By Colleen Tinker
The current growth and political correctness of the Seventh-day Adventist organization is ironic considering its historic understanding of itself as the remnant church of Bible prophecy—the ultimate object of Satan’s hatred and of international targeting for execution when the predicted Sunday-law is passed.
The Total Member Involvement (TMI) initiative initiated by General Conference president Ted Wilson at the annual council in October, 2015, has been pushed throughout the world organization over the past year-and-a-half. In Wilson’s words, “We have no time to lose. Every moment is golden and altogether too precious to be devoted merely to self-serving.”
The urgency, of course, is Ellen White’s guilt-producing counsel to the Adventist flock. In Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9, p. 116, she wrote, “The work of God in this earth can never be finished until the men and women comprising our church membership rally to the work and unite their effort with those of ministers and church officers.” She further wrote, “The salvation of sinners requires earnest, personal labor. We are to bear to them the word of life, not to wait for them to come to us. Oh, that I could speak words to men and women that would arouse them to diligent action! The moments now granted to us are few. We are standing upon the very borders of the eternal world. We have no time to lose. Every moment is golden and altogether too precious to be devoted merely to self-serving. Who will see God earnestly and from Him draw strength and grace to be His faithful workers in the missionary field?”
Understanding the agenda
Christians need to understand the background agenda giving impetus to the startling increase in Adventist baptisms during the past year, especially in African countries. Moreover, even in countries which tend to be more developed and more secular, the same agenda drives what appears to be simple humanitarian good will and ecumenical compassion.
Adventism’s social programs, lifestyle classes, and compassion ministries exist primarily for one underlying reason: to proselytize new members. In order to understand this agenda, the following is a list of ten activities the General Conference has suggested in order to involve every Adventist in the TMI intuitive:
- Pray for the advancement of the Gospel in hard-to-reach areas of the world. Pray for fortitude on behalf of workers who are currently serving. Pray that God will show you how you can work in His vineyard.
- Support Adventist World Radio, Hope TV, the Voice of Prophecy, or other Bible schools, so their work can continue over the airwaves.
- Support and pray for Adventist Mission and indigenous workers in unentered areas.
- Participate in local and institutional health outreach events, such as health expos, or Pathway to Health events.
- Get involved in a Sabbath school care group, or church outreach.
- Volunteer with a local Community Service event or ADRA project.
- Organize a health seminar, small group, Bible study, or evangelistic series in your home using the New Beginnings DVD.
- Help with Children’s, youth, or Pathfinder community service projects.
- Volunteer with evangelistic events, Revelation Seminars, or Prophecy Seminars.
- Befriend new members and nurture them.
Ultimately, any time Adventists offer community cooking schools, classes, free medical clinics and screenings, or personal friendship evangelism, Christians need to understand that these things are not disinterested services for a needy public. They are “evangelistic” tools designed to win the gratitude and confidence of unsuspecting people who will then be vulnerable to the Adventist false gospel.
For example:
The Adventist news service has released several stories in the past week praising and promoting several different evangelistic methods pursued by Adventists in different countries.
The Adventist Review published an account on March 17 an account by Adventist evangelist Jarod Thomas who was in Romania “holding one of over 2,000 meetings with the Romanian [Adventist] Union’s country-wide outreach.” As Thomas walked the streets, he entered a small clothing store run by an Adventist woman; that store received a steady stream of foot traffic. The shop owner, however, was not simply offering clothing; she featured a display of Adventist literature on a shelf of sweaters and Adventist books at the check-out spot.
Thomas remarked, “It is the personal work—coming close to people with a spirit of compassion and unselfish love—that gives our message traction in the minds and hearts of those who hear it.”
Significantly, the author is clear that is not the gospel but the Adventist message that gains “traction” from Adventists’ meeting people’s needs with compassion.
From Australia comes a completely different kind of story. Leaders of the Australian Adventist church have just joined 11 other Australian churches calling on the government to “lift levels of foreign aid to the internationally agreed target of 0.7 percent of Gross National Income.”
Interestingly, the Adventist Review made a point to say, “The church leaders also made their statement ‘in the face of recent trends around the world which promote isolationism, exclusionary nationalisms or the forceful pursuit of naked self-interest.’”
