The Future of Christian Mission in

Norman A. Horner

n January 1977 I published an article in the Occasional and business, better educational facilities than existed anywhere I Bulletin of Research' under the title "The else in the region, and relative economic affluence. It was also the Churches and the Crisis in Lebanon." I had just returned from a one country of the area where and collabo­ mission of eight years in the , with primary residence rated more or less harmoniously in the social and political order. in , and had personally experienced the first eighteen Under the surface, however, there was resentment in other months of the . In that article I maintained that Christian communities as well as among the Muslims and this war is basically over social and political issues rather than re­ against the Maronite hegemony. There was also as much resis­ ligious issues as such. I believe that my analysis accurately re­ tance to any change in religious affiliation as existed in the more flected the situation at that time, and I would not now retract any conservative Muslim states of the region. Any increase in the ratio of the statements except for a too-eas y assumption that the coun­ of Christians to Muslims was seen by the Muslims as a further try was even then on the road to recovery. The war has instead threat to the uneasy population balance and to their already sub­ dragged on for seven more years, reaching an intensity that no servient position in the body politic. Hence there were actually one dreamed possible even in the dark days of early 1976, and no less Muslim converts to in the otherwise liberal real solution has yet been reached. atmosphere of Lebanon than in where the population is 98 I shall here introduce three propositions: (1)The future course percent Muslim . of Christian mission in Lebanon will be conditioned very largely Today the demography of Lebanon has changed. There are by the future of Lebanon itself as an autonomous state-and that probably sixty Muslims and Druze to every forty Christians. An is presently quite unclear. (2) Evangelization, if it is to be authen­ unofficial estimate published on November 5, 1975 in Beirut's tic, must be characterized by genuine outreach to the non-Chris­ prestigious French-language newspaper al-Nahar,» edited by population. It can no longer consist of intra-Christian Greek Orthodox Lebanonese Christians, gave a combined Muslim , of merely winning people who are already at least and Druze total of about 2 million and a Christian total of approx­ nominally Christian from one ecclesiastical allegiance to another, imately 1,200,000. Those numbers would obviously be somewhat a procedure that has too often stained the record of the past. (3) different nearly a decade later, in 1984, but the ratio of Christians The healing of a sorely broken Lebanese society will require an un­ to Muslims has surely not increased on the Christian side, and it precedented measure of collaboration among all the churches rep­ is probable that proportionately more Christians have emigrated resented in the country. If the currently warring factions , during those years of almost continuous warfare. Christian and Muslim alike, are to regain enough mutual trust If Lebanon's confessional system of government is to survive even to coexist peacefully in a common political order, such rec­ in an autonomous state, it is clear that the representation of the onciliation must begin within the household of Christian . several religious communities must reflect the actual demographic situation and not that of forty years ago. This would not only I. The Future of Lebanon as an Autonomous mean the end of Maronite hegemony, but it would also require a State more equitable representation of the Shi'ite Muslims who now considerably outnumber the Sunnis. The current Shi'ite unrest is Lebanon is the only country in the Arab East where Christians still in fact caused no less by the intransigence of the Sunni establish­ constitute a large percentage of the total population. No official ment than by that of the Maronite Christians. census of religious affiliation has been taken since 1932, but that There is no evidence to suggest that the confessional system census gave Christians a slight majority over the combined total of of government is doomed. For the first thirty-two years, from in­ Muslims and Druze. The country's full autonomy in 1943 was dependence in 1943 to the outbreak of civil war in 1975, Lebanese achieved largely at the initiative of the , an Eastern-rite Muslims as well as Christians benefited from that collaboration. Catholic community and the largest of several major Christian They enjoyed more freedom and prosperity than in the tradition­ churches in Lebanon. A unique "confessional system" of govern­ ally Muslim states of the region, and they would be reluctant to ment was established, the distribution of representation based on see it disappear. There is even now no Widespread popular objec­ the 1932 census. By gentlemen's agreement rather than constitu­ tion to retaining a Maronite as president of the republic,' so long tional mandate, the president of the republic would always be a as other Christians as well as Muslims and Druze are equitably Maronite Christian and the prime minister a Sunni Muslim . represented in the decision-making process. This leads the pres­ Although the Shi'ite and Druze communities were represented ent writer to speculate that Amin Gemayel, a Maronite Christian in parliament according to their presumed numerical size, and in and the current president of Lebanon, will survive politically. Un­ the less sensitive ministries, the major political, economic, and like his brother, Bashir, who was assassinated only weeks after as­ military power remained in Christian hands. suming the presidential office, Amin has not been as identified The result was outwardly spectacular. Lebanon came to be with the right wing of the predominantly Maronite Phalangists called " the Switzerland of the Middle East," with a free economy, and has shown himself to be more politically astute in dealing freedom of the press, a favorable climate for international banking with both Lebanese Muslims and the Syrian government. Ifa po­ litical structure based on Christian-Muslim collaboration fails, it will be because external forces oppose it and not because it is ob­ Norman A. Horner, associateeditorofthis journal during 1976-82, is nowretired in Louisville, Kentucky. From 1968 to 1976 heservedasa Presbyterian missionary jectionable to the Lebanese population as a whole. in theMiddleEast, with residence in Beirut. In 1983he returnedtotheMiddle East Two outside powers in particular currently threatened the Le­ forsix months of research on a Walsh-Price Fellowshipfrom Maryknoll. banon political experiment: and . Lebanon was a part

