered exiles, the apostle Peter urged the growing Christian church to ‘live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us’ (1 Pt. 2:12).

This is the context within which we find Peter’s other famous exhortation, ‘to always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have’ (1 Pt. 3:15). His wider call was

for the whole church to live a countercultural household code, exemplifying holiness even as they suffered persecution. Peter knew that the reasons for their hope became meaningful when they were incarnated in Spirit-empowered exemplary character, and a Kingdom-focused approach to life and work.

We might also consider Paul’s logic in his letter to the Philippians. In chapter one, God’s good work in them is working its way out, bearing fruit as a witness to Christ as they live blameless lives. Paul’s gracious suffering under persecution advances the gospel; this is their greatest source of confidence. In chapters two through four, Paul pleads with the ekklesia—that is, the church, as the ‘called out’ ones representing Christ in their specific time and place—to turn away from the idolatry of power, success, and greed, and instead embrace Jesus’ demand for humility, integrity, and simplicity.

What difference would it make if, today, we were not only to ‘hold firm to the word of life’, but to ‘shine like stars’ as we did so (Phil. 2:15–16)? If we were to control our bodies and sexual desires, channelling our energy instead towards works of righteousness(3:1–7)? If we resolved arguments with each other, were free from anxiety, always mindful of God’s peace, practicing material simplicity and financial honesty, and displaying contentment in all circumstances (3:17–21; 4:1–13)?

Both Peter and Paul are putting forth an ecclesial argument for God’s existence. The church makes credible to every citizen, past and present, that God exists, and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him (Heb. 11:6).

The way we love each other, and overflow in love for the life of the world, makes our common creator known. As we practice humility, integrity, and simplicity, individuals—whatever their intellect and ability to craft an argument—are fused into a body that looks like Jesus. We become a truly good church in the eyes of a watching world.[4] And, over time, the alluring beauty of holiness, best seen when we suffer for doing good, will be evident. The gospel is not made more plausible with better arguments alone, but with lives that allow it to take on form.

What, then, might this ecclesial apologetic look like for us as ‘called out’ ones representing Christ in our specific time and place? I long to see a movement of disciples, a community of ‘wise peacemakers’ (Mt. 5:9), who can make sense of the times we’re in and know what it takes to out-love evil with good. When we gather, we’re formed to become people who seek the shalom of the places in which we are scattered throughout the week. We are one good church commissioned to bear the presence of God in diverse cultural contexts, making a difference in whatever we do, wherever we are, whoever we are.

These whole-life disciples will have learned to follow the way of Jesus in their particular situation and moment, empowered to listen, imagine, create, and communicate. It might look like a senior accountant humbling herself to truly listen to her colleagues at work, making sense of why they’re feeling undermined by the leadership, and everyday bringing their needs to the Father in prayer. It might look like a football hooligan with a fascist bent and a history of violence, being radically saved to imagine his enemies in a rival club becoming friends and part of the same community house.[5] It could be a young mum in a close-knit accountability group where she practices Examen and open confession to keep short accounts with God, helping her deal with underlying anger; only then does she have what it takes to create a brave space thats heals rifts between parents running the toddlers’ play group. And it might look like a retiree trained to communicate to everyone on his street just why Jesus is good news, as he follows in the footsteps of the church in bygone pandemics: his evident love for each person and practical care on a first-name basis earning him the right to speak peace over their anxiety.

This is the beauty of holiness. It’s a good church filled with the Spirit, making plausible and credible the reign of God through good lives that stoke the curiosity of the most ardent sceptic. Of course, this apostolic witness works in tandem with the genius of philosophical apologists who answer tough questions and stand against the tide of European secularists who are drifting ever further from Christian belief. Nevertheless, first things first, for ‘unless we are content to answer questions no one is posing…the most urgent apologetic task of the church today is to live in the world in such a way that the world is driven to ask us about the hope we have.’[6]   

In my experience, I have seen that Christianity cannot prove or legitimate itself apart from our Christlike lives. May we, then, participate in the Lord’s work of making his church ever more radiant and beautiful, without stain or wrinkle or blemish, but holy and blameless (Eph. 5:27–28). May we once again be ‘good’ in the eyes of a watching world, ‘shining like a beacon on a hill’.  May our essential apologetic be an ecclesial one.

[1] ‘God botherer’: demeaning British slang for a person who persistently promotes religious beliefs to others, even when unwelcome.

[2] See Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries (Princeton, NJ: HarperSanFrancisco, 1997), 83–88, 189, also chapters 4 and 8.

[3] Michael Pucci, ‘The Gospel and Human Poverty,’ in Hearts Aflame: Living the Passion for Evangelism, ed. Michael Tan (Singapore: Eagles Communication, 2008), 222–224.

[4] See Mt. 5:43–48; Jn. 13:34–35; 1 Tm. 3:15; 1 Pt. 2:9–12; 1 Jn. 4:12. See also Scot McKnight and Laura Barringer, ‘Creating a Goodness Culture,’ ch. 5 in A Church Called Tov: Forming a Goodness Culture That Resists Abuses of Power and Promotes Healing (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2020).

[5] This true story of Revd Dave Jeal, chaplain to the Bristol Rovers, is powerfully told by Dan Morrice in Finding the Peacemakers (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2021), 95–134.

[6] Philip Kenneson, ‘There’s No Such Thing as Objective Truth, and It’s a Good Thing’, in Christian Apologetics in the Postmodern World, eds. Timothy Phillips and Dennis Okholm (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1995), 169.

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Photo by Eliott Reyna on Unsplash

I am so thankful that from a young age my parents introduced me to the Bible and took me to kid’s camp, conferences and youth groups. I met some wonderful people that loved children and teenagers, and that cared and invested in me. I have experienced what it is like to depend on God for a miracle and have seen God move in unique and powerful ways. I have loved the depth of Scripture. Even through some desert periods in my young years my faith was never shaken. It was under the surface sometimes yes, but never shaken.

Why do we need all generations to learn how young people think and how to connect with them? We need a bigger group of people to train up the young. Like the African proverb says: "It takes a village to raise a child". An entire community of people must interact with children for them to experience and grow in a safe and healthy environment.

This is just the same for raising children and youth to become disciples of Jesus. We cannot leave it to the parents alone or to the youth leader. We need all and everyone to help.

With this article I want to give a voice to the younger generation and cry out to all Committed Christians! It is urgent, and you are needed!

When we dive into the results of the Global Youth Culture Study we undertook at Onehope during 2019 and 2020, it is clear that we are dealing with a group of people who are open-minded yet confused, who can be found in their schools with their peers , but who also spend many hours a day on their phones. We found out about their struggles, their beliefs, their relationships, their connectedness and who and what influences them. We heard of their longing for authentic relationships and experiences. And we saw a significant and positive difference in those who identified as ‘committed Christians’; those who are disciples.

It is of the highest importance that we study Youth Culture. I keep thinking of that part of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians when he says that he became a Jew to the Jews, and a Greek to the Greeks, and all of this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. So if you want to reach youth, you must study them so you can find ways to connect. All for the sake of the Gospel: to make disciples!

Each new generation is unique in its own way and research can help us understand how the world looks through different eyes. The world’s current generation of teens and young adults is sometimes called Generation Z.

Across Western Europe, there are more than 6.6 million Generation Z teens aged 13-19 years old which comprises about 8% of the population of those countries.

