Question About Seventh Day Adventist

[Avonia]

I've also seen many SDA churches where people really didn't care about makeup and jewelry and stuff like that and where I heard very little quoting of Ellen White.

At one of our larger colleges, I don't remember Ellen White ever being mentioned from the pulpit. Nor is she mentioned much in the mid-sized, rural church where I am a member. But as you have pointed out, people vary widely with some issues, and not so much with others - like Sabbath.

I didn't wear jewelry while we were in the ministry because it would have been a stumbling block to our members in the traditional churches. It would have caused them to focus on that rather than on what we were trying to teach them.

That's right. I wish more people understood the importance of this stance. It speaks to an awareness of the greater good - not just service of the individual.

Having said that, the fact that it was an issue borders on crazy. But things will change in their time.

And the denomination doesn't have much control over it; in fact, they tolerate pluralism because they don't want people to leave Adventism, especially the younger generations.

This is an important insight that applies to almost every organization - in some way. And money is a significant factor. How much tolerance we have for someone's contrary views is often highly related to the size of the checks they write to our organization.


I suspect that money pressures will play a major role in what the SDA church looks like in the future - assuming it's in it.

 

[Byfaithalone1]

But things will change in their time.

I hope so. I sure would love to see some evidence of that change from the denomination.

BFA

 

[ricker]

I sure would love to see some evidence of that change from the denomination.

BFA

You know, I am considering leaving my ELCA affilliation if they vote to endorse gay marriage and pastors as they probably will later this month.
I really don't mind going to church on the sabbath and my family would be so happy if I did, but I'm not sure that old legalism from EGW is gone. I don't want to put the yoke I remember back on, and I don't have a veil anymore when Moses is read.

 

[Byfaithalone1]

You know, I am considering leaving my ELCA affilliation if they vote to endorse gay marriage and pastors as they probably will later this month.
I really don't mind going to church on the sabbath and my family would be so happy if I did, but I'm not sure that old legalism from EGW is gone. I don't want to put the yoke I remember back on, and I don't have a veil anymore when Moses is read.

Once upon a time, I had similar thoughts about the SDA stance on abortion.

BFA

 

[dragNdrop]

BFA:"...I sure would love to see some evidence of that change from the denomination."

It is almost impossible for any denomination to change. Look at Catholicism. After Martin Luther, Huss and all the evidence against it's dogmas it stil stands as by far the largest church ever and unfassed.

 

[Byfaithalone1]

It is almost impossible for any denomination to change.

I agree with you that it is very, very difficult. However, there have been denominations that have made a clear and noticable change in direction. Herbert Armstrong's denomination is one example. This is an exception, not the rule.
BFA

 

[BigRedBus]

Hi There LoveandPeace25

About 7 years ago I was in a similar position to you. I had just started dating a lady who was an Adventist. My background was Christian and as far as I knew I’d never met any Adventists before. I’d certainly never been into one of their churches.

The relationship was going well and (as now seems to be happening with yourselves), our thoughts began to turn to a longer term commitment. It was fairly obvious that if we were going to both be attending the same church in the future it would be me who would have to convert. Luckily I didn’t have a problem with that, and so I started going to her church.

I very quickly noticed a negative code of behaviour – it’s all about what you don’t do, not so much about what you do do. Don’t believe everything you hear about what people say they “don’t do”, by the way. There’s plenty goes on that nobody admits to, and a lot of “don’t ask, don’t tell”. And so you won’t need to look hard to find hypocrisy going on beneath the surface. Don’t get upset by it, none of us are perfect and hypocrisy is as old as mankind itself.

Some of the theology is very conventional, but some of the more distinctive doctrines are complicated. Go as far as you want with the doctrine – I certainly don’t believe it all and it’s never presented me with a problem. You can continue indefinitely without ever needing to read or understand Ellen White’s writings, so don’t get hung up on that. And don’t get bogged down in doctrine. It really doesn’t matter as much as they tell you it does. Just get on with being a Christian and you won’t go far wrong.

