As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of its independence on 4 July 2026, the Secretary General of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), Rev. Botrus Mansour, has issued an open letter to American Christians that blends deep gratitude with a forward-looking challenge. Writing in the magazine Evangelicals, published by the North American Evangelical Alliance, Mansour honours the sacrifice and generosity of American believers while calling the church to a new season of humble, incarnational mission over the coming half-century.
Mansour, who leads the global body representing some 600 million evangelicals across more than 140 countries, opens his letter on a personal note. He describes how American Christian influence shaped his own faith long before he ever set foot in the United States — through the practical support of missionaries, generous ministry partnerships, and the global reach of American evangelical institutions. Yet the heart of the letter is not celebration but reflection. Mansour urges American churches to use the next 50 years to become more "incarnational" — serving others with humility, understanding local cultures, and resisting the temptation to export a one-culture version of Christianity.
The WEA leader identifies four specific concerns for American Christians to examine in the decades ahead. First, he warns that prosperity-leaning language can overshadow the Gospel's call to simplicity and dependence on God. Second, an overemphasis on individualism risks weakening the shared, community-centred life the church is called to embody. Third, insufficient collaboration — where strong entrepreneurial instincts unintentionally limit deeper partnership across traditions and nations. And fourth, the risk of nationalism merging with Christianity, which can compromise the gospel's universal witness. Each concern is offered not as condemnation but as an invitation to self-examination.
Mansour concludes by encouraging American Christians to celebrate both their national independence and what he calls the "greater freedom found in Christ." His parting exhortation is that the American church would bless the nations not only through its considerable strength and resources, but through a renewed willingness to follow Jesus wherever he leads — even when that path points toward greater humility and interdependence with the global body of Christ.
Source: World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) — worldea.org
