11) The BackPage: Lausanne III in the Rear-View Mirror —

The buzz in the hallways at the Cape Town Int’l Convention Center was that Lausanne had managed to raise $40 million in donations for Lausanne III. This was apparently in addition to the participant registration fees. So the question has to be asked — was it worth it. I’d like to suggest that it *is* worth it. Here’s why:

*** However you slice it, Lausanne works — The congress is famous for its clarion call: Christians have a mongo responsibility to tell the gospel to the untold. When the first Lausanne took place in 1974, approximately half the world’s people were sealed off from the Good News. Partly as a result of the resounding Lausanne gong, that percentage dropped to 1/3 by the second Lausanne congress in Manila (1989). Now, we’re within a hair’s width of that fraction being 1/4 of the world. Score one for the gospel.

*** Once every 20 years isn’t out of line — Granted; if Doug Birdsall advocated for a global conference every year, Brigada would cry uncle. But to me, passing the baton once per generation makes good sense.

*** This is a cause that deserves a reunion — Once I saw representatives from Sao Tome & Principe, singing side by side with brothers and sisters from Madagascar, I knew it was a good deal. Quote this: Lausanne probably looks more like Revelation 7:9 & 11 than anything else on the planet — “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the lamb… They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God…” The rest of the world deserves to see a taste… a pre-game show, so to speak, of what Heaven is going to be like. Who knows — it might cause someone in the liberal press to realize that there’s still a bunch of evangelicals who want to pursue truth, integrity, and unreached peoples.

*** Lausanne becomes a finish line for so many initiatives — Was it any accident that Jason and the gang just happened to release Operation: World on Day 1 of Lausanne III … Or the premier of a revision of “Fruitful Practices,” shipped into Cape Town with the ink still drying. I don’t think so. At least some of the human kind functions best with a deadline. Lausanne III was the biggest deadline since 1989 and 1974.

*** Lausanne gives us *touch* — Yes, video-conferencing and webinars are finally affordable (sometimes even free). And after lots of experimentation and practice, some of us are finally starting to actually *enjoy* them (now that we know which buttons to push). But still, I am restless. I would like to suggest that video-conferencing and webinars work for “information dump,” for true partnerships require a relational component. And frankly (call me old-fashioned if you want), relationships of trust are most efficiently forged face to face. I know that one *can* forget relationships over wires. (Just ask anyone who’s ever married someone from an online dating service.) But my experience is that those relationships take lots of time… and lots of keystrokes. At Lausanne (and other meetings like it), it is possible, under the right circumstances, to forge great partnerships in one *hour*. Face to face, in my opinion, is always superior. Lausanne does face to face reeeeeeeeally well.

*** Lausanne generates a ton of great publicity for the church — There are lots of other global gatherings. They all generate a buzz. But Lausanne is *fantastic* at culturing an environment of humility, unity, cooperation, and charity. Maybe others make us happier. Others might feature more famous people. In my opinion, Lausanne is the best at helping people “get it” — that we’re global for the right reasons… for the glory of God.

How ’bout you? Are you thumbs-up on Lausanne? … or thumbs-down? Click “Comment” below this item on the web and shoot straight with us. Thanks in advance for sharing your views.