After collaborating with my husband on writing the Sabbath School Lesson commentary for www.biblestudiesforadventists.com, I had the burning desire to go listen to real people discuss the lesson. Would any of them pick up on the things that jumped out at me while reviewing the lesson?
I was curious. I wanted to know how real people processed the lesson in their minds. Since leaving, I hadn’t had very many meaningful conversations with Adventists about matters like these. I think I was looking for hope.
Before heading out the door, I decided I would go as just an observer, not to ask questions, instigate discussion, or rattle any cages. I would be there with my reporter’s hat on. With that in mind, I felt no need to be in disguise (read: remove my jewelry). I knew I would run into people I knew there in the church where I had been baptized as an early teen. If anyone inquired, I was prepared to tell the truth about why I was there. I worried that my attendance would spark some false hope in someone who’d heard about me and give the impression that I was on the road back “into the fold.”
I got there early enough to hear a small portion of a man’s testimony in the general Sabbath School program. He stated that he had read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and then someone suggested he read the Desire of Ages and that’s how he fell in love with Jesus. “Sigh, we are not off to a good start” I thought to myself.
When it came time to break into smaller groups, I knew I needed to attend a class that stuck to the lesson. Sometimes the classes aimed at the younger crowd choose themes to discuss and don’t really delve into the Sabbath School lesson. I also wanted to be fair and not attend a class for older, established Adventists who tend to be part of the Ellen White fanclub crowd. I was looking for a class that encouraged discussion and interaction. With that in mind, a lecture format was also out of the question.
I decided to attend a class led by a man close to my age, where the participants seemed to be mostly in their late 20s and 30s with a few in their early 40s. The class represented many cultures and races. The lesson was about God the Lawgiver.
Let me cut to the chase. In short, I was sorely disappointed. I heard a man question, ” If we are saved by grace and not by the law, then why do we emphasize the law so much?”
I wanted to slip him a note that said, “Let’s talk!”
The answer he got was, “When we accept His grace, the law is no longer a taskmaster. He lifts the burden of trying to keep the law.” (Meaning, keeping the law is now a delight and no longer a burden).
Someone else chimed in that some people believe that we can toss out the law when we accept grace. “But you don’t toss out the character of God!” he exclaimed, never stopping to question if, indeed the law is the transcript of God’s character (an assumption that was built upon in the lesson and never questioned). “If you toss it out,” he continued, “then it doesn’t apply to the next person.” I sighed inwardly again.
I heard mentioned in passing that other worlds shudder when we earthlings take the name of the Lord in vain. I heard a nearby teacher talk about how the law was an important part of the covenants with Noah and with Abraham. He also talked about how other worlds had the tree of knowledge of good and evil and they passed the test. The Bible teaches none of these things.
Friends tell me that Adventism is changing, that people are boldly choosing to think for themselves instead of allowing themselves to be spoon-fed by the organization. I don’t buy it. My experience transported me back to an old familiar place. If there’s change happening, it was not evident in this Sabbath School class. There was absolutely no challenge to long-held assumptions, much less a biblically-grounded rebuttal to these assumptions. I left there being reminded that this is not a Bible study.
Maybe it’s not fair to judge the “state of Adventism” by one 1-hour Sabbath School class. Who knows what was really going on in the minds of the participants and those who stayed quiet? However, I once heard a Sabbath School superintendent say, “You can judge the health of a church by the health of it’s Sabbath School”. If this is true, then historic Adventism is alive and well.
BiblestudiesforAdventists.com is edited by Colleen Tinker and written by Christian (non-Adventist) lay persons and pastors. Since 2009, the commentaries have been provided for Adventists who are looking for biblical insights into the topics discussed each week in the Sabbath School lesson.
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://blog.lifeassuranceministries.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/IMG_0918.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Delina Pryce McPhaull is a Christ-follower, wife, mother of 3 young children and a writer. Delina and her husband Ben, a licensed minister, co-founded Quarterlife Ministries to encourage, equip and inspire young adults (quarterlifers) to get grounded in the Word. She writes regularly on her blog, www.deliniation.com and hosts webinars for Former Adventists at www.after7.tv.[/author_info] [/author]
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Delina, what an interesting experience! Thanks for reporting.
I just have to say that the cover art on this quarter’s Quarterly is disturbing. It has odd symbols and seems eerily “new age-y”. The sovereign triune God I’m discovering in Scripture doesn’t resemble that cover!
But back to Sabbath School…
Thanks again for sharing your experience.