BY DUANE COVRIG
HRIST SAID THE WORLD WOULD treat us as it treated Him, because we'd be different. He said we should rejoice when we are treated as He was treated, because that would be one indication we are following Him.
Nevertheless, some Adventists turn the call to be "different" into an end in itself. By their extremism and their bizarre beliefs and practices, they bring reproach upon Adventism and, more important, upon Christ. Not long ago a manslaughter conviction was handed down to an Australian Adventist couple, who were sentenced to prison for not accepting medical intervention for their strictly fed but malnourished infant child. And we should not forget that many of David Koresh's converts came from Adventist communities.
Adventists aren't the only ones who pervert the "remnant" concept to support destructive behaviors. The Left Behind series has released its tenth book, entitled The Remnant. Recently it was showcased in a huge display at the local Kmart store. In glancing through it, I noticed it was a blend of soap opera characters, scriptural passages, and current events. The result was a masterful but highly impressionistic work of art, with some truth and a lot of speculation.
So which version of being a remnant should we believe? The Tim LaHaye version? The Adventist version? Which Adventist version? As each religious group projects its own idiosyncrasies on what it means to be God's chosen remnant, each group understandably burrows deeper into its own passages of Scripture and into its own peculiarities. Members become different and defend that difference as God-ordained.
From Personal Experience
I know firsthand the power for good and the power for evil that work in the mind-set of remnant seekers. I grew up a Seventh-day Adventist but went to public elementary and high schools. Saturday Sabbathkeeping and vegetarianism were two of several practices that earmarked my twin brother and me as different from our classmates. It was good to be reminded we were different. That thinking kept us from doing things we shouldn't. It helped us "march to the beat of a different drummer." Abraham Heschel noted it wasn't so much that the Jews kept the Sabbath but that the Sabbath kept the Jews. Religious commitments and/or commitments to God keep us unique. They focus our vision and our energy. Furthermore, in a small way these commitments witness to values different from those of others. God's grace shines through the cracked clay pots of our lives.
Nevertheless, I also experienced the power of evil that creeps into the thinking of remnant seekers. In my teens a controversy rocked (and eventually closed) my home church in northern California. Forced to pick sides, I chose to burrow deep into a rigid Adventism-which some may call "historical Adventism." It may have been historical, but it lacked the "historical" message of faith-based righteousness. (It occurs to me that that message is really the oldest message around, the most historical, and that's why we call it "the everlasting gospel.")
As I burrowed deeper into a graceless view of God and Adventism, I developed more and more of a debilitating mind-set that fixated on bizarre beliefs about food and religious duty. By my early 20s I was in another world, faithful to the "mint and cumin" and other religious minutia, but out of tune with the deeper and weightier issues of love and grace and the wonderfulness of being found in Christ without spot or wrinkle (Eph. 5:27). I became a defender of Adventist trivia, a remnant warrior, a sniper for truth.
Only the grace of wise friends and family and the struggle of many years have helped God flush out many of these debilitating views. I now try to cultivate a different remnant mind-set. However, I sympathize with those still trapped in a sincerity that is well-meaning but misguided, a sincerity that strives for distinctiveness but cultivates only a bizarre, distorted, and graceless experience. I know well the rigid master that is served by these. He resembles a god; but not the God of grace, who is a kind master, even a dear and close friend (see John 15:15).
I believe three temptations work to distort remnant seekers' experiences. These are (1) elitism, (2) an unteachable spirit, and (3) a penchant for useless conspiracy theories or other ungrounded speculations about the work of God or Satan. I believe God's true remnant avoid these temptations by fostering three important characteristics. They (1) foster a caregiver's attitude that is engaged in compassionate ministry, (2) cultivate a prophetic approach to the unfolding influence of God, and (3) continue to build on their understanding that the "great controversy" is the only conspiracy theory that ultimately counts in the Christian warfare.
I would like to focus now on the three remnant temptations.
