Lausanne Global Analysis: May 2014

Lausanne Global Analysis: May 2014


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                                              Download Full Issue
The May 2014 issue of Lausanne Global Analysis is now available. Read the articles online through the links below, or download the complete issue using the links above.
Translations in简体中文(Chinese), 한국어 (Korean),日本語 (Japanese), and Español (Spanish) are coming soon.
Food Security and its Role in Transformational Development
Ravi Jayakaran, Vice President of Global Programs for MAP International and Lausanne Senior Associate for Holistic/Integral Mission, discusses the importance of food security in the long-term sustainable transformation of a community and the correlation between food security status and response to the gospel.
WCC General Assembly Aftermath: Overcoming Korean church divisions and encouraging cooperation among evangelicals globally
Bong Rin Ro, Professor of Church History and Missions at Hawaii Theological Seminary, looks at the division in the Korean church after the 10th WCC General Assembly held in Busan, Korea, and ways in which The Lausanne Movement can help bring unity among evangelical churches and leaders.
Sports Ministry and Evangelism: How an incarnational and service emphasis underpin effective evangelism
J Stuart Weir, Executive Director of Verite Sport, describes current models of sports ministry and recommends an incarnational model where Christians enter the world of sportspeople rather than taking a programme approach.
Nationalism and Evangelical Mission: Issues for evangelical leaders
Darrell Jackson, Senior Lecturer in Missiology at Morling College, observes challenges for leaders managing multi-national teams due to nationalist and patriotic sentiments and areas of moral partiality or politics of superiority. In a biblical theology of the nations, Christian allegiance is only ever to Christ.
Christ at the Checkpoint: An evangelical shift in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Munther Isaac, Vice Academic Dean at Bethlehem Bible College, and Alice Su, a freelance journalist in Jordan, highlight evangelical Christian responses to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the Christ at the Checkpoint conference. A more balanced take on the Palestinian narrative is emerging.
Questions and comments about Lausanne Global Analysis may be emailed to analysis@lausanne.org. The next issue of Lausanne Global Analysis will be released in July.
Michael Oh, Publisher
David Taylor, Editor
David Bennett, Managing Editor
www.lausanne.org | communications@lausanne.org
The Lausanne Movement
1-4-10 Taiko, Nakamura-ku
Nagoya, Aichi 470-0801, Japan

___________________________________

ISSUE OVERVIEW
David Taylor, Editor,

Lausanne Global Analysis
Welcome to the May issue of Lausanne Global Analysis. 
Whether you are planning to read the full articles or just 
the executive summaries, we hope that you find this issue 
stimulating and useful. Our aim is to deliver strategic and 
credible analysis, information, and insight so that as a 
leader you will be better equipped for the task of world 
evangelization. It’s our desire that the analysis of current 
and future trends and developments will help you and 
your team make better decisions about the stewardship 
of all that God has entrusted to your care.
In this issue we address food security and its role in 
transformational development; overcoming Korean 
church divisions and encouraging cooperation among 
evangelicals globally in the aftermath of the WCC 
General Assembly; sports ministry and effective 
evangelism; and nationalisms and the issues they pose 
for evangelical mission.
‘Food security is generally not seen readily as either an 
issue that determines response to the gospel or one 
that determines the health of a community’, writes 
Ravi Jayakaran (Vice President, Global Programs, MAP 
International). However, both health and response to 
the gospel have strong relations to food security. Food 
security plays a significant role in transformational 
development, especially long-term sustainable 
transformation. Furthermore, it is not surprising that 
household food security status and response to the 
gospel are correlated. The gospel, which is integral and 
holistic, is both the proclamation and demonstration 
of the good news to the poor and needy. ‘For us as 
Christians, it is a call to integral mission that ensures 
that we proclaim and demonstrate the good news in all 
that we do’, he concludes. 
The 10th World Council of Churches General Assembly 
(WCC GA) was held in Busan, Korea, in 20 October – 8 
November 2013. The Korean Preparation Committee 
had the support of the WCC ecumenically aligned 
Tong Hap Presbyterian Church of Korea denomination. 
However, it generated strong opposition, led by the 
Hap Tong Presbyterian Church of Korea. ‘Now, after 
the WCC GA, the Korean church will most likely be 
more divided than ever’, writes Bong Rin Ro (Professor 
of Church History and Missions, Hawaii Theological 
Seminary). The WCC GA has, however, shown that the 
centre of gravity of the ecumenical movement has shifted 
to the growing churches of the Global South. ‘The role 
of The Lausanne Movement will become increasingly 
important. It can help bring unity among the evangelical 
churches within WEA and the evangelical leaders within 
WCC who are dissatisfied with WCC theology and 
practices’, he concludes.
‘No reasonable person can deny the importance of sport 
in the modern world’, writes Stuart Weir (Executive 
Director, Verite Sport). The FIFA Football World Cup 
takes place in Brazil in June-July this year. The 2010 
World Cup was shown on TV in every country and 
territory on earth. Sports ministry broadly falls into 
two categories—ministry to sport and ministry through 
sport. In recent years, Christians have seen the potential 
of a major event in their country or city as an opportunity 
for service and witness, particularly at the Olympics and 
football World Cups. The incarnational model emphasis 
of sports ministry, where Christians enter the world of 
sportspeople, requires a huge commitment in terms of 
time, vulnerability, and intentionality in relationships. 
‘This is a lesson for other spheres of evangelism that can 
sometimes emphasise a programme/event/“come to us” 
approach’, he concludes.
‘Nationalist and patriotic sentiments pose particular 
challenges for the church or mission agency leader 
responsible for managing multi-national teams’, observes 
Darrell Jackson (Senior Lecturer in Missiology, Morling 
College). Nationalists, above all else, issue a call to 
difference in the face of homogenizing forces that are 
global in nature. The wise team leader prepares for 
heated discussions within the team as fault-lines converge 
around patriotic or nationalistic feelings. Evangelicals 
may choose on occasion to express solidarity with 
their government, and it is not always wrong to do so. 
However, it is not possible to work with an account of 
nationhood if this means a moral partiality or politics of 

superiority. This perspective reflects a biblical theology of the nations. ‘Christian identity and allegiance can only 
ever be to Christ. All other forms of loyalty are temporal 
and will pass away, finally exposed as worthless by the 
Judge of every tribe and every nation’, he concludes.
More than 600 delegates gathered in Bethlehem in 
March for Christ at the Checkpoint 2014, the third such 
conference that asks ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ in the 
context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Speakers from 
a wide theological and political range discussed how 
evangelical Christians should respond. ‘Christians have 
long been among the strongest supporters of Israeli 
policies. However, the conference highlighted the fact 
that evangelicals are taking in more of the Palestinian 
narrative and theological perspective, and are seeking 
a more balanced take’, according to Munther Isaac and 
Alice Su. The conference sought to ‘challenge evangelicals 
to take responsibility to help resolve the conflicts in 
Israel-Palestine by engaging with the teaching of Jesus on 
the Kingdom of God’. Followers of Jesus need to take 
their calling to be peacemakers seriously and engage 
positively. ‘If more Christians begin to develop this 
attitude, then we will see the hope that is desperately 
needed in the Middle East’, they conclude.
Please send any questions and comments about this issue 
to analysis@lausanne.org. The next issue of Lausanne 
Global Analysis will be released in July.
-------
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
FOOD SECURITY AND ITS ROLE IN 
TRANSFORMATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Ravi Jayakaran
Food security is generally not seen readily as either an 
issue that determines response to the gospel or one 
that determines the health of a community. However, 
both health and response to the gospel have strong 
relations to food security. 
Food security plays a significant role in transformational 
development, especially long-term sustainable 
transformation. The holistic integrated development 
programs of many Christian development agencies 
today have developed so well that livelihood and food 
security are taking their rightful place in giving traction 
to their programs. If we are to move towards achieving 
the Millennium Development Goal of halving global 
poverty, we need to consider food security.
Christian development agencies can use creative ‘food 
for work’ programs to ensure that food is available in 
an area, so that the community does not migrate away 
to other areas in search of food. The program can also 
be used to leverage long-term availability of food by 
using the ‘food for work’ part of the program to create 
community assets such as roads and ponds. 
Food aid that is not used positively to bring traction to 
the local economy and stimulate local grain production 
will make the community passive and dependent on 
external aid. Ultimately, access to food will become the 
victim. It is easy for well-meaning but poorly directed 
Christian development agencies to do more harm 
than good—including for the gospel—through their 
development work. 
In a normal community, food security is closely tied 
to asset creation. Surplus food produced by individuals 
and families is used for selling and purchasing assets. 
Assets are a means of saving. Asset creation from 
surplus food available, to be liquidated later in times 
of crisis, represents an integral part of food security. 
Organizations working with communities to help 
them become food secure must cater for this in their 
programming.
Ensuring food security means also bringing gender 
equality, because providing adequate food for the family 
requires it to be equally distributed.
It is not surprising that household food security status 
and response to the gospel are correlated. Households 
that are below the poverty line have great struggles. The 
debilitating impact of abject poverty is like a continued 
oppression on multiple fronts and can crush the spirit, 
make people lose hope and turn to desperate measures 
for coping and surviving. This is the group that is 
constantly in search of a Savior. 
The gospel, which is integral and holistic, is both the 
proclamation and demonstration of the good news to 
the poor and needy. For us as Christians, it is a call 
to integral mission that ensures that we proclaim and 
demonstrate the good news in all that we do. The 
author’s organisation MAP International has in recent 
times started increasing its church engagement portfolio 
to get more churches into partnerships of integral 
mission in communities in the developing world. 
God has helped them to develop new tools and strategies, 
particularly to help churches and their congregations 
to engage meaningfully in bringing transformational 
development through building household-level food 
security. They are happy to share this information with 
LGA readers and also partner with those with a heart 
for integral mission. 
WCC GENERAL ASSEMBLY AFTERMATH: 
OVERCOMING KOREAN CHURCH DIVISIONS 
AND ENCOURAGING COOPERATION AMONG 
EVANGELICALS GLOBALLY
Bong Rin Ro
The 10th World Council of Churches General Assembly 
(WCC GA) was held in Busan, Korea, 20 October – 8 
November 2013. The Korean Preparation Committee 
had the support of the 2.8 million strong WCC 
ecumenically aligned Tong Hap Presbyterian Church of 
Korea denomination.
As early as 2011, conservative evangelical churches and 
denominations in Korea began to oppose the WCC GA. MAY 2014 LAUSANNE GLOBAL ANALYSIS 5
Mass demonstrations against the WCC GA occurred in 
Seoul and Busan, criticizing the WCC’s liberal theology. 
Leading the opposition was the Hap Tong Presbyterian 
Church of Korea, considered the largest conservative 
Presbyterian denomination with 3 million members. 
The Korean church is one of the most theologically 
conservative in the world. However, some Korean 
evangelical leaders choose to stay within the more ‘liberal’ 
Tong Hap denomination to provide a positive evangelical 
influence within the WCC family. By contrast, the more 
conservative Hap Tong denomination would consider any 
engagement with WCC liberals compromising. Despite 
this environment, the WCC selected Korea to host the 
WCC GA, in part because of the increasing importance 
of the church in the Global South, particularly Asia 
where rapid church growth has been taking place. 
Now, after the WCC GA, the Korean church will most 
likely be more divided than ever, with the rift between 
Tong Hap and Hap Tong likely to deepen. Furthermore, 
it was announced on 11 February that the World 
Evangelical Alliance (WEA) General Assembly due to 
be held in Korea in October has been postponed. The 
WEA statement cited ‘internal differences among the 
evangelical community’ in Korea. 
The WCC GA has shown that the center of gravity of 
the ecumenical movement has shifted from declining 
Western Christendom to the growing churches of the 
Global South. Liberal leaders within the WCC have 
maintained control in the areas of church administration, 
finance, and seminary education. Evangelical leaders from 
Asia, Africa, and Latin America now need to increase 
their spiritual influence in these three areas within WCC. 
The role of The Lausanne Movement (LCWE) will 
become increasingly important. The LCWE can help 
bring unity among the evangelical churches within 
WEA and the evangelical leaders within WCC who are 
dissatisfied with WCC theology and practices. 
Evangelical leaders in LCWE can work closely with WEA 
in order to bring cooperation among the evangelical 
churches around the world. The past three Lausanne 
Congresses are good examples of gatherings that bring 
together all the evangelical church leaders around the 
world, within and outside WCC, to discuss the task of 
world evangelization. 
One way is to work closely with WEA-related churches 
through WEA Commissions. Such cooperation will gain 
the support of grassroots churches and church leaders 
that are associated with different national evangelical 
alliances and fellowships. 
Evangelical leaders in LCWE can also open their doors to 
evangelical pastors and churches within WCC, because 
most churches within the ecumenical movement in Asia, 
Africa, and Latin America are theologically conservative 
and are looking for evangelical cooperation. 
The key task for evangelical churches, whether or not 
they are affiliated to WCC, is to work together for the 
cause of the Great Commission. The whole church must 
take the whole gospel to the whole world.
SPORTS MINISTRY AND EVANGELISM: HOW 
AN INCARNATIONAL AND SERVICE EMPHASIS 
UNDERPINS EFFECTIVE EVANGELISM
J Stuart Weir
No reasonable person can deny the importance of 
sport in the modern world. The FIFA Football World 
Cup takes place in Brazil in June-July this year. The 2010 
World Cup was shown on TV in every country and 
territory on earth, with 46.4% of the global population 
watching at least part of it.
Sports ministry broadly falls into two categories—
ministry to sport and ministry through sport. 
Ministry to sport means serving sport in the name of 
Jesus; sports chaplaincy is a good example of this. This is 
helping the (often) elite sportsperson to practise their 
sport Christianly as well bringing church to them when 
competition stops them getting to a Sunday service. 
Ministry through sport is seeing sport as an evangelistic 
opportunity. This might involve running sports events 
with an evangelistic purpose or distributing leaflets or 
video material with a gospel message in the language 
of sport, often using the testimony of high-profile 
Christian athletes.
In recent years, Christians have seen the potential of a 
major event in their country or city as an opportunity 
for service and witness. This type of ministry began in 
the 1990s and has grown significantly over the years, 
particularly at the Olympics and football World Cups.
The chaplaincy programme at the 2012 London Olympics 