The data is part of a larger global study that surveyed teens across 20 countries. We believe this study is the most comprehensive of its kind in terms of taking an in-depth look at the faith of this generation. The thousands of data points we collected create a picture of this global generation including the values they share, the struggles they face, and what teens are looking to when seeking for answers and hope. In Western Europe we interviewed 800 young people in the UK and in The Netherlands.

1. RELIGIOUS ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOURS

In Western Europe, 29% of the interviewed teens calls themselves ‘Christian’. But is this because of cultural upbringing, their families’ habits and stories, or did they themselves make a choice to follow Jesus? In Romania, 79% consider themselves ‘Christian’ but is this because their family by tradition is part of an Orthodox church? Non-Europeans tend to think that Europe has a high percentage of Christians. But here we can see that a high percentage does not necessarily mean that these are committed Christians.

So what is the difference between the groups in their thinking and behavior? This research shows a huge difference in thinking and behavior of GenZ when they see themselves as Committed Christians.

Saying you are a Christian and being serious about living out your faith can be two different things. We looked at the core beliefs and key spiritual disciplines that would reveal a teen is a Committed Christian.

One in four Christian young people said children's ministry was important (to them) but half said they didn't actually participate.

In Western Europe out of the 29% who identify as Christians, only 3% display the beliefs and behaviours that indicate they are committed to their faith. See the infographic ‘6 traits of a Committed Christian’. Only 38% of the teens who identify as Christian believe the Bible is the Word of God. 55% never read the Bible on their own and 54% of Christians teens believe all religions teach equally valid truths. In Romania only 3% is a committed Christian.

Conclusions from the full report
Today’s young people are not hostile towards Christianity; they just aren’t thinking about matters of faith. In fact, non-Christian teens have a positive perception of the Christians they know giving us an open door for sharing with them. How can we start conversations with this non-religious generation that awakens them to the spiritual things they are missing out on?

Let’s disciple teens to grow and read
Our research revealed very few committed Christians in the Netherlands and the UK. How can we help teens mature in their beliefs and spiritual disciplines in order to experience the life transformation the Gospel holds for them?

Teens need the truth of God’s Word in their lives, but more than half of Christian teens say they never read the Bible. How can we help this next generation encounter the life-giving truth God’s Word has for them and develop a hunger for Scripture in their lives?

Let’s strengthen church and youth ministry
Teens in Europe have a positive perception of the Christians in their lives. Even though the vast majority never attend church, most say they would consider coming if invited. So it doesn’t hurt to ask!

Many Christian teens report that they did not attend a children’s ministry and that their current church does not have a youth pastor. Yet the data revealed that 11 is the pivotal age of commitment for most Christian teens. How can we ensure this generation is being well cared for spiritually within our churches so their faith can become strong and mature?

2. PERSONAL EXPERIENCES AND STRUGGLES

What we learn from the full report is that the struggles teens are reporting should deeply concern us. Every young person’s situation is different, and there is no one answer to the challenges they may be facing. But it is critical that we be aware of the nature and seriousness of the realities teens say they are experiencing.

This generation is struggling with their mental health
A large number of teens are reporting loneliness, high anxiety, or depression, especially in the UK which ranks among the highest countries globally for these issues. How can we come alongside young people and encourage them in the midst of the challenges they are experiencing? 29% of teens in Europe have tempted by suicidal thoughts and 4% have attempted suicide at some point". How can we help young people see the light and embrace the hope of the Gospel for their lives?

Committed Christians struggle less
It is good news that teens who are taking their faith seriously are also experiencing less struggle. How can we help teens commit to the core beliefs of Christianity as well as to the spiritual disciplines of prayer and Scripture engagement that are seen to make such a big difference in their lives?

Girls need additional support
Girls are struggling more than boys with their mental health and we cannot ignore this. Consider the unique struggles girls may be facing and how we can empower mature women of faith to disciple this next generation.

Pornography is hiding in plain sight
This is a significant issue for today’s teens in Europe and around the world. Neither age nor faith protect a teen from sexual feelings and urges. And those urges can be so easily met thanks to the easy access the Internet provides. How can we address the pervasive issue of pornography usage that has ensnared this next generation?

3. DIGITAL CONNECTEDNESS AND IMPACT

Constant connectedness to digital platforms is a way of life for today’s young people. How do we engage them effectively with the Gospel message they need to hear? Here are some ideas to consider:

Teens connect digitally
They spend a lot of their online time chatting and talking. How can we empower them to have meaningful, thought-provoking conversations with their peers? In addition, how can we as the church engage in meaningful, thought provoking conversations with teens on these chatting platforms?

Videos are very popular
Videos are part of every teen’s daily life – 97% say they watch video content every day - and they can be a powerful vehicle to reach young people. Teens are constantly returning to platforms like YouTube and Netflix. How can we use this appealing medium to reach young people for Christ?

Social media generates mixed responses
Teens check their social media feeds every day, but most don’t spend a lot of time on these platforms. Teens are also divided on whether or not social media is helping or hurting them, with girls more negatively affected than boys. Consider the content you are putting out for them and how you can help them navigate their complex relationship with their digital devices.

Teens on the other side of the screen might be suffering deeply
While we can’t say technology is causing these problems, it is clear that those who are spending a lot of time online may be dealing with some serious mental health issues. How can we come alongside young people and encourage them towards a healthy outlook in the midst of the circumstances they face?

4. IDENTITY AND RELATIONSHIPS

A person’s opinions do not stay the same forever, but for now we have a good view of what teens believe on the important topics of gender identity, sexuality, and marriage. In addition, we know where they are turning to for guidance and advice on these matters.

In Western Europe this generation is split on its view of gender identity
Around half of today’s teens believe gender is determined by sex at birth, while the other half say gender is something that can be self-determined according to one’s personal feelings or sexual desires. How can we engage teens in holistic conversation about this topic and the implications of these important life choices?

Same-sex attraction is a significant issue for this generation
Teens in Western Europe are some of the most likely in the world to be having these feelings. In addition, teens who are experiencing this may also be dealing with gender identity confusion, high anxiety, or loneliness. How can we create safe spaces for teens to share what they are going through and be able to encounter what the Bible has to say about this multifaceted and complex area of their life?

The conversation around gender and sexuality is confusing
Teens are divided on where to turn for guidance on these topics and the voice of culture is loud. How can we ensure teens have wise counsel and trusted people in their lives to safely discuss their personal experiences and questions in this area?

Girls have different viewpoints and experiences than boys
They are much more likely than boys to report same-sex attraction and have a more flexible view of gender and marriage as well. How can we be intentional in providing healthy support for girls that guides them to reflect more deeply on what God has to say about these topics?

Teens have their own perspective on marriage
Teens in Western Europe say a strong no to marriage as exclusive between a man and a woman, and teens in the Netherlands specifically are unsure if marriage should be a lifelong commitment. How can we help teens understand God’s plan for marriage and the benefits of commitment when it comes to covenant?

Christians need discipleship in the area of sexuality
In Eastern Europe the beliefs and behaviours of Christian teens and youth are not that different from non-Christians when it comes to sex before marriage. How can we guide young people to a more biblical lifestyle that values and stewards the gift of sexuality?

5. INFLUENCES AND GUIDING VOICES

As today’s generation navigates life’s complex and confusing issues and looks to their future, the voices they are listening to are critical. The sources teens trust and turn to shed insight on what they will believe. And what you believe has profound implications for how you will behave.

