"I Didn't Move; You Did" (Part 3): The Manila Manifesto (1989)

In my first post in this series, I explained why I have become increasingly uncomfortable identifying as an evangelical, as it has become increasingly willing to excuse attitudes, behaviors, and priorities that seem incompatible with the character and teaching of Jesus.

 

My second post began the process of offering a sampling of decades of statements (beginning in the 1970s) put out by evangelical leaders, organizations, denominations, colleges, and ministries. They are declarations and manifestos explaining what they believed Christian evangelicals should value and how Christians should engage the world. They provide a record of what the movement publicly claimed to stand for, even if evangelicalism did not always live consistently with its principles.

 

This post is about a major manifesto in the 80s called the Manila Manifesto. The Manila Manifesto was produced and drafted by the British evangelical pastor and theologian John Stott. He led the drafting team at the Second International Congress on World Evangelization (Lausanne II) held in Manila, Philippines in July 1989. [1]

The Prophetic Witness of the Church

Today's post is courtesy of Mike Eerie on his podcast Voxology, particularly episodes 491 and 492.  I edited for readability (podcast to prose can be tricky).

"Paul’s emphasis is on the church being transformed. The world could and may well be transformed through the church being transformed, but that’s the order. That’s the priority. The church is to be transformative by being the church. The role of me as a Jesus person is not to change other people as much as it is to be the one who is primarily changed.

The primary way the New Testament talks about sharing our faith is through the witness of the church community. The way the world is transformed is by being the church. Here are commandments to the church for how to do that from the epistles in the Bible.