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To get back to the original question:
One reason is because there are too many things said ab't the SDA church that are based on mis-hearing/mis-reading what the SDA church has said. Extending to the whole denomination what one person said. Some groups masquerade as SDA's. So we have had cases of people claiming to be SDA's when in fact they went to some cultic off-shoot.
But you need to be more gracious, and not so commanding and judgmental.
Telling them that they're ignorant because they aren't willing to see things your way just isn't the right approach in dealing with such people. If anything, it just makes you look like a prideful person who seems to think that he has arrived. And no matter how well you know the message, it won't be received by those who you are endeavoring to reach because of the prideful manner in which it is spoken. Only by love will love for the truth be awakened.
FOR SURE ! this is definately the case !!! adventists have often been proud of who they are-you know, introducing themselves as "adventists" rather than "christians."
we need to be proud of who we are in christ.- NOT our doctrinal viewpoints...really,-the sabbath is important but God isnt going to ask you on judgment day about your doctrinal viewpoint on the santuary or the sabbath...
. he's going to ask:
1. what have you done with my son Jesus?
2. what have you done with the gifts i have given you?
yes, our beliefs are important- but the 27 fundamentals should not be how we introduce ourselves to people...that is why we have people that think adventists are evil..
FOR SURE ! this is definately the case !!! adventists have often been proud of who they are-you know, introducing themselves as "adventists" rather than "christians."
we need to be proud of who we are in christ.- NOT our doctrinal viewpoints...really,-the sabbath is important but God isnt going to ask you on judgment day about your doctrinal viewpoint on the santuary or the sabbath...
. he's going to ask:
1. what have you done with my son Jesus?
2. what have you done with the gifts i have given you?
yes, our beliefs are important- but the 27 fundamentals should not be how we introduce ourselves to people...that is why we have people that think adventists are evil..
yes, our beliefs are important- but the 27 fundamentals should not be how we introduce ourselves to people...that is why we have people that think adventists are evil..
many of the ones I've come across have great pride in their particular denomination, and in Ellen White, keeping the Sabbath, not eating "unclean" food etc.
I will never identify myself by that denomination
I'll tell you what I hate the most and is Biblically wrong. When someone asks you what religion you are, and the reply is "I'm a Baptist" or "Catholic" or "Presybterian" or whatever other denomination. No one should say this. You should only say you are a Christian, a follower of Christ. Because when you say, for example, that you are a Catholic, you don't identify with Christ but with a man made denomination, and furthermore, you automatically exclude brothers and sisters in Christ of other denominations.
Hello! This is my first post here.That is a very good point and I've never really thought of it that way, but you are right in some ways. On the other hand, are we not to be conscious of what defines us 'different' from the many other denominations under Christianity? Yes, we are all followers of Christ, but not every one that calls 'Lord Lord' is righteous? A remnant cannot be a Remnant if they are not clearly defined, characterised; is it right to be wishy-washy in these last days? The one warning which echoes most throughout Revelation (ten times) is not to worship the image of the beast.
"I heard another voice from heaven, saying, 'Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues.." Revelation 18:4
Hello! This is my first post here.
Jon, I agree with you that hiding the label can be wishy-washy. People are so non-commital about their faith these days. Everywhere I have ever worked or gone to school with others, it has always come out somehow. I try to be a good representative, in hopes of undoing what may be bad experiences people may have had with other SDA's- that seems to me unsettlingly frequent. I was on a board where a girl had the experience of being sexually molested by a teacher in an SDA school, and her SDA father was unfaithful to her SDA mother, and she claimed that the church covered up everything and moved the teacher quietly somewhere else. As a result every time Seventh-day Adventists or their beliefs came up in discussion she would badmouth Adventism terribly- though she did not have anything personal against me, and told me so. I couldn't take it personally either, because I sympathized with her.
It never ceases to amaze me, when I share things that are not distinctly SDA, just very spiritual and Biblical, and other Christians (especially a certain denom) don't appreciate it- rather take serious offense!