Parents have an important role to play!
Encouragingly, teens and youth report a positive family experience and parents are the first ones they go to for some of life’s most important questions. But when the family environment is not positive, teens instead speak to their peers or go online for guidance. How can we help parents become aware of the influence they have and strengthen families to disciple this generation within the home?

Scripture and the church’s teachings are not a primary influence
Even for most Christian teens and youth, God’s Word is not the first place they go for counsel. How can we create safe spaces for them to wrestle with life’s hard questions and engage the Bible as a trusted guide?

Youth want to engage faith with both their head and their heart
This generation needs logical reasons to change their mind about religious beliefs, but is also hungry for authentic personal experiences of faith. How can we create opportunities for them to have personal experiences of faith, especially in digital spaces where teens spend so much time?

The Global, Eurasia and Western & Eastern Europe reports are available and free to download on our website.

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Editor’s Note: One hundred years ago in London, John Stott was born. In honour of the centenary of his birth, this piece aims to give an overview of his global impact especially through the Lausanne Movement, which he co-founded.

John Stott was a colossus. As Jim Packer said on hearing news of his death in 2011, ‘He had no peer, and we should not look for a successor.’ As decades pass, history will further unfold the extent of his influence on theological thinking, on preaching, on the tensions between the gospel and culture, on the development of a Christian mind, on evangelical commitment to social justice, and supremely on world evangelization.

It was the unique partnership between Billy Graham and John Stott which would launch the Lausanne Movement, a movement committed to ‘the whole gospel for the whole world’ (later expounded to include both ‘the geographical world, and the world of ideas’).[1]

There have already been several doctorates on Stott’s life and ministry, and more will come. His networks were formidable. The way he connected people, and the synergy effected by those introductions merits new and careful research. His worldwide travels began with invitations to lead university missions on one continent after another, and students would always remain a focus of his ministry.

All his life, John Stott was committed to the Anglican church. In 1961, with much prescience, he founded the Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion (EFAC) as a ‘home’ for evangelical clergy. He said that the two priorities of his ministry were students and pastors, and this was clearly borne out. He never made an international trip without some element of student ministry, and he would participate in the IFES World Assembly whenever he could. His three-pronged ministry to help strengthen the church in the Global South (now drawn together as Langham Partnership) provided books for pastors and for students in seminaries; created scholarships for some of the most able thinkers to help them gain doctorates; and provided training in preaching.

Stott’s relationship with the Lausanne Movement, particularly in the period of 1974-1996, could be described as reciprocal, even symbiotic. His multi-faceted ministry fitted the multi-faceted Lausanne aspirations, which he had played no small part in fashioning. Lausanne channels and networks would become a major means through which he brought influence to the church globally.

1974: A Congress and a Covenant
His personal friendship with Billy Graham from the time of the Cambridge University mission in 1955 drew Stott into the early stages of planning for the 1974 International Congress on World Evangelization, held in Lausanne, Switzerland, and from which city the Movement would take its name. It was a friendship of spiritual genius from which, as we see, much would flow.

Stott was by this stage already regarded as a leader and figurehead, through participation in World Council of Churches events, and in the 1966 Congress on World Evangelization in Berlin. The 1970s included seven or eight other international conferences. But from 1974, Lausanne was to have a lion’s share of his time.

John Stott’s reputation for clear theological thinking, his breadth of sympathy within the evangelical tradition, and his gracious dealings with those of different persuasions made him an obvious choice to lead the process of crafting The Lausanne Covenant.

The Lausanne Covenant, which reflected the voices of the 1974 congress, was adopted as a basis for hundreds of collaborative ventures over the rest of the century and came to be regarded as one of the most significant documents in modern church history. Social justice, too-long identified as a concern only for adherents to ‘a social gospel’, was now declared a biblical responsibility for evangelical Christians. This proved a watershed moment for the church.

Realizing the potential impact of the Covenant, John Stott worked on an exposition and commentary published in 1975. It would, he sensed, be critical for the Covenant to be read and studied by individuals and groups. His preface, modestly written, does not record the intense pressure of working through nights to ensure all comments received from the participants were given proper consideration. It was a mammoth operation to translate them in a timely manner, but vital for the voices of the whole evangelical church to be heard. The name ‘covenant’ was carefully chosen. This was a covenant with God himself, and a covenant between all those who wanted to adopt it.

Forming a Movement from a Congress
After the 1974 congress, a continuation committee was set up to build on what had been achieved. In January 1975 this group met in Mexico City with Bishop Jack Dain as chair. There was considerable support for Billy Graham to become president of the new Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, as it was then named. John Stott urged that this not be allowed to happen, or that there be several co-presidents.

Billy Graham had already articulated his preference that the Movement adopt a narrower brief of what we could call proclamation evangelism. If this were followed, the Movement would reflect neither the scriptural mandate of the church to be salt and light, nor its roots in the 1974 congress. On the strength of their 20-year friendship, John Stott, while hating discord, felt the need to speak. Jack Dain was in agreement, while others were in accord with Billy Graham, given his worldwide stature. Some totally misunderstood Stott’s concern, and perceived it as a power struggle. The meetings, while painful, were pivotal.[2] The friendship between the two great men was lifelong.

In July 1989 John Stott led the crafting team for The Manila Manifesto in the Second Lausanne Congress (Manila, Philippines), which in 31 clauses built on and elaborated The Lausanne Covenant. This congress took place a month after what the Chinese government termed the ‘Tiananmen Incident’ and just three months before the dismantling of the Berlin Wall. It drew 3,000 participants from 170 countries including Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, but sadly none from China.

The Church’s ‘Mislaid Social Conscience’
In 1982, John Stott’s ground-breaking book Issues Facing Christians Today was published to coincide with the opening of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity. This covered such matters as nuclear issues, pluralism, human rights, industrialization, and sexuality. It became a handbook for pastors and thinking church members. It was, he said, his ‘contribution to the catching-up process’ since the church was ‘recovering from its temporarily-mislaid social conscience’.

The Lausanne Covenant was continuing to create waves, reawakening a social conscience which had lain dormant in many quarters for perhaps two generations. The Lord Jesus had commissioned the apostles to teach new disciples ‘everything’ he had commanded them. This had plainly not been done. In God’s grace, John Stott and the Lausanne Movement would become a means of re-establishing significant aspects of Christian duty.

As a backdrop to his preparation of Issues, John continued to make Lausanne consultations a priority, and was frequently the chair. He edited the papers from all the consultations up to Lausanne II and published them in 1996 under the title, Making Christ Known: Historic Mission Documents from the Lausanne Movement 1974-1989. As is clear from the contributors, Lausanne had the standing (helped, no doubt by John’s own presence) to draw the best evangelical thinkers globally. Some papers drew considerable traction.

In 2006 Doug Birdsall, then executive chairman of the Lausanne Movement, invited John Stott to accept a lifetime title of honorary chairman, which he did, with a sense of pleasure. It had been a consistent pattern of his to accept honorary titles only if he could maintain a lively link with the endeavour, and he followed news of planning for the Third Lausanne Congress with eager and prayerful interest. Lindsay Brown, who was appointed as the Lausanne Movement’s international director in 2007, and Chris Wright, who followed in John’s own stead as chair of the Lausanne Theology Working Group, were both old friends.

Shortly before his 87th birthday, he surveyed his years in Lausanne and looked forward with anticipation to what Cape Town 2010 would bring. In conversation with the present writer, he said he hoped the 1978 Willowbank Report on Gospel and Culture would gain more attention than it had been afforded. I commend it to readers now for its lasting principles.

