The Gospel and Social Responsibility — Manila

In 1989 four thousand evangelical leaders convened in Manila for the Second International Congress on World Evangelization. This was a follow-up to the initial Conference of 1974 which adopted the Lausanne Covenant that promoted unity and a better focus on ministry for the burgeoning Evangelical Movement. As in the first conference, significant leadership was exercised by the late Rev. John Stott, a British evangelical who in his lifetime exerted immense influence on evangelicalism world-wide.

For purposes of defining Christian Social Responsibility as a legitimate, but sometimes neglected, Evangelical Christian teaching, I provide below just this one part from the Manila Manifesto that addresses this theme.

4. THE GOSPEL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

The authentic gospel must become visible in the transformed lives of men and women. As we proclaim the love of God we must be involved in loving service, as we preach the Kingdom of God we must be committed to its demands of justice and peace.

Evangelism is primary because our chief concern is with the gospel, that all people may have the opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Yet Jesus not only proclaimed the Kingdom of God, he also demonstrated its arrival by works of mercy and power. We are called today to a similar integration of words and deeds. In a spirit of humility we are to preach and teach, minister to the sick, feed the hungry, care for prisoners, help the disadvantaged and handicapped, and deliver the oppressed. While we acknowledge the diversity of spiritual gifts, callings and contexts, we also affirm that good news and good works are inseparable.

The proclamation of God’s kingdom necessarily demands the prophetic denunciation of all that is incompatible with it. Among the evils we deplore are destructive violence, including institutionalized violence, political corruption, all forms of exploitation of people and of the earth, the undermining of the family, abortion on demand, the drug traffic, and the abuse of human rights. In our concern for the poor, we are distressed by the burden of debt in the two-thirds world. We are also outraged by the inhuman conditions in which millions live, who bear God’s image as we do.

Our continuing commitment to social action is not a confusion of the kingdom of God with a Christianized society. It is, rather, a recognition that the biblical gospel has inescapable social implications. True mission should always be incarnational. It necessitates entering humbly into other people’s worlds, identifying with their social reality, their sorrow and suffering, and their struggles for justice against oppressive powers. This cannot be done without personal sacrifices.

We repent that the narrowness of our concerns and vision has often kept us from proclaiming the lordship of Jesus Christ over all of life, private and public, local and global. We determine to obey his command to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness”. (1 Th. 1:6-10; 1 Jn. 3:17; Ro. 14:17; Ro. 10:14; Mt. 12:28; 1 Jn. 3:18; Mt. 25:34-46; Ac. 6:1-4; Ro. 12:4-8; Mt. 5:16, Jer. 22:1-5; 11-17; 23:5-6; Am. 1:1-2,8; Is. 59; Lev. 25; Job 24:1-12; Eph. 2:8-10; Jn. 17:18; 20:21; Php. 2:5-8; Ac. 10:36; Mt. 6:33)

Excerpt here is from: The Manila Manifesto – Lausanne Movement