We need a wake-up call in our church. A serious one. I’m not talking about the leadership, I’m talking about all of us – the constituency.
I’ll probably receive a lot of hate mail for this long-overdue admonishment, but that’s alright. The Scripture exhorts all of us to “Cry aloud and spare not” (Isaiah 58:1). So, I am taking the gloves off. Some critics and naysayers will no doubt call my viewpoint biased or extremist, while others may engage in character assassination or cancelling – a trend that seems to be in vogue today in our church. It is the new paradigm for silencing those who are not afraid to stand for the right though the heavens fall.
When I found my way into the Seventh-day Adventist church decades ago, I felt as though I had finally discovered the real truth – that I was “home.” But as the years rolled by, I was gradually confronted with a painful dose of reality that caused me to question my core beliefs on what we as a people are doing and where we are headed. Indeed, there is real truth in the principles that founded our church – absolute truth in the Scriptures and the Spirit of Prophecy.
However, far too often it cannot be found in the purveyors of that truth. Again, I am speaking of church members – not merely the leadership. An unfortunate phenomenon has helped to foster the prevailing attitude is being increased with goods and in need of nothing. It has closed the minds of many to the truth, leaving them ripe for the deceptions that Jesus warned us would come in the last days (Matthew 24:4,5,11,24). It is a disappointing and very disillusioning reality that took years for me to grasp. Now, despite my own personal efforts to sound the alarm, few seem to be listening.
Over the past few years, we have witnessed what many have considered to be outrageous acts in our church; most notably the mishandling of the vaccine mandates, the deplatforming of Dr. Conrad Vine, and the firing of Pastor Ron Kelly. But how have we as a people responded to these misbegotten acts? Not very well, apparently.
These divisive political hot potatoes have brought SDA constituency to the point that it can no longer discern the difference between the biblical remnant that has historically been associated with true Seventh-day Adventists, and a bureaucratic corporate structure with its hirelings and devotees. It has fomented one of the most unsavory of all the Adventist attitudes I’ve encountered over the years, and that is the tendency toward one-upmanship, i.e., “I know better than you do.” It has encouraged oppositional perspectives that are politically motivated, making mincemeat out of the human element and ultimately causing real harm to those who have already suffered enough. It is a replica of what is happening in society—the formation of opposing factions that try to promote their political agendas at all costs. After all, the church is a microcosm, and this trend that subverts the truth, negates factual realities, and dismisses opponents as extremists, is part and parcel of what is happening in America, particularly since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Unfortunately, this politically inspired phenomenon is antithetical to the principles that founded our church and the Christian deportment that Seventh-day Adventists should exhibit in the public sphere. It has transformed us into worldlings. We are tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine – too impotent to take a stand when those we voted into leadership roles steamroll us with their version of reality.
Sadly, what most in our church do not realize is that they have been propagandized by the same forces that endeavor to shape America into an image to the beast – an agenda that is connected to both sides of the political spectrum, despite outward appearances. There has been a battle going in in our country between two political ideologies that are polar opposites, and neither one is centered in Christ. It is essentially a struggle for dominance between liberalism and conservatism; political philosophies that in the mainstream are historically akin to communism on the left and fascism on the right. Since our church is a microcosm, the fundamental aspects of these ideologies have become entrenched within our constituency. Consequently, we are now witnessing the end result of this incursion – division and rebellion.
This only happened because church members allowed themselves to be influenced by the ideologies of their political affiliations, not to mention the well-crafted propaganda that many in church leadership have utilized to secure the tithe and to retain control over their beleaguered constituents.
In the midst of all the political wrangling in our church, few recognize that they have been indoctrinated. They fail to see that what has happened within the Seventh-day Adventist church is clearly not the way it began, nor is it the way God intended it to be. It has brought to the church the same forms of censorship, hatred, and radicalism that have permeated our society at large.
Because of the leadership’s flagrant indiscretions such as vaccine mandates, administrative collusion, politically motivated firings, and so forth, we are now witnessing in the church’s constituency a commensurately increasing prevalence of backbiting, gossip, and outright hatred toward fellow believers. It is the domino effect. This is simply how it works in a top-down, hierarchical organization. One might think of it as trickle-down apostasy.