For as long as the Lausanne Movement is characterized by ‘the spirit of Lausanne’ (a spirit of humility, friendship, prayer, study, partnership, and hope), John Stott sensed it would be critically placed. Christ gave gifts to his church to share. Lausanne provided the table around which these gifts could be shared. True humility will always be needed.

Pray with Us
Our Father, we thank you for John Stott’s life, for the rich spiritual legacy you enabled him to leave, and for all that we can learn from his example. Help us to be good stewards of that legacy in our own generation. We pray this for Christ’s glory. Amen.

The post The Legacy of John Stott through the Lausanne Movement appeared first on Lausanne Europe.

My testimony and calling to Ministry:
While a student in Romania, I was imprisoned alongside seven other students from South Sudan. That was the turning point in my life and my call to ministry. To make the story short, one day the Sudanese embassy in Bucharest invited all the Sudanese students for “a meeting at the embassy”. Eight of us were Christians from the Southern Sudan that was fighting the Sudanese government to become an independent state. In that meeting the Consul told us that he had decided to send us back to Sudan, a decision we rejected. This led to an argument and a fight between us and the Muslim students. The Embassy then called the police, twisted the story against us, and the eight of us were arrested and put in jail. We stayed in prison for one and a half years.

While we were in Prison, Rev. Chris Newland an Anglican priest, who apart from providing for our physical needs, also got involved in following up our case with the Romanian Government and advocating for our release. Thankfully, as a result, the President of Romania and his government gave us protection and refused to hand us over to the Sudanese authorities. Back home in Sudan, we were sentenced to death in absentia. 

It was when I was in the prison that I spent more time reading the Bible and I gave my life to Christ in my prison cell. One night, I heard God’s voice three times saying “you are my servant, I have called you.” I told God “If I am your servant, set us free from this prison and I will serve you. May your will be done in my life.” A short time after that, in 1994, we were released from prison. That moment, I left economics and took up theology.

Confirmation of God’s calling:
Upon our release from the prison, the Romanian government granted us study scholarships and I chose to study theology. In 1995, I joined the Baptist Seminary in Bucharest where I graduated in 1999. My wife and I got married in 2000 and I was then sent to pastor a Church in the city of Medias where we had a fruitful ministry for seventeen months. After that, the Lord told me to return to Bucharest to plant an international and multicultural Church. This was not an easy decision to comprehend, especially for my wife, but through prayer and submission to the Lord we returned to Bucharest in 2001.

Church planting and Pastoral ministry:
Any call to Church planting is initiated and commissioned by the Holy Spirit as exemplified in the call to plant the Church in Antioch by Apostle Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:1-3). The driving force behind any Church planting is God’s love for the perishing world (John 3:16). When we see the world through God’s eyes and love, we are moved by compassion to go out, plant Churches and minister.

My experience is that Church planting is neither dependent on finances nor on physical infrastructure like Church buildings. No! What we need is faith and trust in God and the faithful Lord will provide for His work. As Hudson Taylor put it, “God’s work done God’s way will never lack God’s resource”. It can start even in a humble home. Our Church is an example. We started a weekly Bible Study in our small apartment which multiplied and grew. In a short time, the space was not able to accommodate us. This was reported to one Pastor through his daughter Fibia who was attending the Bible study, and the pastor and his Church gave us a space in their Church which we freely used before we rented our current facility in the centre of Bucharest.

Another Church planting ministry we had was in a refugee camp, which was accompanied by meeting the physical needs of the refugees. When the Director of the Refugee Camp saw the positive impact, he gave us a Room in the Camp which we used as a Church for the refugees. A Church was planted!

By faith, we started the Church in our apartment and the refugee Camp, and through sister Fibia, God provided the space in the Romanian Church.

In the last years, we have baptized people from many different cultural and religious backgrounds including Romanians who came to the Lord through our ministry (Mark 16:15-16). From the time we started in 2001, over forty (40) different nationalities have passed through our Church. Our Church is like a transit station where people come and go. The good thing is that people hear the Gospel and leave Romania with Jesus.

Challenges in our Church planting Ministry
As a Church planting ministry, we faced the following challenges that were expected.

1. Resistance and threats from people of other religious background:
One time while doing evangelism in refugee camp, a Muslim man threatened to kill me. He told me “if you come here again next week, I will kill you.” I told him ‘you are free to kill me but I will love you to the end and am praying for you because my God is a God of love.’ When we returned to the Camp the following week, the very man who threatened me was the first to welcome us and he attended the Bible sharing.

2. Scrutiny from the security forces:
Romanian security forces were suspicious that I might be involved in illegal activities like document forgery and smuggling people across the border to other countries in Europe as they saw me surrounded by different nationalities. But after a long time of scrutiny, the security chief reached a conclusion that I am a Priest and teaching people to be good people in the society. Since then, the security forces stopped following me.

3. Ordination challenges:
Another challenge we faced was regarding my ordination as a pastor. In 2002, the President of the Baptist Union in Romania denied my ordination to be licenced as a Church Pastor, because I was not Romanian. But God changed their hearts, and I got ordained, and today our Church received the licence to operate. Who can be against us if God if God is for us? (Romans 8:31).

4. Visa challenges:
Before I received Romanian citizenship, I was not able to travel around in Europe due to visa restrictions.

The European Church as a Missionary sending Church:
The early European Church from the time of its establishment was a strong and mission-minded Church that sent missionaries throughout the world in obedience to the Great Commission.We Africans were evangelized by European Missionaries who played a positive role in bringing the Christian faith and education to Africa. I praise God for that!

What happened to the strong European Church? What went wrong?
These two questions are vital to our understanding of the European Church in Europe today. As an African missionary in Europe, my observation is that the following factors contributed to weakening the European Church.

Complacency:
Complacent life came into the European Church probably after the Industrial Revolution. As life became more and more comfortable the European Church became lukewarm like the Church of the Laodiceans: “I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing – and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor blind, and naked” (Rev. 3:17). The focus of the Church at all times should remain “the Kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33).

Traditionalism:
When the Church gives importance to tradition more than the living Gospel, it leads to spiritual atrophy, moral decay, and lukewarmness (Rev. 3:16). It is for this reason that reformers like Martin Luther and John Calvin came forward and challenged the traditional Church. Pastors and Bible teachers need to stand for the truth of the word of God “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20).

Influences of culture, other religions and paganism:
As an African Missionary in Europe, my observation is that the European Church has been infiltrated and weakened by cultural influences, paganism and other religions. Cultures everywhere influence the Church in many ways including the way people worship. Islam is now strongly encroaching into Europe. Another influence on the Church is the controversial contemporary issues like abortion, same sex marriage, euthanasia etc. The Church seems to be compelled by law to compromise and accept them though not in principle. When the Church becomes complacent and traditional, it becomes vulnerable to all these influences and is no longer the voice of truth. Pastors need to stand firm in teaching the sound doctrine. Jesus Christ might be standing outside, and knocking at the door of many Churches in Europe (Rev.3:20).

What went wrong and what is going on in European Churches today?
We all know what went wrong! It is that people left the Bible and the God of the Bible. My prayer is to see the European Church returning to “The Organic Church” model of Acts 2:42-47 with teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer in the centre.

