Reflections on Dr. Ruth Padilla DeBorst’s message and Lausanne’s apology
At the end of September, during the 4th Lausanne Congress in South Korea, Latin American theologian Dr. Ruth Padilla DeBorst delivered a message entitled “Sent Like Jesus: Pursue Justice!”, a series of controversies arose, including an apology statement issued by the Lausanne Conference headquarters, which said that the suffering of Israelis was not sufficiently addressed. In response, our columnist Hyung Nam Chung recently published an article titled ‘Dr. Ruth Padilla DeBorst’s Message and the Lausanne Apology Debate,’ which summarizes the content of Dr. DeBorst’s remarks, the subsequent reactions of those involved, and the implications of the controversy. This article was originally published in the missionary journal KMQ <Editor’s note>
The Message of Dr. Ruth Padilla DeBorst and the Lausanne Congress #L4 Apology Discussion
I. Introduction
At the 4th Lausanne Congress held in Incheon, South Korea, many messages were delivered. Among them, there was one that deeply resonated with countless participants and received enthusiastic applause, yet also prompted debates about the need for an apology. This was the message delivered on the evening of Monday, September 23, by Dr. Ruth Padilla DeBorst, a theologian from Latin America, titled “Sent Like Jesus: Pursue Justice!”
Coincidentally, I needed to publish an article related to the Lausanne Congress in the GMS Webzine (scheduled for October 10), so I prepared a draft and requested feedback from several related individuals, including Dr. DeBorst, on October 6 and 8. Unfortunately, I received a delayed email response from Dr. Anne Zaki of the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo on October 11. I also shared my draft, set to be published in the KMQ Winter 2024 issue, with Zaki, DeBorst, and others, and received a second email from Zaki on October 31. Additionally, I was introduced to a piece by Palestinian theologian Tony Deik, who had participated in the 4th Lausanne Congress (October 31).
After presenting my article published in the GMS Webzine, Zaki’s two emails, Daik’s piece, as well as Dr. DeBorst’s public letter and the full text of her message, I will conclude this piece.
II. GMS Webzine Article (Slightly Modified)
Ruth Padilla DeBost is the daughter of René Padilla, one of the key figures of the First Lausanne Congress in 1974, who delivered a historic message at that event. René Padilla emphasized that evangelism is more than just the forgiveness of sins and that the gospel must be connected to social justice. In April 2021, when René Padilla passed away, the Lausanne Movement honored him by reintroducing his sermons and described his message as a historic moment when leaders from the Global South first took their place in global evangelical leadership. “When he took the podium to preach, he carried the hopes of the Global South with him,” the Lausanne Movement noted.[1]
Like her father, Dr. DeBost emphasized God’s justice and strongly criticized the church’s responsibility in the face of modern-day injustice. She stated, “There is no room for indifference toward all who are suffering the scourge of war and violence the world round, the uprooted and beleaguered people of Gaza, the hostages held by both Israel and Hamas and their families, and the threatened Palestinians in their own territories.” She also lamented ” colonialist theologies that justify and finance oppression under the guise of some dispensational eschatology.” DeBost called for the evangelical community to adopt a more balanced and just perspective.
On Wednesday, September 25, David Bennett, director of the Lausanne Conference, issued an official apology email regarding DeBorst’s message. He acknowledged that the content had not been adequately reviewed in advance and that it failed to sufficiently address the suffering of Israelis. This apology followed criticism from Dan Sered, leader of the “Jews for Jesus” organization, among others, who argued that DeBorst’s message emphasized Palestinian suffering while overlooking Israeli suffering.[2] Subsequently, the video of her message was removed.
On September 25 (Wednesday), DeBost issued an open letter to clarify her position. She apologized to those who had been hurt by her remarks and made it clear that she was not categorically rejecting dispensationalist theology or criticizing those who hold such views. Instead, she explained that she intended to highlight theological reasoning that some use to justify injustice against others. Regarding her focus on Gaza and Palestinian suffering, she stated, “I am convinced that this is a current justice issue in relation to which we, as Christians, have a particular responsibility.” She condemned Hamas’s attacks as abhorrent and deserving of condemnation but pointed out that the long-standing suffering of Palestinians has worsened in recent events. She emphasized that their suffering should be our suffering and critiqued how many evangelicals support Israel uncritically while ignoring Palestinian suffering.[3] She concluded her letter by expressing hope, as Dr. Ann Zaki so clearly challenged us, we might courageously raise our voices and not be silenced and that we might humbly engage in respectful conversation in the midst of our differences so that, together, we might declare and display Christ in a broken world.”
