29 August 2024 | Belgrade, Serbia [James Shepley with tedNEWS]
At the end of the second day of the European Pastors Council (EPC), dedicated to the theme of ‘extending love’, more than 1,200 delegates gathered for vibrant worship in the vast assembly hall at the refurbished Sava Centre in Belgrade, Serbia. In a hard-hitting and provocative message entitled, ‘What is the Policy?’, Pastor Jonathan Holder, serving at the North of England Conference, appealed for the Seventh-day Adventist Church to never allow knowledge to take precedence over love.
Introducing the evening session, Karen Holford, Family Ministries Director at the Trans-European Division (TED), paid a moving personal tribute to the life and work of Marica Mirilov, who died in July. João Martins, ADRA Europe Director, then took the opportunity to thank church members for their selfless support in responding to the massive influx of refugees from Ukraine. Leading hundreds of delegates in inspiring worship songs, Kärt Lazić recalled how God’s lavish love continues to exceed all expectations.
In introducing the speaker, Pastor Patrick Herbert set the bar high. He recalled the first time he heard Jonathan Holder, then a 16-year-old youth, preach at his church in Nottingham. “He preached with utter conviction and a preacher’s rhythmic cadence, leaving all his hearers challenged.” Now, Holder is a visiting lecturer in Homiletics at Newbold College of Higher Education (NCHE), a pastor of three churches in the North of England, and is pursuing a PhD in preaching at Baylor University in the United States.
With the title ‘What’s the Policy?’, Holder used 1 Corinthians 8 as his text. He transported the audience back to first-century Corinth when the church was deeply split on the issue of whether or not to eat food sacrificed to idols. One group argued that this was wrong as a pagan practice. The other group argued that since idols were nothing, it couldn’t possibly matter to eat food sacrificed to them. The issue was sufficiently controversial for them to write to Paul for guidance. “What’s the policy, Paul? To eat or not to eat?”
In his response to 1 Corinthians 8, Paul recognised that idols were nothing. Knowledge. But he also stated that “if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again.” Love. Paul prioritised love over knowledge.
Echoing a theme already introduced in the morning, Holder reflected on how pastors are doing in this regard. He highlighted Ellen White’s response to a theological dispute among church leaders, which aired publicly in the Adventist Review. “I am pained beyond measure when I see how little love is cherished and manifested among brethren…. Shall we not closely examine our own souls, and see whether we are in the possession of the love of God?”
Moving to the present day, Holder lamented that too many colleagues had left the ministry because of sickness, burnout, and stress, but nobody had said anything publicly. “How willing are we to sacrifice for them?” he asked. In particular, he highlighted the issue of the treatment of women pastors. “I think the most egregious way that we have prioritised knowledge over love has to be the treatment of our sisters in ministry,” he stated. “We need to say, ‘I don’t care what your theology is, there is a level of respect that is needed. Respect this call and support those who God has called too.’”
“Imagine what it would take for the Seventh-day Adventist Church to appear in the Top 100 Sunday Times list of best employers,” Pastor Holder challenged the audience. “It would take love to be prioritised over knowledge. That is the only reason we are here at all. God knew He would be rejected, but He still chose to go through with the plan of redemption.” Holder concluded his message with an altar call for those who wished to commit to prioritising love over knowledge in their ministry.
[Photos: Tor Tjeransen and James Botha, Adventist Media Exchange CC BY 4.0].