The second problem is putting theology and tradition above faith and the Holy Spirit which makes the Church more of an academic and traditional institution than a place for demonstration of God’s power. This puts the Church at the risk of dying. There is nothing wrong with theology but the Church needs to be open to the work of the Holy Spirit.

The situation of the current European Church
As an African missionary living in Europe, I have witnessed great and positive move in the European Church in the recent years. God is in the move to revive Europe again! Will you not revive us again? (Psalm 85:6).God is working, and there is hope for spiritual revival in Europe again. This is evidenced by emergence of strong evangelical Churches and organizations like the European leadership Forum (ELF). God is also using the diaspora leaders like myself and others in Europe together with the indigenous European Leaders to strengthen the European Church.

Conclusion:
What does the European Church need at this point in time?
What Europe needs at this point in time is what happened in the time of King Jehoshaphat when people with a sound knowledge of the Book of the Law were mobilized and sent to all the cities to teach the Word. That is what I call true revival, a sincere return to the Word of God (2 Chronicles 17:7-9).

The Bible Schools in Europe need to invest in teaching and graduating true men and women of God who will bring revival. Repentance and intercession are needed. Revivals are historically known to follow repentance, sincere seeking of God’s face in prayer, fasting and humbleness before God (2 Chronicles 7:14). The European Church needs to seek God in prayer and stand in the gap (Ezekiel 22:30) and repent on behalf of Europe. God will always honour sincere prayer and repentance of His people and will always visit them. Once this happens, revival will come.

The post Church Planting in Europe: Perspectives of an African Pastor in Romania appeared first on Lausanne Europe.

“Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield it’s valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.” (James. 5:7-8)

Resignation seems to be the word that best sums up the present moment (according to sociologists). After a period of struggle and resistance has come a period of weariness and resignation. People feel disoriented, frightened, and anxious about the future.

Why? What is going wrong? Resistance (resilience) alone is not enough. It must be accompanied by patience and hope. The three form an inseparable whole. This (divine) triangle shows us not only how to hope, but also what to expect in the hour of trial.

This Christian worldview of patience is admirably described in Romans 5:3-5:

“…we also glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame…”

We need to learn to develop patience in trial and hope in (the times of) waiting.  Then we will discover that God can transform our adversities into opportunities.

Three words in our title: resilience, patience and hope.  They form an inseparable whole. We also add a fourth element: contentment:

• Resilience: natural adaptation
• Patience: bridge to acceptance
• Contentment: supernatural acceptance
• Hope: nourishment of patience

1 RESILIENCE: NATURAL ADAPTATION
Walking along the beach in a nature reserve on the Spanish island of Menorca, I observed how the vegetation, both bushes and trees, was strongly sloped in one direction. The strong north wind, very typical of this part of the island, has shaped a curious and highly symbolic landscape. It was spectacular to contemplate the thick trunks of the pines bent as if they were a rubber toy. Why are there trees that split when the hurricane blows and others, on the contrary, adapt to the force of the wind by bending?  The answer is important because therein lies their ability to survive. The key word is flexibility. The more rigid a tree is – just like an object – the more likely it is to break under the effect of pressure or a strong impact. Conversely, the more flexible it is, the more it will adapt to intense pressure without breaking.

When faced with an ordeal, people are like trees: we have an adaptive capacity that allows us to resist and reorganize our lives after the impact of a traumatic experience. This “elastic” capacity is known today as resilience: the ability to recover after a trauma. A “resilient” person is like the trees of Menorca: in the face of the wind, he or she adapts.

Here we are today: there has been adaptation to the onslaught of the pandemic. This is the current momentum. But resilience alone is not enough in human beings. If it is not accompanied by something else, it can end in resignation, stoicism at best, or fatalism, bitterness, and nihilism at worst.

Resilience is necessary, but not sufficient. It is based on a materialistic, evolutionary concept of the human being. In fact, the original word comes from metallurgy and physics.  It was only later that it was applied to human behaviour (Boris Cyrulnik). It is no coincidence that today this concept has become fashionable without critical discrimination: it fits well with the way of thinking, the worldview of the world that is based on a materialistic anthropology. People need more than resilience because we are more than trees or metals.

2 PATIENCE: BRIDGE TO ACCEPTANCE
Beyond resilience we must develop patience. Patience is the emotional and spiritual ingredient that distinguishes us from animals and objects when facing a trauma. If resilience is an instinctive reaction, patience is the distinctive reaction of humans in the ordeal. It is also the bridge to acceptance.

We need to understand the concept well because people associate patience with resignation (the stoic concept is not the Christian one). The idea of patience in the Bible is so rich that it requires two complementary words.

• Perseverance: to persist
• Strength of mind: to resist

“May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.” (2 Thess. 3:5). If love defines the essence of God, patience defines the character of Christ. 

Patience is strength of mind: Resist
The word used in the original makrothumia is active and positive, a far cry from the popular (Stoic) idea of patience. It literally means “great courage”. It alludes to a strong, resilient spirit, which remains steadfast in adversity. This patience does not give up, does not give in to difficult circumstances. It is the opposite of a cowardly, faint-hearted person, who “drowns in a glass of water”.

It is far removed from an attitude of resignation, a conformism that is born of impotence and leads to fatalism. On the contrary, Christian patience, fruit of the Holy Spirit, does not resign but struggles, does not crumble but affirms itself in the face of adversity, is not passive but actively searches for ways out.

Now, we have said that patience is a bridge to somewhere. Patience generates fruit, it expresses itself in a reality that the Bible calls contentment. Contentment is the visible expression of patience.

3 CONTENTMENT: SUPERNATURAL ACCEPTANCE
If resilience is natural adaptation, contentment is supernatural acceptance. It is born of this patience which is divine in its origin, the mark of Christ and the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

“I have learned to be content, whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation…… I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (Phil. 4:11-13).

When the apostle Paul wrote these words, he was confined in Rome (probably under house arrest, not in prison). In any case, an involuntary confinement in harsh circumstances. He was not addressing his readers from a position of comfort, but from a deeply troubling situation, and in direct danger of death. Where did he get the strength to send such a serene message in the midst of trials?

He himself gives us the answer: “I have learned to be content”. The original word implies a connotation of independence (autarkeia): not to depend on circumstances, not to be tied to problems. To learn contentment, therefore, is to achieve an attitude of a certain independence from life events and not to be trapped by them.

Contentment leads us to see, think and live differently in the face of trauma. In our days we would speak of acceptance, an acceptance that is not resignation or fatalism or passivity, but the deep conviction that God works his purposes in my life not in spite of the circumstances, but through them. The conviction that for God there is no waste material in my life.  He uses it all, recycles it for our good. We could say that God is the great recycler, a specialist in transforming our adversities into opportunities. This is the essence of acceptance.

Paul concludes the text with a phrase that has inspired millions of people: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). That is, I can be stronger than any adversity, overcome any circumstance when I am in Christ, “connected” to Christ. That is where we see most vividly the difference between natural adaptation – resilience – and genuine acceptance that is supernatural. Being in Christ is the source of our patience.

4 HOPE, THE FOOD OF PATIENCE
“Stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.” (James. 5:8)

Patience is inseparable from hope. In fact, it is nourished, nourished by hope and in turn generates hope in a glorious divine circle (Rom. 5:4-5). We could say that patience and hope merge in an embrace. We come to the climax of our theme.