was arguably the most comprehensive ever conducted at an Olympic Games. This was an excellent example of 
servant-hearted Christians working with the Olympic 
organizing committee to add value to the event. This 
shows how an attitude of servant-hearted support for 
the organizing committee of a major sports event is 
often appreciated and can build bridges between the 
Christian community and the sports administrators.
The incarnational model emphasis of sports ministry, 
where Christians enter the world of sportspeople, 
reflects the Pauline emphasis in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 
with a playing, participating, and supporting level of 
involvement that requires a huge commitment in terms 
of time, vulnerability, and intentionality in relationships. 
This is a lesson for other spheres of evangelism that 
can sometimes emphasise a programme/event/‘come 
to us’ approach.
Being open to supporting an incarnational approach in 
evangelism, and in envisioning, equipping, and supporting 
any sportspeople in the congregation to be the church’s 
evangelists to their sports friends and local sports club, 
can be an effective strategy to help the church engage 
with its local sports community. 
Another lesson applicable to other spheres of evangelism 
is that the serving emphasis within sports evangelism 
can break down many barriers and open up doors for 
other evangelism opportunities. Such an approach may 
not yield short-term results but the long-term favour 
that emerges (e.g., through sports chaplaincy) can lead 
to real growth of influence for the gospel.
Churches should also be open to serve in the community 
in and through sport, for example, in providing 
volunteers, coaches, pastoral care, or a meeting place 
for a local sports club, school, or college. There should 
also be a conscious decision to value and prioritise 
disability sport more that has happened up to this point.
NATIONALISM AND EVANGELICAL MISSION: 
ISSUES FOR EVANGELICAL LEADERS 
Darrell Jackson
Nationalist and patriotic sentiments frequently cause 
headaches for Christian leaders and pose particular 
challenges for the church or mission agency leader 
responsible for managing multi-national teams. This 
simple observation requires us to understand the 
scope and significance of nationalism in the context of 
global mission.
While populist parties stir up fears, the churches often 
struggle to express a clear kingdom perspective. In some 
instances the churches find themselves, wittingly or 
unwittingly, portrayed as patriotic allies in the struggle 
to stem the influx of non-Christian immigrants.
Nationalists, above all else, issue a call to difference in the 
face of homogenizing forces that are global in nature. In 
resisting globalisation, most nationalisms use alternative 
narratives that are mythological, such as ‘frontier’ myths 
and ‘sacred origin’ myths. 
The Lausanne Movement’s commitment to a vision of 
the one worldwide body of Christ, fuelled by passion 
and enthusiasm, is entirely appropriate and wholly 
commensurate with a vision of the kingdom of God. Yet, 
it has to balance constantly the national interests and 
agendas of evangelical groupings with the global agendas 
urged upon it by the movement’s leaders.
Mission teams currently located in various parts of 
the world will have members from competing nations, 
for example, Russia and Ukraine currently. The wise 
team leader prepares for heated discussions within 
the team as fault-lines converge around patriotic or 
nationalistic feelings.
The vital national interests of any one country may be 
rarely reported by the media of other countries; yet it is 
necessary for the astute cross-cultural Christian worker 
to be constantly alert to the spectre of nationalism 
raising its ugly head and threatening to undermine 
credible witness. 
Of course, the curse of nationalism for the faithful 
follower of Jesus Christ is seen in the extent to which 
Christianity is mobilised as a unifying source of national 
identity over and against others. Responsible and astute 
media commentators will recognise that impact of 
religion on public and political conversation.
Evangelicals may choose on occasion to express solidarity 
with their government, and it is not always wrong to do 
so. However, it is not possible to work with an account 
of nation and nationhood if this means a moral partiality 
or politics of superiority that would deny to others the 
same human rights as those of its members.
This perspective reflects a biblical theology of the 
nations that portrays them as the pinnacle of God’s 
creative acts (Gen 10:32); laments their incredible hubris 
(Gen 11:4); declares them to be at the centre of God’s at an Olympic Games. This was an excellent example of 
servant-hearted Christians working with the Olympic 
organizing committee to add value to the event. This 
shows how an attitude of servant-hearted support for 
the organizing committee of a major sports event is 
often appreciated and can build bridges between the 
Christian community and the sports administrators.
The incarnational model emphasis of sports ministry, 
where Christians enter the world of sportspeople, 
reflects the Pauline emphasis in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 
with a playing, participating, and supporting level of 
involvement that requires a huge commitment in terms 
of time, vulnerability, and intentionality in relationships. 
This is a lesson for other spheres of evangelism that 
can sometimes emphasise a programme/event/‘come 
to us’ approach.
Being open to supporting an incarnational approach in 
evangelism, and in envisioning, equipping, and supporting 
any sportspeople in the congregation to be the church’s 
evangelists to their sports friends and local sports club, 
can be an effective strategy to help the church engage 
with its local sports community. 
Another lesson applicable to other spheres of evangelism 
is that the serving emphasis within sports evangelism 
can break down many barriers and open up doors for 
other evangelism opportunities. Such an approach may 
not yield short-term results but the long-term favour 
that emerges (e.g., through sports chaplaincy) can lead 
to real growth of influence for the gospel.
Churches should also be open to serve in the community 
in and through sport, for example, in providing 
volunteers, coaches, pastoral care, or a meeting place 
for a local sports club, school, or college. There should 
also be a conscious decision to value and prioritise 
disability sport more that has happened up to this point.
NATIONALISM AND EVANGELICAL MISSION: 
ISSUES FOR EVANGELICAL LEADERS 
Darrell Jackson
Nationalist and patriotic sentiments frequently cause 
headaches for Christian leaders and pose particular 
challenges for the church or mission agency leader 
responsible for managing multi-national teams. This 
simple observation requires us to understand the 
scope and significance of nationalism in the context of 
global mission.
While populist parties stir up fears, the churches often 
struggle to express a clear kingdom perspective. In some 
instances the churches find themselves, wittingly or 
unwittingly, portrayed as patriotic allies in the struggle 
to stem the influx of non-Christian immigrants.
Nationalists, above all else, issue a call to difference in the 
face of homogenizing forces that are global in nature. In 
resisting globalisation, most nationalisms use alternative 
narratives that are mythological, such as ‘frontier’ myths 
and ‘sacred origin’ myths. 
The Lausanne Movement’s commitment to a vision of 
the one worldwide body of Christ, fuelled by passion 
and enthusiasm, is entirely appropriate and wholly 
commensurate with a vision of the kingdom of God. Yet, 
it has to balance constantly the national interests and 
agendas of evangelical groupings with the global agendas 
urged upon it by the movement’s leaders.
Mission teams currently located in various parts of 
the world will have members from competing nations, 
for example, Russia and Ukraine currently. The wise 
team leader prepares for heated discussions within 
the team as fault-lines converge around patriotic or 
nationalistic feelings.
The vital national interests of any one country may be 
rarely reported by the media of other countries; yet it is 
necessary for the astute cross-cultural Christian worker 
to be constantly alert to the spectre of nationalism 
raising its ugly head and threatening to undermine 
credible witness. 
Of course, the curse of nationalism for the faithful 
follower of Jesus Christ is seen in the extent to which 
Christianity is mobilised as a unifying source of national 
identity over and against others. Responsible and astute 
media commentators will recognise that impact of 
religion on public and political conversation.
Evangelicals may choose on occasion to express solidarity 
with their government, and it is not always wrong to do 
so. However, it is not possible to work with an account 
of nation and nationhood if this means a moral partiality 
or politics of superiority that would deny to others the 
same human rights as those of its members.
This perspective reflects a biblical theology of the 
nations that portrays them as the pinnacle of God’s 
creative acts (Gen 10:32); laments their incredible hubris 
(Gen 11:4); declares them to be at the centre of God’s at an Olympic Games. This was an excellent example of 
servant-hearted Christians working with the Olympic 
organizing committee to add value to the event. This 
shows how an attitude of servant-hearted support for 
the organizing committee of a major sports event is 
often appreciated and can build bridges between the 
Christian community and the sports administrators.
The incarnational model emphasis of sports ministry, 
where Christians enter the world of sportspeople, 
reflects the Pauline emphasis in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 
with a playing, participating, and supporting level of 
involvement that requires a huge commitment in terms 
of time, vulnerability, and intentionality in relationships. 
This is a lesson for other spheres of evangelism that 
can sometimes emphasise a programme/event/‘come 
to us’ approach.
Being open to supporting an incarnational approach in 
evangelism, and in envisioning, equipping, and supporting 
any sportspeople in the congregation to be the church’s 
evangelists to their sports friends and local sports club, 
can be an effective strategy to help the church engage 
with its local sports community. 
Another lesson applicable to other spheres of evangelism 
is that the serving emphasis within sports evangelism 
can break down many barriers and open up doors for 
other evangelism opportunities. Such an approach may 
not yield short-term results but the long-term favour 
that emerges (e.g., through sports chaplaincy) can lead 
to real growth of influence for the gospel.
Churches should also be open to serve in the community 
in and through sport, for example, in providing 
volunteers, coaches, pastoral care, or a meeting place 
for a local sports club, school, or college. There should 
also be a conscious decision to value and prioritise 
disability sport more that has happened up to this point.
NATIONALISM AND EVANGELICAL MISSION: 
ISSUES FOR EVANGELICAL LEADERS 
Darrell Jackson
Nationalist and patriotic sentiments frequently cause 
headaches for Christian leaders and pose particular 
challenges for the church or mission agency leader 
responsible for managing multi-national teams. This 
simple observation requires us to understand the 
scope and significance of nationalism in the context of 
global mission.
While populist parties stir up fears, the churches often 
struggle to express a clear kingdom perspective. In some 
instances the churches find themselves, wittingly or 
unwittingly, portrayed as patriotic allies in the struggle 
to stem the influx of non-Christian immigrants.
Nationalists, above all else, issue a call to difference in the 
face of homogenizing forces that are global in nature. In 
resisting globalisation, most nationalisms use alternative 
narratives that are mythological, such as ‘frontier’ myths 
and ‘sacred origin’ myths. 
The Lausanne Movement’s commitment to a vision of 
the one worldwide body of Christ, fuelled by passion 
and enthusiasm, is entirely appropriate and wholly 
commensurate with a vision of the kingdom of God. Yet, 
it has to balance constantly the national interests and 
agendas of evangelical groupings with the global agendas 
urged upon it by the movement’s leaders.
Mission teams currently located in various parts of 
the world will have members from competing nations, 
for example, Russia and Ukraine currently. The wise 
team leader prepares for heated discussions within 
the team as fault-lines converge around patriotic or 
nationalistic feelings.
The vital national interests of any one country may be 
rarely reported by the media of other countries; yet it is 
necessary for the astute cross-cultural Christian worker 
to be constantly alert to the spectre of nationalism 
raising its ugly head and threatening to undermine 
credible witness. 
Of course, the curse of nationalism for the faithful 
follower of Jesus Christ is seen in the extent to which 
Christianity is mobilised as a unifying source of national 
identity over and against others. Responsible and astute 
media commentators will recognise that impact of 
religion on public and political conversation.
Evangelicals may choose on occasion to express solidarity 
with their government, and it is not always wrong to do 
so. However, it is not possible to work with an account 
of nation and nationhood if this means a moral partiality 
or politics of superiority that would deny to others the 
same human rights as those of its members.
This perspective reflects a biblical theology of the 
nations that portrays them as the pinnacle of God’s 
creative acts (Gen 10:32); laments their incredible hubris 
(Gen 11:4); declares them to be at the centre of God’s missionary purposes (Gen 12:2-3); gathers all nations 
into the body of Christ (Rev 7:9); yet still concludes with 
an eschatological picture of the nations in submission 
and under judgement (Rev 19:15). Christian identity and 
allegiance can only ever be to Christ. All other forms of 
loyalty are temporal and will pass away, finally exposed 
as worthless by the Judge of every tribe and every nation.
We need to repent of any partiality or superiority that we instinctively feel or demonstrate toward co-workers or those among whom we work; to work hard 
at identifying potential sources of nationalist tensions 
within our own ministry and mission teams; and to 
be prepared to offer training to teams sent into areas 
where they are likely to encounter nationalist tensions.
CHRIST AT THE CHECKPOINT: 
AN EVANGELICAL SHIFT IN THE 
ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT
Munther Isaac and Alice Su
More than 600 delegates from across the world gathered 
in Bethlehem in March for Christ at the Checkpoint 
(CATC) 2014, the third such conference that aims to ask 
‘What Would Jesus Do?’ in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Bethlehem Bible College organized 
the conference, inviting speakers from a wide theological 
and political range to discuss how evangelical Christians 
should respond to one of the most politicized conflicts 
of our time. 
Christians have long been among the strongest 
supporters of Israeli policies, especially in the United 
States. However, CATC and its attendant controversies 
highlighted the fact that evangelicals are taking in more 
and more of the Palestinian narrative and theological 
perspective, and are seeking a more balanced take on 
the conflict. 
The conference theme was ‘Your Kingdom Come’, which 
meant something different for each attending group, from 
Palestinian Christians to Messianic Jews, Mennonites 
to Reformed evangelicals and dispensationalists. The 
main theological division lay between Christian Zionists, 
who believe that Jewish return to the Holy Land 
fulfils biblical prophecy and thus demands Christian 
commitment to political support for Israel, and those 
who believe otherwise.
Yet diversity was an asset to CATC, said Bishara Awad, 
founder of Bethlehem Bible College. Despite their wide-ranging theological beliefs, CATC attendees united in 
their commitment to peace. 
Recognition of different narratives in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is key to reconciliation, the 
conference heard. The gospel calls for Christians to love 
their enemies by seeing them as neighbours, brothers, 
and friends. Reconciliation also requires loving one’s 
neighbour despite eschatological differences.
Political complexity must not stop evangelicals from 
pursuing the peace that burns in the heart of God. The 
suffering, grief, and despair of Christians, Muslims, and 
Jews in the region are an affront to humanity and to our 
God, the conference heard. Eschatological disagreement 
should not impact Christians’ commitment to resist 
injustice and love even those who hurt us. 
Who is my neighbour? Who is my enemy? These 
questions guided discussions of not only Israel and 
Palestine, but also Christianity amid political turmoil and 
rising Islamism in the Middle East. The answers were 
consistent: everyone is my neighbour and no one is my 
enemy. Speakers called not for resistance or retaliation, 
but embrace. 
Palestinian Christians founded and currently lead the 
Bethlehem Bible College, which organized CATC. 
They were the clearest speakers against the Israeli 
occupation. The difference between their narrative and 
the mainstream Palestinian one, however, was their call 
for ending occupation not by conquering the ‘other’ or 
by violent means, but by caring for the other.
CATC sought to ‘challenge evangelicals to take 
responsibility to help resolve the conflicts in Israel-Palestine by engaging with the teaching of Jesus on the 
kingdom of God’. The time has come for followers of 
Jesus to take their calling to be peacemakers seriously 
and engage positively in this part of the world. If more 
Christians begin to develop this attitude, then we will see 
the hope that is desperately needed in the Middle East.
FOOD SECURITY AND ITS ROLE IN TRANSFORMATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Ravi Jayakaran
Food security is generally not seen readily as either an 
issue that determines response to the gospel or one 
that determines the health of a community. However, 
both health and response to the gospel have strong 
relations to food security.
Food security role

