You don’t have to listen to Pastor Erton Köhler, the new General Conference president, long before you hear him say that as a movement, the Seventh-day Adventist Church is grounded in the Bible and focused on mission. I have noticed that those working closely with him are also using the same words. It’s a renewed mandate.
I’m reading through the words of the prophet Jeremiah now. Jeremiah, unlike many prophets, gives insight into his thoughts and feelings as he shares God’s messages to the morally failing kingdom of Judah during the 6th century. He reminds people that their idolatry will destroy them. They are violent and greedy and do not care for the oppressed—orphans, widows and foreigners. They are also sacrificing their children to foreign gods. As a young priest and prophet, even his relatives and friends opposed his warnings. They plotted against him, burnt his prophetic scripts, threw him in a dry well and sang mocking songs about him. Being a prophet was not easy. In one of these times that Jeremiah is sharing the challenge of his mission he writes, “But if I say I’ll never mention the Lord or speak His name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It is like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can’t do it” (Jeremiah 20:9 NLT).
Jeremiah is clear: he can focus on his challenging mission because the Word of God is within. Jeremiah is grounded in the Bible and focused on mission. The two go hand in hand. If we are grounded in the Bible, we will meet the God of the Bible who calls us to a life of purpose.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church has no mission if it is not grounded in the Bible. If we do not know God and His truth, we have nothing to say of value. If we do not know our identity in Jesus, we have no-one to share. If we are not united in the Spirit, our mission is weak. All can be involved in mission because we have a message from God direct from the Bible.
Each GC executive committee member received a gift—a perspex sphere on a stand featuring an open Bible at the base and the globe in the centre. Engraved on the stand are the words, “Grounded in the Bible and Focused on Mission”. I’ve placed mine on my desk. However, being grounded in the Bible and focused on mission is more than a desk ornament—it is a mandate for me and you as disciples of Jesus.
