Stephen
Terry, Director
Living
in the Land
Commentary
for the December 13, 2025, Sabbath School Lesson
"Then an
Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite woman right before the eyes of
Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance
to the tent of meeting. When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the
priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand and followed
the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear into both of them, right
through the Israelite man and into the woman's stomach. Then the plague against
the Israelites was stopped." Numbers 25:6-8
Over the
years, I have had the opportunity to serve as church pastor, local elder, church
board chair, school board chair, personal ministries leader, youth leader, and
several other positions of responsibility within the Seventh-day Adventist
Church. Those experiences have often provided me with spiritual growth and memories
that continue to speak to me decades later. I continually read the Bible
through from cover to cover and certain accounts bring to my mind certain of
those memories, some more vivid than others. As our lesson quarterly reiterated
the account of the sins of Baal Peor and the activities of the priest Phinehas,
I recalled a time when I was serving as chairman of a local nominating
committee.
As we
were dealing with the nominations for church office for the coming year, we
arrived at the list of deacons. This was a position that was often hard to fill
as it could be very labor-intensive involving caring for the church plant and
grounds. It also has spiritual import with Stephen's martyrdom in Acts, chapter
seven seen as the epitome of what a deacon should be. This is a little unfair
to deacons as the Bible tells us of no other deacons who rose to such a level,
focusing instead on Paul, Peter, and others who were apostles, positions of
more spiritual authority. Stephen is a tough act to follow and adds to the
reticence to accept the position of deacon. But with understanding and support
from the pastor and the congregation, we usually managed to find those who were
willing to care for the church and its grounds. But this particular year things
headed in a different direction.
One
of the women on the nominating committee was related to someone who had been
serving as a deacon, and he was up for consideration to continue in that
position. He had watched a football game on the Sabbath, and they had fought
about it. Now she wanted him removed as deacon over the issue. I reminded her
of the counsel in Matthew 18:15-17, and that nominating committee was not a
disciplinary end run around Jesus' counsel, "If your brother or sister sins, go
and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you,
you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others
along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or
three witnesses.' If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if
they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a
tax collector." When asked if Jesus' counsel had been followed, she stated "No,"
but wanted him removed from office anyway. I advised her that we could table
the matter until the proper process could be followed. Another person on the
committee who had political influence from family employed in the conference
office demanded a vote on the woman's request and the name was removed, and we
scheduled a final meeting to complete the business of the nominating committee.
Afterwards,
I tried to get the accuser to follow Jesus' counsel, but since she had already
obtained her vengeance against the man, she refused to. At the final meeting
later, the person who demanded a vote did not show. Deeply troubled by this
treatment of a brother who had been condemned on the testimony of only one
witness and who had not been dealt with according to Jesus' counsel, I
expressed my concern. Someone moved that we revote the matter, and it was voted
to reinstate his name on the list pending proper process. When the person who
did not attend found out, she felt her authority threatened and demanded she, I
and the pastor meet. I explained my position, and I asked why no one was
willing to follow the counsel of Matthew 18? She left frustrated. Since the
pastor was a denominational employee, she had leverage she felt she could use,
but I was not. I could not be compelled to go against Christ's counsel, and the
pastor remained neutral.
But
vengeance will have its out. And someone, again ignoring the counsel of Matthew
18, secretly went behind my back to accuse me of the "appearance of sin."
Putting pressure on the pastor through the conference office, I was removed
from the position of elder. Soon after, the woman who likely did this advanced
her own husband to the head eldership. The pastor said he had been considering
me for that position although he had never revealed that to me previously. That
and the vindictiveness of the accuser and her position of influence with the
conference made it impossible for him to proceed with that objective. The new
head elder came to me to ask me to return to the eldership, but since that
could be seen as endorsing a refutation of Christ's counsel, I demurred.
Instead, I was freed up to continue building this ministry, begun in 1997. It
has grown to a digital presence in over 120 countries and has over one hundred
thousand visitors to our website per year. Had I continued to be entangled with
local political infighting, I doubt the Lord would have been able to bless
Still Waters Ministry so greatly.
What has
all this to do with the Sabbath School Lesson? It is a lesson in how dangerous
people become when they consider their will and God's will to be the same. Such
people see the actions of Phinehas in murdering sinners in the camp of Israel
as an endorsement of any harsh treatment they care to mete out to those they
consider more sinful than themselves. It is a major reason the glory has
departed from much of modern Christianity. We are more concerned with beating
down sinners through harshness than we are with building up the destitute with
compassion and empathy. In my years of ministry since, I have encountered too many
who suffered similar abuse at the hands of self-righteous church members. Finding
something at Still Waters Ministry that they do not find in their local
churches, they have helped this ministry to grow by their prayers and referring
others to us.
Even
greater evidence of the Lord's favor is that we have grown thus without financial
support from others. We refuse donations if offered as stated in our donation
policy at our website. Despite that, some who have not read the policy have
sent large donations, but we have returned them with a letter explaining that
we do not accept donations. We take our example from Elisha who was instrumental
in God healing Naaman the Syrian from leprosy. (2
Kings 5) Naaman offered gold and fine garments to Elisha to pay him for the
healing, and Elisha refused, feeling this would diminish the glory of God. But
Gehazi, Elisha's servant, who felt Elisha was wrong not to accept payment,
secretly went after Naaman to ask for payment which Naaman gladly agreed to.
But for his temerity in doing so, Gehazi was cursed with Naaman's leprosy. It
seems to us that to diminish God's work by seeking donations would also diminish
his glory and bring to us the curse of Gehazi. For almost three decades, that model
has served this ministry well.
During
the 1980s, when the Seventh-day Adventist Church was in tight financial condition
and struggling to field an adequate number of pastors, I asked the local
ministerial secretary why they did not utilize lay ministers as a force
multiplier to carry the work forward. He replied that it is about control. They
can control a paid clergy but not necessarily a volunteer lay ministry. It was
then that I learned that the purpose of money is to control others and I vowed
that only God would control Still Waters Ministry. There will be no begging for
or receiving of donations. As Asaph, the prophet, speaking for God proclaimed, "Listen,
my people, and I will speak; I will testify against you, Israel: I am God, your
God. I bring no charges against you concerning your sacrifices or concerning
your burnt offerings, which are ever before me. I have no need of a bull from
your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the
insects in the fields are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the
world is mine, and all that is in it." (Psalm 50:7-12) Who can provide better
for this ministry, and who better to control it? As King David wrote, "I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread." (Psalm
37:25)