On September 27 (Friday), Middle Eastern Christian leaders met with Bennett and other Lausanne leaders. Dr. Sam Cho, the former director of Interserve Korea, who was present at the scene, reported, “I was struck by their honesty, politeness, and their unwavering sincerity. Anne Zaki, in particular, demonstrated what true communication is with her powerful message. As a Korean who has grown accustomed to filtered, non-committal messages, it was refreshing to hear such a prophetic voice.”[4] Dr. Jack Sara, the president of Bethlehem Bible College[5], expressed deep disappointment, criticizing David Bennett’s apology as director of the Lausanne Conference for silencing the voice of Palestinian Christians. He stated that the Lausanne movement had failed to adequately reflect the perspective of Palestinian Christians and voiced concern that this apology could lead to further division within the community.[6]
Tim Adams, General Secretary of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, also criticized the Lausanne Movement’s apology, arguing that it went against the spirit of the movement and could cause greater division. He stressed that the Lausanne Movement should embrace diverse theological perspectives, and that the apology had focused on a specific statement while overlooking other important issues.[7]
On the morning of September 28 (Saturday), just before the end of the conference, Bennett sent an email to all participants regarding his apology. He emphasized that “many significant conversations have taken place. These have led to a better understanding of one another, and more importantly to a recommitment to Lausanne’s legacy of welcoming and engaging the diversity of voices in the family of Christ.” He expressed his hope that the controversy would lead to deeper dialogue within the community and prayed, in humility and healing, “that these conversations would continue, so that we as brothers and sisters in Christ would declare and display Christ together. ” He also sent DeBorst’s open letter to all participants. Sam Cho expressed his admiration, stating, “The power to acknowledge mistakes and the effort to connect this to reconciliation—is this not the conversion that evangelicals have emphasized so much?”[8] In time, DeBorst’s video, which had been temporarily blocked, was reopened.
On September 30 (Monday), DeBorst posted on her Facebook page, reaffirming three convictions amid the conflict, pain, and sensitivities: “1) It is urgent that we learn how to live together amid diverse opinions, perspectives, and evaluations. 2) It is essential to persevere in pursuing justice in a world full of various injustices. 3) Especially, we must stand against the injustices in which we are complicit, such as the unconditional support many evangelicals give to Israel’s actions towards the Palestinian people, even if there are some who feel shaken by power and discomfort.”[8]
In my view, DeBorst’s message appropriately addressed the issues surrounding certain extreme dispensationalist eschatology at a timely moment and place. However, as Sered pointed out, had she sufficiently addressed Israeli suffering as well, perhaps the controversy over the apology might not have arisen. Watching Jewish and Arab brothers share fellowship during the Lausanne Congress’s Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regional gathering, I was reminded once again of how precious they are before our Lord as part of “all Israel” (Romans 11:26, interpreted by reformers such as Luther and Calvin). The Jews and Arabs participating in Lausanne each represent “the fullness of the Jews” (Rom 11:12) and “the fullness of the Gentiles” (Rom 11:25).[9] DeBorst’s message and the subsequent conversations reveal the many challenges and tasks involved in sympathizing with each other’s suffering in the gospel and moving toward justice and peace.
III. Two Emails from Egyptian Professor Anne Zaki
The first email contains feedback on the previous article, while the second email provides comments on the draft for the upcoming KMQ issue.
The first email (October 11):
Thank you for including me in this correspondence, and thank you for your accurate and objective summary of the entire situation. I am grateful for people like you who are keeping this conversation going, and by so doing keeping our Middle Eastern voices alive….
During the Firday morning meeting between Middle Eastern Leaders and David Bennett, we made three specific requests, only two of them have happened so far. We are grateful that Lausanne made Dr. DeBorst’s original presentation on Monday night available without any edits. Moreover, we are grateful that David Bennett sent Dr. DeBorst’s Open Letter to all Congress Participants in order to give it an equal circulation to the apology email.
However, we are still waiting for a Letter of Repentance from Lausanne concerning their posture towards the Middle Eastern Church since October 7, 2023, which can be summarized in two sentences: (a) A complete silence and neglect of a suffering that rises to genocidal measures with not a single statement of condemnation of the State of Israel’s disproportionate retaliation over 11 months up to the date of the Congress, and (b) An oppressive silencing of the voice of a global leader with a family legacy of justice, because she dared speak on our behalf and expose Lausanne’s silence and that of the entire Western Evangelical Church. The apology email sent by Mr. David Bennett was the insult that added to 11 months of injury… or dare I say to decades of injury experienced by Palestinans, Lebanese, Syrians, Jordanians and Egyptians.
The Middle Eastern Leaders have not issued a statement yet, and have refused to speak to the press, in order to honor those who met with us on Firday morning. We continue to give the Lausanne leadership the benefit of the doubt as we await the Letter of Repentance we requested. The second email sent by Mr. David Bennett including Dr. DeBorst’s Open Letter could be more accurately described as a ‘Cover Letter’ for the attachment than a Letter of Repentance.
Thank you for giving me this safe space to respond to your wonderful article. Let’s do our best to keep the conversation going by listening to all parties involved.
The Second emial (Octobor 31)
Thank you for another excellent article, where you’ve faithfully presented and reflected on what happened at L4 regarding Lausanne’s reaction to Dr. Ruth’s speech.
The email sent by Mr. David Bennett on the 28th was not regarding the apology. In fact, there was not a single reference to the apology, as if it never happened. The email was simply a few introductory/explanatory lines for the reason why Dr. DeBorst’s letter was being circulated to all congress participants. All that was said, “I would like to honor the request of many Congress participants to publish the open letter.” There was no referencing of “the episode” either as mentioned in your article….
