The morning plenary, in which Wright was the keynote speaker, was titled, “Calling the Church of Christ Back to Humility, Integrity and Simplicity.”
Respected theologian Chris Wright gave a challenging critique Saturday of the evangelical movement when he said a disturbing number of its leaders are guilty of idolatry.
God’s people today, like in the Old Testament, have fallen to worshiping the false gods and idols of the world, said the international director of U.K.-based Langham Partnerships as he spoke before the thousands attending the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangeliziation.
“Idolatry … is the biggest single obstacle to world mission,” said Wright, who will be the main drafter of the much-anticipated Cape Town Commitment that will come out of the weeklong gathering of mission-minded Christian leaders.
According to Wright, the three idols are: power and pride, popularity and success, and wealth and greed.
Many evangelical leaders, he said, have become obsessed about their status and power in the Christian church and have become disobedient to Christ in the process. They worship popularity and therefore exaggerate or report dishonest statistics to make themselves look more successful than they are.
Similar to the false prophets of old, these leaders claim to speak the word of God but really act in their own self-interest.
“The Church was dazzled by these super apostles who boasted about their credentials and their impressive speaking and great popularity,” said the theologian, whose ministry was once led by John Stott, the evangelical leader who was the main drafter of the first two Lausanne covenants.
Read an commentary on this presentation written by Tim Stafford of Christianity Today here.
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