146 International Bulletin of Missionary Resear ch of Syria until 1943, and the have never been fully recon­ International Bulletin ciled to Lebanese independence. One factor among others is Syr­ of Missionary Research ia's eagerness to retain unlimited access to the . A glance at the map will help one to understand this. Beirut, a first­ class seaport, is less than 100 miles from via a good Established in 1950 as Occasional Bulletin from the Missionary highway. , on the other hand-a decidedly second-class Research Library. Named Occasional Bulletin of Missionary port and Syria's only shipping alternative-is a much longer and Research 1977. Renamed International Bulletin of Missionary more circuitous journey from the capital city. Research 1981. The Israeli opposition to a free and united Lebanon is of an entirely different order. A successful Christian-Muslim political Published quarterly in January, April, July and October by the alliance would be perceived by the as a threat to the se­ Overseas Ministries Study Center curity of their own Jewish state. Hence the willingness of Maron­ e~t~emists par~ition 6315 Ocean Avenue, Ventnor, New Jersey 08406, U.S.A. ite to Lebanon in order to create an exclusively Chnstian preserve IS unquestionably encouraged and supported Telephone: (609) 823-6671 b~ Israel. The relatively. conciliatory stance of President Gemayel with regard to more representation of Muslims and Druze in gov­ Editor: Associate Editor: ernment affairs, and his negotiations with the Syrian authorities to Gerald H. Anderson James M. Phillips that end, are thus regarded unfavorably by the Israelis. Moreover, Contributing Editors: Israeli territorial designs on Lebanon south of the Litani River, known in Israel as "northern ," have long been of concern Catalino G. Arevalo, S.J. Lesslie Newbigin to the Lebanese. David B. Barrett C. Rene Padilla R. Pierce Beaver Thomas F. Stransky, C.S.P. Western Christian , both Protestant and Roman Catholic, enjoyed a freedom of entry and movement in independ­ Norman A. Horner Charles R. Taber ent prewar Lebanon unmatched elsewhere in the Middle East. Mary Motte, F.M.M. Desmond Tutu Anastasios Yannoulatos Mission-founded schools, hospitals, and other institutions had a notable impact not only on the Lebanese population but on the re­ Books for review and correspondence regarding editorial matters gion at large. I shall argue that certain safeguards are needed to should be addressed to the editors. Manuscripts unaccompanied prevent the abuse of such freedom, but its very existence in the by a self-addressed, stamped envelope (or international postal future will depend upon a restoration of full autonomy to an un­ divided nation. The hope that neighboring Muslim states will ul­ coupons) will not be returned. timately permit such restoration lies in a Widespread recognition Subscriptions: $14.00 for one year, $26 for two years, and $37 for that the Middle East needs a Lebanon much in the way East Asia three years, postpaid worldwide. Individual copies are $5.00; bulk needs a Hong Kong-as an open-access bridge between East and rates upon request. Correspondence regarding subscriptions and West. That analogy is inexact in the political sense, of course, be­ address changes should be sent to: International Bulletin of cause Hong Kong has never been and is unlikely ever to be an au­ Missonary Research, Circulation Department, P.O. Box 1308-E, tonomous state. But the region-wide social and economic impact of the two countries is at least reasonably parallel. Fort Lee, New Jersey 07024-9958.