Unbeknownst to most, however, is the fact that this was spawned by the same underlying mechanisms that caused the polarization we are witnessing in our society today. For our church, it has now become a systemic problem. Put simply, what is happening in the church is a symptom of what is happening in western culture. By placing our faith in flawed human beings instead of in Christ, we have sold ourselves down the river. Our beliefs have become more about who has the better narrative than about the Gospel message itself. We have been lulled into thinking that the political ideology we champion will solve all of our ills, when the real truth is that we should not be looking to the left or to the right. We should be looking UP.
Without highlighting years of absurd displays of corrupt theology and behaviors in our church that are antithetical to Christianity itself, suffice to say that this unseemly trend has increased.
What we are witnessing in our church today eclipses some of the most errant practices of those who are not even professed Christians, much less Seventh-day Adventists.
In fact, I would go so far as to say that the fellowship I’ve witnessed in the boardrooms of some of the largest corporations during my tenure as an executive in corporate America, despite being fraught with colorful four-letter words and secular perspectives, was in many respects preferable to what I see in our own church.
Ironically, those I encountered in these mega corporations when I served as a consultant were more civil, respectful, and caring than many who profess to be faithful Seventh-day Adventists. Shame on us all.
We can make excuses for our behavior – the classic one being that Satan works harder to attack those in our church because we are more of a threat. Are we really? I’m not so sure about that anymore.
Although this worn-out premise may perhaps be true in some cases, the kind of aberrant behavior I am describing is based entirely upon choice – the choice that God in his mercy gives all of us.
Behaviors that run afoul of Christ’s example illustrate a lack of the Holy Spirit’s presence in the individuals who exhibit them. It is indicative of a disregard for the principles espoused by the Bible that we supposedly embrace – not to mention the counsels given in the Spirit of Prophecy. We have to stop making excuses for our own mistakes, much less those of our leadership.
Ill-begotten decisions, mandates, or anything that potentially harms others or compromises the truth, should never be condoned or rationalized under any circumstances. This kind of behavior is not the hallmark of a converted individual. It is characteristic of those who do not embrace biblical principle, but rather their own selfish whims and fancies.
And if we as a people sit idly by; if we turn a blind eye out of expedience or to avoid conflict, we are not only aiding and abetting such behavior, but we are just as guilty as those who have engaged in it.
If one views it from an organizational perspective, today’s church has come far short of the glory of God. It is even more startling in practical reality than some of the prophetic revelations and admonishments in the Spirit of Prophecy, if only those who are oblivious would remove their rose-colored glasses. It has gotten out of hand and threatens to undo the faithful and tireless efforts of the pioneers and the generations that have followed them.
Many seem to have forgotten the words of Robert H. Pierson, the sixteenth president of the General Conference who, in my opinion, was perhaps the last earnestly faithful Seventh-day Adventist in that role. In 1978, just before his retirement, he delivered a farewell address to the entire church in which he warned Seventh-day Adventists about what would transpire if they failed to stand for the principles that founded our church. The message is nothing less than prophetic today. He accurately depicted how far we would wander from our foundational principles:
“Already, brethren and sisters, there are subtle forces that are beginning to stir. Regrettably there are those in the church who belittle the inspiration of the Bible, who scorn the first 11 chapters of Genesis, who question the Spirit of Prophecy’s short chronology of the earth, and who subtly and not so subtly attack the Spirit of Prophecy. There are some who point to the reformers and contemporary theologians as a source and the norm for Seventh-day Adventist doctrine. There are those who allegedly are tired of the hackneyed phrases of Adventism. There are those who wish to forget the standards of the church we love. There are those who covet and would court the favor of the evangelicals; those who would throw off the mantle of a peculiar people; and those who would go the way of the secular, materialistic world.”
The most significant point of his address was an urgent and heartfelt plea to prevent such a deviation from ever happening in our church:
“Brethren and sisters, this must never happen to the Seventh-day Adventist Church! This will not happen to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. This is not just another church—it is God’s church! But you are the men and women sitting in this sanctuary this morning on whom God is counting to assure that it does not happen…. Fellow leaders, beloved brethren and sisters—don’t let it happen! I appeal to you as earnestly as I know how this morning—don’t let it happen! I appeal to Andrews University, to the Seminary, to Loma Linda University—don’t let it happen! We are not Seventh-day Anglicans, not Seventh-day Lutherans—we are Seventh-day Adventists! This is God’s last church with God’s last message. You are the men and women, the leaders, whom God is counting on to keep the Seventh-day Adventist Church God’s remnant church, the church God has destined to triumph!”