“Hope is to life what oxygen is to the lungs” (E. Brunner) But the key question is what do we hope for? Our hope has, of course, a present dimension. In this case we anxiously await the end of an epidemic. But this hope is not enough and can end in frustration if our expectation is not fulfilled. We do not have the assurance that “everything will be fine”.

Hope does not stop in the here and now, it flies higher and reaches into eternity. Life on earth is a precious good, but it is not the supreme good. The supreme good is eternal life. That is why the Lord warned: “And do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul” (Mt. 10:28). We are impressed that this text precedes the consoling promise of God’s care “for even your hairs are all numbered” (Mt. 10:30).

It is here that the Christian hope allows us to glimpse HINTS OF ETERNITY. James mentions twice the coming of the Lord when speaking of patience. This is no coincidence. The vision of the second coming of Christ is the vision of eternity and “affirms our heart”, strengthens our patience. When we glimpse the glory of eternity with Christ our contentment is renewed and the present tribulation becomes “light and brief” (2 Cor. 4:17-18). Therefore, hope is the moving, motivating force of patience.

Christian hope is not a concept, but a person, Christ; it is not an abstract idea but a living experience; it is not based on a future desire but on a past fact; it does not say “all will be well”, but “all was well at the cross”. What Christ did one day and what he continues to do today is the basis of hope that strengthens patience and complements resilience.

Conclusion: So that, “we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” (Hebrews 6:18,19)

“And may the same Jesus Christ our Lord, and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.” (2 Thess. 2:16-17).

Q&A
Q: The concept in the face of trial, in the face of difficult circumstances, the “Oh poor me, look what happened to me” speech, where would it fall within these concepts that you mentioned, and the opposite reaction which would be anger at the circumstances. Where would these two reactions fall into these concepts? And when a person falls into depression (even if he is a believer), what has happened? Is it that resilience has gone alone, and has not been accompanied by patience and hope?

A: That is a very interesting question. Let’s start with the first part. There are two key concepts that are important to differentiate. One thing is self-pity, and another thing is lament. They are two totally different concepts. Self-pity is thinking that you are the most miserable, that everything affects you, that all bad things happen to you and that only good things happen to others. Then, you fall into this attitude of self-pity that would be summarized with the phrase: “How unhappy I am and how well life is going for others”. Self-pity is emotionally pernicious, it is toxic because it can lead to self-destruction, but the most dangerous thing is that self-pity can lead to bitterness. And bitterness is obviously a sin. Bitterness is a sin. Self-pity itself is not a sin, but the consequence, which is bitterness, is. Therefore, we must avoid self-pity, it is not good, it is not positive, neither emotionally nor spiritually.

But having said this, lament does have its place in the Word of God, and in fact we can elaborate, it is one of the themes that I like to deal with, an authentic theology of lament. You only have to take some Psalms, for example Psalm 137 “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept, remembering Zion”. There is a place for lament. And what shall we say about a monumental text such as Romans chapter 8 where we are told that creation groans, weeps, but not only creation, but we ourselves weep. And the Holy Spirit also weeps, intercedes for us with unspeakable groanings, therefore, there is a place for lamentation. Lament is biblical. There is a right lament that far from annoying or angering the Lord, is pleasing because it is the expression of seeing and living the reality in this world, seeing the evil with the eyes of God. It is in this sense that the Lord Jesus says: “Blessed are those who mourn, blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted”. And the Lord Jesus himself as he approached Jerusalem mourned, wept over it. Therefore, it is very important to avoid falling into self-pity, but lament, far from being negative, is I would say a form of catharsis, or healthy expression that helps us to assimilate the experiences we are having. “Weep with those who weep”, says the Lord, right?

The second part, the second reaction: anger. Well, it is more or less the same thing. This theme, in fact, I develop it quite thoroughly in the book of the “Sting in the Flesh”, also a little bit in “Beyond Pain”, since they are the two books that have been mentioned. By the way, the concept of resilience I explain it quite well in chapter 3 of “Sting in the Flesh”. There is anger that can be sin because it is expressed against God. But there is another feeling of anger that is not sin because it is not expressed against God, but before God, before God. The problem is not complaining to God but complaining about God.

An example clearly helps us to understand it, the prophet Habakkuk. In Habakkuk, the word used in verse 1 of chapter 2 is very strong. He says: “I will wait to see what God will answer me concerning my complaint”. The word is ´complaint´ in the original. Habakkuk is making a complaint to God. However, we know that Habakkuk fought whilst embracing God. This is what the name Habakkuk means “he who wrestles embraced”. Habakkuk wrestled embracing God, didn’t he? Therefore, it is not a sin to expose our anger, our wrath before God. The problem, the danger is in complaining about God. That is what distinguishes complaining or anger from faithfulness; a position of submission or complaining from rebellion. This is the big difference, isn’t it?

Well, I have gone on for a long time, but the question needed a long answer. That is why I hope these concepts will help. It is legitimate to lament, self-pity is not good, it is legitimate to get angry, but not against God but before God. This would be the summary.

Q: Thank you Paul. I liked the part in which you talked about triumphalism because we have accepted the slogan “everything is going to be all right”, “we will all get out of this together” and that kind of proclamations. And I don’t know what guidelines you would give us so that, especially with children or with others, we can avoid this triumphalism and have a more focused position. Above all, thinking that children are given these messages as a little pill to give them optimism, what would you give us?

A: Interesting, too. I would say that our society moves between two extremes, right? One is the extreme of magical thinking. The hoping and believing that everything will be fine, magically. For example, the emphasis in our society is on solutions. We want solutions to everything. The solution is automatic, it’s instantaneous, it’s magic. The word solution does not appear anywhere in the Bible. On the other hand, the word exit does appear. There is a very important difference between a solution and a way out, isn’t there? The verse I mentioned before from 1 Cor. 10:13. What God promises us are not solutions to problems. What God promises us are ways out.

But let’s notice that the concept of a way out gives us two very important ideas that we must transmit to children. The concept of a way out of a problem is first of all a realistic concept. It is not an idealistic concept, (in a positive sense) nor is it pessimistic. Not everything will go well, not everything will go badly. For some things will go well, some things will not go so well, and some things will go badly. This is the balance to have. Realism is very important. On the other hand, the word “exit” implies the idea of effort. First, you have to look for the way out, you have to inquire and second, when you have the way out you have to walk. You have to walk the path that the exit has shown you, right? This is the path, for example, that the people of Israel had to walk. Well, for 40 years. They probably didn’t like the way out, but it was the way out that God had provided. Let us not forget, in this sense, that the outlets that God provides are part of this recycling process. Recycling the waste material of our life, right?

So, to summarize, I would say to children it is important, as well as to adults of course. Convey to them a message that is not magical thinking, triumphalism that does not keep its feet on the ground, a totally blind idealism. In this respect, it is clear that one of the specialties of politicians today is to sell this kind of magical thinking, isn’t it? And we see it, not only in parties of one colour, but also of the other colour. All parties tend to sell this kind of thinking. And not to fall into the other extreme that we talked about, which is the extreme of pessimism, of fatalism and of nihilism, right?

Q: How do you build a faith that overcomes obstacles and solidly believes in the midst of great difficulties? How can you build a living faith in the midst of situations such as when your business is about to close, and you are going to get into debt or the need to search for a job?