Advertising: II. Mission as Evangelization of the Avowedly Ruth E. Taylor Non-Christian Population 11 Graffam Road, South Portland, Maine 04106 Telephone: (207) 799-4387 Roman Catholic missions in Lebanon began at the time of the Cru­ sades. Protestant missions date to the first quarter of the nine­ Articles appearing in this journal are abstracted and indexed in: teenth century with the efforts of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). Neither made Bibliografia Missionaria much headway in the conversion of Muslims and Druze to Chris­ Christian Periodical Index tian faith and allegiance. Failing that, they drew their membership Guide toSocial Science and in Periodical Literature from among those who were born into the ancient Eastern Missionalia churches, but who were either disgruntled with the hierarchies of Religion Index One: Periodicals those churches or spiritually unsatisfied with their church life.4 On Religious and Theological Abstracts the positive side, that made the difference with some people be­ tween mere affiliation and vital Christian faith. But it did little to Opinions expressed in the International Bulletin are those of the au­ further the professed goal of evangelizing the Muslim and Druze thors and not necessarily of the Overseas Ministries Study Center. population, and it also left a residue of mistrust and alienation among Christian churches. Even today the Eastern hierarchs, far Copyright © 1984 by Overseas Ministries Study Center. All rights from applauding either Roman Catholic or Protestant missionary reserved. efforts, are more inclined to regard them as comparable to the Cru­ sades of earlier centuries. Second-class postage paid at Atlantic City, New Jersey. It is important to note that the original intention of Western POSTMASTER: Send address changes to International Bulletin of Protestant missions was to strengthen rather than disrupt the Missionary Research, P.O. Box 1308-E, Fort Lee, New Jersey Eastern churches. The earliest mandate given to missionaries sent 07024. by the ABCFM was to work within the traditional churches rather ISSN 0272-6122 than to organize Protestant communities in separation from them. The assumption of most Protestants in North America of that day

