DeBorst concluded by urging Christians to “courageously raise our voices” and “humbly engage in respectful conversation in the midst of our differences so that, together, we might declare and display Christ in a broken world.”
The professor is on the networking team of the International Fellowship for Mission as Transformation. She also serves on boards for the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies and the American Society of Missiology
DeBorst’s presentation came 50 years after her father, the late René Padilla, gave a “speech that shook the world” at the 1974 Lausanne Congress. He told Christians to have “a repentant attitude with regard to our enslavement to the world and our arrogant triumphalism.”
Lausanne ‘Brings People Together’ and ‘Starts Conversations’
On Sept. 24, a Lausanne spokesman said that despite DeBorst’s “unfortunate use of words,” she began important discussions. That “is very much in the nature of what Lausanne does,” he said. “It brings people together and it starts conversations.”
Regarding pre-approval of presentations, the review process wasn’t “at a fine-tooth comb level,” the spokesman said. “We don’t analyze every single word that can be said, and we’re more looking for [speakers’] main talking points and the way in which they are seeking to engage their opportunity at the Congress.”
After again calling DeBorst’s words “unfortunate,” the spokesman noted that each presenter has a unique perspective, voice, and context for viewing the world. Although Lausanne, as “a broader movement,” might have chosen different wording, he said, speakers “have the voice and the platform.”
Lausanne has no “official position” on political matters, the spokesman added, and the organization won’t elaborate on “technicalities” about hostages and the Middle East conflict.
, Ruth Padilla DeBorst's words about the Middle East conflict offended some delegates, prompting the Congress to issue an apology.){kind=link}