Adventist Alert
by Felisa Samarin-Meier
Many of you may have seen the YouTube video that advertises a fake product for Adventists called Adventist Alert. It is supposed to alert you to when other Adventists are in your vicinity so that you can avoid being seen doing “unacceptable” things. I had a good laugh, but the video also made me think. It seems that this joke somehow touched very deeply on a fundamental woundedness common within Adventism: we feel very guilty when we do not follow what we perceive as the rules. We don’t feel guilty because we’ve done something wrong necessarily, but instead we feel guilty because we aren’t living up to the example that we should be following.
The issue is twofold. First, most Adventists grow up with religiously-based rules, but also internalize a list of spoken and unspoken “shoulds.” For instance, it’s a really hot Sabbath day and we decide to wade up to our knees but know inside that this really isn’t the response we should be having. For many this might feel a trivial or even irrelevant example today, and yet this same kind of ethical and emotional blackmail worms its way into many areas of our lives, whether we are in touch with it or not. Alternatively, many of us do not go to the supermarket on the Sabbath “because the Bible says not to” and we do not want to violate our commitment to the message of the Sabbath and set a bad example. While these things are true and even honorable, a far more constructive approach would be to emphasize and reinforce how we choose not to go grocery shopping on Sabbath because we want to treasure our day of rest and experience all of the possibilities it has to offer us.
Second, we have internalized and transmitted our morals and values in a way that is counterproductive to adherence. Through these “shoulds” we create a moral system that no one can ever hope to live within. We would be much better served by exploring and reinforcing the reasons why the moral choices within our system bring about the best outcome, assist us in living better lives and generally promote wellness in the human experience. For instance, I am a vegetarian for many reasons. One of the least of these is that Ellen White said so, although I do appreciate and respect her commentary on the matter. Instead, I primarily choose not to eat meat because it is better for the planet and helps, even in a small way, to decrease disparity in global allocation of food and resources. Our history of vegetarianism and healthful living certainly informs my perspective and tendency towards this, but this adherence would not be sustained if tradition alone were my only reason. Ultimately, it is far better to develop personal and meaningful reasons why Adventist religious and ethical culture is individually and collectively relevant, rather than to hold these norms up as a test of holiness or devotion.
It is important to note, however, that forcing traditional elements of Adventist culture to become and/or remain relevant is equally as fruitless as adherence out of guilt or shame. The appreciation of our heritage and the ideas, movements, beliefs and experiences that have shaped and helped to create Seventh-day Adventism remain significant. Still, we need not try to insist, for example, that wearing makeup in any form is inappropriate and therefore unacceptable because we have traditionally allied ourselves with emphases on modesty and embodying Biblical ideas of highlighting the beauty within.
As a chaplain, I actively engage with defining my Adventist theology and practice on a daily basis. While I am learning to be available and responsive to the needs and questions of those of all faith traditions, I am also developing my own understanding of how I view myself within my Seventh-day Adventist faith. Primarily, I seek to answer the question, how does who I am and the religious life I have created for myself inform my work? Most people are not urged by vocation to engage in this examination, but the creation of opportunities to become in touch with how the construction of our religious and moral life shapes who we are is vital. When we aid our members in defining Adventism for themselves and making it their own, we help to positively reinforce Adventism as a life-affirming, rather than a God-given mandate to live within certain parameters… or else!
In addition, our “shoulds” serve to separate us from our sisters and brothers in Adventist community. When we rigidly construct in our minds what an Adventist ought to look like, we so often project a great deal of judgment onto people when they do not embody that. Furthermore, it creates a culture of separation where we keep our struggles and burdens from each other and present a mask to those inside our community of faith. By continuing to perpetuate these cultural norms, we inhibit our ability to embrace our unique ways of integrating and actualizing Adventism within our lives. Instead, we hold up standards that no one can live up to and isolate ourselves from those in our religious community.
We are already diverse in our reasons for adherence to Adventist practice and doctrine. To share these realities with our sisters and brothers would only serve to enrich our knowledge and experience, as well as foster personal ownership of our faith tradition. Moreover, this would allow us to aid future generations in more skillfully navigating the complex waters of creating an Adventist reality that can and will remain relevant. Rather than attempting to harken back to “traditional” Adventism in a way that can be–and usually is–destructive, through an honest engagement with the present truth that we are experiencing, we can truly make the Seventh-day Adventist faith our own.
Adventists have been known for their external behaviors: no jewelry, no coffee or meat, no movie attendance, and especially no Sabbath activities that might be offensive to God.
Is this something of which we should be proud? I am afraid that it has been a mark of superiority too often displayed. Where is the meek and humble spirit? What if Adventists were known as those who were always in the forefront of feeding the hungry, helping those who had suffered massive diasters, those who were homeless and those who were in need of help? No, Adventists must be in their church on Sabbath morning, never mind that it is one of the two days of weekend that most people have free time. What could possibly be better activities than giving meals to the hungry or another form of help than pew warming, oblivious to the needs all around? Why is spending three hours in church more spiritual than helping others? The monies given in offerings might be distributed locally and have far more influence than sending to the G.C. headquarters and eventualy thousands of miles away. Who is my neighbor?
Timo, yes, I believe we have overlooked the weighter things and focused on the much lighter ones: the ones that can be visibly observed. God sees the heart.
But let’s remember that Jesus said we should do the weightier matters without neglecting the lesser matters. It a ‘both/and’, not ‘either/or’ matter.
The problem appears to be how one qualifies “weightier” and “lighter.” Just as one essayist here drew many comments on the evil of coffee drinking. Is that a weighty matter deserving of such effort?
Let’s face it. The so-called ‘relevant’ church is in fact a ‘compromised’ church — >>> It is a predominantly a culturally biased one which is controlled and influenced by Western Secular Society: a ‘Hollywood’ Church, if you please. So what’s new then? Sinners still need a Saviour and they are all saved like everybody else, the old fashioned way: The Cross! –>>> Progressive Christianity is not determined by the wearing of jewellery and make-up or trying to be as dissimilar to conservatives as possible in order to look ‘hip’ among the ‘other’ secular denominations and in so doing score ‘brownie points’. This in itself is a form of legalism in my opinion which is really what human moralists aspire to, not the saved by Grace Christianity which results in obedience to God. –>>> Then we go around patting ourselves on the back for this compromised position which makes sinfulness a trifle matter and label conservatives as public enemy by default, blaming them for all the youth and others that leave the Church. Our progress should be directly proportional to our growth, in terms of God leading us and His working in our lives through Jesus Christ; and this again done on His terms, not ours. –>>> T
I realized that most of what I was taught that Adventists don’t do is nothing but lip service. I found out that those individuals who present some nice vegetarian recipes at the cooking schools aren’t really vegetarians. Many people drink alcohol when other SDAs aren’t looking. Years ago one SS teacher I had talked to us kids how bad “The Lion King” was, and I later saw a copy of it in her house. Many “happy families” later ended up divorcing. Some people don’t wear jewelry to church but wear it to work all week.
Yes, it’s mostly all talk.
Blah, Blah, Blah….with all due respect
JaNe,
Thanks for the usual contribution.
Adventist Alert?? Let me see if I have this right. In the eyes of some it seems okay to embrace secretly what you abhor publicly. The sham works as long as you don't get caught. And we point the fingers at Catholicism with its indulgences and dispensations. Whatever happened to honesty and transparency, both which are more important than a phony front?