The first email of September 25th specifically acknowledged and documented that Dr. DeBorst’s presentation happened and that people were hurt by her presentation (the letter named Jews, people ministering to Jews, and adherents of Dispensationalist theology). The second email of September 28th, however, specifically avoided acknowledging and documenting the pain of the Middle Eastern delegation, the consequent meeting with them, and the frustration, confusion, and disapproval expressed by many Asian, European, Latin American, Oceanic, and African delegates. It was as if pain was only felt by one side and not the other….
In your article you said, “Lausanne’s silence sends a negative message not only to the Middle Eastern Church but to evangelicals worldwide.” To add to the significance of this sadly true statement, the global church ought to also recognize that Lausanne’s silence and that of the Western world sends a negative message to Muslims worldwide, who tend to associate Evangelical churches in the Middle East with Western Missions, and thus this silence undoes our years of mission and ministry to and among our Muslim neighbors in the region, and threatens the future of our continued life and mission among them.
Thank you Brother Hyung for giving me this safe space to continue to reflect with you on the aftermath of L4 and Dr. Ruth’s call and challenge to all of us to practice God’s justice.
IV. Article by Palestinian Tony Deik
<Mission in the Shadow of Zionism: Reflections of a Palestinian Christian Theologian on Lausanne IV>[10]
As one of four Palestinian participants, I was encouraged to publish a Palestinian Christian perspective on Ruth Padilla DeBorst’s plenary presentation—the only one dedicated to justice.[1]…
My aim is to provide context and expand upon the significance of her remarks about Palestine. A seasoned Latin American theologian, Padilla DeBorst spoke prophetically to the more than 5,000 Christian leaders representing more than 200 countries:
“What makes God’s people such are not superficial expressions of religious piety, “Christianese” jargon, worship jingles, or colonialist theologies that justify and finance oppression under the guise of some dispensational eschatology…. There is no room for indifference toward all who are suffering the scourge of war and violence the world round, the uprooted and beleaguered people of Gaza, the hostages held by both Israel and Hamas and their families, the threatened Palestinians in their own territories, all who are mourning the loss of loved ones. Their pain is our pain if we are God’s people.”
Ironically, those lines that upset some people at Lausanne IV were what made me value and appreciate Padilla DeBorst’s speech the most. In what follows, I will share two main reasons why I felt that way. I will do this, first, by situating Padilla DeBorst’s words in the wider context of the Palestine-Israel conflict, and second, I will discuss evangelical involvement in Israel’s wars against the Palestinians. For a more detailed discussion of some of the theological issues addressed here, readers may check my plenary talk at Christ at the Checkpoint 2024: Missiology After Gaza: Christian Zionism, God’s Image, and the Gospel.
Padilla DeBorst’s words in context: settler-colonialism, apartheid, and “administrative detention”.
The Palestine-Israel conflict is one of the longest-running in modern history. However, it is not a conflict between equals, but a settler-colonial struggle between oppressor and oppressed, colonizer and colonized.
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, European Jews sought to mirror the settler-colonial paradigm that their “Christian” compatriots had followed in the Americas and Oceania. These European Jews began a movement known as Zionism, spearheaded by Theodor Herzl, an Austro-Hungarian journalist. The goal of Zionism was to address Europe’s entrenched antisemitism by establishing what Herzl called der Judenstaat (the Jewish State). With the support of western powers, the Zionist movement began promoting and facilitating the mass immigration of Jews from Europe to Palestine. These Jews did not come to live among us as immigrants. Instead, they came to establish an ethnostate—an ethnically exclusive Judenstaat—on a land inhabited by other people, the Palestinians.
How did the Zionist settlers achieve this? Not with flowers and balloons, but on Palestinian blood and bones—which is typically the case in settler-colonial endeavors. As part of the establishment of Israel in 1948—viewed by many evangelicals as “a sign of God’s faithfulness”—Zionist militias committed no less than 30 documented massacres against Palestinians, destroyed 530 Palestinian villages, and expelled 750,000 Palestinians from their homes (nearly 90% of the population of what eventually became the state of Israel). The result was conquering 78% of historical Palestine. For us Palestinians, these atrocities are our Nakba (catastrophe), but renowned Israeli historian Ilan Pappé aptly demonstrates how they were part of an intentional plan: “the ethnic cleansing of Palestine.”
Tragically, the Palestinian Nakba did not stop in 1948 but has continued ever since. Israel is a country with no well-defined borders; it is a settler-colonial state with a policy of “maximum land, minimum Palestinians.”
In Gaza, Israel has weaponized the deplorable events of October 7th to implement this policy—hence the ongoing disproportionate genocidal war on Gaza, which, at the time of writing, claimed the lives of more than 42,800 Palestinians, including 16,765 children. Dreadfully, one prominent dispensational theologian who was present at Lausanne IV recently described Israel’s policy of disproportionate wars as “understandable.”
In the West Bank, Israel implements the policy of “maximum land, minimum Palestinians” using a brutal system of settler-colonial apartheid, which facilitates the continuous grab of land and the expansion of Israeli settlements. Already, 60% of Palestinian land in the West Bank (the so-called Area C) is confiscated by Israel. At a personal level, my family and I currently live in forced exile due to Israel’s apartheid policies (you can hear our story here).