1. Elitism. Elitism can bring deadly results to remnant seekers because it fosters a false sense of self, a false understanding of success, and a distorted vision of Christ. Remnant chasers run the risk of equating a sense of specialness with inherent goodness. They point to a brave act of choosing Christ or the Advent truth as their birthright to being treated as elite. Or they point to a good upbringing or Adventist pedigree as their birthright. Whatever their claim to be elite, they foster a false sense of self. They forget that the heart, even of remnant people, is desperately wicked and in need of the cleansing influence of God. Remnant people, like all those who will be saved, are plucked out by the mighty hand of God. They are not recruited by God because of their superior qualities or impressive résumés.
Elitism also distorts understandings of success. At one extreme, remnant elitists come to believe that success is an automatic for them. They are prime candidates for major disappointment. They erroneously believe that their special status immunizes them from the problems all people face. They are surprised when mental or physical disease, economic setbacks, family crises, or other social problems arise. They fail to see that the rain and sunshine alike fall on the remnant and the bad. Hardship startles elitists, who are then tempted to blame others for their predicament. On the other extreme, elitists work hard and experience great success and become pompous in that success. They forget that even success is useful only if it brings glory to God.
Finally, elitism's most crippling effect is to get remnant chasers to take their eyes off God. Just as the serpents in the desert were constantly biting, so in our lives bad thoughts and crippling ideas will always be biting at our minds. These snaky bites will overwhelm us if we do not continually hang our helpless souls on Christ. We must dwell in the presence of His goodness. That has always been our only safeguard. God's remnant will not foster grandiose views of their own accomplishments, their own growing numbers, their own successful institutions, their physical superiority and longevity. They know that such focus takes their eyes off God and that only by looking to Christ will they keep from slipping into the waters of despair or being mesmerized by their own beauty.
The true remnant experience is a cure for elitism. And that cure lies in an attitude of caring ministry to others. They have learned that their special calling is to minister in ways unique to their relationship and experience of God. They give the three angels' messages and foster a passion to bring healing to others. They have learned that loving not only brings success, but is success. Revelation 14:12 reminds us that the remnant keep the commandments. And Jesus summed up those commandments as (1) love to God with all the heart, mind, and soul, and (2) love to our neighbors. Experiencing that love, through daily devotion (reading, prayer, singing) and sharing that love with those nearest to us is the ultimate cure for elitism.
2. An Unteachable Spirit. Hubris, the belief that one knows it all, distorts remnant seekers. I tire of hearing Adventists declare haughtily that they have all the truth. Conceited and brash statements like this indicate a very shallow understanding of the complexity of the universe and overestimate our personal or corporate capacity to comprehend that complexity. A terrible thing happens to any person who stops listening and learning. Like Balaam, such individuals are so blinded by their own stubbornness that messages of warning and hope are not accepted.
The temptation to believe one knows it all comes easy. As a professor, I hang around many scholars, and I've come to realize that the really wise scholars are those who keep asking questions, keep listening, and do hard work grappling with issues. However, despite this hard work, they know they could be wrong and have much more to learn. The fools are those whose hubris decreases their ability to listen. We should never stop cultivating a healthy doubt that we could be wrong, even about theological issues. That's the best way to keep learning and reinforcing the right while weeding out errors.
I believe the true remnant foster a different spirit from that of hubris, namely, "the spirit of prophecy" (Rev. 19:10), a spirit in which Ellen G. White shared. It's not a magical ability to look through walls, tell people the evil details of their lives, or even predict future events. That's really not the big "stuff" of prophecy. The big purpose of prophecy is to discern God's way in the world and see how He is leading us in new directions. It is a spirit that animates all those who seek to "follow the Lamb wherever he goes" (Rev. 14:4).
I believe Isaiah 43:18, 19 is a motto for remnant people: "Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now shall it spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert." Prophets are watching for God's movements today. And how do they do that? They watch for water in deserts. They look for grace in the driest place and among the periods of the longest droughts. They are eternal optimists, because they know the power of God to create and re-create right before their very eyes. They realize the God of their fathers and mothers will be the God of their daughters and sons. They know God is alive and well and working in the now. They are watching for His presence. They seek His rivers in their own desert lives. They watch for the waterfalls of grace in their parched churches. They are the most hopeful people on earth, because they have the spirit that animated the prophets.
