It is really a simple problem in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. I think it’s pretty hard to believe in many other denominations as well, but it may just be a little extra hard with our heritage.
For decades we have held public evangelistic meetings. Members have been encouraged to bring friends to these meetings and some do, but many only have friends who are already part of the denomination which reduces the opportunity to have “friends” to invite. In addition, the community is blanketed with mailers inviting people to attend the series (crusade, effort, lectures, etc.).
Attendees of these meetings are presented a carefully crafted series of messages to present truth in a seemingly irrefutable way. Those who begin buying into the speaker’s worldview and understanding of scripture are subtly, or not so subtly, led to see their new understandings not just as truth, but as a teaching which affords them a superior status in spiritual knowledge.
The novice in prophecy, hermeneutics, and maybe spirituality in general, gets this rush of moving rapidly toward expert as compared with the general population. Finally, agreeing to become part of the "remnant church" of Bible prophecy. the new member senses they are on the inside track and part of a favored group, those who are “right”.
We challenge new believers to leave family, friends, churches, workplaces (when Sabbath is an issue), to step out and be separate - to walk by faith in this new light that has come to them. So it isn’t hard to imagine that, over time, they may be tempted to believe they deserve God’s favor. After all, look at all the things they sacrificed: from alcohol, caffeine, sugar, meat, maybe even cheese, etc. in their diet, to their old wardrobe, jewelry and overly expensive clothes, to friends, family and workmates, to hobbies and Sabbath activities, and of course the burden of knowing all the “right” answers to all the end time events. Not that any of these choices aren’t necessarily “good” but there is a risk.
Having behaved, obeyed, believed, and chosen all of the above and more, there is a damning temptation to which we may succumb. We may block the freedom that God’s grace brings. Why? Because grace, in order to be grace, must be undeserved by the recipient, and when a person is tempted and then begins to believe that they deserve grace, it is no longer grace they receive but rather something they imagine they are owed. And to not receive grace is to not receive life.
Whether you are the worst person, literally the most diabolical person who ever lived, or whether people would wish to confer sainthood on you because you seem so holy, in either case you deserve nothing but death eternal, and you get life eternal only as an act of God’s grace which you do not deserve.
Maybe, just maybe, sometimes we Christians aren’t very gracious dispensers of grace because we have fooled ourselves, with the devil’s assistance, into believing we somehow deserve grace and that there are others around us who do not deserve it, so we don’t deliver it.
Getting grace right is acknowledgement that we don’t deserve it, and giving grace right is to acknowledge that to whomever we extend it, the only qualification for receiving it is not deserving it. That’s what makes it grace. And that’s pretty amazing.
Andy McDonald
Another swipe at the SDA church from FHC...nothing like hanging out alleged dirty laundry. It's all about grace today, 10 years from now it will be all about SDA's are too much into cheap grace w/o works, this stuff never ends, just swings one way, then the other. So tiring...
ReplyDeleteSince I am a Seventh-day Adventist I choose to use my denominational heritage as an illustration, not to "swipe at the SDA church" but to demonstrate that the one qualification for receiving grace is recognizing we (no one) deserves it or it wouldn't be grace. It isn't a paycheck for performance it is gift of grace.
ReplyDelete"It is really a simple problem in the Seventh-day Adventist Church." "Attendees of these meetings are presented a carefully crafted series of messages to present truth in a seemingly irrefutable way." The SDA haters have all the problem areas already covered, you publicly posting this on the internet just adds fuel to their fire.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. Please get the point. It is this. When people are sure they are unquestionably right it isn't a far leap to believing their obedience, lifestyle, or theology makes them "deserve" grace. This is not a problem unique to SDA it is a human problem because our pride wants some credit for our salvation and all the credit goes to Jesus, his life, his death, his resurrection and the gift of his righteousness freely given to us by grace. Any group who rises to a level of delusion that their choices make them deserving of grace have missed God's grace completely. We don't deserve it, our very most perfect performance is like filthy rags, and despite off of this God offers us his righteousness as a stand in for our lack there of. What I long for is a humility that takes God at his word, and simultaneously recognizes that some of our perception of that word we might have wrong. We strongly believe it but are open to it being questioned. Each iteration of the reformation was about both letting go of what was formerly believed to be true in order to adopt a new understanding of what was now believed to be true. In almost all Christian circles I just wish for more investigative dialogue as we finites explore our infinite God, and celebrate that He saves us by his grace alone and if we somehow come to imagine we deserve it then it becomes wages not a gift and no longer grace. How terrible would that be.
