Themes come and go. People get excited about new ideas. Slogans catch the attention of people. They mobilize and rally to do something about new ideas they hope will change the way things are. But these new ideas go out of fashion. However, ideas grounded in the Bible and God’s clear abiding will stick around. Total membership involvement, a biblical idea, is part of a bigger umbrella: reformation.
Reformation involves a process whereby a Bible truth is rediscovered and deemed worthy to be integrated in the life of God’s people for the good of the world. Total membership involvement is presupposed in the Great Commission. Every follower of Jesus is called to be a witness, evangelist, and an ambassador of reconciliation. One of the fundamental reasons the Holy Spirit was given to dwell in every believer was to produce His fruit in us and equip us with gifts to lead people to Jesus Christ.
Ellen White insisted: “The members of God’s remnant church in this our day depend too largely on the ministers to fulfill the commission of Christ to go into all the world with the gospel message. Many have seemed to lose sight of the fact that this commission was given not only to those who had been ordained to preach, but to laymen as well. It is a fatal mistake to suppose that the work of saving souls depends alone on the ordained ministry. All who have received the life of Christ are called to work for the salvation of their fellow men.”
In essence, God wants total membership involvement, an intrinsic part of the Great Commission and the call to all disciples of Jesus Christ to be His witnesses. Mission cannot be fulfilled without this vital component developed in the very fabric of Christian identity.
* Ellen G. White, “The Great Commission: A Call to Service,” Review and Herald, March 24, 1910, paragraph 8.
— Ganoune Diop, PhD, serves as director, Public Affairs and Religious Liberty, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States.