Religious communities must play a strong moral role in society, finding new ways to work together to serve human need, said Dr. Ishmael Noko, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) at an informal meeting with Seventh-day Adventist Church
Religious communities must play a strong moral role in society, finding new ways to work together to serve human need, said Dr. Ishmael Noko, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), at an informal meeting with Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders May 9.
The extent of human suffering caused by war, economic inequality, and social injustice means these issues go “beyond political niceties” and into the realm of Christian responsibility, said Noko.
Pastor Jan Paulsen, president of the Adventist Church worldwide, affirmed the Adventist Church’s commitment to promoting and protecting human rights, providing humanitarian assistance, and being a strong, positive force in society.
Christians “must never be so preoccupied with eternity that we forget our responsibilities in the here and now,” said Paulsen. “The presence of Adventists in a community must make a difference.”
Paulsen singled out the international HIV/AIDS epidemic as a social and health disaster that Christians cannot afford to ignore. “The time for merely talking about the problem of AIDS is over–-it is time to act,” he said. “We must have a commitment to finding a solution, for that is what Christ would have us do. It is irreconcilable with Christianity to be disinterested in this scourge.”
Noko’s visit to the Adventist Church world headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, follows a series of conversations between the Adventist Church and the LWF, held 1994 to 1998. “We were strangers when we came to the dialogue,” said Noko, “but we left with a feeling of friendship.” According to Noko, the meetings did much to break down misconceptions about the Adventist Church and its beliefs. Noko’s organization comprises some 130 member churches representing more than 60 million Lutherans worldwide.
