I’m so tired of hearing how we are the only true believers, and the rest aren’t!
2 June 2025 |
Dear Aunt Sevvy,
I’m a baptized Adventist in Africa, and I have been wrestling with Adventist teachings: I think that we are too rule-based and treat Christianity more as a religion, and not a relationship with Jesus. And we are very judgmental of other Christian churches.
I don’t want to leave the church, but I’m so tired of hearing week in and week out how we are the true church, the true believers, and the rest are not. I personally believe that given the current state of the world we should focus on the message of salvation.
I feel so much guilt for having these thoughts.
Signed, Discontented
Dear Discontented,
From the beginning, Seventh-day Adventists have taken pride that we are better—or at least more “right”—than other Christians. It makes Aunty sad to have to say it, but it is just plain arrogant to go around claiming that we are the only ones who are right about everything, and other Christians are in some way second rate.
Yet what’s astonishing is that for many Adventists, being able to feel more “right” than everyone else is precisely what they value about our church!
Aunty wishes she had the authority and stature to call Adventists to repentance: back to a simpler gospel, and thus into fellowship with all the other Christians who worship Jesus. It is rather sad that the central truths of Jesus—acceptance and kindness and freedom and godly relationships—are buried under end-time fears. What happened to Adventists to make us only feel content when we are talking about how bad things are?
Aunty prays you won’t feel guilty about embracing the good news of salvation through Jesus. The Spirit is speaking to you. Listen to it, and see where it takes you.
Aunt Sevvy
Aunt Sevvy has collected her answers into a book! You can get it from Amazon by clicking here.
You can write to Aunt Sevvy at DearAuntSevvy@gmail.com. Your real identity will never be revealed.
