Stephen
Terry, Director
The
End of God's Mission
Commentary
for the December 30, 2023, Sabbath School Lesson
"In those days Israel had no king;
everyone did as they saw fit." Judges 21:25, NIV
As Seventh-day Adventists, we
hold to an eschatology that represents us as living in the End Times, a period
of trouble and chaos immediately prior to the return of Jesus as the conquering
warrior coming to lay waste to his enemies as pictured in the later chapters of
the Book of Revelation. Much of that eschatology Uriah Smith outlines in his
book, "Daniel and the Revelation," a commentary on those two books of the Bible.
While some of his predictions have not weathered well with time, such as those
involving the Ottoman Empire, as a denomination, we expend a great deal of
apologetics resources and energy to keep as much of the eschatology relevant as
possible. However, like Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz," some are discovering the
apologist behind the curtain is not necessarily working in their best
interests. At times, it seems as though the maintenance of our vast financial
and real property holdings and their preservation are seen as the primary
driver behind those apologetics. If we admit there are fundamental questions
that are not being addressed, what will happen to the flow of money supporting
all of this? Because of this, Seventh-day Adventism could become, if not
already, focused on preserving ongoing Adventist culture and an earthly dynasty
with little emphasis on character maturity that could potentially "upset the
apple cart" of existing power dynamics entrenched within Adventism at every
level.
This kind of situation tends to
result in the advancement of "safe" individuals and marginalization of the rest
as a threat to those who are willing to support the system in exchange for
power and the rewards that come with that power. Quite simply, in religious
terms, there is an elite cadre of believers endowed with special privileges,
often in accord with their ability to maintain or increase the flow of funds to
maintain the denomination's vast earthly empire, an empire that in many ways
rivals that of the Roman Catholic Church. As is often the case, such a tight
grip on power fosters simony, nepotism, and encourages the proliferation of sycophants.
Those who would encourage the idea that all are equal in ministry before God
and raise up ministries outside of direct denominational control cannot be
subjugated in countries that do not allow the civil government to coerce religious
observance. At best, they may find themselves grudgingly tolerated by legacy
Adventists unless they commit the unpardonable sin of diverting funds from "true"
church members to such independent, self-supporting ministries. Self-supporting
here is defined as the operative terminology if the budget of those ministries
does not impact the giving through regular denominational channels. This is a
primary reason we here at Still Waters Ministry do not solicit nor receive
funds from others to support our work. If God calls, he enables, and he has grown
this ministry marvelously since 1997. We are not afraid to raise earnest
questions about Adventist theology and praxis as God has placed us in a position
to not be dependent on support from either the denomination or fellow church
members. However, we do covet the prayers of those who feel we are doing an
important work even as we pray for thousands each day all over the world who
have sought prayer on their behalf.
I do want to raise attention to
two other threats to Adventism that seek to derail the completion of the
mission of preparing a people for the return of Jesus. The first of these
threats is Prosperity Theology. This fosters the idea that wealth indicates God's
favor. A key component of this is the idea that the more you bless God's church
with your offerings, the more he will bless you with wealth. Of course, the
result of such preaching is that the preachers themselves become wealthy from
the inflow of finances to the church that pays their salary. Joel Osteen is a
prime example of this. But lest we puff ourselves up with pride and pat
ourselves on the back believing we do not practice Prosperity Theology; we
should not deceive ourselves. The use of Malachi to prime that pump is
ubiquitous. "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food
in my house. Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not
throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there
will not be room enough to store it."[i] This
idea fosters the same principle as Osteen and others. It implies that those who
are blessed are faithful and those who are not have a poor spirituality, a two-tiered
system of church membership and by implication, God's favor. As in George Orwell's "Animal
Farm" all the animals were purported to be equal, but some were more equal than
others. This is troubling, especially when I see pastors and other church administrators
deferring to the concerns of the wealthy church members over those of the rest.
Another threat to Adventism that
is responsible for a growing divide, one that began shortly after the death of
Ellen White, whose guidance tended to keep the church on an even keel during
her lifetime. This is Perfectionism. This may be a natural result of a fundamentalist
belief in the inerrancy of the Bible. Couldn't it be assumed that an inerrant Bible
would produce inerrant believers? But the objective of Perfectionism is the achievement
of a state of sinlessness that obviates any need for grace mediated by Christ.
To some degree, the Sanctuary Doctrine is responsible for this theological
rabbit trail. That doctrine teaches that Jesus is ministering in the heavenly
sanctuary as a mediator for sin. Eventually that mediation will stop as Jesus prepares
to return to Earth. The argument goes that when that happens, God's people will
need to be sinless, perfect, to stand during that period without a mediator. Morris
L. Venden, in his book "Never Without an Intercessor" confronts that misconception,
as a result, during his lifetime and continuing posthumously, those preaching Perfectionism
often denigrate his writings.
The problem with this idea of
Perfectionism is two-fold. First, it can easily become a means of manipulation
and control. Those who are outside the power structures of Adventism have shown
a desire to do that, cajoling others over their sinfulness and implying that
they alone are on the path to perfection so others should follow their counsel,
or they will be lost. I would be remiss if I did not recognize that even some
who have other means at their disposal to exercise power and control are also
tempted to use Perfectionism, redefined in a manner commensurate with their
goals. The ongoing debate over the ordination of women is an example, often
called Headship Theology which is just one aspect of Perfectionism relabeled.
Grace and the uninhibited working of the Holy Spirit is minimized in the interest
of order and control.
The second problem is what
Perfectionism enables, warfare and strife among God's people. Perfectionism is
never defined in comparison to God. Who can claim to be as perfect as God is,
despite Matthew 5:48?[ii] If
we are self-deceived enough to believe that we are perfectly sinless, there are
doubtless those acquainted with us that can help us to understand we are not.
Maybe this is why perfectionists often parrot Paul about women keeping silence.
No one knows us better than our spouse, and they could easily reveal the inanity
of our profession of Perfectionism, collapsing our theological house of cards. Unfortunately,
those with fragile egos find Perfectionism attractive because of the power it
gives them to manipulate others. Such fragility does not respond well to
correction and can divide congregations and families. I have seen it split
families and even drive members out of the church who are tired of the
incessant battles for control that arise from Perfectionism and the desire to
purge imperfections from the body of believers.
Rather than steering the ship
toward heaven, perfectionists try to create what they feel would be a heaven on
earth, a sinless utopia. They can be easily manipulated by politicians who
understand how to use the language of Perfectionism to promise a church-state
collusion capable of producing that earthly paradise. Even though that utopia
has never successfully occurred in all of history and pre-history as well, Perfectionism
continues, and it continues to fall into that political trap. Politicians also
realize that they do not need to promise the entire perfectionist agenda. A
single issue will do. Adventists have long felt that single issue would be over
Sabbath observance. Recently we have seen it happen over the issue of medical
abortions. The success of that political agenda shows how susceptible the
tendency of Perfectionism to drive out sin is to manipulation. Currently there
is no national political will that has coalesced over the issue of a day of
rest. Now that it has been demonstrated what is achievable by religiously informed
legislation, the path to religiously derived legislation has been greased. The
battles fomented by powerful religious interests facilitated by those seeking
political control may only be in their relative infancy. Greater strife may yet
come as people begin to realize their loss of freedom to those who are
outwardly religious, but inwardly craving only power. This will challenge those
who seek to walk the path of love, the path of Christ, but we must endure. We
must continue to love despite everything that tells us not to.[iii]