Being Adventist: Is It All or Nothing?
by Reinder Bruinsma | 19 June 2024 |
Most days I spend at least a few minutes on Facebook. Some friends get more attention than others. David Larson, who before his recent retirement taught ethics at Loma Linda University, is a friend whose opinions I value. Recently he posted this insightful paragraph:
Some seem to presuppose that one must completely believe each of the 28 Fundamental Beliefs as it is now written in order to be a true Adventist. I do not share this presupposition. A sociologist of religion would find that the reality of the situation is that one must be comfortable with enough of them to make the relationship between oneself and the denomination a mutually beneficial one, and this is decided by the local congregation. In all denominations, heresy among members is tolerated much longer than schism. This is also true of Adventists, as it should be. Trusting in the One whose steadfast love endures forever, and agreement with everything the denomination says and does, are not the same thing.
Larson has written posts about the exodus of Adventists from our denomination. For some Adventists, things are very black-and-white: if you can no longer agree with all Adventist doctrines or find that your local congregation is no longer as warm and welcoming as it used to be, it is time to leave.
But in some of Larson’s posts, and the reactions by others, it was pointed out that leaving your church is seldom a sudden decision. And it is often a process that does, in fact, not end when one has officially cancelled one’s membership or attended the Sabbath School and the divine service for the last time. Those who have said farewell to the church often carry some rudiments of Adventism—particular beliefs or lifestyle elements—with them for the rest of their lives.
The ideal and its opposite
Let’s imagine a scale, where on one end we position the ideal, and on the other end the absolute opposite of the ideal. In an ideal situation people are totally satisfied and happy with their relationship with God and with the content of their beliefs. They find this optimal experience of their faith in a spiritual community where they feel accepted and nurtured, and are able to contribute in ways that fit their personality and spiritual gifts.
Those who find themselves on the opposite end of the scale are plagued with severe doubts about who and what God is, and have serious questions about many of the 28 Fundamental Beliefs. Besides these issues with their faith and the Adventist belief system they no longer experience Adventism as their spiritual home. They have been deeply disappointed with their local congregations and with the denomination as a whole. They no longer consider themselves as part of God’s “peculiar” people, as a blessed “remnant” of sincere fellow-Christians, but have serious misgivings about the amount of hypocrisy, intolerance, and control they see at various levels of the denominational machinery.
To summarize: People either have unconditional love for God and for their church, or have a deep-felt doubt of God and His love and a profound dislike (or worse) for the institutional church.
It is all—or nothing.
Where am I on this continuum between the ideal and its opposite? Where are you? Very few, if any, of us are at the stage that we would describe as “ideal.” But does that mean that, if we are not totally happy with our faith and not completely satisfied with our church, we had better leave? Is it really all or nothing?
When attempting to answer these questions it is vital to realize that losing our faith and losing our confidence in the Adventist Church may be connected at some points but are essentially two different things.
What if we lose faith?
In some cases becoming a believer occurs at a specific moment. Something extraordinary happens, and from that moment on there is the inner certainty that God exists and that He cares about us and wants to have a relationship with us. However, more often becoming a believer is a process of some duration. It may have been there from early on but may have remained quite superficial. Or it may indeed have been there from our childhood onwards and have deepened over time.
Losing our faith may also be connected with some particular experience, when we quite suddenly realize that the beliefs we have subscribed to no longer make sense. But more often the loss of faith is also a gradual process. We may not know when and where exactly doubt began to surreptitiously creep into our soul, but looking back we recognize that it gradually eroded our faith. If we lose our faith in the fundamental Christian truths—God’s existence and love, Christ’s sacrifice for us, God’s Spirit in us—it can be a long journey to retrieve our faith. The trajectory of a recovery of our faith may be as mysterious as the initial process of becoming a believer.
For most people the Christian faith comes in a particular packaging: we are a Christian, but also a Roman Catholic, a Calvinist, a Lutheran, or a Baptist, or a Seventh-day Adventist. Most Christian churches share in a core of doctrines that are truly fundamental for all. In addition, each denomination has its own truths. Adventism has its own corpus of specific teachings. In actual practice, most church members only have a limited knowledge of many of these teachings. The rather contradictory reality is that, on the one hand, church leadership encourages a system of recruiting new members in which only a fragment of “the 28” are imparted, while also insisting that those of us who no longer believe in some of these specific Adventist teachings must have the decency to leave!
Is it all or nothing? Surely, if we feel that the teachings of another denomination are to be preferred over our Adventist body of truth, moving our allegiance to such a denomination is a valid option. But I for one am more inclined to follow the route that David Larson suggests. In all honesty I must admit that over time I have become uneasy about some of our Adventist doctrines, or about the interpretation that is dictated by the church as the only acceptable version. But, to quote Larson again, I am “comfortable with enough of them to make the relationship between myself and the denomination a mutually beneficial one.”
