Where Is the ‘Child in the Midst’? A Response to L4’s Children-at-Risk Report

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Editor’s note: This article is part of forum discussing the fourth Lausanne Congress. It is not an official Lausanne Movement forum but an opportunity for Lausanne delegates to share their thoughts about the fourth Lausanne Congress, the Seoul Statement, and the future of the mission. You can read the entire series, from diverse voices around the world here.

The Lausanne Cape Town Commitment (CTC 2010) contains a strong mandate in support of children, asking the church to: 

  1. Take children seriously, through fresh biblical and theological enquiry that reflects on God’s love and purpose for them and through them, and by rediscovering the profound significance for theology and mission of Jesus’ provocative action in placing “a child in the midst.”
  2. Seek to train people and provide resources to meet the needs of children worldwide, wherever possible working with their families and communities, in the conviction that holistic ministry to and through each next generation of children and young people is a vital component of world mission.
  3. Expose, resist, and take action against all abuse of children, including violence, exploitation, slavery, trafficking, prostitution, gender and ethnic discrimination, commercial targeting, and willful neglect.

In response to the CTC, the Children-at-Risk Issue Group (C@R)1 was formed to address the directives above, equipping church and para-church organizations to bring the whole gospel to children-at-risk, advocate on their behalf, and invite them into meaningful participation on mission. The collaborative contributions of the issue group are commendable, reflecting a high view of children as vulnerable agents on God’s mission. Despite 14 years’ effort, the church-at-large and the Lausanne Movement have yet to embrace full integration of children in the Church and on mission.

Progress Over the Past 14 Years 

The State of the Great Commission Report is a window into the influence the C@R issue group has had on the broader Lausanne community and global evangelical church. We  rejoice in how the Analysis of Lausanne 4 Listening Calls demonstrates widespread interest in younger generations. The analysis states that the following terms are frequent and consistently mentioned in global input: youth, the young, younger generation, Gen Z, etc.
“Listening to the younger generation” emerged as an important theme, although many mentions in the report exceeded mere listening to include “involvement,” reflecting recognition of the need for embodied participation of younger generations. Participants appear to understand the importance of child participation; however, the integration of that understanding is missing from the final Lausanne 4 agenda.

The term “children” is used far less often and the risks, particularly that of poverty, which is the foundation of nearly all serious risk for children and their caregivers, is mentioned only once. Even that one mention refers to a lack of church engagement with the serious issues facing the “outside world,” implying that children “inside” the church are somehow immune to poverty, injustice, and many other risks, which is regrettably a falsehood. 

In preparation for the Fourth Lausanne Congress, The Next Generation is listed as Gap 3 in the list of 25. The driving question for the collaboration group is: How might Christians in the church, para-church, and workplace collaborate to reach and disciple emerging generations where many see traditional Christianity as implausible and irrelevant? We believe that answering that question requires a deeper look at the last collaboration sub-question: What areas of broader culture do Christians need to effectively engage to increase the plausibility of the gospel for the next generation?

The Young Remain Marginalized in Lausanne 

Yet, that question does not go far enough. It is not merely the plausibility of the gospel that is at issue, it is also the relevance of the institutional church to the young. The Great Commission report over-emphasizes proclamation at the general exclusion of the broader witness of integral mission of “life, word, deed, and sign (Bryant Myers, Walking with the Poor, 2011).

The most difficult question of all is: “What is good about the news the church is communicating to younger generations?” 

They witness a church that is:

  • Focused on expanding wealth and power by exploiting God’s good creation, leading to more and increasingly serious floods, droughts, storms, killer heat waves, food insecurity, population dislocation, and other global ills. 
  • Focused on celebrity, monetization of ministry, numerical growth, and strategies at the expense of depth; a church aping capitalistic business practices over the upside-down Kingdom values of our Lord Jesus. 
  • Rife with financial impropriety, moral failings, child sexual abuse scandals in church leadership and Christian institutions. 
  • Tolerant of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse and exploitation of children within Christian families and in society at large.
  • Tolerant and participatory in divisiveness, verbal abuse, and violence expressed and acted upon by “Christians” toward those who are different or hold differing opinions. 
  • More invested in culture war issues than in loving neighbors and ensuring the well-being of the poor, imprisoned, ill, and all who live on the margins of life.

1 Children-at-risk are persons under 18 who experience an intense and/or chronic risk factor, or a combination of risk factors in personal, environmental, and/or relational domains that prevent them from pursuing and fulfilling their God-given potential. https://lausanne.org/statement/children-at-risk-missional-definition 

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susangreener@outreach.com'
Susan Greener
Susan Greener, Ph.D., is Catalyst for the Lausanne Children-at-Risk Issue Network.

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