I think one major reason Adventists come off unfavorably is because we are a denomination with a large inventory of very specific doctrines. We have something definite and Biblical to say about everything. We were raised, in a way to be like Sister White says Jesus was- to give a reason from the Bible for everything we do- and so we come off as Bible know-it-alls. But it's our culture to be very persnickety about the Bible. At the same time it seems that popular culture is becoming more and more relativistic and plurallistic, as if it's a crime to believe something specific, because if you believe you're right about something, automatically someone else is wrong, and you're a bigot, a fanatic, and intolerant.
Why would Jesus be ashamed of someone who keeps the Sabbath as He did- yet in a world where the majority has no respect for His day, and why would Jesus be ashamed of someone who loves His appearing?So by identifying yourself by a denomination is being strong and by identifying yourself simply by being a follower of Christ is being wishy washy.
You really have to ask yourself "WWJT?". What would Jesus think of that? I don't think he would be impressed.
Identifying yourself by a denomination means nothing: you may still not be a Christian. You have a lot more chance of being a real one by identifying yourself with Christ alone.
And again, you are unsuppored by the Bible, so really, you have no argument. Yours is just a humanistic rationale.
So by identifying yourself by a denomination is being strong and by identifying yourself simply by being a follower of Christ is being wishy washy.
You really have to ask yourself "WWJT?". What would Jesus think of that? I don't think he would be impressed.
Identifying yourself by a denomination means nothing: you may still not be a Christian. You have a lot more chance of being a real one by identifying yourself with Christ alone.
And again, you are unsuppored by the Bible, so really, you have no argument. Yours is just a humanistic rationale.
So what you're saying is that I have sinned by disobeying Scripture if I tell anyone I am a Seventh-day Adventist instead of saying I'm a Christian? Please clarify. Is that what you are saying?Therefore, Biblically speaking, a person should only identify him/herself by Christ alone, not a denomination. You can argue all you like, but I have shown you by the scriptures that it is not right.
No offense to you guys intended, but you obviously know the Bible backwards I presume for defending your position on such things as the Sabbath, "unclean" foods etc, but don't know some of the really important doctrines.
Therefore, Biblically speaking, a person should only identify him/herself by Christ alone, not a denomination. You can argue all you like, but I have shown you by the scriptures that it is not right.
No offense to you guys intended, but you obviously know the Bible backwards I presume for defending your position on such things as the Sabbath, "unclean" foods etc, but don't know some of the really important doctrines.
Here are verses from 1 Corinthians:
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10 I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers, some from Cloes household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, I follow Paul; another I follow Apollos; another, I follow Cephas; still another, I follow Christ.
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptised into the name of Paul? 14 I am thankful that I did not baptise any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no-one can say that you were baptised into my name. (16 Yes, I also baptised the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I dont remember if I baptised anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptise, but to preach the gospel not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
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Notice Paul laments when Christians are divided, ("I follow Paul, I follow Cephas etc"). Paul even is grateful that he did not do any baptising himself for this reason, and suggests this is also the reason that Christ himself did not baptise, to minimise these divisions and separations among men.
Paul clearly states, "Is Christ divided?"
Therefore, Biblically speaking, a person should only identify him/herself by Christ alone, not a denomination. You can argue all you like, but I have shown you by the scriptures that it is not right.
Oh really? How is it that you can conclude that what you're saying is Biblical when even the Apostles had a name for their movement? They called it the "Way". See Acts 9:2
There you go questioning everything again ,just let things go. I agreed with you, now run with that.
Who has put you in the seat of God's judgment to declare in absolute terms that we don't understand the teaching of 1Cor. 1:10-11?
Truth is, you are the one who doesn't understand the teaching. If you did, you wouldn't have come her to stir up trouble!
Oh really? How is it that you can conclude that what you're saying is Biblical when even the Apostles had a name for their movement? They called it the "Way". See Acts 9:2
"The way" is not a denomination of the early church. It was just a description of the path of following Christ, a metaphor of being a follower and believer of him. And it is a very flimsy argument for being an ardent follower of a denomination-any denomination, becuase all denominations are invented and run and organised by fallible men. It is our faith in Christ alone that is originated only by Jesus himself. That is why I will never have any undying loyalty to a faulty human denomination.
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