A Statement of Missionary Concern
A Statement of Missionary Concern
By a Caucus on Missions held at Four Brooks Conference Center, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, July 9-11, 1985
BECAUSE the uniqueness of the Christian Faith is being compromised by the movement called 'Contextualization' which increasingly places cultural considerations above Biblical norms; and
BECAUSE the integrity of the Christian Gospel is being nullified by contextualized attempts to 'build bridges' to non-Christian religions and to find common salvation-ground with them; and
BECAUSE the well-being of the Christian Mission to earth's billions is being jeopardized by the development of 'ethno-theologies' which would avoid the reproach of Christ and the offence of the Cross —
IT IS IMPERATIVE that an alarm be sounded and a standard raised for the rallying of those concerned with the fulfilling of the Great Commission in a truly Biblical context.
ACCORDINGLY,
WE AFFIRM the sovereignty of the Living Triune God in world evangelization and Gospel response, REJECTING any ultimate dependence on human means and methods of communication;
WE AFFIRM the sufficiency of the Biblical revelation, carried home by the Holy Spirit, to bring lost men and women to saving faith in Christ, REJECTING cultural accommodations which obscure, alter or relativize the Gospel, God's power unto salvation to everyone who believes;
WE AFFIRM the plain sense of Holy Scripture as normative for Christian discipleship and duty, REJECTING sophisticated reinterpretations by self-styled experts which falsely stimulate missionary activity and deflect from true Gospel obedience;
WE AFFIRM that for historic Christianity love for the lost and the unity of believers is always based on Scriptural truth, REJECTING concepts of love which are contrary to truth and righteousness;
WE AFFIRM that faithfulness to God's revealed Word is the key to lasting God – honouring results in homelands and on mission fields, REJECTING the assumption that success hinges on new and exotic strategies;
WE AFFIRM the primacy of Gospel proclamation over all other forms of Christian service, REJECTING theologies of mission which would reduce evangelism to a parity with social action;
WE AFFIRM the believing Church to be God's appointed means for the accomplishing of His purposes, REJECTING approaches that would bypass faithful, albeit imperfect, congregations in lands where the Church has already been planted;
WE AFFIRM, as those with a particular concern for the Islamic world, the long history of Christian missions to Muslims and rejoice in the many accomplishments, REJECTING the charge of general failure due to a lack of 'proper contextualization';
WE AFFIRM the responsibility of Christ's servants to declare to Muslims and all others the Christian message with precision and consistency; REJECTING appeals that would minimize, or seek to obliterate, the essential differences between Christianity and any other religion;
WE AFFIRM the unique Person, final authority and transcendent glory of Jesus Christ, our Great God and Saviour, apart from Whom there is no salvation, REJECTING all comparisons between Him and the founders of other religious systems.
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