3. A Penchant for Conspiracy Theories. Even those who resist elitism and foster ministry and the spirit of prophecy run the risk of a third temptation as remnant seekers. They may become vulnerable to false conspiracy theories. Apocalyptic fever drives many a good person into poor thinking. They don't want to be left behind (no pun intended), so they keep alive an ear to hear and willingness to believe hidden secrets and remote ideas.
Biblical Readings for Remnant Seekers
Genesis 7:23: Noah "and they that were with him in the ark" were the remnant.
Genesis 45:7: Joseph was a remnant. "God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance." The remnant keep alive God's delivering presence in their lives.
Isaiah 1:9: Remnant people are survivors, not elitists!
Isaiah 43: We are called to be witnesses and to watch for His new works.
Romans 12: We are called not to be conformed to the world but transformed by "renewing" our minds with the principles of God's kingdom.
Other passages: Isaiah 10:19-21; 11:11-16; 42:1-7; Jeremiah 6:9, 10; Ezra 9:7-15; Revelation 12:17; 14:12.
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Jesus warned us to watch and pray that we be not deceived. He warned us because He knew religious people have a penchant for looking for supernatural meanings in all the wrong places. He warned us that many would say Christ can be found in this or that inner chamber, or in this or that remote area. We should fight the temptation to believe that secrecy and "remoteness" characterize the life and work of Christ. Forget the inner chambers. Forget the remote and weird ideas. Christ has always tabernacled among His people, and His people have always been found in the posture of service to a lost world (see Matt. 25).
Remnant thinkers fight the penchant to believe every new idea. They test the spirits. They find safety in bringing all issues back to a central issue-the great controversy between the Holy Trinity and Satan's trinity of evil (Rev. 12-14). They know the battle is over who God is and what He is like. They use the simple tools of prayer and reading and communion with God and heart sharing with each other to discern the way of the Lord. They test spirits, because they know God doesn't mind being challenged as we try to prevent ourselves from being duped by Satan. They debate among themselves in Christlike ways to ascertain God's will. They know that Satan's ideas can't bear the penetrating questions of truth, and Satan can't handle disagreement. They know that God and His truth can handle such scrutiny.
Reading about, fondling, and spreading conspiracy theories distracts from what Paul said was the central warfare of Christians. "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." The "high places" involve worship, involve our minds. These are real battlegrounds. Many influences come to distort God and His central desire to have a relationship with us. He wants to be worshiped for who He really is. But Satan has worked wonders to distort that worship.
The great controversy is about confusion. There are widespread false views of God's government and leadership, lies lodged deep in our social systems and deep in our own minds. They become closely associated with God, but in reality are anti-God. That's the great conspiracy. God is better than we have imagined and His ways more righteous than even the hardest scrutiny we can put forth.
Many go to their graves with evil ideas lodged in their minds-ideas that made it hard for them to worship God. Standing up for a kind and loving God, whose image and ways have been distorted in a world of power and religion, is enough of an issue for remnant people to get excited about. All the other conspiracy theories merely derive from this central issue.
As God's remnant embrace their calling and the spirit of the prophets, they will foster an inquisitive attitude about what God is doing in the world around them to dispel Satan's false accusations. They will fight in faith, not as the kings of this earth, but in the way of the Spirit. In doing so they will be open and teachable, malleable and usable. They know that they don't have to be rigid to be stable. In fact, they know that those who are most rigid are likely to distort history and then become, like many of the early Jewish leaders in Christ's time, persecutors of God Himself.
The remnant are cautious about interpreting every new event as an act of God, because they know they need to test spirits. However, they remain a prophetic people, ready and willing to accept the unfolding revelation of God in their own lives. This is the remnant of which I hope to be a part.
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Duane Covrig teaches graduate education courses at the University of Akron and worships with fellow believers at the Adventist church in Canton, Ohio.