Of course, I wish Padilla DeBorst’s presentation had covered all of this. But she was given only 15 minutes to address the entire topic of justice! What she accomplished, however, is exemplary: she highlighted the plights not only of “the uprooted and beleaguered people of Gaza” but also of “the hostages held by Israel.” This latter point caused an uproar in some circles; I was told that a group of Germans were about to leave the hall when Padilla DeBorst mentioned “hostages held by Israel.” How dare she claim that Israel—“the only democracy in the Middle East”—would hold Palestinian hostages!
What Padilla DeBorst did, however, reflects prophetic courage. She underscored the forgotten plight of Palestinians held under Israel’s notorious system of “administrative detention,” which is well-documented even by Israeli human rights organizations, like B’tselem. Under Israel’s apartheid system in the West Bank, the Israeli military can arrest any Palestinian without charges or trial—a policy that does not equally apply to Jewish settlers living in the same area. When I was studying at Birzeit University in the West Bank, Israeli soldiers stormed my apartment one night, with no reason whatsoever, pointing their rifles at me. I was lucky enough not to get arrested or shot at, but several of my friends ended up in Israeli “administrative detention” for prolonged periods. In April 2024, Israeli soldiers kidnapped Palestinian Anglican Christian Layan Nasir at gunpoint from her home in the West Bank, leaving her parents in the dark about her whereabouts. Around the same period, Israel arrested and horrifically mistreated esteemed Palestinian Christian scholar Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian. She was confined to spaces tainted with urine and infested with cockroaches, endured yelling and intimidation, and was deprived of sleep, all while being denied access to her essential medications.
Evangelicals are part of the war against the Palestinians.
Padilla DeBorst’s emphasis on the suffering and oppression of the Palestinians is crucial not only because the Palestinian predicament outlined above has often been neglected by evangelicals, but perhaps more importantly because many evangelicals have tragically played an active role in Israel’s wars against the Palestinians by providing Israel spiritual, theological, and practical support.
(1) Spiritually, many evangelicals pray for Israel to conquer and defeat its enemies. I first encountered such prayers when I worked as a missionary with a western mission agency, and I continue to encounter them in evangelical circles, the last of which is Lausanne IV! To our grief and distress, someone posted on the prayer wall of the congress: “Pray for Israel: let them conquer their enemies.” This, for me, is a genocidal prayer that stands in stark opposition to the Gospel of Christ, for “conquering the Palestinians” in Israeli military dogma equates to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, as my grandfather and his family witnessed in 1948, and as we are witnessing today in the genocidal war on Gaza. Of course, no apology was issued by Lausanne’s leadership for this horrifying, un-Christian prayer.
(2) Theologically, according to Pew Research (May 2022), 70% of white evangelicals in the U.S. believe that “God gave the land that is now Israel to the Jewish people.” This belief is a core tenet of dispensational Christian Zionism which Padilla DeBorst critiqued in her plenary talk. However, the fact that this belief is widespread in the U.S. does not mean that the issue is only found there. Wherever I reside, including in the Philippines, the U.K., and Bolivia, I encounter Christian Zionism. We currently live in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and the Pentecostal church next to our home displays no Christian symbols, but, instead, a large Israeli flag! The situation is not better in Africa, as demonstrated in a book edited by Cynthia Holder Rich. A key reason behind the spread of Christian Zionism in the Majority World is the influence of missionaries who hold dispensational beliefs.
In the words of Palestinian theologian Mitri Raheb, claims such as “God gave the land to Israel” and “Israel has a divine right to the land” are part of the “software” that enables the Israeli war machine. This “software” is not only incompatible with the Gospel but is a grave distortion of God’s character and of the good news of Jesus. Christian Zionism, as I explained in my recent talk at Christ at the Checkpoint, depicts God not as just or good but as a tribal, racist deity who shows favoritism to a particular nation or race over others, including the giving of land inhabited by other people. This is certainly not the God whom we worship in Christ, who is righteous and good and “does not show favoritism” (Acts 10:34 NIV).
(3) Practically, one of the primary emphases of evangelicalism is “activism,” as argued by David Bebbington. Therefore, it is quite expected that Zionist evangelicals, who pray for the defeat of Israel’s enemies and who believe that Israel has a divine right to historical Palestine, would act upon their theological and spiritual convictions. For example, a lady once told me how “the Holy Spirit” led her to contact the Israeli embassy in her country to organize a big conference in support of Israel. This is not a lone case. Christians United for Israel (CUFI) is a U.S.-based dispensationalist coalition of 10 million members, dedicated to supporting Israel spiritually, theologically, and politically. A cursory examination of CUFI’s website would give ample examples of the type of material support that these evangelicals extend to Israel, including political lobbying, financial donations, and sponsoring political trips to Israel to “transform pastors from spiritual pilgrims into passionate Zionists.” Other distinguishing features of CUFI is their support of Israeli settlements, opposing Palestinian rights, and favoring sending more weapons to Israel.