So, where do we turn if doubt has affected our faith in the core of the Christian doctrines and/or in the Adventist packaging? It is, I believe, essential to keep thinking, reading, dialoguing with others, and yes: to keep praying and reading the Bible when we are eager to regain our faith in God and rediscover the road of divine grace and salvation. If our doubt mainly concerns the Adventist packaging of our faith, there may be less reason to worry. In most cases that would not be enough reason to say farewell to Adventism. This would be true even if most of the Adventist packaging no longer appeals, but the Adventist (local) church is still experienced as a pleasant place to be. In my view so-called “cultural” Adventists ought to remain welcome in our midst.
The French philosopher of religion, Paul Ricoeur (1913-2005), stated that faith emerges and is nourished by learning the language of faith. One learns a language, he said, by mingling with people who know that particular language. For that reason it is vital that those who want to learn the language of faith should seek the company of believers. (Cultural Adventists may refresh their faith language by being around Adventists.)
It is not a matter of all or nothing. If faith is vibrant, we connect with those who share in our faith and want to be part of the church community. The church can still be a haven of comfort and (perhaps occasional) inspiration even if we are plagued by doubt. And for many, I believe, the Adventist Church can still be a meaningful stop along our spiritual pilgrimage if some of the specific Adventist doctrines have lost their meaning for them.
What if our church has lost us?
Lately, I often hear fellow-Adventists say: “It is not that I have left the church, but the church has left me.” This does not only come from ordinary members, but from men and women who have worked as pastors or have held positions of administrative responsibility. Often their voices become louder once they are retired, since their jobs might have been in jeopardy if they had spoken of their frustration while still on the denominational payroll.
There was a time when I enthusiastically believed in the “grand story” of Adventism. I was proud of my church, of its world-wide program, its global presence, its ever-expanding network of health care institutions, schools, and publishing houses. When visiting Adventist churches in other countries I felt at home, because there were so many things I recognized as “Adventist,” besides the fact that we all used the same Sabbath school lesson quarterly!
However, as a (mostly) postmodern person I have rejected the grand stories that permeated our world in past times, including that of Adventism. And this would, I believe, be true for most readers of Adventist Today. We have seen too many things in our church that we do not like. We dislike the idea of distributing millions of copies of a nineteenth-century book that pits us over and against other Christians. We cannot understand why women cannot be ordained to the ministry. We demand the freedom to believe that God created in a way that differs from the recently re-written Fundamental Belief number six that forces us to think in terms of a creation process of six 24-hour days. We object to the exclusion of LGBTQ+ people from our community. Et cetera.
What course should we take? Does all of this (and possibly more) leave us with no other option than to leave the church? Again: is it all or nothing? Do we leave because our church is less than ideal? And if so, where do we go? Do we become “unchurched” and join the ever-growing army of “nones”? This would not be an option for me. I do not want to be an isolated believer. I need togetherness with other believers. Faith is an individual experience that, paradoxically enough, is shared with others.
I am keenly aware of the deficiencies of the Adventist Church. As a lifelong student of church history, and with a lot of experience in different religious bodies, I realize that all denominations have problems. Some have worse issues than we do. In spite of all the things I do not like in my church, I feel deeply attached to it. I have been part of this church since I was baptized almost seventy years ago. I have worked for the Adventist denomination during my entire working life. Most of my friends are in the Adventist Church. I may have reservations about the investigative judgment or about aspects of the Adventist end-time scenario (to mention just two issues), but there are many elements of the Adventist faith that I deeply appreciate. Therefore, joining another denomination is not a real option for me either. And it would seem that many Adventists, who feel that in many ways their church has left them, share in this feeling.
Local church
What, then, is the solution? Where do we go if we pass through a phase of doctrinal struggles or have concluded that we can no longer subscribe to some of “the 28”? Where do we go if we feel that our church has left us? My answer to these questions would be: Let us focus on the church at the local and/or regional level. For some, moving one’s membership to a more open, welcoming, congregation may be a viable possibility. Or moving (maybe temporarily) to a digital Adventist community could be a solution.
I for one have decided to stay in my church, even though it is far from perfect, and even though I am convinced that some of its beliefs need some serious scrutiny and updating. I realize I am far from perfect myself, but with all my doubts and imperfections I want to stay and contribute to the wellbeing of my church. I hope that some of the things that I say when I preach, and some of the things I write about, will persuade at least some who have doubts or who feel abandoned by their church to stay with their church and contribute to it.
Reinder Bruinsma lives in the Netherlands with his wife, Aafje. He has served the Adventist Church in various assignments in publishing, education, and church administration on three continents. He still maintains a busy schedule of preaching, teaching, and writing. He blogs at http://reinderbruinsma.com/.
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