Food security plays a significant role in transformational development, especially long-term sustainable 
transformation:
• This is often not understood clearly—people 
often see food security as food aid and as part 
of relief in famine-prone areas. 
• Food security programming can become 
one of the most proactive means of lifting a 
community out of poverty, but handled badly, 
it can become a tool for exploitation or even 
destruction of the economy. 
• People of integrity need to champion its 
cause, and above all, speak up on behalf of 
the poor.
Christian development agencies
The holistic integrated development programs of 
many Christian development agencies today have 
developed so well that livelihood and food security 
are taking their rightful place in giving traction to their 
programs. Whatever the core intervention program of 
the organization (clinics, water, child care, etc.), to be 
effective, food security and livelihood security must play 
a central role, since this is the lifeline for survival of 
poor and marginalized communities.
While the focus of the organization the author works 
for—MAP International (www.map.org)—is health, 
food security accounts for almost half of what happens 
in its major program, the Total Health Village (THV):
• This is what has made the programs robust 
and dynamic. 
• It has delivered improvement in the health 
status of the community, coupled with 
prevention and treatment measures. 
• The communities in the THVs have become 
empowered as they have come to control 
their natural and productive resources and 
gained more control of their health. 
If we are to move towards achieving the Millennium 
Development Goal of halving global poverty, we need 
to consider food security.
A3U framework for food security
Food security has 4 dimensions: the Availability of 
food; Access to food; using surplus availability of food 
for Asset creation; and Utilization of food. 
1. Availability
The first dimension is the availability of food in the 
community. In today’s world this is much less of an 
issue as the world has progressed tremendously in 
food production. However, from time to time, there 
is a shortfall in availability of food in drought-prone or 
famine-affected areas:
• Persistent famine, such as the recent famine 
in the Horn of Africa, can cripple an area because rainfall is insufficient for even the 
basic subsistence crop to be grown. 
• This can make food grains unavailable 
and result in a food-security crisis as the 
community begins to starve.
The only thing that often works then is to bring in food 
grains from outside the area and donate them to the 
people to avert death through starvation. This ends 
up as a purely relief measure, and there is often no 
alternative to making the grain available year after year. 
Christian development agencies can take such a situation 
and use a creative ‘food for work’ program to ensure 
that food is available in the area, so that the community 
does not migrate away to other areas in search of food. 
The program can also be used to leverage long-term 
availability of food by using the ‘food for work’ part of 
the program to create community assets such as roads, 
ponds, wood-lots, water shed development and planting 
of agricultural crops. 
2. Access
Bringing in food from outside areas as food aid may 
satisfy the temporary availability need, and access may 
also become possible for the period of the intervention. 
However, this does not make any positive impact on 
the local economy—and may actually destroy whatever 
fledgling business exists for the local grain market. 
Our purpose in development is to ensure that the local 
economy picks up and grain production and marketing 
become part of that process. Socio-economic 
relationships in the community help revitalize it and 
make it robust and vibrant.
Food aid that is not used positively to bring traction to 
the local economy and stimulate local grain production 
will make the community passive and dependent on 
external aid. Ultimately, access to food will become the 
victim. It is easy for well-meaning but poorly directed 
Christian development agencies to do more harm 
than good—including for the gospel—through their 
development work.1
3. Asset creation
In a normal community, food security is closely tied to 
asset creation. Surplus food produced by individuals and 
families is used for selling and purchasing assets. Assets 
are a means of saving. 
The author recalls making assessments in a community 
regarding their savings by checking if they had savings 
accounts and how much money was in them. He knew 
that many of the families were doing very well and had 
greatly benefited from a livelihoods security program. 
However, that was not reflected itself in the number of 
savings accounts and amounts in those savings accounts. 
A farmer then showed them his newly purchased piglets, 
making the point that these were his ‘savings’. His surplus 
grain had been sold in the market to generate funds to 
buy livestock. These served as a ‘liquid asset’ that could 
be sold whenever a crisis occurred. This was a logical 
move: the assets were available to him, and growing at a 
better rate than any bank would pay in interest. 
Asset creation from surplus food available—to be 
liquidated later in times of crisis—represents an 
integral part of food security. Organizations working 
with communities to help them become food-secure 
must cater for this in their programming.
4. Utilization
The final dimension is the utilization of food that is 
available in the community:
• When food is in short supply, the way it is 
consumed by various members in the family 
is affected. 
• In many cultures the distribution then follows 
the pecking order: husband first, then sons, 
then daughters, and finally the mother. 
• Food scarcity thus does not affect everyone 
in the family in the same way. 
Thus ensuring food security means also bringing gender 
equality, because providing adequate food for the family 
requires it to be distributed equally.
Household food-security assessment
The Rapid Food Security Status Assessment (RFSA) tool 
can be used for rapid assessment of the food security 
status of a household. This is a simple participatory tool 
that was designed and introduced by the author in 2001 
while working in Cambodia (details can be obtained 
at www.ravijayakaran.com/documents). The following 
diagram shows some of the information generated 
through an RFSA exercise carried out with a focused 