In a nutshell, Christian Zionism is antithetical to the Gospel and has no place whatsoever in the righteous and holy Bride of Christ: the light of the world and the salt of the earth. If Lausanne is serious about its goal to “declare and display Christ,” prophetic voices such as Padilla DeBorst’s should be further amplified, not silenced or maligned. Further, the issue of Christian Zionism should have been properly addressed in Lausanne’s State of the Great Commission report, in the congress itself, and in the Seoul Statement, for the state of the Great Commission is inextricably intertwined with the state of the Church. How can we declare and display Christ while holding a theology that severely distorts God’s character? What gospel are we proclaiming to the world? Peter and the early church had to rid themselves of their ethnocentric theology before preaching the good news of Jesus to the nations (Acts 10:33–36). Surely, then, we must abandon a racist, colonialist theology that justifies death and destruction if we are serious about proclaiming and displaying the genuine Gospel of Christ.
IV. An Open Letter from Dr. Ruth Padilla DeBorst to L4
12.30 pm, September 25
The Lausanne Program Team asked me to talk in Seoul about a theme that is central to God’s character, to the Good News, and to the calling of God’s people in the world. I was given 15 minutes to speak about justice. Perhaps, I should never have accepted the invitation! There are so many expressions of injustice in our world, how could anyone thoroughly and responsibly tackle such a deep and broad ranging theme and the complicated scenarios related to it from a biblical and theological standpoint in only 15 minutes?
In light of concerns raised, I am here ratifying a few points and clarifying two others.
Seeking justice is a marker of God’s people and this requires mourning the pain, naming wrongs, repenting for our complicity, and acting in accordance with God’s character through the work of the Holy Spirit.
God hears the cries of all who suffer injustice. And echoing with God’s compassionate heart, we weep with the poor and marginalized. We weep with the victims of racism, discrimination and abuse of all sorts. We weep with the millions displaced by climate change. We weep with the earth itself and with the disappearing species. We weep with all who suffer war the world round. Their pain is our pain.
We are sent into the world in all its messiness as Jesus was. We do not shy away from reality in spite of its complexity. Instead, we name what we see, recognizing that our perspective is marked by our experience and context, that others have different views, that we can only gain a fuller picture by listening humbly to one another and that, at the same time, we are to actively seek justice, echoing with God’s heart to make all things right.
In that vein, in my talk on justice I stated that “what makes God’s people such are not superficial expressions of religious piety, ‘Christianese’ jargon, worship jingles, or colonialist theologies that justify and finance oppression under the guise of some dispensational eschatology.
This is not in any way a blanket dismissal of dispensational theology and, even less, of sisters and brothers who suscribe to that stance. For the pain my statement might have caused, I am sorry. What I am naming is the troubling theological rationale sustained by some people to perpetrate injustice against certain other people.
A second clarification has to do with the following statement.
“There is no room for indifference toward all who are suffering the scourge of war and violence the world round, the uprooted and beleaguered people of Gaza, the hostages held by both Israel and Hamas and their families, the threatened Palestinians in their own territories, all who are mourning the loss of loved ones. Their pain is our pain if we are God’s people.”
Although I did refer to “all who are suffering” and “all who are mourning,” the world round, why would I zero in on Gaza and Palestinians? Why explicitly name only them? I am convinced that this is a current justice issue in relation to which we, as Christians, have a particular responsibility. Let me explain. Truly, the Hamas attack almost a year ago was abhorrent and absolutely reprehensible, and truly people who live in Israel, Jewish, Palestinian and others are being threatened as I write. Their pain is our pain. At the same time, the long standing suffering of Palestinians has been compounded by the attacks on Gaza since October 7 where over 40,000 people have been killed, many of them, children. Additionally, settler attacks have only increased in the West Bank. Their pain is our pain -or it should be. However, far too many evangelicals around the world a-critically “stand with Israel,” and remain oblivious to the suffering Palestinians. This injustice must be named.
It is my prayer that, as the Dr Anne Zaki so clearly challenged us, we might courageously raise our voices and not be silenced and that we might humbly engage in respectful conversation in the midst of our differences so that, together, we might declare and display Christ in a broken world.
VI. A message from Dr. Ruth Padilla DeBorst (Sent as Jesus was: to seek justice!)
(Dr. DeBorst’s sermon is currently available on YouTube under the title “Walking Humbly with God.”)[11]
¡Buenas noches! Amigas y amigos, les cuento que intenté hablar en el idioma del cielo pero me dijeron que no iba a ser posible. ¡Lo siento! In true Latin American fashion, I must bring you greetings from the communities that have sent me here. From Casa Adobe, the intentional Christian community my husband and I are a part of in Costa Rica. From the International Fellowship for Mission as Transformation, present here among us. From Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan, where I teach, and from the Community of Interdisciplinary Theological Studies in Latin America.
He knew the end of his time on Earth was nearing when he stood among his disciples that evening. He also knew they were shocked to see him alive and well, when just days before they had seen him hanging on a Roman cross when he had upset the status quo. “Peace be with you,” he calmed them as he outstretched his wounded hands. “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And he breathed the Holy Spirit on them (John 20.20-21). These, according to the evangelist John, were among Jesus’ last words to his followers, a commissioning of sorts. “As the Father sent me, I am sending you.”
