Mark Dawes, Staff Reporter
The Rev. Dr. Denton Lotz, general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance, makes a point during an interview with The Gleaner last week.
– Contributed Photo
THE BIGGEST challenge facing the 21st century will be 'The clash of civilisations' and there is going to be need for inter-faith dialogue to defuse the conflicts that will threaten religious freedoms.
That's the view of the Rev. Dr. Denton Lotz, general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA). The Rev. Dr. Lotz and his wife Janice were the guests of the 156th General Assembly of the Jamaica Baptist Union which was convened in Kingston last week. Rev. Lotz was the guest speaker.
Dr. Lotz, 67, has been general secretary of the BWA since 1988. His resume includes work as a missionary between 1970-1980 to nations of the former Eastern European communist bloc.
LEVEL OF RECEPTIVITY
The Gleaner asked Dr. Lotz his views on the level of receptivity of the Eastern Europeans to the Christian Gospel.
He responded: "George Bush Sr. said there was going to be a new world order when communism fell with justice and peace. But instead what we realise is that we have had tremendous ethnic conflicts. We had a clash of civilisations. For example there was Chechnya versus Russia; Islam versus Orthodoxy; Bosnia versus Serbia; and all the way in Africa we had Hutus versus Tutsies. The basis of much of the conflicts today is religious. It's a clash of civilisations.
"So instead of freedom and justice coming, we have religious extremism. The majority of churches in the Eastern bloc witnessed a tremendous influx of parachurches from the West.They said to themselves, 'We need to restrict this.' So restrictive laws came about. This affected the actions of Baptists and others in the teaching of religion in schools. Though there is much more freedom now than there was under communism, there is still a lot of restrictions. But nevertheless churches are growing in Eastern Europe. There used to be just one Baptist church in Moscow under communism, now there are 52 Baptist churches there. Ukraine used to have 1,000 Baptist churches, now there are 3,000. "There is a renewal going on in Eastern Europe. There is a hunger and yearning of the people for purpose and meaning in life," Dr. Lotz said.
CARTOON PROTESTS
Concerning the recent protests in the Islamic world which were provoked by the publication of unflattering cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad in Danish and other Western newspapers, Dr. Lotz argued that the way forward must include mutual respect among religions, and that religious leaders ought to lead the way in repenting for offences caused and otherwise pursue reconciliation. He said also that not enough is being said of derogatory depictions of Jews in the Islamic press, and this needs to be addressed.
According to Dr. Lotz, "Religious extremism is when people from the right or the left are not willing to dialogue on disagreements over faith, but they want to take to the streets and use political means to enforce their religious faith on other people." He posits: "There needs to be separation of the State from religion. All these problems come about when there is a State religion. When there is separation of religion from the State it better serves religion and the State.
He cited Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo who in dealing with recent ethnic clashes in his country, set up a peace commission to include 10 Christians and 10 Muslims who were charged with charting the way forward to defuse religious conflicts which undergirds much of the social upheavals in that country.
NIGERIAN MODEL
Dr. Lotz said the Nigerian model is worthy of emulation and thus more Christians should sit down in dialogue with their Muslim counterparts to ensure an easing of tensions and the pursuit of peace.
Dr. Lotz is a former associate professor in mission at the Baptist Theological Seminary in Ruschlikon, Switzerland. In 2003 Lotz convened the 'Summit on Baptist Mission in the 21st Century' that focused on the need for Baptists everywhere to be involved in the global formation of mission policy, and the sending and receiving of missionaries with special support for Third World missionaries. The BWA, he explained, does not send missionaries into the mission field, but it is supportive of indigenous evangelism.
He spoke of the radical change in missionary demographics. He noted that in the 19th century Europe was evangelised and Africa was largely unevangelised. Today Africa is evangelised and Europe has abandoned its Christian roots.
CHRISTIANITY'S CENTRE OF GRAVITY
He noted, too, that the centre of gravity for global Christianity has moved from Europe and North America to Africa, Asia and other nations of the South. "In 1906, 85 per cent of Christians in the world were in North America and Europe. In 2006, 60 per cent of Christians in the world are in Asia, Latin America and Africa the so called Two-Thirds World." He observed that there is less North to South evangelism taking place as increasing this is being replaced by South to South missionary activities.
Baptists, Dr. Lotz explained, are a group of Christians who adhere to believer's baptism (baptism by water immersion); congregational government; the belief that the Bible is the sole basis for faith and practice; missional evangelism.
The BWA is a fellowship of 214 Baptist unions and conventions comprising a membership of more than 34 million baptized believers. This represents a community of approximately 80 million around the world. The BWA unites Baptists worldwide, leads in evangelism, responds to people in need and defends human rights.
The BWA has a president, and 16 vice-presidents who represent its work on every continent. BWA staff includes a general secretary and Division and Department directors. There are six BWA regional fellowships. Jamaica is represented in the BWA through the Caribbean Baptist Fellowship, of which the Jamaica Baptist Union is a member.
'INTERNATIONALISE'
The BWA has come in for some flack in recent years, most notably from the Southern Baptist Convention which in 2004 voted to opt out of the BWA which it helped found 100 years ago. The Southern Baptists withdrew charging that the BWA had grown too liberal and that it had admitted into its ranks a Baptist church group that had members openly practising homosexuality. Dr. Lotz in press reports said the BWA was being unfairly tarnished as it does not condone homosexuality nor would it allow church groups who are pro-gay to be part of its membership.
The BWA general secretary said on his watch as CEO he has managed to 'internationalise' the leadership and membership. He has earned plaudits for his work in racial reconciliation. He was the catalyst for the BWA Special Commission of Baptists Against Racism and Ethnic Conflict which produced the Harare Declaration, in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1993, a guide for Baptists to work for racial and ethnic harmony. This led to the BWA Decade for Racial Justice 2000-2010.
Dr. Lotz has also worked to establish good relationships between Baptists in China and the China Christian Council. He believes it is critical for Baptists to maintain ties in a country with one of the largest number of Christian believers.
According to Dr. Lotz, Baptist witness globally is on the incline. In a release issued shortly before his visit to the island he said: "We believe that the future of the BWA is as bright and hopeful as the promises of God. We are going into the future confident that Christ who began a good work in us will complete it! The amazing support of the BWA from our worldwide constituency continues to be a sign of God's goodness and grace!"
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