My year-long focus on reading and studying the life, works, and ministry of Francis Schaeffer has been incredibly enlightening. In particular, I have noted that you can break up Schaeffer’s life into three distinct seasons or phases. Phase one, was his separatist years. In those years Schaeffer was focused on conflict between his brand of Fundamentalism and those who were, in his view, more liberal. But, his move to Europe saw a major change in ministry focus. The European Years were marked by evangelism and partnership.
The Move to Switzerland
Schaeffer first went to Europe on behalf of the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions in 1947. The goal was to take 3 months and evaluate the theological landscape post World War II. The hope was that they might be able to mount a rescue plan for churches who had not completely bought into the theological modernism of the day. While there he “visited thirteen countries and had two appointments a day for ninety days” (Barry Hankins, Francis Schaeffer and the Shaping of Evangelical America, 29). Upon his return he planned to resume his pastorate in St. Louis, but he received numerous letters from Europeans filled with questions. These letters began to tug at his heart and draw him back to Europe. By fall of the next year the Schaeffer family made their way to Switzerland to live and do ministry permanently as representatives of the Independent Board.
While in Europe Schaeffer began to move further and further from his separatist peers. It was more than just geographical distance; his growing awareness of the danger and devastation of theological modernism saw a need for partnerships in the gospel wherever possible. In particular, he grew tired of militant separatism and saw a pressing need for spiritual health. If separatism was still correct, in his view, the emphasis on separation was not enough to create healthy churches and healthy Christians. There was a larger goal that he was already beginning to shift towards. As early as 1950 he was beginning to rethink many of his previously held positions. “I have realized that in many things previously,” he wrote to McIntire, “I have been mistaken.” In 1951 he wrote again saying:
I do not think we can…curse those who happen to differ from us in our own work and expect the blessing of which should be the desire of our hearts…
He began to compare separatism to the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2. They had forsaken their first love. Schaeffer didn’t want to be like that and by 1954 he and McIntire were at complete odds.
The Ministry of L’Abri
Schaeffer did not wish to do the administrative work for which the Independent Board had sent him abroad. His focus was on lecturing on modern theology and evangelizing students. This focus was only magnified by the official launch of L’Abri in 1955. Francis and Edith resigned from The Independent Board for Foreign Missions that year and poured all their energy into this new ministry. L’Abri meant “The Shelter” and it existed to provide space for seekers to come and learn about God. The amount of students who came through those doors over the years is unknown, but it is an enormous number. In one six week period in their second year of existence, there were 187 visitors who stayed with the Schaeffer’s. By 1970 they would have as many as 130 people staying for a single weekend. L’Abri was a massive and consuming ministry.
One of the chief themes of L’Abri was a consistent Christian worldview combined with consistent Christian living. Schaeffer was not an academic, he was a missionary. He hosted evening lectures and open forums, but these were always connected to real life and he spoke as a real person to real people. “Honest answers to honest questions,” was Schaeffer’s motto, but those questions and answers were done in the setting of a home and a welcoming atmosphere. Schaeffer had no more time for attacking fellow Evangelicals, his mind and ministry were on the lost young people of Europe who were flooding through their doors. As Hankins notes, “…L’Abri was not a place where people were simply argued into the kingdom of God. Here they were also drawn in by Christian hospitality and love” (63).
Critiquing the American Church
Francis’ success in Europe led to success in the States as well. The lectures he gave throughout Europe and especially at L’Abri found their way back home. Either through the tape ministry of L’Abri, or, eventually, through the publication of his books. By the mid 1960s Schaeffer was lecturing at several colleges across the U.S.: Harvard, MIT, Wheaton, and Calvin. In many of these places he criticized modernist theology. He defended the faith against heresies and deceptive teaching. But he also criticized the conservative churches who had failed to love the lost and provide “honest answers to honest questions.” Doing a series of lectures at Wheaton in 1965, for example, he boldly proclaimed:
When evangelicals learn to stop their laughing and take such men and their struggles seriously, then [evangelicals] can again begin to speak to our generation.
Schaeffer had a lot of things still to say to the conservative church. If much of his ministry had focused on warnings against more liberal theology, he didn’t shy away from pointing out the failures of his own camp. In Marks of the Christian, for example, he rebuked the church for its failure to love. In Pollution and the Death of Man, he critiqued the church for its lack of environmental theology. These were very different rebukes than he had given as a separatist. Still stinging critiques, to be sure, but of a different sort all together.
His European years saw a major shift in focus, a softening of his heart, and a welcoming of partnerships. Ever the fiery evangelist, Schaeffer was nonetheless different in Europe. Love and logic were the tools of his ministry and his primary goal was to see lost souls saved through dialogue and hospitality. These were significant years for him. In many regards, had he not gone to Europe it is not likely that Francis Schaeffer would be known today. Europe changed him.
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