How, we must then ask, was Jesus sent into the world? Sent, not as a royal prince on a gilded Roman throne but as the child of a poor woman and a manual laborer forced to flee for their lives to a strange land. Sent, not as a high priest in a seat of honor in the Sanhedrin but as a roaming teacher with nowhere to rest his head. Sent, not to busy himself with religious rites but, in his own words, “to proclaim good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4.18-19), the year of Jubilee during which land was returned to its original owners, slaves were set free, and all wrongs were righted. Sent to announce and demonstrate the true nature of God’s just, life-giving and sustaining rule and to nurture a community that would do the same.
Now, Jesus’ agenda did not pop out of thin air, no! Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Jesus stepped squarely into the prophetic tradition that had accompanied the people of God since their inception. In his attitudes, words and actions, we witness echoes of prophets like Micah, whose admonishments are as applicable today as they were in Micah and Jesus’ times.
The farming people of Judea in Micah’s days were suffering, not only the anxiety at the impending invasion of enemy military forces but especially the oppression of corrupt governing elites. They were being forced to pay taxes and leave their fields to build cities for the wealthy few. Their lands were being expropriated to feed the greed of the rich while they were forcibly displaced. Their young men were being recruited for the army and their young women were being taken as sex slaves in the royal court. What made matters worse was that these injustices were being masqueraded by religiosity. Religious practices, rites and sacrifices were covering up social corruption. False prophets were deaf to the cries of the people while priests cozied up to the wealthy and blessed the weapons of oppression. Does any of this sound familiar?
Whether we like it or not, an honest look at our world today reveals many of the same injustices, blatant gaps that do not reflect God’s intent for the world God loves. One overarching justice gap that dishonors God is wealth inequality. God created a world of abundance, capable of sustainingthe flourishing of life of the entire created order. However, today, the richest 1% of our planet owns half the riches of the entire world.[12] And while the wealth of the world’s five richest men has more than doubled since 2020, nearly five billion people have been made poorer. Poverty is the most visible face of injustice.
Meanwhile, far too many people suffer the injustice of marginalization and decreased
opportunities due to racism and ethnic discrimination. For example, in the US, white families have eight times the wealth of Black families and five times the wealth of Hispanic families.[13]
Racism also plays into environmental injustice: while climate change and the loss of species affect the entire planet, it is communities of color who suffer the most from the contamination of air, ground, and water, with no means to insulate from it. Waste is dumped in the global South. Climate change is displacing millions of people who are fleeing fires, floods, intensified hurricanes, and unyielding desert land only to find little to no welcome in the wealthy North, which is responsible for their plight.
Another gaping injustice has to do with gender inequity. Women in general get less pay than men for the same job; we are overrepresented in unskilled and “low value” jobs; and we are far more likely to be the victims of sexual harassment and downright abuse. In Christian communities, although women compose the greater number of active members, men overwhelmingly hold the leadership positions while women are restricted in the use of the gifts the Spirit has granted them, solely because they are women.
Discrimination also affects people with physical and mental disabilities, limiting their pay and opportunities in many realms of life. In addition, the digital divide —the difference between those who have and don’t have access to digital tools like the internet, computers, smartphones—means nearly one-third of the global population remains disconnected from a virtual world and deprived of the opportunities you and I take for granted. The AI industry is owned and its algorithms informed by the same 5 men I mentioned earlier. Finally, the industrial war machine continues grinding up people and places, often bolstered by religiously ideological theologies that relativize the image of God in each and every person.
Now, if this is the current situation, what are God’s people called to in the presence of such unjust realities? What was Micah’s message from God to the powerful people of his day, amid their religiously masked and unjust lifestyle? Micah first reminded the people of Judea about God’s gracious intervention on their behalf throughout history. He then exhorted them to remember, to listen, to repent, and to act in accordance with God’s own character. Finally, he summed up God’s expectation in the well-known question we know as Micah 6.8,
He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
What God requires of God’s people then and now is no secret! God’s intent was clear from the very beginning and is made clear throughout Scripture, both for them and for us. Long before Micah’s day, about Abraham, God had said: “For I have chosen him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness andjustice” (Gen 18.19). Centuries later, to the mixed group of freed slaves being fashioned by the law into a new people, Moses insists,
So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being… (Dt 10.12-13)
The prophets consistently echo that call. And Jesus makes this explicit to his early followers: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (Jn 14.15) There is no room for doubt. God is worshiped, not by rites, religious festivities or even by mission activism, all practices that can simply serve as masks, but by ethical obedience. What makes God’s people such are not superficial expressions of religious piety, “Christianese” jargon, worship jingles, or colonialist theologies that justify and finance oppression under the guise of some dispensational eschatology.
What then, are the distinguishable markers of God’s people? Micah’s summary includes three intertwined callings. First, the posture expected in relation to God. God’s people, both then and now, are called to “walk humbly with our God.” This involves living in deep reverence of our Creator, acknowledging our frailty and utter dependence on God. It entails questioning any other power that might challenge that ultimate allegiance and submission. There is no space in this picture for equating the claims of nation or ethnicity over the claims of God’s reign of justice for all. Humility before God opens us to the work of the Spirit, inspiring us to love what God loves, ridding us of our self-sufficient pride and the idolatries that sit at the root of injustice, and allowing us to surrender our humanly devised strategies, our messiah-complexes and our managerial mission penchants so that we might be sent as was Jesus, the Suffering Servant. We are called today to remember, to listen, to repent, and to act in humility, in accordance with God’s own character.
