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Recently a family member who has not been to
church in a while visited the local Seventh-day
Adventist church. I get a little nervous when I hear
this wondering how they will be received. So many
things can go wrong and before you know it, the
person has seemingly rejected God because they
have had a negative experience with church.
Second only to giving Bible studies on my list of fun
things to do as a pastor is visiting the members. Give
me a church role, preferably up to date, a free day,
and the journey begins. You never really know what
awaits you, and it’s always better if you have a friend
to join you. You find the address, pray, knock on the
door, listen, watch and learn. Before leaving you
open the Bible, read a verse and pray for the family
by name.
Visiting the members in their homes brings many
blessings. In this busy world it is so easy to have a
superficial knowledge of our fellow members and
friends. Sitting in their home meeting the family and
hearing their story with all its highs and lows really
opens a depth in your knowledge of the person.
It sounds extravagant, that every church has a team
of pastors. Who could afford it? Where would you
find that many pastors? Before you write this idea
off, you already attend a church that has a team of
pastors. Yes you do, they are called Elders!
The role of the Elder is the same as the Pastor is in
the Bible (See 1 Peter 5:1-4) In fact a Pastor is an
Elder and an Elder is a Pastor. It is a different name
for the same position. The Elders were to protect
and care for the new converts by prayerfully teaching
Scripture and protecting them from false teachers
and bringing new people to the faith (1 Tim 4:11-16).
We have made a distinction between the fulltime
Elder who we call Pastor and the part time Elder we
refer to as the local Elder.
The Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20
is something that we as Seventh-day Adventist strive
to fulfil. For generations, the Seventh-day Adventist
church in Australia has placed a lot of emphasis on
running programs.
There is nothing wrong with this, we have some great
programs with exceptional content. Programs on
dealing with depression, prophecy, diet, health, and
wellbeing. All of these topics are extremely useful and
provide really good opportunities to lead people to
Jesus.
However, is this the best way to achieve the Great
Commission?
