Sunday June 5, 2022. It is 3:44pm. Just arrived from Spain to St. Louis, Missouri (USA). I'm taking my hotel elevator up to the 17th floor with a couple from Zimbabwe. They have nothing to identify them as Adventists, but I know they are. It is something that you feel (has it already happened to you?). I speak with them. Yes, they are Adventists, and they are here to attend the 61st Session of the General Conference.
Different colors, languages, customs, ways of dressing and worshiping... But united by the same God and one Hope, with the same feeling in the heart and linked by the same invisible thread of faith.
A family
As Adventists, we are privileged to be part of a global family, and events like this remind us that we are not alone in our churches, facing giants on our own. We are not “Adventist islands” as much as we sometimes feel, or want to be, that way. We are not alone in the challenges that lie ahead, and we should not be! God has provided a body, a group of people that, with different gifts, personalities, capacities, and forms, can glorify him, sharing that we have come out of darkness into light, proclaiming that the grace of God is infinite (1 Peter 2:9-10).
Hugs are seen in the halls. Smiles. Reunions. People you meet for the first time. Impressions. Smells. New flavors. It is beautiful and inspiring.
Tensions are also perceived in the sessions. Comes and goes. Hustle. Nervousness. Lack of agreement. Distant opinions. It is natural and real.
Yes, all of this is also part of who we are, and we must accept it, embrace each other even in our differences, especially in our differences! “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Sinners also love those who love them” (Luke 6:32).
God does not want us to have a uniform thought, what he longs for is that we take “every thought captive to submit to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).
You're not alone
I invite you to feel and believe in that human (and divine) warmth of being part of a global community, with its strengths and weaknesses, but that seeks God in prayer. Have you prayed today?
We are not a perfect family, but we have the desire for God to perfect us in Christ, and that "the God who inspires encouragement and perseverance grant you to live together in harmony, according to the example of Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and with one voice you may glorify to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, therefore, just as Christ accepted you to the glory of God” (Romans 15:5-7).
Delete that feeling of “Adventist loneliness” from your heart. I know what it is. I know how it hurts. I know that at some point in the future I will experience it again, even in my own church. But I must remember that I am not alone. Believe it and let me repeat it one more time: you are not alone. I invite you to tell someone else today, now. Call him and express it to him. Perhaps it is the spark of life, the encouragement that person needs today to move forward and not lose faith.
The next time you share an elevator with someone you don't know, don't talk about the weather; look for a way to create a connection in which the Holy Spirit can work. And, who knows if, in this way, that person who still does not know Jesus, may begin to experience, too, that he/she is not alone.