group in the Philippines for their village:
The author recalls making assessments in a community 
regarding their savings by checking if they had savings 
accounts and how much money was in them. He knew 
that many of the families were doing very well and had 
greatly benefited from a livelihoods security program. 
However, that was not reflected itself in the number of 
savings accounts and amounts in those savings accounts. 
A farmer then showed them his newly purchased piglets, 
making the point that these were his ‘savings’. His surplus 
grain had been sold in the market to generate funds to 
buy livestock. These served as a ‘liquid asset’ that could 
be sold whenever a crisis occurred. This was a logical 
move: the assets were available to him, and growing at a 
better rate than any bank would pay in interest. 
Asset creation from surplus food available—to be 
liquidated later in times of crisis—represents an 
integral part of food security. Organizations working 
with communities to help them become food-secure 
must cater for this in their programming.
4. Utilization
The final dimension is the utilization of food that is 
available in the community:
• When food is in short supply, the way it is 
consumed by various members in the family 
is affected. 
• In many cultures the distribution then follows 
the pecking order: husband first, then sons, 
then daughters, and finally the mother. 
• Food scarcity thus does not affect everyone 
in the family in the same way. 
Thus ensuring food security means also bringing gender 
equality, because providing adequate food for the family 
requires it to be distributed equally.
Household food-security assessment
The Rapid Food Security Status Assessment (RFSA) tool 
can be used for rapid assessment of the food security 
status of a household. This is a simple participatory tool 
that was designed and introduced by the author in 2001 
while working in Cambodia (details can be obtained 
at www.ravijayakaran.com/documents). The following 
diagram shows some of the information generated 
through an RFSA exercise carried out with a focused 

group in the Philippines for their village:
The first column shows the approximate breakdown of 
the population in that village that fell into one or other 
of the four RFSA categories.2
 Poverty when defined 
from the perspective of household food security is: ‘A 
household is considered to be poor if its expenditure on 
a consistent basis is more than its income, without the 
creation of an asset’. On this basis, a quick analysis here 
showed that approximately 60% of the community is 
below the poverty line, 20% just makes ends meet, and 
20% is able to generate surplus. Among the population 
that is below the poverty line, 40% is in a condition of 
extreme poverty. The second and third columns show 
the RFSA status, and the local name that the community 
uses to describe the households in that category. 
These categories are not based on some national figure 
of average household income, but on comparisons of 

the households in that community, which are in socioeconomic interaction with each other:
• The ratios are very contextual and will change 
from community to community because 
household food security status is not based on 
income but on the ratio between income and 
expenditure for that household. 
• Thus for the fragile categories of RFSA levels, 
for example RFSA-2, any circumstance that causes imbalance between income and 
expenditure, such as accident or illness, can 
make that household drop in RFSA status, 
because when expenditure is more than 
household income, the family has to borrow 
money to survive, often at exorbitant rates. 
Christian development agencies should therefore 
recognize that access to credit, access to health care 
services, and investment opportunities are good buffers 
against collapse in household food security status.
Food security and response to the gospel
It is not surprising that household food security status 
and response to the gospel are correlated: 
• As can be seen from the diagram, the 
response to the gospel is highest in RFSA-3 
and RFSA-4 categories, and lowest in RFSA-1 
and RFSA-2. 
• This openness mainly occurs during times 
when that household is going through crisis. 
Working with the RFSA-1 group is the hardest, but it 
can show the greatest impact on the community when 
there is a breakthrough:
• This group does not need investment but 
an opportunity to invest in corporate social 
responsibility within the community, because 
that brings it status, recognition, and 
acceptance. 
• The Bible has a beautiful example in Jesus’ 
encounter with Zaccheus in Luke 19. Jesus’ 
recognition of him, and honoring him by 
visiting him, accepting him ‘as he was’, was 
enough to transform Zaccheus’ life.
• In fact he was so clearly transformed that 
when he declared his ‘corporate social 
responsibility profile’, he vowed in public to 
invest 50% of his assets in the lives of the poor 
in his community.
Christian agencies are called to be an extension of that 
offer. The Nazareth manifesto is also a challenge to us 
to be engaged in integral mission as we follow in our 
Lord’s footsteps (Luke 4:18-19). 
In the Old Testament we have a description of one of 
the biggest food-security programs in history, mobilized 
by Joseph. God revealed his plan for his chosen people 
through the wisdom he gave to Joseph in interpreting 
Pharaoh’s dream. The massive food-security program 
that ensued under God’s guidance then provided a 
means for his people to enter Egypt through amazing 
circumstances.
For us as Christians, it is a call to integral mission 
that ensures that we proclaim and demonstrate the 
good news in all that we do. MAP International has in 
recent times started increasing its church engagement 
portfolio to get more churches into partnerships of 
integral mission in communities in the developing world. 
As with Joseph, God has helped them to develop new 
tools and strategies, particularly to help churches and 
their congregations to engage meaningfully in bringing 
transformational development through building 
household-level food security. They are happy to share 
this information with LGA readers and also partner 
with those with a heart for integral mission.
REFERENCES
1. See ‘When Helping Hurts’ by Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett.
2. The seeds represent the percentage of the villagers that fall into 
that category—since ten seeds represent the whole population, 

each seed represents 10% of the population.
Food aid that is not used positively to 
bring traction to the local economy and 
stimulate local grain production will make 
the community passive and dependent on 
external aid. Ultimately, access to food 

will become the victim.
A case for integral mission 
Households that are below the poverty line have great 
struggles. The debilitating impact of abject poverty is like 
a continued oppression on multiple fronts and can crush 
the spirit, make people lose hope and turn to desperate 
measures for coping and surviving (Proverbs 30:8-9). 
This is the group that is constantly in search of a Savior. 
The gospel, which is integral and holistic, is both the 
proclamation and demonstration of the good news to 
the poor and needy. Jesus makes a very attractive offer 
in giving an open invitation to all: ‘Come to me all you 

who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest’. 

Ravi Jakayakaran has over 36 years of experience in poverty reduction and strategic 

development programs, living and working 

long term in India, Cambodia, China, and the 

USA. He serves as the Vice President of Global 

Programs for MAP International, and as 

Lausanne Senior Associate for Holistic/

Integral Mission. He can be contacted at 

Rjayakaran@map.org or Ravi@Jayakaran.com

WCC GENERAL 

ASSEMBLY AFTERMATH Overcoming Korean church divisions and 

encouraging cooperation among evangelicals globally

Bong Rin Ro

The 10th World Council of Churches General Assembly 

(WCC GA) was held in Busan, Korea, from 20 October 

to 8 November 2013. Some 4,000 participants from 140 

nations joined together under the theme ‘Living God, 

Lead us into Righteousness and Peace’. The Korean 

Preparation Committee had the support of the 2.8 

million strong WCC ecumenically aligned Tong Hap 

Presbyterian Church of Korea denomination.

Korean church divisions

As early as 2011, conservative evangelical churches and 

denominations in Korea began to oppose the WCC GA. 

Mass demonstrations against the WCC GA occurred in 

Seoul and Busan, criticizing the WCC’s liberal theology 

of religious syncretism, notably interfaith dialogues, 

emphasis on the socio-political gospel without spiritual 

conversion, and promotion of homosexual practice. 

Leading the opposition was the Hap Tong Presbyterian 

Church of Korea, considered the largest conservative 

Presbyterian denomination with 3 million members and 

11,000 churches. Other conservative denominations 

including the Koryo Presbyterian denomination, 

Reformed Church denomination, Puniel Presbyterian 

denomination in Busan, and others came out with official 

anti-WCC GA statements. Furthermore, strongly anti-WCC booklets were published. 

In the history of the movement since 1948, the WCC has 

never experienced such well-organized and vehement 

opposition.

Conservative theology

The Korean church is one of the most theologically 

conservative in Asia and the world:

WCC GENERAL 

ASSEMBLY AFTERMATH Overcoming Korean church divisions and 

encouraging cooperation among evangelicals globally

Bong Rin Ro

• Each major denomination has an ‘Anti-Cults 

Investigation Committee’ to monitor non-biblical doctrines and theology. 

• The church has been very sensitive to 

theological issues, especially the liberal 

theologies of the WCC. 

• Most Korean pastors and churches 

even within the more ‘liberal’ Tong Hap 

denomination are theologically conservative 

and often critical of WCC liberal theology. 

However, these Korean evangelical leaders choose to 

stay within the more ‘liberal’ Tong Hap denomination to 

provide a positive evangelical influence within the WCC 

family. By contrast, the more conservative Hap Tong 

denomination would consider any engagement with 

WCC liberals compromising. 

