CAPE TOWN, South Africa–When I looked through the window of my Cape Town hotel this morning, Table Mountain was clearly visible; not a cloud in sight.

There have been many times this past week when it has been so shrouded in clouds that it has caused to me think of the Israelites waiting at the foot of Mount Sinai for Moses to descend.

Participants at the Third Lausanne Congress have awaited with similar anticipation to see what will come out of this gathering of 4,000 evangelicals from 198 nations. Aside from all of the wonderful worship and interaction, what will Cape Town 2010 say to the global church?

The Lausanne Covenant that emerged from the 1974 Lausanne Congress called for unity and global evangelization. Drafted by a committee chaired by renowned theologian John Stott, it was signed by Billy Graham and Anglican Bishop Jack Dain and affirmed by an overwhelming majority of the 2,700 participants in the First Lausanne Congress. A lesser known companion document, the Manila Manifesto, issued forth from the Second Lausanne Congress in 1989.

The Cape Town Commitment is the name of the document that will result from the Congress that concludes tonight. The first part of the commitment was prepared prior to the Congress and released to participants in booklet form on Saturday night. It was authored by a group of senior evangelical theologians drawn from all continents.

The second part of The Cape Town Commitment will result from discussions at the Congress and will be released in all eight Congress languages by the end of November. British theologian Chris Wright is chairing a smaller team of theologians to bring the task to completion.

Wright said that The Cape Town Commitment will not replace the Lausanne Covenant, but will clarify in more detail what the global evangelical church believes. There will be no signing ceremony at the Congress, but elements of the commitment will be incorporated into the closing worship tonight.

Part One of The Cape Town Commitment includes ten statements with relative elaboration following each one. Statements are: (1) We love because God first loved us. (2) We love the Living God. (3) We love God the Father. (4) We love God the Son. (5) We love God the Holy Spirit. (6) We love God’s Word. (7) We love God’s World. (8) We love the Gospel of God. (9) We love the people of God. (10) We love the mission of God.

I pray that the document that results from this gathering of God’s people in Cape Town at the foot of Table Mountain that God so marvelously created will help clear away clouds of misunderstanding within the global church and bring great glory to the Father.