You may be given some “studies” at some point, just keep in mind that they are written very deliberately to guide you to a particular conclusion (the “party line”!). So what you discover, you won’t have discovered for yourself really. You’ll simply come across something that’s been put there for you to find. And along the journey, anything that might contradict or complicate the desired conclusion will have been carefully airbrushed out of the picture. Go along with it all, but don’t allow yourself to believe it’s the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

You will probably find the people you meet in church are very definite about what they believe. The Adventist church does tend to work hard at producing that kind of outcome, but this conviction really doesn’t mean they are “right”, or that others are “wrong” on an issue. Believing something really hard doesn’t make it any truer in an absolute sense. I’ve actually found people can become prickly and defensive when challenged on a belief, particularly if the challenge comes from an unexpected direction and a rehearsed response doesn’t fit.

I don’t get offended by the legalism and hypocrisy, I just get on with what I personally believe is OK and I just ignore all the bossiness. I don’t really care what other church members think of me. You’ll need to develop the confidence to go the same way, if you want to avoid being controlled and manipulated. There will be people who’ll do that to you, if you let them. You have a big advantage, not being raised in the SDA church, because you probably don’t have the conditioning necessary to give you a guilt complex. Don’t let anyone give you that conditioning, you really can do without it.

You may find some people might give an impression of being unusually pious and holy. I came across a few people like that but a sixth sense told me they didn’t ring true. And my sixth sense was right – they have turned out to be deeply unpleasant underneath the sugar coating. So trust your instincts, don’t get fooled by appearances and holy talk.

There’s a lot of emphasis on superficial external appearances – what a person wears and what they say counts. What they are like underneath often gets overlooked. Don’t get browbeaten into conforming to what you are told are “the standards”. It’s only the standard as they see it, nothing more and nothing less.

So what are we like?… well you’ll find we are no different from anyone else, really. There’s good and bad in us all, in varying proportions. We are no better and no worse than any other group of people.

I eventually married the lady I was dating and we are happy together. I’m active in the local church, people know full well I’m not totally “on-message” but it never causes any real problem. I hope your story also has a happy ending.

 

[BigRedBus]

(somehow this last post got posted twice -- as it is a long one I've just edited it to remove the duplicate)

 

[jlow]

I was reading about the jewelry issue. I want to share an experience I had that I would like to share - it's not about wearing jewelry in general but specifically to the wedding ring. My children loved to go to Sabbath School because of their beautiful, loving Christian teacher. At a Sabbath dinner, some members started expressing some dsparaging remarks about te SS teacher because she wore a wedding band (her husband was a non-Adventist and often gave her a hard time about going to church). They said the wedding band was a bad influence on the children. There was a concensus that she should get rid of the wedding ring or be replaced as a teacher. this was very disturbing to my wife and myself because we felt that the teachers love of the Lord and her dedication to the children and church despite her husband's objections was a far more powerful positive influence than the wedding ring's perceived influence. I thought then as I think now that their criticism was misguided.

 

[BigRedBus]

jlow… stories such as the one you have just told make me so cross. They show how distorted priorities have become and how badly the Church has lost its way.

The lady in question was evidently unappreciated by some members, and was being gossiped about and bullied (by people who doubtless considered themselves to be several pegs above the rest of us!). If that was reflected in what he heard and saw, it’s no wonder her husband decided the SDA church was not the place for him, and that he also discouraged his wife from going there. It’s also a wonder that her spirituality was still able to shine in such a hostile church environment.

Actually, I think the issue isn’t about jewellery at all. It’s about 2 things…

1) Some people assuming the right to impose their views on others, and
2) Some people being more concerned with outward appearances than what lies underneath

… and until this stops it’s difficult to see how the Church can really make prospective members feel as though it’s a place they can enjoy and belong to.

The UK church does seem largely to have moved beyond the make up and jewellery issue. Some of the traditionalists still think it is important, but it’s certainly not a big thing. Both me and my wife wear jewellery at church and not once have we been confronted on it. The teenagers at our church certainly wear it, and I think they are very well turned out.

The message I want to leave with you, LoveandPeace25, is not to let these types of thing put you off the SDA church. Worship there if you wish, but don’t allow these things to become a barrier, and don’t let yourself get railroaded into conforming to other peoples’ standards.