Financial considerations

Despite this environment, WCC leaders in Geneva 

selected Korea to host the 10th WCC GA for two 

basic reasons:

• With a continual decline of membership in 

Europe and North America and a financial crisis 

in the WCC in Geneva, the Korean church was 

chosen primarily for its spiritual vitality and 

financial strength (Korea is home to 23 of the 

largest 50 mega-churches in the world). 

• WCC leaders felt that five ecumenical 

large Korean National Council of Churches 

(NCC) denominations—Presbyterian Church 

(Tong Hap), Presbyterian Church (Republic 

of Korea), Methodist Church, Full Gospel Central Church, and Anglican Church—would 

be able to support the WCC GA financially.

Global South importance

The WCC GA in Busan highlighted the increasing 

importance of the church in the Global South, particularly 

Asia where rapid church growth has been taking place. 

The ‘wildfire’ church growth in Korea in the 1970-1990s 

and in China today has drawn the attention of world 

churches to the Asian church. While the proportion of 

Christians in the northern hemisphere has shrunk from 

80.9% (1910) to 37.9% (2010), the Global South now 

represents over 60% of the Christian population.

The future leadership of world Christian organizations 

such as WCC, World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), and 

the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization 

(LCWE)1

 are in the hands of Asian, African, and Latin 

American church leaders. Furthermore, the Catholic 

Church elected an Argentinian pope, Pope Francis, 

in early 2013,2

 and the WEA General Assembly was 

originally due to be held in Korea in October 2014. 

The Korean Church, whether pro-WCC or anti-WCC, 

certainly had the privilege of meeting many world church 

leaders. The majority of Christians in Korea who did 

not know much about the WCC learned more about 

it through the GA in Busan. This GA will produce many 

positive and negative consequences in the Korean church.

Disappointing outcome

A well-known ecumenical Tong Hap pastor in Seoul 

evaluated the WCC GA as a failure for three reasons:

• The Korean Preparation Committee ended 

up with a large financial debt, because some 

ecumenical denominations could not produce 

the funds to cover their promised share. 

• Not a single Korean pastor was elected to 

the WCC Central Committee, denying the 

Korean church influence within the WCC. 

The only election of a Korean church leader 

was as Chair of the Asian WCC Committee.

• The GA did not make any official statement 

on human rights in North Korea, despite a 

request by Korean ecumenical church leaders 

to the WCC Central Committee. In the 

past, WCC had been very active on human 

Deepening divisions

Now, after the WCC GA, the Korean church will 

most likely be more divided than ever, with the rift 

between the two largest Presbyterian denominations 

(Tong Hap and Hap Tong) likely to deepen. The first 

major division in the Presbyterian Church of Korea 

(PCK) occurred in 1959, mainly over whether or not 

to support the WCC. The 10th WCC GA in Busan 

highlighted the differences between conservatives and 

liberals, making matters worse.

WEA impact

It was announced on 11 February 2014 that the upcoming 

WEA General Assembly has been postponed. The 

statement cited ‘internal divisions among the evangelical 

community’ in Korea:

• WEA was partnering with the Christian 

Council of Korea (CCK), the largest 

evangelical body in Korea comprising 

conservative denominations. 

• CCK is under the control and influence of the 

conservative Hap Tong denomination, which 

denounced the WCC GA. 

• In March 2013, a split occurred within CCK. 

A new Korean Churches Association (KCA) 

controlled by Tong Hap was established, 

In the history of the movement since 1948, 

the WCC has never experienced such 

well-organized and vehement opposition.

rights issues around the world. Many Korean 

Christians were appalled by the silence of 

WCC on North Korea.

Further disappointment arose over the GA’s official 

statement in the area of theology. The cross and 

the resurrection of Jesus Christ were omitted in the 

statement, which defines evangelism as restoring living 

beings into fullness of life according to the leading of 

the living God. The WCC did not change its basic 

theological position in Busan.

In the history of the movement since 1948, 

the WCC has never experienced such 

well-organized and vehement opposition.

Deepening divisions

Now, after the WCC GA, the Korean church will 

most likely be more divided than ever, with the rift 

between the two largest Presbyterian denominations 

(Tong Hap and Hap Tong) likely to deepen. The first 

major division in the Presbyterian Church of Korea 

(PCK) occurred in 1959, mainly over whether or not 

to support the WCC. The 10th WCC GA in Busan 

highlighted the differences between conservatives and 

liberals, making matters worse.

WEA impact

It was announced on 11 February 2014 that the upcoming 

WEA General Assembly has been postponed. The 

statement cited ‘internal divisions among the evangelical 

community’ in Korea:

• WEA was partnering with the Christian 

Council of Korea (CCK), the largest 

evangelical body in Korea comprising 

conservative denominations. 

• CCK is under the control and influence of the 

conservative Hap Tong denomination, which 

denounced the WCC GA. 

• In March 2013, a split occurred within CCK. 

A new Korean Churches Association (KCA) 

controlled by Tong Hap was established, with many evangelical denominations leaving 

CCK to join KCA.

WEA leaders had been preparing for their GA in Korea 

in October in cooperation with CCK. The key question 

was whether the present CCK leaders were willing to 

work with all evangelical leaders in Korea, both within 

and outside the WCC. 

Many evangelical pastors of different mainline denominations do not support WCC for theological reasons. 

A key question was whether WEA and CCK would 

include these evangelical church leaders in the WEA GA. 

Longer-term outlook

The WCC GA has shown that the center of gravity of 

the ecumenical movement has shifted from declining 

Western Christendom to the growing churches of the 

Global South. Many of the growing denominations, such 

as the Anglican Church in Africa and Tong Hap in Korea, 

belong to the ecumenical WCC movement. Loss of 

church membership in the West and increasing financial 

crisis in Geneva suggest that the WCC leadership needs 

to return to its original vitality in the 1950s by working 

closely with the evangelical leaders of the Global South.

Liberal leaders within the WCC have maintained 

control in the areas of church administration, finance, 

and seminary education. Amid changing times in church 

history, evangelical leaders from Asia, Africa, and Latin 

America need to increase their spiritual influence in 

these three areas within the WCC. 

The deepening divisions among Korean Christians, 

particularly between CCK and KCA and between Hap 

Tong and Tong Hap, need to be healed. It will take 

a miracle for the church to unify on the basis of the 

biblical and historic faith of Christianity. 

The role of The Lausanne Movement will become 

increasingly important in the future. The LCWE can 

help bring unity among the evangelical churches within 

WEA and the evangelical leaders within WCC who are 

dissatisfied with WCC theology and practices. 

Suggested responses

Evangelical leaders in LCWE can work closely with WEA 

in order to bring cooperation among the evangelical 

churches around the world. The past three Lausanne 

Congresses are good examples of gatherings that bring together all the evangelical church leaders around the 

world, within and outside WCC, to discuss the task of 

world evangelization. 

One way is to work closely with WEA-related 

churches through WEA Commissions (Theological, 

Missions, Women’s, Youth, Religious Liberty, and IT). 

Such cooperation will gain the support of grassroots 

churches and church leaders that are associated with 

different national evangelical alliances and fellowships. 

One area where this has been done is encouraging 

cooperation among over 1,000 evangelical seminaries 

in Asia outside the WCC, and then opening doors for 

them to cooperate with evangelical seminaries within 

WCC ecumenical denominations. 

Evangelical leaders in LCWE can also open their doors to 

evangelical pastors and churches within WCC, because 

most churches within the ecumenical movement in Asia, 

Africa, and Latin America are theologically conservative 

and are looking for evangelical cooperation:

• Most Global South WCC ecumenical leaders 

are evangelicals who have observed the 

downward trend of the WCC movement, 

particularly in the West, and want to be a part 

of the worldwide evangelical movement. 

• However, it is difficult for them to become 

members of WEA because their churches are 

already members of the ecumenical WCC. 

The key task for evangelical churches, whether or not 

they are affiliated with WCC, is to work together for 

the cause of the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus 

Christ (Matthew 28:19-20). The whole church must take 

the whole gospel to the whole world.

REFERENCES

1. Also known as The Lausanne Movement.

2. Editor’s Note: See Norberto Saracco’s article ‘“Pray for me”: 

Pope Francis: How should we respond?’ in the June 2013 issue 

of Lausanne Global Analysis at http://www.lausanne.org/en/

documents/global-analysis/june-2013.html.

Bong Rin Ro, ThD, is Professor of Church 

History and Missions at Hawaii Theological 

Seminary. He has served as ATA General 

Secretary (1970-90) and as General Secretary 

of the WEA Theological Commission (1990-

96). Currently he is ATA International Senior 

Advisor and Dean of the Asia Graduate School 

of Theology-Korea.

SPORTS MINISTRY AND EVANGELISM

How an incarnational and service emphasis underpins effective evangelism

J Stuart Weir

Rev Samuel Ashe, an 18th century English clergyman, 

clearly saw the need for interaction between church and 

sport. He used to spend his Sunday afternoons hiding in 

the trees by the local sports field. He would bide his 

time until the football came near him when he would 

catch the ball and pierce it with a pin.1

 He could then 

go home pleased to have stopped his parishioners from 

sinning! Hopefully, in this article we can identify more 

constructive ways of engaging with the world of sport.

No reasonable person can deny the importance of sport 

in the modern world:

• The FIFA Football World Cup takes place in 

Brazil in June-July this year. 

• The 2010 World Cup was shown on TV in 

every single country and territory on earth, 

with 3.2 billion people around the world, or 

46.4% of the global population, watching at 

least part of it.2

Theological catch-up

Christian ministry to sport largely began in the 1950s 

but has grown exponentially to the point where 

there are currently over 50 ministries with a specific 

engagement with sport in the UK alone. Some form of 

Christian ministry to sport exists in 180 countries of 

the world. However, the growth has been spontaneous 

and often uncoordinated. This process has had certain 

consequences, for example, in terms of theology.

Jim Mathisen, from Wheaton College, has written, 

‘The fact that the current [sports ministry] movement 

still operates in the absence of any clearly articulated 

theology of sport is troubling . . . no theology or 

hermeneutics is broadly shared within the movement’.3

While Mathisen’s comment remains true in the sense 

that sports ministry still operates from no generally 

accepted common theological foundation, more 

and more material on sport and Christianity is being 

published at an academically respectable level.4

Broad scope

Sports ministry broadly falls into two categories--ministry to sport and ministry through sport:

• Ministry to sport means serving sport in the 

name of Jesus; sports chaplaincy5

 is a good 

example of this. The term ‘serving the people 

of sport’ is also used. This is helping the 

(often) elite sportsperson to practise their 

sport Christianly as well bringing church to 

them when competition stops them getting 

to a local Sunday service.

• Ministry through sport is seeing sport as an 

evangelistic opportunity. This might involve 

running sports events with an evangelistic 

purpose, starting a church sports team to 

draw in outsiders, operating a fitness centre 

for the community as part of the church’s 

programme, or distributing leaflets or video 

material with a gospel message in the language 

of sport, often using the testimony of high-profile Christian athletes.