October 1984 147 was that only the Eastern churches could effectively evangelize dilemma that has confounded the Christian mission since the rise the Muslims of their own region, and that they merely needed to of in the seventh century A.D. I merely suggest that the fu­ be "awakened" and equipped for that responsibility. However, ture of mission in Lebanon demands an ongoing search for more those nineteenth-century missionaries failed to recognize the ex­ effective witness to the avowedly non-Christian part of the pop­ tent to which the Eastern churches were incapacitated by reason ulation rather than to gain church membership at the expense of of their status under the system imposed by Ottoman rule. other churches-or even to be content with making already pro­ Whether "awakened" or not, they were effectively prevented fessing Christians more devout. The latter is Christian nurture from engaging in any overt evangelistic activities among the peo­ rather than mission across the boundaries of unbelief. ple who dominated them politically. Moreover, an early hostility grew up between the Western missionaries and the Eastern hier-: III. Collaboration among the Churches to Heal archies. This was in part because so much of Eastern pat­ a Sorely Broken Lebanese Society ,terns and church administration was completely alien and even 'objectionable to the Protestant mind and often misinterpreted by Christians, although no longer a majority of the Lebanese popu­ the missionaries. But, in this writer's opinion, it was mainly be­ lation, still playa leading role in the country's life and will con­ cause those missionaries had undertaken their efforts at reforma­ tinue to do so. It would be a catastrophe for Christianity in tion without prior invitation from the very churches they were Lebanon and in the region at large if they did not. They are gen­ seeking to reform. The reaction of Eastern church leaders to what erally better educated and with broader international interests they interpreted as unwarranted interference was therefore pre­ than their Muslim neighbors, but divisions among the several dictably negative and sometimes drastic. Christian communities have been in some ways intensified by the For the past thirty years there has been a growing concern ongoing war. among Catholics and mainline Protestants in Lebanon to elimi­ Throughout nearly a decade of warfare in the country, the nate "sheep stealing" altogether. But it has continued in a variety churches within Lebanon have been unable to speak effectively, of small, sectarian Protestant groups that see other churches of either singly or with unified voice, against the social and political whatever kinds as fields for their particular harvest. The Orthodox evils that are basic to the conflict itself-and the behavior of some churches are by no means the only victims of such proselytism. . of them has obviously exacerbated the turmoil. In a country where The sectarian groups draw members from the established Protes­ politics and religion are so intimately related, this has undoubt­ tant communities as well, in some cases because they manifest edly damaged the image of Christianity. One may in fact wonder more evangelical zeal and greater excitement. In this way the whether an authentic Christian witness can again have much real smallest Christian minority in the country is further divided, impact on this religiously pluralistic society as a whole for a long while the professed goal of evangelizing Muslims remains rela­ time to come. Yet such witness is badly needed, and greater col­ tively untouched. laboration among the churches will be necessary to make it effec­ South Lebanon is an area especially vulnerable at present to tive. sectarian appeals because of social upheaval as a result of the pro­ There are promising channels for interchurch partnership to longed war. It is a region of the country currently beyond the that end. The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), orga­ reach of the Lebanese central government, and it is cut off from nized in 1974, has been able to maintain its headquarters in Beirut. the Protestant Council in Beirut that formerly exercised discretion­ Predecessors of this council, the Christian Council ary control over residence visas granted to foreign missionary per­ (1929-63) and the Near East Council of Churches (1964-74), were sonnel. New sectarian and parachurch groups, mainly of North very largely the result of Western missionary initiatives. The for­ American origin and generous financial support, have found it mer organization was composed entirely of Protestant mission possible to penetrate from the Israeli border. They manifest con­ agencies, and the latter of churches established by those agencies siderable and often commendable zeal, but woeful ignorance of (with the sole exception of the Syrian Orthodox Church, its only the trauma that results when people of highly traditional cultures non-Protestant constituent). In 1974, after a decade of sporadic ne­ are encouraged to break away from their social and ecclesiastical gotiations with the much larger Orthodox churches, the MECC moorings. Some Protestants in the West have so casual an attitude was born. Its membership now includes all the non-Catholic with respect to denominational that they feel quite justified churches in Lebanon except for the Assyrian (Nestorian) Church in changing affiliation at will. That is not the case in the traditional of the East, and certain Protestant groups who are either fearful or churches of Lebanon or elsewhere in the Middle East. There one's disdainful of belonging to an avowedly ecumenical fellowship. church membership is integral to his or her identity among those Despite war and Widespread unrest throughout much of the re­ whose Christian history dates to the apostolic era, and whose gion during the first decade of its existence, the MECC has not struggle for survival as a Christian people is centuries old. only survived but greatly expanded its program. Internal ten­ The established Christian missions from the West have made sions, similar to those felt in the World Council of Churches, con­ an enormous impact on the life of Lebanon during the past cen­ tinue to challenge it, and for the first time serious theological tury and a half, and this has continued throughout the recent civil dialogues across confessional lines have begun to take place under war. The American University of Beirut and St. Joseph University MECC auspices. in Beirut, the two most prestigious schools of higher education in The absence of Catholics, both Latin and Eastern rite, from the entire Middle East, are both products of the missionary enter­ MECC membership is a serious limitation, especially in Lebanon prise. Theological schools, other colleges, and many of the where Catholic churches together represent nearly 60 percent of church-related primary and secondary schools that educate nearly the total Christian population and where a united Christian voice half the school-age children of the country-Christians and Mus­ is so desperately needed. Without their involvement it is still a lims alike-have similar origins. Add to these Christian hospitals, rather than the Middle East Council of Churches (just as the parent clinics, welfare projects, orphanages, and homes for the aged, and body is, strictly speaking, a World Council of Churches). There the total impact is indeed impressive. But evangelization in the are, however, encouraging developments. Several MECC com­ traditional sense of that word has never been easy anywhere in missions do have Catholic participation, and the major Catholic the . I do not pretend to offer a blueprint to solve the seminaries belong solidly to the association for theological edu­

148 International Bulletin of Missionary Research cation that has now become an integral part of that council's struc­ ongoing is in itself a kind of miracle. For the most part they are ture. It is no longer unusual to find seminarians of other continuing those activities-and with such dedication as to make confessions enrolled at the graduate-level theological schools of ,this writer hopeful of their willingness to evaluate their mission in Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox churches throughout the wider perspective once returns to their troubled land. country. They are there to prepare for more effective ministry in Western missionaries-both Protestant and Roman Catho­ their own churches, with no thought whatever of changing their lic-are still there, but not in the numbers they once maintained affiliation. Such cross-registration has been commonplace in the or with the freedom of movement throughout the country they West for a very long time, but in Lebanon as elsewhere in the Mid­ earlier enjoyed. Entry visas and work permits are no longer easy dle East it can be credited very largely to the efforts of an associa­ to obtain, even for those who have served many years in Lebanon. tion of theological schools that is less than twenty years old. Lebanon is in turmoil, but the Lebanese are a resilient and re­ Present conditions in Lebanon are not conducive to planning sourceful people, and they willrecover. Mission agencies will be the future of Christian mission in that country. Lebanese Chris­ well advised to plan their future mission in full awareness that it themselves are preoccupied with sheer survival and the daily must never again be reduced to a sequence of independent, dis­ task of continuing the programs and institutions to which they are connected excursions from the West. They must be prepared to already committed. Few if any proposals on which one may draw reckon with the spirit of renewal within the Orthodox churches, for an article such as this have as yet been published, and hence to further the process of reconstruction in the country, to help no bibliography is herewith appended. That the congregations of Lebanon become a self-concious part of the Arab East to which it Christians still meet regularly for worship, their schools still func­ belongs geographically, and to further the cause of a united Chris­ tion, their hospitals and other church-related institutions are still tian witness to the Muslim majority.

