Live Your Calling

By Bradford C. Newton

Iwas wearing my Adventist Health Simi Valley Hospital jacket on a Southwest flight last week. The flight attendant standing by our row looked at it intently and asked, “Do you work for Adventist Health?” I responded that I was a board member and a Seventh-day Adventist. “I grew up Adventist,” she replied. For the next 10 minutes she shared her years in a missionary family, attending La Sierra for a year, and finally making her way to her current job. As we talked, I could tell she was a joyful person who truly loves her job for Southwest. Seeing her interact with the passengers on our flight showed me she was living out a calling— at least for now—as a flight attendant.

Later that week I was at dinner with a group that included a young man who shared with me his amazing life’s journey. He and his sisters were adopted from his birthland of Russia by a loving American family. Later he enlisted in the Marines and thereafter became an expert in mechanical maintenance. He is excited for 2025 because he wants to get his pilot’s license. International travel/work is another aspiration he has for himself.

Throughout our talk he shared how God had closed doors (sometimes painfully), only for new opportunities to open. He is being led to embrace a life’s calling to serve others.

These interactions in my travels feel deeply connected with who I am as a Seventh-day Adventist. After many decades of study and practical application, I know of no other body of believers where I can find the system of scriptural teachings that I do here. It’s not a matter of having all the answers to every question. Rather it is the Adventist worldview, which provides a joy that buoys me when I think about our society and feel the anxieties that float around us—a joy that informs me during the encounters I have with people in the world outside of our church fellowship.

The unique mission calling for Seventh-day Adventists is tagged with a special biblical word: remnant. Our Fundamental Belief #13 (see page 17) gives the concise description along with scriptural passages that are the foundation of our conviction. I encourage you to study it anew if it’s been a while. As you do so, you’ll see again God’s plan throughout history to maintain a witness for His divine character in every age. Our unique matrix of teachings provides a system of belief that engages the world around us with love and hope. In this current climate of misinformation, relativism, doubt, and indifference, we offer the witness for “the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12). We are also called to humility in this work, knowing that God’s children are everywhere and that Jesus loves them just as much as He loves us. To be kind, caring, serving, listening, learning, and authentic is our work for this time.

In the Pacific Union Conference, we are dedicating ourselves in a special effort to proclaim the wonderful message of Christ to our territory. “Sharing Jesus” is our special emphasis, with an additional $1.2 million set aside for churches and schools to conduct this work. We are also joining our North American Division brothers and sisters in the “Pentecost 2025” emphasis of small meetings around our communities. It is our prayer that many will meet our wonderful Savior because of these efforts.

But the work of God’s remnant in 2025 extends beyond merely the espousing of these wonderful teachings of biblical truth. Jesus reminds us that the test of the messengers is by how they live: “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit” (Matthew 7:16-17). As we witness the injustices and moral decay around us, does God’s remnant have anything to say or are we silent in the face of it all?

Do we have any guidance from Scripture?

John the Baptist was the voice in the wilderness calling all—no matter their station in life—to repent and reform their lives. He also spoke truth to power as he rebuked King Herod—at the cost of his life. Jesus said that John was Elijah preparing the way for the Messiah. Going back to Elijah, we know that he was God’s prophetic voice of challenge to Ahab and Jezebel as well as bringing a message of revival to Israel. Seventh-day Adventists have embraced the “Elijah message” to see ourselves preparing the world for the return of Jesus. This work encompasses both theology and practical issues.

Micah 6:8 says, “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” We also read in Amos 5:24, “But let justice run down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.” These prophetic words are not just ancient exhortations but remain the calling to the remnant who carry the Elijah message to our world.

As we look around us today, how might we act and speak to fulfill these commands? What is it that needs your witness for mercy? How might you find ways to promote justice? Is your voice prepared to speak for righteousness? The statement from the North American Division, “An Appeal for Human Dignity and Decency” (https://www.nadadventist.org/), is a recent way our theology is meeting the challenges of the times. However the Lord leads you, I pray that you might find God’s leading to be His remnant witness in 2025.

Bradford C. Newton is the president of the Pacific Union Conference.

1