A: It is a work of two, rather, it’s a three-part job. I like this expression “building faith.” In fact, the concept that appears in Paul’s epistles is that of “growing in faith,” isn’t it? The idea of growth is already a process. To advance to a mature, perfect, adult state. This is the word “teleios” in Greek. “He who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” the word here is to mature, to grow, right? But in this process of growth, of building faith, there are three fundamental elements. On the one hand, your willingness, you yourself. Your desire to learn, to submit, to dispose yourself to understand and apprehend the will of God. Secondly, there is the work of the Holy Spirit, the great transformer. The Holy Spirit is the great intercessor, but He is also the great transformer. He is the one who really works this process of transformation within us. Growth in faith is not a matter of self-help. We cannot do it by ourselves alone. In the development of faith, the supernatural help of the Holy Spirit is indispensable. The help of God through the Holy Spirit. And the third ingredient, the help of God’s people, the church, the brethren. The help of the brethren in the church is very important in our growth, in the construction of this faith. The worst thing a believer can do in times of trial is to isolate himself. Isolation is a serious mistake. It is in times of trial when we most need the communion of the brethren.

Therefore, to summarize: faith in times of trial, in fact at all times, is built with the combination of these three elements: your willingness to grow (like the believers in Berea who scrutinized the Word to see what it said about them) a spirit of investigation, of personal growth. The help of the Holy Spirit, a supernatural help, and the help of the brethren of the church that we cannot underestimate. It is an imperfect help, the church has defects, it has blemishes, but it is the People of God, it is the body of Christ and it is precious. And we have to learn to value the church not in spite of its defects, but with its defects, but this would be another topic.

Q: People who fall into depression, is it because they have only remained resilient? Many of us can fall into mild or severe depression when faced with situations of pain that extend over time, is it a lack of hope?

A: The fact that a person falls into depression in times of trial, in itself, does not have to have spiritual implications. Depression is an emotional disorder and spiritual implications can come later. But I would say that resilience alone, rather than depression, leads to what we said at the beginning of the presentation. To resignation, to fatalism, to bitterness, to passivity, to stoicism. A little bit of what we find described in the book of Ecclesiastes: “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity”, right? In times of trial the depression that can appear is a depression due to emotional exhaustion. And this is an interesting concept, and I am going to address it very briefly.

Testing is an extra drain on emotional energy. We are undergoing a very intense drain on our physical, emotional and spiritual energies. When we are facing the test, we are in struggle and this leads to a loss, an enormous expenditure of energy. If this emotional, physical and spiritual energy is not adequately replenished we end up like Elijah (1 Kings 18 and 19). A paradigm of depression due to exhaustion, in this case not in the midst of the trial, not in the midst of suffering but paradoxically in the midst of success; victory over the Baals, etc… but Elijah’s depression was clearly depression from exhaustion. This is the greatest danger in a testing situation. There are three great dangers in a testing situation. Isolation which we have already mentioned, depression from exhaustion and spiritual bitterness. These are the three great dangers.

To prevent these dangers, we need what I commented before about these three ingredients that build faith in the hour of trial: our predisposition to grow, the supernatural help of the Holy Spirit and the help of the communion of the brethren. Depression in times of trial has a remedy, it has a treatment, it is not something that should frighten us. I would say that in some cases it is a natural response and that it is not so difficult to treat and improve from an emotional exhaustion in the midst of suffering. I am much, much more concerned about bitterness in the ordeal. It is much, much more difficult to fix bitterness in the trial than depression in the trial. This is why the Lord Jesus said to the apostle Peter in Gethsemane, shortly before the cross, “The devil has asked to sift you as wheat, but I have asked…” The Lord Jesus could ask many things for them. He could ask that the trial be shorter, he could ask that God strengthen them. All this was legitimate, however, the Lord Jesus says: “I have asked that your faith may not fail”. Because the weakening of faith, ending up in bitterness is the danger or one of the main dangers in the time of trial.

Q: I am a teacher and I am in contact with students and teachers, how can you transmit what you are saying to people at work who have gone through difficult situations, be it because of the pandemic or something else? Sometimes it is difficult, because you know that much of what you are talking about is based on faith and sometimes I ask myself, what are the little steps I can take to be a blessing to someone who is not a Christian? I say little steps, but maybe steps can be taken that can be a blessing for others, for those who suffer.

A: This is a nice question to end with. Our testimony in the midst of the trial. There is something you can do that probably conveys the most powerful message. It is one of the most powerful evangelistic messages. It is to “be with,” to accompany, stand with. When you are at the side of someone who is suffering, you are transmitting a message of irreplaceable, unbeatable love. Therefore, the company in the hour of trial is a powerful instrument, if we can use this word, evangelistic. You are transmitting a message. The second step, I am speaking to you from a personal point of view because this is subjective, would be that they see something different in you, but not different in the sense of eccentric but attractive. Christian holiness does not have to be eccentric but attractive. There is something different. This, if you remember in the biography of C.S. Lewis “Surprised by Joy”   he mentions it. He says that when he was in high school or college, I don’t remember now, the two most attractive teachers. He was a militant atheist. The two most attractive teachers, the ones I liked the most, the ones I was most attracted to and I wanted somehow to be like them were Christians. And this annoyed me, Lewis says. But it’s just that these Christians awakened something in him that attracted him. A holiness that attracted. And I think this is the second little step we can do. First to accompany, secondly to try to show a holiness an attractive difference and thirdly I would say that the power of the Word of God is absolutely irreplaceable, indispensable. Give him some passage from the Word, share with him the Word of God that is living and effective. Something, some reading either from the Word or some commentary on the Word because the Word of God penetrates, and God speaks through the Word. “How will they believe if there is no one to preach to them?” right? And preaching through the Word is fundamental. I could say many more things, but I believe that these three tools are small steps that God can transform into big steps when it comes to giving testimony of our faith. And let us not try to convince anyone. The Holy Spirit is the one who convinces, we are called to sow, not to convince.

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Nominal Christianity – February 2020
Comments: 10
Language(s): English only
Locations: Various

The comments from around Europe reflected some of the diversity in the continent as it relates to the issue of nominal Christianity. They covered a wide range of territory, but perhaps the clearest theme was that of people’s everyday lives matching their confessions. Questions were raised about how we can be sure whether a person is a Christian in the first place and the need for good discipline strategies emphasised.

It was felt that one mark of genuine conversion is the desire for a person to have fellowship with other believers, the issue of belonging.

Although so-called nominal Christianity does provide challenges to church work in Europe, the postings did suggest that nominalism is not all bad, in that nominal Christians do have some familiarity with the teaching of scripture and that there is ‘something to go on’.

It is helpful to note that the discussions showed a willingness for the church to engage and see nominalism as a gospel opportunity and to find ways to include, rather than simply identify normal Christians as lacking something, or not being what they ought to be.

From the postings, it seems that the issue of nominalism (and even how to refer to it) is far from monolithic in Europe. The different countries and regions in the continent and even the roles of state churches make generalisations quite difficult. There is probably a need for more research on this matter, which can identify particular local factors and suggest strategies to address them.

The ‘gods’ of Europe – March 2020
Comments: 8
Language(s): English only
Locations: Norway, France, the Netherlands, UK, Spain, Czechia, Bulgaria.

The research to the so-called ‘gods’ of Europe seemed to be more unified than that to the matter of nominalism. The central issue emerging from the posting was the orientation to the self. Other ‘gods’ such as money and sex were also mentioned but seemed to take second place to self-centredness.

