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BONITA JOYNER SHIELDS
 attended a local seminary this past summer to take a class in Christian ethics.
One of our primary objectives was to dialogue about how we as Christians respond
ethically to our world. I affirmed my Lutheran classmates on how their church
was dialoguing about ethical/social issues, as revealed by their intentionality
in developing social statements that encourage discussion and dialogue. While
our church also has a body of social statements,1 we have not displayed that
same commitment to discussion and dialogue.
 I realize that we as a church have tried to not become sidetracked
by what we term "the social gospel"--making social issues our religion,
our cause, instead of Christ. And that is a point well taken. Too often Christians
have acted justly, loved mercy, yet forgotten to walk humbly with their God--or
to invite others to do so in the process. Performing good deeds, then, can become
a form of legalism, taking the place of Christ in our lives and of sharing about
His soon return.
But, on the other hand, I think that we as Adventist Christians
too often fear the world. While we may not believe in "the social
gospel," we cannot deny that the gospel is social. And Jesus taught us
many things about our role in the world: we are to be the light of the world
(Matt. 5:14); we are to preach the gospel throughout the world (Mark 14:9);
the world will hate us (John 15:18); we will have trouble in this world (John
16:33). Yet Jesus never taught us to fear the world. "But take courage;
I have overcome the world!" (John 16:33, NASB).2
It's not easy to place ourselves in a position to be rejected
for who we are or what we believe. Neither is it easy to dialogue about issues
and beliefs when our views are so different. Nor is it easy to live an ethical
life, seeking to make choices that do not impose injustice or oppression on
another human being. But we must! Our faith cannot be bound by fear. It is a
living faith. It is a bold faith. It is a faith that risks the
security of its well-defined boundaries to venture into the world where there
are people different from us.
Martin Luther wrote, "Sin boldly, yet more boldly still
believe."
 At first glance it appears that Luther is talking about "cheap
grace." However, I believe what Luther was really saying is that God calls
us to live our faith boldly and courageously in the world without fear--of
what others may think or of whether we're going to do or say the wrong thing.
We may not always get it right. All of our good works in life are tainted with
sin. But we must continue to live out our faith in the world, dialoguing, caring,
and making difficult choices, while even "more boldly" clinging to
Christ's righteousness to cover us when we don't get it right. Our confidence
in the Christian life is based not on the flawlessness of our judgments and
actions, but on the promises of God's Word.
Ellen White also spoke about faith and boldness in our labors:
"Dear brother, you need more faith, more boldness and decision in your
labors. You need more push and less timidity. . . . You must study methods and
ways to reach the people. Go right to them and talk with them."3
After our final ethics class, one of my classmates said to me, "You have
changed my view of Adventists. My church is neighbor with an Adventist church,
and our dealings have not been pleasant. But you have shown me that all Adventists
are not like that."
I felt humbled. Though we were all Christians, I had wondered
to myself during the class if I had been a "good Adventist witness."
But my classmate's remark encouraged me that in a small way I had stepped outside
the well-defined boundaries of my life where most people behave and believe
as I do, and had made a difference in one person's life.
How can our faith overcome the world?
Live boldly, my friend.
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1 See http://www.adventist.org/beliefs/
statements/index.html.
2 Neither did Ellen White encourage us to "fear" the world; she admonished
us to not "love" the world.
3 Ellen White, Evangelism, p. 297.
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Bonita Joyner Shields is an assistant editor of the Adventist Review.
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