I urge everyone to read the full message from Elder Pierson (LINK). He was speaking to all of us today!
Consider this: who came after Robert Pierson? Neal Wilson. Contrary to the Spirit of Prophecy, his presidency opened the door to today’s ecumenical alliances, and the church tumbled into a downward spiral from which it has never recovered. This only happened because we, the constituency, allowed it to happen. We did not stop it while we had the opportunity. The result is the state of spiritual declension that we see in the church today. We have gotten what we deserve, unfortunately.
The primary problem is that we must come to recognize one very basic fact – that the true church, i.e., the remnant, is not a building, it is not a 501c3 corporation, and it is certainly not a kingly power. It is the people.
The term remnant belongs to those who keep the Commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ (Revelation 12:17; 14:12). Hebrews 12:18-24 irrefutably clarifies the meaning of the true church. It makes its characteristics abundantly obvious to those who have not been indoctrinated by decades of rhetoric from church leadership.
Without this understanding, E.G. White’s statement that “the church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall,” cannot possibly be understood in its correct context. The church organization, i.e., the General Conference, if it continues on its present path, will indeed fall.
Even if that were not the case, once the Sunday law arrives on the scene, we know that there will be persecution for God’s Commandment-keeping people and the very idea that we will still be sitting in Conference churches listening to sermons at that time is delusional. This is obvious, or at least it should be.
But the true church, i.e., those who are on the Advent path; those who stand for the right though the heavens fall, will also become those who “have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” (Revelation 22:14). This is what E.G. White refers to as the Church Triumphant. This is the true remnant – not a bureaucracy that formulates its own rules, or those who complacently go along with them.
While church leadership is inarguably responsible for some grievous errors, imprudent alliances with secular institutions (United nations and W.H.O.), and intrusions into freedom of conscience, the consequences that have ensued are just as much our own fault as it is theirs. We allowed this to happen.
When faced with an opportunity to challenge authority when it is overstepping its bounds, or to stand strong and refuse to waffle on one’s principles, most in our church will simply roll over and play dead. They have been well-trained.
The fear of reprisal by their leadership has supplanted a firm conviction to the truth as it is in Jesus. Like it or not, this kind of unquestioning devotion and obedience to renegade leaders and their arbitrary decisions, is one of the definitions of a cult – the kind of malicious and disparaging characterization that some in the mainstream have held toward our church. Another characteristic of a cult is the suppression of free thought among its members. Do we really want to provide them with such ammunition?
As the church descends further into the depths of apostasy, the words of Robert H. Pierson should echo throughout our midst. He tried to warn us. We didn’t listen. Now, at this late date, only we, the church constituency, can bring about a change. It is incumbent upon us, and it is well past time that we step up to the plate and take action. It is time to seriously challenge the status quo.
Don’t forget the words of E.G. White that should, quite frankly, send a chill up the spine of any sincere Seventh-day Adventist:
“If God abhors one sin above another, of which His people are guilty, it is doing nothing in case of an emergency. Indifference and neutrality in a religious crisis is regarded of God as a grievous crime and equal to the very worst type of hostility against God” { 3T 280.3}.
What would our church look like if every member stood up for bible principles, held their leaders accountable to those principles and spoke the truth in love?
One thing we can do is reject ADCOM’s statements—statements which claim to speak for 22 million church members without our input. Click HERE
Another thing we can do is pray to God. We can ask God to expose error in our own lives, and in the lives of church hirelings. We can ask Him to condemn these errors and lead us to repentance and a new balance of faith that humbles the oppressive hierarchy.
We can do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8). If we don’t, the critics of our church (both within and without) are justified.
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“He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8).
About the author: Arnie Suntag is the founder and president of Walk of Faith Media, an organization that offers wellness information and contemporary news through television, print, and social media. Walk of Faith Media also conducts seminars and educational series on health and disease prevention and provides outreach to the community. For inquiries or comments call (866) 359-2640 or email Arnie Suntag at arniesuntag@walkoffaithmedia.org.