Notes

1. Vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 8-12. made recently, but few Lebanese Muslims advocate eliminating 2. Cited by Robert B. Betts in Christians in the Arab East (Atlanta: John Maronites entirely from that position. Knox Press, 1978), p. 92. 4. See this writer's article, "The Problem of Intra-Christian Proselytism," 3. Proposals to alternate Christian and Muslim presidents have been International ReviewofMission, October 1981, pp. 304-13.

Urban Evangelization: A Lausanne Strategy since 1980

Raymond J. Bakke

In June 1980the Lausanne Committee forWorld Evangelization (LCWE) heldthe vided formal input into the follow-on design strategy. Equally im­ Consultation onWorld Evangelization (COWE) in Pattaya, Thailand. COWEwas portant, however, were numerous nonreported, informal inputs structured around a score of mini-consultations, oneof which wastheMini-Con­ and conclusions from pre-COWE study groups and dozens of sultation on Reaching Large Cities, chaired by Rtlymond J. Bakke. Participants in hours in passionate dialogue before, during, and immediately this mini-consultation prepared for the Pattaya gathering by compiling data, re­ after COWE, during which certain guidelines surfaced: search materials, and models pertaining to urban ministry in manyof theworld's largest cities. At Pattaya this material was evaluated, biblical reflections were Negatively: The Lausanne urban strategy must not be a high-gloss shared, a report was drafted underthe title Christian Witness to Large Cities "here's how," solution-oriented, prepackaged program that pro­ (Lausanne Occasional Paper #9), and a follow-up program- was proposed. Dr. motes guilt by success images and perpetuates dependencies of Bakke was appointed a Lausanne Associate, with the assignment of coordinating two-thirds-world-cities leadership on Western, imported, white, andservicing anextensive program ofconsultations on urban ministryaround the male experts. world. In the following article, Bakke describes the natureand extent of this pro­ gram. Of special interest ishisemphasis ona process approach (rather thana "how­ Positively: The urban evangelistic strategy mandate must be theo­ to" approach), and his effort to deal with the sometimes dubious role of the "out­ logically rather than pragmatically conceived, contextually con­ sider"mission specialist. gruent with the sociologically and structurally complex natures of world-class cities, and developed in the light of the churches' total our years have passed since 110 delegates met in the urban mission, which includes everything the church is sent into F COWE mini-consultation on large-cities evangelization these cities to be and to do: namely, worship, , disciple­ at Pattaya, Thailand, at which a three-year follow-on strategy of ship, stewardship, fellowship, and service. The constituent targets urban consultations was announced. Hence, a cursory report, re­ would be as inclusive as the Lausanne Covenant itself. flection, and critique are appropriate at this time. In the light of these guidelines the follow-up emphasis shifted The Pattaya discussions were officially reported in Lausanne from content to process/design/strategy consultations in large cit­ Occasional Paper #9, Christian Witness to Large Cities, * which pro- ies on all six continents with a catalytic or envisioning goal of em­ powering "the whole church to take the whole gospel to the whole city." Raymond J. Bakke is Professor ofMinistry at Northern Baptist Theological Semi­ nary" Lombard, Illinois, anda founding member of the Seminary Consortium for Urban Pastoral Education (SCUPE) in Chicago. Heisalso theLausanne Associate for Large Cities, in which capacity he has traveled to some seventy major cities *Maybeobtained from Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, P.O. Box around theworldin thelastfouryears. 1100,Wheaton, Illinois 60187, U.S.A., at $2.00 percopy.

October 1984 149