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RK: This statement links directly to the world-church mission statement but is reinforced by six specific values for the TED context.<\/p>\n
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- First, we are committed to meeting people where they are<\/strong>: instead of demanding that they meet us on our terms, we build up the kingdom of God, empowered by the Holy Spirit to create new communities infused by His love. We call this transformation, the mark of our missional success here in Europe.<\/li>\n
- Second, when it comes to leadership matters, we pursue the highest ethical standards<\/strong>, with servant leadership that is open, transparent, accountable, principled and visionary. This is not just about who we are, but about being a living example to the society that surrounds us. It is called ethical integrity.<\/li>\n
- Third, because we are all alike born into the image of God, as followers of Christ, our spiritual DNA drives our Christ-like compassion \u2018without exception\u2019<\/strong> for all people. Here\u2019s a reality: communities around us in twenty-first-century Europe are still struggling with this. The church, our church, must not lag behind in respect of diversity, but be at the forefront in respecting, empathising and showing Christ-like love. We do not believe there should be any exceptions on the basis of colour, caste, nationality, ethnicity, race, religion, health condition, age, gender, or sexual orientation.<\/li>\n
- Fourth, because of the challenges in society I\u2019ve just shared, the role of the church is to bring healing where there is hate and injustice<\/strong>. Doesn\u2019t Micah 6:8 tell us what the Lord wants from us \u2013 to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God? We call it a ministry of service, helping and healing the whole person, particularly those in society who are vulnerable or rejected.<\/li>\n
- Fifth, there is something distinctive about how Seventh-day Adventists understand Scripture in relation to freedom, healing, love and hope in Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that we belong to an \u2018expectant\u2019 community.<\/strong> We need to help each other strengthen this understanding.<\/li>\n
- Sixth, for the very reason that we are an expectant, waiting community, we know we have work to do. The spreading of the Gospel in Europe remains unfinished business. This means we have no time for navel-gazing about irrelevant issues, but are called to action to spread the good news of Jesus Christ in attractive and relevant ways<\/strong> to our neighbourhood and beyond. In doing so, we promise to share a life in Christ that is biblically faithful, distinctly Adventist, culturally relevant and authentic to people in twenty-first-century Europe.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
DN: Thank you for sharing these values; and, as you can imagine, I want to dig a little deeper on each one. What does it mean, \u2018meeting people where they are, rather than on our terms\u2019?<\/p>\n
RK: At one time, our evangelistic mode was almost exclusively doctrinal. It was geared as, \u2018Here is a message; here is the truth we have to share\u2019 \u2013 usually delivered by a professional (pastor\/evangelist). This means of communication still has a place, but is now part of a wider strategy. The focus has moved from the \u2018evangelist\u2019 to the \u2018disciple\u2019 who grows and matures relationships which make new disciples in Christ<\/strong>. If this is ever to become a reality, we need to increase the level of training and practise our faith. Where does the best training take place? In the local church, led by the pastor and elders. I believe that one-to-one faith sharing, guided by the power of the Holy Spirit, has the potential to create a community of disciple-makers all across the Trans-European Division, the like of which we have never seen before.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>A group of students from Newbold College dialogue with TED leaders<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n DN: And what about ethical integrity in leadership?<\/p>\n
RK: Because of who we are, leaders from the local to the global are called to be open, accountable and transparent in their dealings with each other and with the members we serve, exhibiting servant leadership by imitating Christ<\/strong>, with the purpose of taking their small group, congregation, mission, conference or institution from where it is now, to where Christ wants it to be. Leadership is about seeing what can be!<\/p>\n
DN: When it comes to diversity, do we still have much to do?<\/p>\n
RK: Yes, and we can sometimes feel overwhelmed by how much there still is to do, both in the church and in society. And in the church, it is challenging some of us \u2013 and, I would add, rightly so. That\u2019s the Spirit prompting us about how we treat \u2018the other\u2019 \u2013 and the call to do better. This is the space where, in the place of hatred and ignorance, we are to bring love, understanding and acceptance of the other.<\/p>\n
We also need to celebrate the tapestry of people in our territory whose customs, culture and understanding, though diverse, have been woven, through the Bible and Christian history, towards an appreciation of God\u2019s inclusive grace.<\/strong><\/p>\n
DN: Adventists and social justice have traditionally had an uncomfortable relationship. Should we engage in finding long-term solutions?<\/p>\n
RK: \u2018Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow\u2019 (Isaiah 1:17, NIV).<\/p>\n
Ellen White reminded us in her book The Ministry of Healing (p. 143) that Christ\u2019s method alone will give true success in reaching the people. She wrote, \u2018The Saviour mingled with people as one who desired their good. He showed sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, \u201cFollow Me.\u201d \u2019<\/p>\n
She added on the same page that we need to come \u2018close to the people by personal effort\u2019: \u2018If less time were given to sermonising, and more time were spent in personal ministry, greater results would be seen. The poor are to be relieved, the sick cared for, the sorrowing and the bereaved comforted, the ignorant instructed, the inexperienced counselled. We are to weep with those that weep, and rejoice with those that rejoice. Accompanied by the power of persuasion, the power of prayer, the power of the love of God, this work will not, cannot, be without fruit.\u2019<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Churches in Poland are doubling as places of refuge amid attacks<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n You might ask, how does meeting the practical needs of our communities fit with evangelism? As an end-time prophetic movement, shouldn\u2019t we focus on calling people to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, and let charities focus on the practical needs of people. However, following Christ\u2019s example, evangelising and meeting people\u2019s actual needs are one. Our participation in building communities and meeting people\u2019s practical needs is not fuelled by a missional imperative, evangelistic pragmatism, or even theological certitude, but rather simple, uncomplicated love and compassion. \u2018Love has no need to justify itself.\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n
It should not be a PR device, a way to win favour in order to lead to conversions, a mere means to an end. It cannot be the \u2018sugar on the pill or the bait on the hook\u2019, otherwise the smell of hypocrisy will hang over our intent to bring a Christian blessing.<\/p>\n
Meeting people\u2019s practical needs \u2013 physical, mental, emotional and social \u2013 is a caring, loving and spiritual ministry \u2013 in other words, \u2018imitating Christ\u2019 \u2013 and this is what disciple-making is all about.<\/p>\n
DN: What is it about our distinctive Adventist understanding of Scripture that makes us sometimes \u2018inwardly focused\u2019, and what will help us keep looking outwards, rather than navel-gazing?<\/p>\n
RK: This is the one-million-dollar question. Giving glory to God and expanding God\u2019s kingdom must still be the chief driving force for our existence as an end-time movement, and it is always outward in focus \u2013 not holding on, not fitting in, but growing the people of God in Europe. The passion for distinctively Seventh-day Adventist mission for making God known to our family, neighbours and friends needs to impel everything done by the Trans-European Division, by its 11 unions and three attached fields, its 70 educational, publishing, and health and welfare institutions, its 1,400 congregations, its nearly 90,000 members. It is our heritage; it is our challenge; it is our opportunity.<\/p>\n
DN: Thank you, Pastor Kamal \u2013 I look forward to continuing this conversation soon.<\/p>\n
\n - Second, when it comes to leadership matters, we pursue the highest ethical standards<\/strong>, with servant leadership that is open, transparent, accountable, principled and visionary. This is not just about who we are, but about being a living example to the society that surrounds us. It is called ethical integrity.<\/li>\n