Sports ministry works at all levels and age groups. 

The following vision statement of one UK ministry 

summarizes well the task that the majority of Christian 

sports ministry organizations are engaged in:

• Christians everywhere living out their faith in 

sports clubs and teams.

profile Christian athletes.

Sports ministry works at all levels and age groups. 

The following vision statement of one UK ministry 

summarizes well the task that the majority of Christian 

sports ministry organizations are engaged in:

• Christians everywhere living out their faith in 

sports clubs and teams.

• Churches everywhere engaging with their 

local sports communities.

• Sportspeople everywhere having the 

opportunity to hear the good news of 

Jesus Christ.6

Major event ministry

In recent years, Christians have seen the potential of a 

major event in their country or city as an opportunity 

for service and witness. This type of ministry began in 

the 1990s and has grown significantly over the years, 

particularly at the Olympics and football World Cups:

• A £2 million campaign around the 2012 

London Olympics and Paralympics involved 

over 2,000 volunteers from 40 countries 

serving on mission teams, the production and 

sale of 500,000 Christian resources and the 

distribution of half a million free bottles of 

water. 

• The athlete family homestay programme 

hosted 280 guests from 20 nations for 2,000 

nights of free accommodation. 

• Church-organized events attracted over 

500,000 people.7

Major event ministry has often been very effective 

but can sometimes lead to problems with the event 

organizing committee. They may feel that a particular 

Christian publication conflicts with official publications 

or could mislead the public into believing that there is 

an official relationship between the publisher and the 

organising committee. 

A ministry report on a recent major sports event 

referred to a plan to distribute over 500,000 pieces 

of spiritual literature with testimonies of faith at three 

community fan zones in the city. While one may rejoice 

at this evangelistic enterprise, one might also question 

how the city authorities view the task of picking up 

the discarded leaflets and whether the reputation of 

the Christian community has been enhanced by this 

exercise—or the reverse. 

One may also ask how the organizers of a Christian 

conference would feel if a commercial or political 

organization were to leaflet delegates to their event. 

The potential longer-term effects of a major event evangelistic bombardment and the effectiveness of, say, 

handing out ‘tracts’ to people who are just wanting 

to have a fun day out at a sporting event, need to be 

considered.

Christian ministry to sport largely began in 

the 1950s but has grown exponentially to 

the point where there are currently over 

50 ministries with a specific engagement 

with sport in the UK alone

Christian ministry to sport largely began in 

the 1950s but has grown exponentially to 

the point where there are currently over 

50 ministries with a specific engagement 

with sport in the UK alone

Sports chaplaincy

The chaplaincy programme at the London Olympics was 

arguably the most comprehensive ever conducted at an 

Olympic Games, with 162 chaplains accredited in three 

separate categories to serve the athletes and others in 

the Olympic Village, the workforce and volunteers and 

the media. This was an excellent example of servant-hearted Christians working with the Olympic organizing 

committee to add value to the event. 

The chaplaincy opportunity was created by the foresight 

of the Bishop of Barking who had created the post of 

‘Church of England Olympics Executive Coordinator’ 

five years previously. The person appointed, Duncan 

Green, describes his journey of service to the organizing 

committee in a forthcoming book.8

Sports outreach

At the grassroots level, some Christian-based sports 

outreach projects are being recognised by secular 

sporting networks as valid forms of engagement through 

sport to tackle problems in society. A good example is 

the Ambassadors Fathers’ Football project, which won 

the Beyond London 2012 Innovation award for reaching 

out to support poor, marginalised immigrant fathers in 

the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.9

When the Africa Cup of Nations was held in Egypt in 

2006, the organizing committee was short of volunteers. 

The Christian community rallied round and recruited 

the required help. A Christian leader was given the role 

of Head of Volunteers and a place on the organizing 

committee. 

He said afterwards, ‘It was an incredible opportunity 

that God gave to the sports ministry in Egypt, to be at 

the heart of such a big sports event. Ninety percent of 

the people I was working with—volunteers, organizing 

committee, government—were not Christians. But all 

of them knew I was from a Christian church. I believe 

this is real sports ministry—not just working in the 

church but taking the church outside’. 

The London 2012 and Egypt 2006 experiences show 

how an attitude of servant-hearted support for the 

organizing committee of a major sports event is often 

appreciated and can build bridges between the Christian 

community and the sports administrators.

Disability sport

At the 1992 Paralympics, admission was free, as the 

organizing committee did not think that anyone would 

pay to watch disability sport. In 2012 in London 

the Paralympics were virtually sold out for every 

event. The quality and the profile of disability sport 

have increased dramatically over the past few years. 

However, the Christian community has largely ignored 

disability sport. In the UK perhaps 2 of the 50 sports 

ministries explicitly include disability sport within their 

programme of activities.

If the theological reflection on sport has been sparse, 

the Christian thinking about disability sport has been 

almost non-existent. The publication of a book later this 

year will represent a welcome contribution to the field.10 

Prophetic engagement

Christians have been criticized for failing to have any 

prophetic engagement with sport. Tom Krattenmaker,11 

for example, has lamented the lack of interest in issues 

like racism, exploitation of women, financial corruption, 

or excessive violence in sport. When the 2014 Winter 

Olympics in Russia brought Russia’s anti-gay legislation 

into world spotlight, there seemed to be silence from 

the Christian sports ministry community.

Theological implications

The increased application of theological reflection to 

sport is to be welcomed. However, it must be recognized 

that the process has only just begun:

• Ministry underpinned by a sound 

theological base will be stronger and 

hopefully more effective.

If the theological reflection on sport 

has been sparse, the Christian thinking 

about disability sport has been almost 

non-existent.

• Greater theological understanding will help 

Christians to interact positively with sports’ 

governing bodies and to serve them rather 

than appearing simply to want to use the 

sports event for their own purposes.

• It will also help Christians address and give 

leadership in relation to the ethical issues 

which pervade sport. 

• Ministry which respects the integrity of sport 

without compromising the integrity of the 

gospel is likely to reap long-term fruit.

Lessons and suggested responses

The incarnational model emphasis of sports ministry, 

where Christians enter the world of sportspeople, 

reflects the Pauline emphasis in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 

with a playing, participating, and supporting level of 

involvement that requires a huge commitment in terms 

of time, vulnerability, and intentionality in relationships. 

This is a lesson for other spheres of evangelism that can 

sometimes emphasise a programme/event/‘come to 

us’ approach.

Being open to supporting an incarnational approach in 

evangelism, and in envisioning, equipping, and supporting 

any sportspeople in the congregation to be the church’s 

evangelists to their sports friends and local sports club, 

can be an effective strategy to help the church engage 

with its local sports community. Supporting Christian 

parents of sporty children as they engage with others 

around their child’s sport, through alternative church 

meetings and visiting children at their sports activities, 

for example, is also essential.

Another lesson applicable to other spheres of evangelism 

is that the serving emphasis within sports evangelism 

can break down many barriers and open up doors for 

other evangelism opportunities. Such an approach may 

not yield short-term results but the long-term favour that emerges (e.g., through sports chaplaincy) can lead 

to real growth of influence for the gospel.

Churches should also be open to serve in the community 

in and through sport, for example, in providing 

volunteers, coaches, pastoral care, or a meeting place 

for a local sports club, school, or college. There should 

be a conscious decision to value and prioritise disability 

sport more that has happened up to this point.

Seeing sport as a gift from God, valuing it, and seeking 

to engage with sport as those who care about it, must 

represent a fundamental part of how Christians see the 

world of sport in future. Let us get involved in the world 

of sport and win it for Christ! 

REFERENCES

1. Richard Holt, Sport and the British (Oxford: Oxford University 

Press, 1989), p 39.

2. www.fifa.com 

3. Jim Mathisen, A Brief History of Christianity and Sport in 

Deardorff II, Donald, and John White (eds), The Image of God in the 

Human Body (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen, 2008), p 34.

4. For a list of the main books, see http://www.veritesport.org/

index.php?page=topten. 

J Stuart Weir is Executive Director of Verite 

Sport (www.veritesport.org), a Christian Mission 

to the world of sport. He has worked at the 

Olympics, Paralympics, Commonwealth Games, 

Football World Cups, and a host of athletics 

events. He supports Christians in elite sport 

and has written extensively on sport and 

Christianity.

5. For more details of sports chaplaincy, see Andrew Parker, 

Nick Watson, and John White, Sports Chaplaincy: Trends, Issues and 

Debates (Farnham: Ashgate, 2014). To be published late 2014.

6. www.christiansinsport.org.uk 

7. More than Gold, London 2012 report.

8. Duncan Green, ‘Sports Chaplaincy at the Olympics and 

Paralympics: Reflections on London 2012’ in Andrew Parker, Nick 

Watson, and John White, Sports Chaplaincy: Trends, Issues and 

Debates (Farnham: Ashgate, 2014). To be published late 2014. 

9. http://www.beyondsport.org/the-awards/entries/view.

php?Id=2226 and https://witness.theguardian.com/assignment/51d

59f4fe4b07c36b3600238/433744. I am grateful to my friend Davis 

Oakley, Ambassadors in Football, for this material and other help 

with the article.

10. Andrew Parker and Nick Watson (eds), Sports, Religion and 

Disability (London: Routledge, 2014). 

11. Tom Krattenmaker, Onward Christian Athletes (Turning 

Ballparks into Pulpits and Players into Preachers) (Lanham: Rowan 

& Littlefield, 2009).

J Stuart Weir is Executive Director of Verite 

Sport (www.veritesport.org), a Christian Mission 

to the world of sport. He has worked at the 

Olympics, Paralympics, Commonwealth Games, 

Football World Cups, and a host of athletics 

events. He supports Christians in elite sport 

and has written extensively on sport and 

Christianity.

NATIONALISM AND 

EVANGELICAL 

MISSION

Issues for evangelical leaders

Darrell Jackson

In 1861, the Rev James Adderley was a British member of 

Parliament. His prayer for ‘national confession’ included 

the line, ‘We are truly sorry for all the past sins of this 

nation. We contemplate in deepest contrition the sins of 

which we are now guilty’.

Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbot, recently 

attacked the state-funded broadcaster, ABC, for its 

coverage of allegations that Australia had been spying 

on the Indonesian Prime Minister. Abbot complained 

that the ABC ‘instinctively takes everyone’s side but 

Australia’s . . . you should not leap to be critical of your 

own country’. Journalists were left wondering whether 

their primary loyalty was to accurate reporting of the 

truth or to the national interest.

The contrast could not be more apparent.

Nationalism dilemma

It is a dilemma that goes to the heart of the current 

global rising tide of nationalisms and patriotisms. Ulrich 

Beck describes global trends of this type as ‘stowaways’, 

popping up everywhere and anywhere, when least 

expected. They frequently cause headaches for Christian 

leaders and pose particular challenges for the church or 

mission agency leader responsible for managing multi-national teams. This simple observation requires us to 

understand the scope and significance of nationalism in 

the context of global mission.