The postings agreed that there is a need to strengthen the sense of Christian identity and improve discipleship, so that believers are equipped to deal with the challenges of the mainstream society. Stronger prayer lives and deeper engagement with the scripture were also seen as important.

One or two postings seemed to question the idea of whether people in Europe actually do ‘worship’ the various things that seem to take the place of God. This might be a question of interpretation of scripture and what we mean by ‘worship’ and might merit more in-depth consideration and analysis.

Trust and fear during the pandemic – April 2020
Comments: 6 English, 4 Spanish
Language(s): English and Spanish
Locations: Denmark, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain (several)

This was another discussion marked by some diversity and a range of different issues. However, a few themes did emerge. Several postings mentioned the need and opportunity for the church to work within and as part of the society, providing practical assistance and hope for people. There seems to be an openness to the church and community in general, which exists in a tension with fear and concern over physical proximity or contact. Within church communities, many see virtual meetings as a way to reach out to more people at the same time as they confess that there is no comparison with genuine contact and being together.

Few postings mentioned trust or fear explicitly. From what was posted on the website, it seems that few Christians in the groups felt that trusting God or fear of the virus needed much discussion. Perhaps such trust and rejection of fear were taken as read.

The post Conversation Report | February – April 2020 appeared first on Lausanne Europe.

As Evangelicals who believe in salvation by grace, through faith – a personal and individual decision – our desire is for every human being to live in a context where he or she has the opportunity to freely choose Jesus Christ as Savior. We believe in a God who has given great freedom and responsibility to human beings to choose Him or not, and to assume the consequences of their choices. Freedom of conscience and freedom of religion have, therefore, been values historically cherished by Evangelicals, and rightly so.

In addition to this theological attachment to religious freedom, Evangelicals also face socio-political realities that lead them to emphasize this fundamental right. Globally, the majority of Evangelicals live in countries where their freedom of worship is restricted. In our work representing the World Evangelical Alliance at the UN, I see it every day: when we ask our member alliances what priority issues they would like us to take up with their governments at the UN, religious freedom almost always comes first. The defense of our Christian brothers and sisters whose religious freedom is violated is a cause to which we are called to commit ourselves with strength and courage.

But, and this is nothing new, any good thing and any good cause can also be misused. In recent years, more and more political parties or governments have presented themselves as defenders of the religious freedom of Christians in a way that is in reality instrumentalizing these concepts in the service of a domestic political agenda. Because we are strongly attached to the notion of freedom of religion, Evangelicals are vulnerable to this kind of manipulation. When Christians are associated with such an agenda, it can be an obstacle for non-Christians to adopt the Christian faith. Therefore, this situation compels us to redouble our efforts to consider how we can do the work of advocacy for the freedom of belief that is aligned with the Gospel and that strengthens our Christian witness. Here are some avenues for reflection.

1) Advocating religious freedom for all – not just for Christians
Firstly, by definition, freedom of religion exists for everyone or it does not exist for anyone. To demand religious freedom for only one group is an inherent contradiction. Therefore, if we want freedom for Christians, we must ask for freedom for all faiths. In its Resolution on Religious Freedom and Solidarity with the Persecuted Church (2008), the World Evangelical Alliance says that “We affirm the advocacy for persecuted Christians and adherents of other faiths towards those in governments (…). The right to religious freedom is indivisible and cannot be claimed for one particular group only to the exclusion of others”.

Our commitment to the religious freedom and human rights of people of all faiths is also motivated theologically. We believe that all human beings are created in the image of God and therefore that we form one human family – albeit greatly damaged by the fall. Thus, we should avoid giving the impression that we are only interested in protecting our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. It is our duty to advocate also for the rights and dignity of our “neighbors” who are our brothers and sisters “in humanity”, including their right to follow what we see as false beliefs. We do this, believing that they will also have to take responsibility for the consequences of their decisions before God. This is a freedom and a responsibility that God himself has granted to humanity. In its 2008 resolution, the World Evangelical Alliance, states the following: “The WEA differentiates between advocating the rights of members of other or no religions and endorsing the truth of their beliefs. Advocating the freedom of others can be done without accepting the truth of what they believe”.

Such a neighbor-centered advocacy goes against the logic of many in the world who advocate only for the interests of their own group and to the detriment of others. Commitment to religious freedom for all is part of this witness of universal love, which is in the image of God and which implies defending the freedom of those who believe differently. It is a prophetic sign and a testimony in favor of the Gospel among the nations. On the contrary, to defend only the freedom of Christians is a counter-witness that is contrary to the biblical teaching that every human being is created in the image of God and endowed with the same immense value. 

2) Advocating for all human rights and the rule of law – not just for freedom of religion
Further one cannot choose some human rights and neglect others because all rights are interdependent and interrelated. In other words, we cannot be champions of religious freedom and turn a blind eye to other human rights. If a government does not respect the rule of law, if the judiciary is not independent, if equality among all citizens is not guaranteed, or if freedom of association and expression is violated, there will be no religious freedom either. Religious freedom in the strict sense cannot therefore be our only criterion for judging a human rights policy. If we are truly concerned about the common good of humanity – and we should be – our interest will be for the protection of all human rights.

Second, our advocacy should not confuse what we expect from the State with what we expect from the Church. We expect the State to guarantee a free society where all persons, including Christians, enjoy the same rights and freedoms. We envisage a State that does justice, fights corruption, guarantees freedom even for unpopular minority groups and in which there are no second-class citizens. The role of the Church is to advance the Kingdom of God, to bear witness to His love in action and in truth and to proclaim the Gospel and its values – something in principle it can best do in such a free society. The advancement of the Kingdom of God is not the role of the State. Of course, if the Church, by the grace of God, succeeds in this mission, biblical values will infuse society and possibly influence its laws and the values of the nation and its institutions. Nevertheless, every human society is inevitably made up of a certain religious pluralism and it is our duty as Christians to remain faithful to the defense of these freedoms for all, whether we are in a position of minority or majority.

3) Being prophetic – and avoiding a victim mentality
Several studies show that, numerically, Christians are the most persecuted group in the world, and that unfortunately this trend is growing. This sad reality should challenge and motivate us to pray, to support the persecuted Church and to advocate for the victims and their freedoms. But this situation also carries a risk: that of developing a victim mentality.

A victim mentality is not the model shown to us by the apostles in the New Testament. In the face of persecution, after being beaten with sticks, they even felt joyful that they had been judged worthy to suffer outrages for the name of Jesus (Acts 5:41).

If we analyze the world and its conflicts exclusively from the perspective of the persecution of Christians or the clash between civilizations and religions, then we risk misunderstanding certain more complex realities and our advocacy will not be adequate and wise. For example, if we are too quick to use terminology such as “Christian genocide” in face of conflicts where other dynamics are (also) in play, or where the use of the term “genocide” is an overstatement, even in the case of a tragic reality, the world will not take us seriously. Indeed, such an interpretive lens leads to shortcuts and simplistic understandings, where in fact the root causes are often multiple and complex.

Rather than allowing ourselves to be tempted by a victim mentality or a simplistic assessment of multifaceted dynamics, the way we deal with persecution can be an opportunity to fulfil our prophetic vocation, speaking truth with wisdom. We can seek dialogue with the authorities concerned and invite them, firmly but respectfully, sometimes in public or sometimes in private meetings, to change course and to respect justice and the human rights of the people under their responsibility. It is my hope, that our prophetic advocacy may also be a Christian witness in accordance with the Gospel and God’s love for the whole of His Creation.

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