The second marker is “loving mercy or kindness.” This points to the core motivation that should underlie all our actions: deep solidarity and love. It demands unmasking our selfish, self-protective drives and allowing God’s compassion to move us as prophetic peacemakers and to shout to the four winds that there is no ideology so right, no religion so holy, no race so superior that it is ever ok to efface God’s image in God’s beloved creatures. There is no room for indifference toward all who are suffering the scourge of war and violence the world round, the uprooted and beleaguered people of Gaza, the hostages held by both Israel and Hamas and their families, the threatened Palestinians in their own territories, all who are mourning the loss of loved ones. Their pain is our pain if we are God’s people. Being sent into the world as Jesus was is not a recipe for upward mobility or impermeability to the plight of our neighbor or the cries of the earth. We are called today to remember, to listen, to repent, and to act in compassionate love, in accordance with God’s own character.
The third identifying marker of God’s people is the pursuit of justice, the practice of socio-economic and political action for the common good. This requires unmasking our comfortable self-seeking for the sake of the good of the whole community. The supreme model for this practice is none other than God, the Sovereign Lord, as we read in Deuteronomy 10.17-19,
For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them with food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
There is no room in this picture for silence when fellow-human beings are being robbed of home, land, livelihood, and life itself. Not in the Judea of Micah’s day; not anywhere today. Instead, to be true to our identity, those who —with fear and trembling— dare identify as God’s people must step up and step out, unmasking any religious justification for oppression, naming, lamenting, and resisting with all means at our disposal. Hear Jeremiah’s words:
Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom; do not let the mighty boast in their might; do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth; but let those who boast, boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the Lord; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord” (Jeremiah 9.23).
Far from a mere ideological construct of some political tendency, justice is at the very heart of God and should be at the heart of all God’s people are and do. We are called today to remember, to listen, to repent, and to seek justice, in accordance with God’s own character. Truly, some of us may be gifted and sent into particularly focused areas of justice work, advocacy, policy design and implementation. May God bless you in that ministry! But the message of Moses and God’s Law, of Micah and the prophets, and of Jesus himself is that the pursuit of justice is not some add on, optional activity left to those few specialists. “Seek first God’s kingdom and God’s justice,” Jesus challenged all his followers (Mat 6.33). In the dictionary of God’s kingdom, justice is defined as redemptive restoration of all things that are wrong. Justice sets things right; it vindicates the victims. This definition stands in stark contrast with the common usage of the term, in which “justice” equals systems to keep the “bad” guys out of the way through punishment, repression, and death in any of its many forms. God’s justice is life giving. It is an expression of God’s love. Justice, as the visible face of love, brings wholeness of life because it sets things right between people and God, people and other people, people and creation —as it was in the beginning. The fruit of justice is shalom, peace, the flourishing of life, and the realization of God’s good purposes. Without justice, there is no true, lasting peace.
We are sent as Jesus was into the world… We are called today to remember, to listen, to repent, and to seek justice, in accordance with God’s own character. To seek God’s reign and God’s justice.
May the Spirit lead us to yearn, seek, work, and pray, as humble, compassionate channels of God’s justice until our Lord returns and justice and peace finally do embrace!
VII. Conclusion
The discussions around an apology, sparked by Dr. Ruth Padilla DeBorst’s message at this Lausanne Congress, highlighted the need for the evangelical community to deeply reflect on issues of justice and peace. Dr. DeBorst criticized how dispensational eschatology and Christian Zionism could be used to overlook the suffering of the oppressed, including Palestinians, and to justify oppression. In response, some supporters of Israel objected, leading the Lausanne leadership to issue a formal apology, stating that the suffering of Jewish people had not been adequately addressed. However, criticism emerged, suggesting that the voices of Middle Eastern churches and Palestinian Christians were insufficiently reflected in this apology.
Dr. Anne Zaki called upon the Lausanne leadership to repent for ignoring the longstanding suffering of the Middle Eastern church amid the Gaza-Israel war. She pointed out that the Lausanne leadership had remained silent on the tragedies and suffering experienced by Christians in Gaza and the Middle East, thereby dismissing the voices of Palestinian Christians. Dr. Zaki emphasized that genuine repentance and reflection on this silence and disregard were essential for the Lausanne Movement to embrace a diversity of theological perspectives and to restore trust between the Middle Eastern and Western evangelical communities.
Young Palestinian Christian theologian Tony Daik also supported Dr. DeBorst’s message, warning that Christian Zionism creates theological distortions, causing the suffering of Palestinians to be overlooked in the process of supporting Israel. Deik argued that the evangelical community should move beyond unconditional support for Israel and instead empathize with the suffering of the oppressed, including Palestinians, and pursue justice.
This discussion left the evangelical community with the task of empathizing with each other’s pain, listening humbly to diverse perspectives, and realizing true justice and peace in following Jesus’ mission. The prophetic voices of DeBorst, Zaki, and Daik call upon the gospel to extend beyond any particular nation or political inclination, embracing justice and love for all who are oppressed. It is hoped that the Lausanne community will accept these challenges and that Christians in the Middle East and worldwide will move towards God’s justice and peace.