ReplyDeleteYou did not address my previous posting. "The SDA haters have all the problem areas already covered, you publicly posting this on the internet just adds fuel to their fire."
ReplyDeleteThere is no perfect church and no perfect people. Acknowledging where we come from and where we are allows for growth and change. Andy has simply given a grace-filled, Jesus-centered, biblical approach to a common malady in many churches. Any church leader intent on their congregation having an authentic and vital relationship with God would do the same.
ReplyDelete"Haters" should never steer the conversation. One can only hope that a blog such as this one might help them see a church intent on sharing the true character of God with the world.
I attended a "grace filled" Sunday church for 20 years when I received a flyer in the mail to attend a Revelation Seminar. Out of curiosity, I attended and found not only grace-filled Christians but serious Bible students. I have been a grace filled SDA for 30 years. I am shocked that you (pastor of an SDA church) would IMPLY that the SDA church is devious and underhanded in it's evangelistic outreach methods. I totally agree with your message of grace but I also agree with Anon that you have taken another swipe at the SDA organization PUBLICLY...thankful it appears this blog is not read much!
ReplyDeleteIt has been my experience that, contrary to your theory that devious evangelists are to blame for our lack of embracing grace, the people who have the most problem with grace are those who attended boarding academies. Children at the tender age of 13-14 are left by their parents to be raised by the organization! Children at that age cannot distinguish between rules that keep them physically and morally safe in an institutional setting with ultimatums from God, therefore they confuse God and the institution. They have a hard time with grace because while young they were told by the institution how to behave. The institution is in a bind...they have been given the responsibility to educate and keep children morally and physically safe. If the institution were to bestow "grace" on wayward children who did not follow the moral or safe rules, parents would be outraged and stop sending their children! In fact, I believe that SDA education is taking a hit because the new and improved grown-up boarding student who has discovered grace is now throwing out all SDA traditions!! Those who have been lead into the church through traditional methods are not the ones hung up on legalism...but those who were born and raised SDA's struggle most with grace.
hey i just read the post above and i bet that all 16 who voted this opinion as "awesome" were boarding students!
ReplyDeleteThe SDA Church of today is very much like the Jerusalem Temple of believers. They knew all the answers, had all the dates right, kept all the commandments meticulously, and had a perfection mentality, and a superiority complex. Enter Jesus...what to do with a humble Galilean, without a proper education, and credentials. A man who loved sinners, and treated the common fisherman as a brother, befriended tax collectors and let fallen women follow Him everywhere and despite this, claimed to be the Son of God! Unthinkable. The only answer was to kill such an imposter!!!
ReplyDeleteAs you say Andy, " you deserve nothing but death eternal, and you get life eternal only as an act of God’s grace which you do not deserve." That is the accusation of Satan...he whispers it in our ear, he shouts in in heavenly places. But Jesus didn't see us that way. He placed a value on us, he came to redeem His own. His very creation is not something worthless. True we don't create our own worth, by our deeds or our generosity or our knowledge, those are a result of our association with a Saviour. By beholding we become change.
Jesus saw knew the condition we were in. We had come into the world afflicted with a condition that would kill us...sin destroyers. The only way to rescue us from the consequences was to become one of us and live out a untainted life. His pure life is our cure...His very being must infuse in us a transformation. He will again create a new heart in those who come to Him. He has the power over death, by allowing sinful men under the influence of Satanic forces to kill Him who knew no sin, He destroyed the power of sin over us...He died that we might live. He loved us, valued us so much that He would give all to give us life eternal. Let us come boldly to the Throne of Grace, where we will obtain mercy and pardon and find a Savior waiting with open arms who loves us with an everlasting love. He will return and take His people home.