Primacy of Evangelism

I think we should agree with the statement of the Lausanne Covenant that 'in the church's mission of sacrificial service evangelism is primary' (para. 6, "The Church and
Evangelism"). Christians should feel an acute pain of conscience and compassion when human beings are oppressed
or neglected in any way, whether what is being denied them is civil liberty, racial respect, education, medicine, employment, or adequate food, clothing and shelter.
Anything which undermines human dignity should be an offence to us. But is anything so destructive of human dignity as alienation from God through ignorance or rejection of the gospel? And how can we seriously maintain that political and economic liberation is just as important as eternal salvation?

--John Stott, From "Christian Mission in the Modern World" (London: Falcon, 1975), p. 35.