Jorge Munoz, the president of the Australian Union Conference, “sighed the statement in his capacity as chair of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Australia board.” ADRA, incidentally, is the humanitarian “arm” of the Adventist church which, as an NGO, receives government contracts around the world to provide humanitarian aid.
The statement was coordinated by Micah Australia whose signatories include Adventist, Anglican, Apostolic, Baptist, Catholic, Chinese Methodist, Churches of Christ, Congregational, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Salvation Army, and Uniting Churches. It addressed specific issues which the signers agreed needed the aid of the government: poverty, economic exclusion, rising inequality, “grave breaches of human and civic rights,” and the vulnerability of both Australia and its neighbors to “natural disasters and the increasing impact of climate change.” It also mentioned refugees and stated that “Australia’s foreign policy must continue to make peace-keeping and conflict prevention an urgent priority.”
ADRA Australia’s CEO Mark Webster says, “Australia’s aid program saves lives; supporting it is not a matter of politics but of humanity.”
This story might not seem remarkable on the surface, but for an organization whose prophet made contradictory statements about political advocacy, a church which believes it alone is the “remnant church” of Bible prophecy whose doctrines alone describe truth, such official, ecumenical, political activism goes against the historical grain. Because of Ellen White’s statements, many Adventists have refused to become involved in politics, and many have even refused to vote.
Among other things she says, “He who was our example kept aloof from earthly governments. Not because He was indifferent to the woes of me, but because the remedy did to lie in merely human and external measures” (The Desire of Ages, p. 509-510). Yet the Adventist organization today works closely with human governments, posing as a disinterested humanitarian organization while in reality it is desperately attempting to be accepted by the powers that could persecute its members (according to EGW’s prophecies). Adventism is gaining credibility and influence internationally because of its deceptive presentation of itself as ADRA, an ecumenical provider of aid for the suffering.
Desmond Doss again
Finally, on March 16, the Adventist Review ran yet another story about Desmond Doss. Riding the tide of the movie made about this Adventist WWII hero who became the first conscientious objector to win the congressional Medal of Honor, this story recounts a posthumous award granted to Desmond Doss on what would have been his 98th birthday, February 7.
On that day, “People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), an animal rights organization with 5 million members around the world, presented the ‘Hero to Animals’ award posthumously because, in addition to refusing to pick up a gun while in the army and throughout his life, Doss was also a lifelong vegetarian and a longstanding advocate for non-violence and compassion.”
This award was presented to principal Steve Doss at a special assembly of the Desmond T. Doss Christian Academy, a K-12 Seventh-day Adventist school in Lynchburg, Virginia. Ironically, however, Desmond Doss’s vegetarianism was based on Ellen White’s prohibitions which had nothing to do with animal cruelty. Nevertheless, the Adventist organization is thrilled with the attention it is receiving from high-profile sources. Instead of being marginalized as it has been historically for its Sabbath-keeping and vegetarianism, Adventism is in the spotlight as a leader in practices that have become politically correct in today’s culture.
Conclusion
In today’s increasingly ecumenical, environmentally aware, politically correct culture, Adventism is finding a way to “fit in” in ways it never did historically. Instead of being considered a marginalized group with odd practices, it is becoming widely accepted for its humanitarian work, its emphasis on health and lifestyle, and its community outreach projects.
Make no mistake, however. Adventism has not changed. The General Conference-initiated TMI initiative is firmly rooted in Adventist eschatology and in Ellen White’s writings. Even though the public face of Adventism may appear to morph, it is still the same at the core. Ultimately all of its good works are for the purpose of gaining favor with God and man, and Adventists are driven to make converts of the people in their lives.
We embrace the mystery of God that does good and gives rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying the hearts of all people with food and gladness (Acts 14:17). At the same time we contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints (Jude 1:3).
Adventism is deceptive and dangerous. Even though it provides many people with relief for their felt needs, it cannot deliver true hope. Adventism eclipses the gospel with its good works.
God’s word, however, is alive, and the gospel “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, ‘But the righteous man shall live by faith’” (Rom. 1:16-17).
Sources:
Adventist.org: What is Total Member Involvement?
Adventist Review: The Sacred with the Mundane?
Adventist Review: Adventist Leaders in Australia Call for Compassion in Foreign Policy
Adventist Review: Desmond Doss Honored Posthumously for His Vegetarian Stance
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