I’m not saying anything new. For 50 years, Lausanne has wrestled with this tension between proclamation and demonstration. Different leaders and organizations within the movement have emphasized different aspects of the mission, debating the right balance. This balance and tension has been a part of the Lausanne ethos from the beginning. And I strongly believe that we will default to justice and mercy and lose evangelism if we don’t make it a priority.
The balance between sharing and showing is not easy to maintain. But we must maintain it to obey Jesus’s command to “make disciples of all nations.” This Great Commission includes both teaching people to obey everything he has commanded and showing them what it looks like to live out those commands in a broken and hurting world.
At L4, I hope to see evangelicals recommit to a holistic view of the kingdom—a view that includes both proclamation and demonstration, while prioritizing evangelism as central to our mission. This is the challenge and the opportunity before us as we seek to be faithful to the call of Christ in a rapidly changing world.
Conclusion
Approaching L4, global evangelicals will wrestle yet again with the tension between proclamation and demonstration. I hope and pray we will keep the balance and maintain a focus on evangelism. Evangelism invites more opposition and gets lost much more easily and quickly than good deeds that the world often applauds. Yet the gospel we proclaim also compels us to do justly and to love mercy (Mic. 6:8), demonstrating the love of Christ in tangible ways.
As we come together at L4, let’s pray for wisdom and clarity, and let’s recommit ourselves to the task of making disciples of all nations, both in word and in deed. With God’s help, we can rise to the challenge and be faithful to the mission he has entrusted to us. Let’s move forward with confidence, knowing that the gospel is the power of God for the salvation to everyone who believes.
 in Seoul, Korea, we will once again grapple with an ever-present tension of evangelical mission.){kind=link}