To conclude, I will share part of a note that Dr. Ruth Padilla DeBorst left on Facebook (October 31) to help elucidate her message, which triggered the discussions at the 4th Lausanne Congress: “We’re not ‘pro-Palestines.’ We’re pro: justice, kindness, truth, human rights, peace, freedom, and dignity.”
Dr. Ruth Padilla DeBorst was born in Colombia to an Ecuadorian theologian father, René Padilla, and an American mother. She received her MA and PhD from Wheaton College and Boston University in the United States. She is a past president of the Latin American Council of Theologians. She currently leads the ‘Community for Interdisciplinary Theological Studies’ (CETI) with her husband, James Padilla Deborst, and joined Western Theological Seminary as Associate Professor of World Christianity in 2022. She gave keynote addresses at Lausanne 2010 and 2024.
Dr. Anne Zaki grew up in Cairo in a pastoral family and was selected by the Egyptian government at the age of 16 to study at Pearson College, Canada, and graduated from Calvin College, USA. She holds a Master of Divinity from Calvin Theological Seminary, USA, and a PhD from Fuller Seminary, USA. She is a professor at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo (ETSC), where she teaches homiletics and psychology, and serves her church with her husband. She was a Bible lecturer at Lausanne 2024.
Tony Deik is a member of the Networking Team and Board of Directors of the International Fellowship for Mission as Transformation – INFEMIT, Lecturer in Biblical Studies for Bethlehem Bible College, and Research Associate at the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence, U.K. A Palestinian Christian from Bethlehem, Tony has lived and ministered in several different contexts over the last thirteen years, including in the Philippines, Hong Kong, England, Palestine, and Bolivia. Tony is married to Sara Amestegui Deik, and they have a six-year-old daughter, Nour Sofia. He is a PhD candidate at the University of Aberdeen, researching biblical and Greco-Roman notions of justice. [gpnews]
[1] Sadly, instead of seeking a Palestinian Christian perspective on Padilla DeBorst’s speech, several influential Western Christian media outlets have refused to publish Tony Deik’s article: one editor immediately dismissed the idea, mentioning the Zionist editorial stance of their magazine; another expressed concern that my perspective might put some people off; and a third rejected his article as untimely, even though he submitted it promptly after the congress.
[1] https://lausanne.org/best-of-lausanne/the-late-rene-padilla-and-the-speech-that-shook-the-world
[2] https://sojo.net/articles/news/speech-justice-criticized-israel-global-evangelical-conference-apologized
[3]chrome-extension://mhnlakgilnojmhinhkckjpncpbhabphi/pages/pdf/web/viewer.html?file=https%3A%2F%2Fmilhilard.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F09%2FOpen-letter-from-Ruth-PDB-to-L4-1.pdf
[4] https://www.facebook.com/sammycho2
[5] Dr. Ruth Padilla DeBorst was one of the main speakers at the 2024 Christ at the Checkpoint Conference(Director: Munther Issac) hosted by Bethlehem Bible College, but she was unable to deliver her lecture due to the Hamas-Israel war. https://christatthecheckpoint.bethbc.edu/
[6] https://sojo.net/articles/news/speech-justice-criticized-israel-global-evangelical-conference-apologized
[7]https://www.christiandaily.com/news/lausanne-apology-about-speaker-risks-stirring-greater-controversy.html
[8] https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094131482510
[9] According to the interpretations of reformers Martin Luther, John Calvin, Palmer Robertson, and N.T. Wright, “all Israel” (Romans 11:26) refers to the church community of Jesus Christ. The first clue to this interpretation lies in the fact that the word “Israel” is used with two different meanings in “not all who are descended from Israel are Israel” (Romans 9:6b). The second clue is that “all Israel” (Romans 11:26) represents the unification of “the full inclusion of the Jews” (Romans 11:12) and “the fullness of the Gentiles” (Romans 11:25). For more detailed information, see the author’s article, *A Study of “All Israel” (Romans 11:26) and Issues in Replacement Theology*: https://gpnews.org/archives/103486
[10] This article appeared in English on the website of the International Fellowship for Mission as Transformation – INFEMIT on 30 October. https://infemit.org/l4-palestinian-perspective/
[11] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrMvOT7m6r4
[12] Inequality.org https://inequality.org/facts/global-inequality/
[13] “The 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances—which examined assets such as savings, investments, retirement, pensions, and especially homeownership—Mollenkamp, Daniel Thomas. What is the racial wealth gap? Definition, Statistics and Impact. Updated October 30, 2023 https://www.investopedia.com/the-racial-wealth-gap-5105010.
by Hyung Nam Chung, GMS
Hyung Nam Chung is a graduate of the Arabic Department of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and Chongshin Theological Seminary, and holds a Th.M from ACTS University, and a Doctor of Ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary. He has been on sabbatical since August 2024 in Korea after serving in Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt since 1989 with GMS. His works include the book “Islam and the Issue of the Messianic Kingdom”(CLC Korea, 2009), and as a research professor at ACTS University, he has published numerous papers in ACTS Middle East Studies and the online Gospel Prayer Newspaper.
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