European nationalist surge

The global region that the author knows best, Europe, 

currently faces the challenges of nationalist parties winning 

votes in regional, national, and European elections by 

exploiting popular concerns about immigrants, Muslims, 

or historical minority groups:

• Netherlands: The anti-Islamic Party for 

Freedom (PVV) won 24 seats out of 150 in 

the 2010 general elections, and until 2012, 

was a key ally of the minority government. It 

currently has 4 out of 25 Dutch members of 

the European Parliament (MEPs). 

• Hungary: Jobbik, established in 2002, has 

43 MPs out of 386 and 2 MEPs, making it the 

third largest party in Hungary. Committed 

to the protection of Hungarian values and 

interests, it describes itself, among other 

things, as a ‘radically patriotic Christian party’. 

Commentators describe it as ‘anti-Semitic’ and 

‘neo-Nazi’. 

• Italy: The Northern League (Lega Nord) is 

a separatist and nationalist party that 

performs strongly in northern Italy. It has 

41 elected politicians at various levels of 

national government and, in 2010, controlled 

14 provinces. It currently has 9 out of 73 

Italian MEPs. 

• France: The National Front (FN) party, 

founded in 1972, polled 20% of the vote 

in local elections in 2010. It has 3 MEPs 

and 2 members of the National Council. It 

frequently invokes the memory of Joan of Arc 

as a unifier of French values and interests.

United Kingdom: The British National 

Party (BNP), founded in 1982, now has two 

local councillors and 1 MEP. With the rise 

of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), a 

less extreme form of nationalist politics has 

proven popular. It has 9 British MEPs and 220 

local councillors. 

• Greece: The Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS), 

founded in 2000, has 2 MEPs and controls 

121 local councils. LAOS claims an Orthodox 

Christian religious identity allied with a 

radically nationalist political identity.

• Denmark: Since 2001, the nationalist, 

left-of-centre Danish People’s Party (DF) has 

pursued policies committed to protecting 

the cultural heritage of Denmark, including 

the monarchy and the Church of Denmark. 

Through its 22 MPs, one MEP, and 186 local 

councillors, it resists the promotion of 

Denmark as a multi-ethnic society and works 

to limit immigration and promote the cultural 

assimilation of migrants. 

Nationalist parties from Central Europe have tended to 

target historical minorities and generally espouse pro-Fascist ideologies, originating in the 1930s. Western 

European versions tend to target multi-culturalism, 

immigration, and Muslims in particular. 

While populist parties stir up fears, the churches often 

struggle to express a clear kingdom perspective. While 

Pope Benedict XVI frequently referred to this as a 

spiritual crisis of values, there is no united evangelical 

voice speaking into the economic and political instability. 

In some instances, the churches find themselves, wittingly 

or unwittingly, portrayed as patriotic allies in the struggle 

to stem the influx of non-Christian immigrants.

A round-up of stories in 2013 from the BBC, the 

New York Times, Le Monde, the British Guardian, and 

Australian newspaper The Age, make reference to 

instances of nationalism in 35 countries and territories 

around the world.

How are we to think about nationalism?

Early in his own critique of nationalism, Charles Taylor1

concludes that nationalists, above all else, issue a ‘call to 

difference in the face of homogenizing forces’ that are 

global in nature and which assume that the nation-state is 

deeply implicated in the global market economy. Gerard Delanty2

 argues that the success of nationalism lies in 

its capacity to imagine forms of community that nurture 

national belonging, intimacy, commonality, independence, 

and self-determination—those things that are perceived 

to have been destroyed by nation-states, undermined by 

political parties, and weakened, we may add, by global 

bureaucracies.

Global bureaucracies are commonly rooted in forms 

of trans-sovereignty that embrace the emergence 

of increasingly efficient trans-national markets and 

forms of co-operation (including the European Union). 

Eurosceptic reactions to the EU are typically directed 

at its bureaucracies—shaped by the legal and treaty 

framework underpinning its shared political, economic, 

and cultural life. It is precisely during the period 

culminating in the signing of the Maastricht treaty in 

1992 that many of the far-right and nationalist parties in 

Europe were founded. 

In resisting globalisation, most nationalisms use alternative 

narratives that are mythological. These can include:

• ‘Frontier’ myths (common, for example, 

in the USA); 

• ‘Sacred origin’ myths (such as the primordialist 

Magyar myths of the far-right parties in 

Hungary); 

• ‘Heroic’ myths (such as the ANZAC 

mythology that is so important to 

contemporary Australian identity); 

• ‘Creation’ myths (common among the 

indigenous peoples of the world); and 

• Myths of ‘Manifest Destiny’ (including, though 

not limited to, the USA). 

Of course, writing in this way will offend some in countries 

where these myths are credited with greater historical 

veracity than this article may appear to concede. This 

fact alone illustrates the power of myths—their capacity 

for mobilising public opinion, galvanising action, and 

ultimately motivating nations to collective action. 

While populist parties stir up fears, the 

churches often struggle to express a clear 

kingdom perspective.

What are the issues for evangelical leaders?

Firstly, The Lausanne Movement is clearly a global 

expression of evangelical Christianity, and consequently 

exhibits some characteristics of other global movements. 

Lausanne’s commitment to a vision of the one worldwide 

body of Christ, fuelled by passion and enthusiasm, is 

entirely appropriate and wholly commensurate with 

a vision of the kingdom of God. Yet, The Lausanne 

Movement has to balance constantly the national 

interests and agendas of evangelical groupings with the 

global agendas urged upon it by the movement’s leaders.

Secondly, mission teams currently located in various 

parts of the world will, for example, have Russian and 

Ukrainian members. Certainly, Russians and Ukrainians 

will share some common sympathies regarding the 

current situation in Ukraine, mostly rooted in a broader 

vision of the kingdom of God. However, in such situations 

the wise team leader prepares for heated discussions 

within the team as fault-lines converge around patriotic 

or nationalistic feelings:

• These will be conveyed in the sense, felt by 

both sides, that my country normally gets it 

right, deserves my support, and my country’s 

media are probably more accurately telling me 

the truth. 

• The journey from patriotism to nationalism 

starts when ‘my’ convictions become absolute, 

and loyalty to country demands a refusal to 

question it and efforts to silence the questions 

of others. 

Thirdly, as another example, the bitter dispute between 

China and Japan, focused on several small islands, 

threatened to derail an English-language class the author 

was teaching to students in China in 2013. A loaded 

question from the student monitor was only defused 

when the author said that such issues were not widely 

reported in other countries! The vital national interests 

of any one country may be rarely reported by the media 

of other countries; yet it is necessary for the astute 

cross-cultural Christian worker to be constantly alert 

to the spectre of nationalism raising its ugly head and 

threatening to undermine credible witness. 

Of course, the curse of nationalism for the faithful 

follower of Jesus Christ is seen in the extent to which 

Christianity is mobilised as a unifying source of national 

identity over and against others. Responsible and astute 

media commentators will recognise that impact of religion on public and political conversation. Without 

this recognition, it is difficult to form an intelligent view 

of the current crisis in Ukraine, for example. The arrival 

of Orthodox Christianity in Kiev and the ‘Baptism of 

the Rus’ in 988AD are central to Ukrainian and Russian 

versions of national identity and continue to play out in 

the current crisis there.

A biblical perspective

Evangelicals may choose on occasion to express solidarity 

with their government, and it is not always wrong to do 

so. However, they are well advised to keep in mind the 

counsel of British theologian, Esther Reed:

It is not possible to work with an account of . . . nation 

and nationhood . . . if this means a moral partiality 

or politics of superiority that would deny to others 

the same human rights as those of its members, is 

marked by hostility towards and suspicion of other 

nations, and condones the violence and destruction 

that results from these attitudes.3

This perspective reflects a biblical theology of the 

nations that portrays them as the pinnacle of God’s 

creative acts (Gen 10:32); laments their incredible hubris 

(Gen 11:4); declares them to be at the centre of God’s 

missionary purposes (Gen 12:2-3); gathers all nations 

into the body of Christ (Rev 7:9); yet still concludes with 

an eschatological picture of the nations in submission 

and under judgement (Rev 19:15). Christian identity and 

allegiance can only ever be to Christ. All other forms of 

loyalty are temporal and will pass away, finally exposed 

as worthless by the Judge of every tribe and every nation.

Suggested responses

We need firstly to repent of any partiality or superiority 

that we instinctively feel or demonstrate toward co-workers or those among whom we work. 

Secondly, we need to work hard at identifying potential 

sources of nationalist tensions within our own ministry 

and mission teams. We should be prepared to address tricky issues that may arise from time to time, prompted 

by geo-political developments. It is better sensitively to 

raise these issues within a team and try to handle them 

in a healthy manner, always striving for the reconciliation 

secured by Christ through his death and resurrection. 

The alternative can be a festering resentment.

Thirdly, we should be prepared to offer training to 

teams sent into areas where they are likely to encounter 

nationalist tensions. Jesus faced this in his own ministry 

and responded to a leading question, ‘Is it right to pay 

taxes to Caesar?’ with clarity, wisdom, and grace. Our 

equivalent advice might be to focus training around the 

notion of ‘Give to your nation the loyalty due to it and 

to God the loyalty due to him’. Christians, however, 

need constant reminding that loyalty to God is always 

prior to loyalty to nation. This fact may, at times, require 

us carefully to re-evaluate how much any country can 

ultimately expect of a disciple of Jesus, the Lord of Lords.

Christian identity and allegiance can only 

ever be to Christ. All other forms of loyalty 

are temporal and will pass away

REFERENCES

1. Charles Taylor, ‘Nationalism and Modernity’ in Robert McKim 

and Geoff McMahan, eds, The Morality of Nationalism (Oxford: 

Oxford University Press, 1997), p 51.

2. Gerard Delanty, Community, 2nd Edition (Abingdon, UK: 

Routledge, 2009), p 151.

3. Esther Reed, Theology for International Law (London: Bloomsbury 

Publishing, 2013), p 220

Darrell Jackson is Senior Lecturer in Missiology 

at Morling College in New South Wales, 

Australia. He is a Baptist pastor, formerly from 

the UK, and served three years in Hungary 

with the Conference of European Churches. He 

is the Chair of the Lausanne International 

Researchers Network and serves the WEA 

Mission Commission.

CHRIST AT THE CHECKPOINT

An evangelical shift in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Munther Isaac and Alice Su

More than 600 delegates from across the world gathered 

in Bethlehem in March for Christ at the Checkpoint 

(CATC) 2014, the third such conference that aims to ask 

‘What Would Jesus Do?’ in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.1

 Bethlehem Bible College organized 

the conference, inviting speakers from a wide theological 

and political range to discuss how evangelical Christians 

should respond to one of the most politicized conflicts 

of our time:

• What does it mean to seek Christ’s kingdom 

in a land-driven dispute? 

