{"id":1543,"date":"2018-08-07T17:11:17","date_gmt":"2018-08-07T17:11:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/sitenews\/2018\/08\/07\/passing-on-the-keys-to-creativity\/"},"modified":"2018-08-07T17:11:17","modified_gmt":"2018-08-07T17:11:17","slug":"passing-on-the-keys-to-creativity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/passing-on-the-keys-to-creativity\/","title":{"rendered":"Passing On the Keys to Creativity"},"content":{"rendered":"

5 August 2018 | Kassel, Germany [Costin Jordache, Director of Communication and News Editor, Adventist Review] <\/p>\n

Global Youth Leaders Congress speakers push participants out of missional comfort zone<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"GYLC2018<\/a>As the 2018 Global Youth Leaders Congress turned the corner toward its conclusion, Seventh-day Adventist youth leaders from around the world donned matching event t-shirts for a mass group picture and crammed in as many seminars as time would allow.<\/p>\n

Organizers also facilitated an investiture service for Master Guides, the highest level of achievement for a Pathfinder \u2014 the Adventist club for young men and women akin to Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.<\/p>\n

And, to no one\u2019s surprise by this point, speakers continued to push participants outside their comfort zone.<\/p>\n

Incubators of Creativity<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ty Gibson, co-director of Light Bearers Ministries, continued his series by focusing on what he suggested is the environment within local churches most conducive to evangelism and ministry, especially considering younger generations.<\/p>\n

Gibson shared that the church-at-large is facing a \u201cseismic shift\u201d in the way people process information and, as a result, how they respond to the evangelistic efforts of the church. He outlined a shift from an authority-based system to an information-based system. \u201cPeople used to respond to an authoritative figure with an authoritative book quoting authoritative words,\u201d he said. However, as more information became universally available, Gibson said, people shifted to a system in which self-gathered information became the new norm for processing reality.<\/p>\n

This postmodern shift to an information-based system affects outreach methods, argued Gibson. \u201cWhile we were at church,\u201d he said, \u201cempathy replaced authority as our new evangelistic currency.\u201d Gibson challenged youth leaders that rather than trying to \u201copen rosebuds with hammers and pliers,\u201d what is now needed is more \u201csunlight and water.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gibson next shifted to the implications of this societal shift for the local church. \u201cLocal churches should be incubators of creativity,\u201d he said. In order for that to be a reality, Gibson offered a perspective from Ellen White, a co-founder and the modern prophetic voice of the Adventist Church. \u201cOur work is a progressive work, and there best be room left for methods to be improved upon,\u201d he quoted her as saying.<\/p>\n

Local churches, Gibson suggested, should encourage and cultivate this mission-oriented creativity by distinguishing between preferences, norms, and moral absolutes. \u201cIf I elevate my cultural heritage and aesthetic tastes to the level of moral absolutes by which I judge the ministry of others, I am insisting that the gospel is only for people like me,\u201d he offered. \u201cIf you and I are the same, one of us is not necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n

He concluded by pleading with youth leaders, \u201cUnleash our young people into the world with all possible creativity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoarding the Keys<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"GYLC<\/a>Another keynote address was given by A. Allan Martin, teaching pastor of Younger Generation Church, a ministry of the Arlington Seventh-day Adventist Church in Texas, United States.<\/p>\n

Martin reminded leaders that every local church has one person who seemingly has all the keys to every door in the facility and that only through that individual could some doors ever be unlocked. Metaphorically, Martin suggested that youth leaders in local churches should begin thinking of young people who are ready to be given the keys in an environment of mentorship.<\/p>\n

Drawing on an illustration of how he taught his daughter to drive a car, Martin offered, \u201cIn the mentoring relationship if you are constantly moving the wheel and stepping on the brake, you are not mentoring, you are losing your mind.\u201d Concluding his talk, Martin challenged, \u201cEmpower young people to envision new doors with new keys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whom Does the Adventist Message Belong To?<\/strong><\/p>\n

David Asscherick again took the stage to discuss the theme \u201cPass it On\u201d by focusing on the identity of the Adventist believer that youth leaders should be passing on. His fourth installment remained in Romans 1, in which the writer and apostle Paul shares with his readers that part of his identity is preaching the gospel.<\/p>\n

Asscherick, well known for his public speaking over the past two decades, turned to 2 Corinthians 5 for what he suggested was the biblical model for preaching. He pointed out that \u201cfor Paul the driving motivation for his mission and the mission of the wider church was the love of God.\u201d Following the apostle\u2019s declaration that \u201cthe love of God compels us,\u201d Asscherick passionately argued that \u201cthe great motivation of everything that we do must be grounded and stabilized and rooted in the love of God.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GYLC2018<\/a>Asscherick continued his exegesis of 2 Corinthians 5 by sharing Paul\u2019s challenge for a new way to view people. Since Christ died for all, the apostle wrote, \u201ctherefore from now on we regard no one according to the flesh.\u201d Translating the theological statement into practical application, Asscherick summarized it by saying, \u201cBecause Jesus died for everyone, we don\u2019t judge by appearance. We don\u2019t judge by the way we perceive them.\u201d<\/p>\n

A reference to his conversion experience accompanied Asscherick\u2019s point. \u201cBecause Jesus died for everyone, when we see them, we see what the [Adventist owners] saw when I walked into that vegetarian restaurant 22 years ago \u2014 a tattooed, pierced, purple-haired punk rocker,\u201d he recalled. \u201cThey did not see an obnoxious, filthy-mouthed, 23-year-old punk. They saw something in me that I didn\u2019t even see in myself. Now, I doubt that they saw an evangelist or a preacher, but Jesus did!\u201d <\/p>\n

Asscherick reminded youth leaders of the parable told by Jesus about the man who arrogantly prayed, \u201cGod, I thank you that I am not like the sinners.\u201d \u201cAnd Paul\u2019s point is that you are like them,\u201d said Asscherick. \u201cWe are all like them, because there is no \u2018them\u2019; there is only one giant \u2018us\u2019 for whom Jesus has died!\u201d<\/p>\n

Concluding his message, Asscherick challenged youth leaders with a memorable point. \u201cThe Adventist message does not belong to the Adventist Church,\u201d said Asscherick. Explaining his point, he asked the audience, \u201cDo you believe that the Seventh-day Adventist message is the message of the Bible?\u201d He then suggested that \u201cthis message can belong to anyone who can read the Bible. And I have great news for you. There are people around the world \u2026 who are reading their Bibles. They\u2019re not going to Adventist churches, seminars, conferences, or evangelistic meetings,\u201d Asscherick said, \u201cbut they are coming to the same conclusions that you and I believe.\u201d<\/p>\n

He encouraged attendees, \u201cWe should celebrate it because they are coming to the truth even if they have never come to our church.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, Asscherick challenged youth leaders that \u201cthe Adventist message is so special not because its mine, and not because it\u2019s yours, and not because it\u2019s our church\u2019s. The Adventist message is so special because it\u2019s the actual teaching of Scripture,\u201d he argued. \u201cAnd as people come to the message of Scripture, let\u2019s not judge them by the flesh; let\u2019s judge them according to Gospel-centric, biblically based eyes and rejoice when people come to the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

His concluding point was, \u201cPreach the saving, gathering love of Jesus for all people.\u201d<\/p>\n