• Does Jesus’ call to love our neighbours 

demand action in response, and if so, what 

kind of action? 

• How are Christians to make peace?

Evangelical shift

These questions not only drove the conference but 

also captured a current shift in evangelical thinking 

toward the Israeli-Palestinian issue. Christians have 

long been among the strongest supporters of Israeli 

policies, especially in the United States. However, 

CATC and its attendant controversies highlighted the 

fact that evangelicals are taking in more and more of the 

Palestinian narrative and theological perspective, and 

are seeking a more balanced take on the conflict.1

A week before the conference, Israeli Foreign Ministry 

spokesman Yigal Palmor stated that it was an ‘attempt 

to use religious motifs in order to mobilize political 

propaganda’. Right-leaning media criticisms also spread 

before the conference even started, with many articles decrying the decline of support for Israel among 

evangelicals, especially youth. 

Conference director Munther Isaac rejected these 

accusations in a statement made to Christianity Today. 

‘We were saddened by the comments of Mr Palmor . . . 

It is unfortunate that an Israeli official would consider 

a conference that aims to provide a platform for international and local evangelical leaders and theologians 

to discuss the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as “political 

propaganda”.’ He continued: ‘We are Palestinian evangelicals, and we believe that we have a perspective that 

needs to be heard’.

The conflict’s realities came through on-field visits 

to areas in the occupied territories and checkpoints 

throughout the week, as well as two clashes between 

Palestinian protestors and Israeli police outside the 

conference hotel. Heightened violence, with multiple 

Palestinian deaths that week, as well as increased 

rocket attacks to and from Gaza, enforced the sense of 

suffering on both sides.

Messianic Jewish and Palestinian believers 

need each other. We need practical love, 

surpassing differences and theology.

Diverse theological beliefs

The conference theme was ‘Your Kingdom Come’, 

which meant something different for each attending 

group, from Palestinian Christians to Messianic 

Jews, Mennonites to Reformed evangelicals and 

dispensationalists. The main theological division lay 

between Christian Zionists, who believe that Jewish 

return to the Holy Land fulfils biblical prophecy and 

thus demand Christian commitment to political support 

for Israel, and those who believe otherwise.

Yet diversity was an asset to CATC, said Bishara Awad, 

founder of Bethlehem Bible College. ‘You may hear 

theological points of view that are not your own’, Awad 

said at the opening session. ‘As you do, ask yourself: 

does this help the kingdom of God? That is, do these 

perspectives stand for justice and peace, defend the 

weak, and help the poor?’ 

Despite their wide-ranging theological beliefs, CATC 

attendees united in their commitment to peace. This 

came through in four conference highlights:

1. Reconciliation

Recognition of different narratives in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is key to reconciliation. Taking in 

an ‘enemy’ perspective can be painful, said Musalaha 

Ministries director Salim Munayer, especially when it 

invalidates your own sense of identity. Yet the gospel 

calls precisely for Christians to love their enemies by 

seeing them as neighbours, brothers, and friends. 

‘The kingdom of God is not holding a sword against 

other human beings, but blessing them’, Munayer said—

an idea that is radically counter to the usual Israeli and 

Palestinian rejection of the ‘other’.

‘When Christians pray “deliver us from evil”, it’s not 

just evil from others. Many times it’s evil that we do’, 

Munayer said, calling for Christians to set an example in 

humble self-examination. ‘We must always ask: are my 

theology, narrative, and conduct a source of blessing to 

my enemy? If they’re not, that’s not the kingdom of God.’

Reconciliation also requires loving one’s neighbour 

despite eschatological differences, as was demonstrated 

through dialogue between Messianic Jews, Palestinian 

Christians, and international evangelicals.

Wheaton College theologian Gary Burge and Messianic 

Jewish leader Daniel Juster delved into the conflict’s 

theological nuances, tackling Zionism, dispensationalism, 

supersessionism, replacement theology, and how all 

the above relate to peace, justice, and Jesus. The two 

disagreed on whether Jews continue to play a special 

role in God’s plan for salvation and on the theology 

of the land, but agreed on Christ’s centrality and the 

urgent need for Christian fellowship and unity.

Messianic Jewish leader Oded Shoshani also called for 

oneness among believers in the Holy Land. ‘Messianic 

Jewish and Palestinian believers need each other. We 

need practical love, surpassing differences and theology’, 

Shoshani said.

2. Peacemaking

Dr Geoff Tunnicliffe, Secretary General of the World 

Evangelical Alliance, applauded CATC as a peacemaking 

effort. Political complexity must not stop evangelicals 

from pursuing the peace that burns in the heart of God, 

he said. ‘The suffering, grief, and despair of Christians, Muslims, and Jews here are an affront to humanity and 

to our God’, Tunnicliffe said. ‘The prince of peace laid 

down his life so we could be reconciled to God and 

to others.’

Evangelicals may disagree on how the world will end, 

what Jesus’ return will look like, or whether the physical 

Holy Land has anything to do with it, Tunnicliffe said. 

However, we can agree on Christ’s clear directive to 

love our neighbour, no matter who he may be. ‘We 

as evangelicals have many core beliefs in common. 

Eschatology is not one of them’, he said. ‘But for the 

sake of Christian unity, can we live grace-filled, Christ-honouring ways together while we disagree?’

Eschatological disagreement should not impact Christians’ 

commitment to resist injustice and love even those 

who hurt us. ‘It is a mistake to think that restricting 

the freedom of some will create stability for others in 

society’, Tunnicliffe said, adding that the peace of Christ 

is meant to be a blessing for all, not an exclusive few. 

‘Power secured by oppression and imprisonment of 

minorities is shaky and unstable power.’

3. Islam

Who is my neighbour? Who is my enemy? These 

questions guided discussions of not only Israel and 

Palestine, but also Christianity amid political turmoil and 

rising Islamism in the Middle East.2

 The answers were 

consistent: everyone is my neighbour and no one is 

my enemy.

‘There is no us or them when defining the neighbour’, conference director Munther Isaac preached. ‘Everyone is a 

neighbour and we are called to love them as ourselves.’

Palestinian minister Hanna Massad spoke about Rami 

Ayyad, a believer executed by Gaza militants—just 

one of many Arab Christians targeted for their faith. 

‘Christians in the West are supporting an occupation 

seen as evil and unjust. Some extremists react against 

that by taking out hostility on innocent Arab Christians’, 

said Joseph Cumming of Yale University.

Yet the speakers called not for resistance or retaliation, 

but embrace. ‘Christ shows us the power of love and 

forgiveness. Don’t let anything to steal peace and joy 

from your heart’, Massad said. Perfect love casts out all 

fear, Cumming likewise preached. ‘If we are focused on 

our own survival, we won’t survive. If we’re willing to 

put survival at risk in order to love our neighbours, that 

is how we will truly live.’

Christ calls us not to fearful self-pity, said Anglican 

theologian Colin Chapman, but to bold, vulnerable 

willingness to reach out and understand. ‘If Jesus could 

change his Jewish followers’ attitudes toward Samaritans, 

could he not change our hearts toward Muslims today?’ 

Coptic Bishop Angaelos likewise spoke of the Egyptian 

church’s response to persecution. ‘We have no enemy 

in Christianity. Loving our enemy means loving those 

who consider themselves our enemies. Thus enmity 

is broken’, he said. ‘We fight hatred by seeing in every 

person the image of God. Palestinian, Israeli, Christian 

or Muslim—at the core, I see and love the image and 

likeness of God in each person.’

Who is my neighbour? Who is my enemy? 

These questions guided discussions of 

not only Israel and Palestine, but also 

Christianity amid political turmoil and rising 

Islamism in the Middle East. The answers 

were consistent: everyone is my neighbour 

and no one is my enemy.

4. The Palestinian Church

Palestinian Christians founded and currently lead 

Bethlehem Bible College, which organized CATC. They 

were the clearest speakers against the Israeli occupation.

‘Shared land is one where we are all neighbours and equal. 

For this to happen, occupation must end’, Isaac said.

The difference between their narrative and the 

mainstream Palestinian one, however, was their call for 

ending occupation not by conquering the ‘other’ or by 

violent means, but by caring for the other.

‘The gospel is and should be good news for both 

Palestinians and Israelis’, said Bishara Awad. Justice 

demands standing up for the weak and oppressed. 

However, asserting Palestinians’ dignity does not dehopeful because I believe in God, who loves the Jews 

and Palestinians. When I look to God, I know peace 

is coming.’

Conclusion

CATC sought to ‘challenge evangelicals to take 

responsibility to help resolve the conflicts in Israeltract 

from Israelis’ equal humanity. 

‘I am not against Jews living in this country. I want 

Palestinians, Israelis, Jews, Christians, and Muslims to 

live in this land in peace’, said Rev Alex Awad. ‘I am hopeful because I believe in God, who loves the Jews 

and Palestinians. When I look to God, I know peace 

is coming.’

Conclusion

CATC sought to ‘challenge evangelicals to take 

responsibility to help resolve the conflicts in Israel-Palestine by engaging with the teaching of Jesus on the 

kingdom of God’. The time has come for followers of 

Jesus to take their calling to be peacemakers seriously 

and engage positively in this part of the world. 

Lynne Hybels, co-founder of the Willow Creek Church, 

spoke in the first two CATC conferences about her 

discovery of the Palestinian church. She recently said: ‘I 

am still pro-Israel, but I’ve also become pro-Palestine, 

pro-peace, and pro-justice and pro-equality for Jews and 

Arabs living as neighbours in the Holy Land. And the 

bottom line is always: pro-Jesus!’ 

If more Christians begin to develop the same attitude, 

then we will see the hope that is desperately needed in 

the Middle East.

REFERENCES

1. Editor’s Note: See Thomas Harvey, ‘The Impact of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict on Ministry to Muslims’ in the January 2013 

issue of Lausanne Global Analysis at http://www.lausanne.org/en/

documents/global-analysis/2013-01.html.

2. Editor’s Note: See Wafik Wahba, ‘Turmoil in the Middle East: 

Implications for Christians there and globally’, in the November 

2013 issue of Lausanne Global Analysis at http://www.lausanne.

org/en/documents/global-analysis/november-2013.html.

Munther Isaac is an instructor and Vice 

Academic Dean at Bethlehem Bible College. 

He is currently a PhD candidate at the Oxford 

Centre for Mission Studies. Since 2011, he has 

been the director of Bethlehem Bible College’s 

international conference, Christ at the 

Checkpoint.

Alice Su studied Public Policy and International 

Affairs at Princeton University and now lives in 

Amman, Jordan, freelancing as a journalist and 

working with refugees. She volunteered on the 

media team at CATC 2014.

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