S P E C I A L I S S U E
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BY GORDON
BIETZ Today our life span will confront more changes than our ancestors experienced in a thousand years. We have moved through the manufacturing age and the information age to the digital age in one generation. We are experiencing a tidal wave of change. The new millennium will not provide cultural enclaves in which a Christian subculture can live out its life in isolation from the influence of the world. We are now faced with a world that puts every race, every idea, every religion, every philosophy, and every worldview into our living rooms through the Internet. The Changing
Demographics For too many church
members, identity comes not from being immersed in Scripture Leonard Sweet, in his book SoulTsunami, says, "The Dick-and-Jane world of my '50s childhood is over, washed away by a tsunami of change. . . . It has created a sea change such as the world has never experienced before, including a huge shift in religious sensibility. While the world is rethinking its entire cultural formation, it is time to find new ways of being the church that are true to our postmodern context. It is time for a Postmodern Reformation."3 Predicting
Change We can cry "The sky is falling" as we experience these changes; and we can wring our hands pointing out all the bad things that come with the changes. But remember that "God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him" (John 3:17, NIV). Let us remember that the gospel is all about change, the change of conversion. The Descent Into
the New Dark
Ages The church of the next millennium is faced with very difficult issues that will test its ability to sort truth from tradition. Adventism's deep involvement in health and the medical work as the right arm of the message must not be limited to fomentation, massage, and exercise. As genetic engineering, cloning, and various creative ways to "grow babies" are invented that give us unprecedented power over our destiny, the church will need to have thoughtful answers that grow from biblical principles. The Church of
the Future 1. Balancing change with conserving. The church must maintain balance between adapting to the changes of the future and holding on to the past (see Luke 5:37, 38, NRSV). We must not reflect modern culture in a vain attempt to reach the culture. On the other hand, we must communicate in a language that can be understood. The preservation of Scripture through the ages, the keeping of the faith, and the conserving of truth are tasks given to a church that is to hold fast to the landmarks. There is a great deal of security and continuity in knowing that we "did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty" (2 Peter 1:16, NRSV). We must never face the "cut-flower" phenomena-looking beautiful and bright, but cut from our doctrinal roots. Dead but not knowing it yet. The church, then, is to resist change and hold fast to the landmarks. Ellen White ran into this problem in Minneapolis. The Holy Spirit was moving, and people were resisting the leading of the Spirit, claiming that the new light was abandoning the old landmarks. "In Minneapolis, God gave precious gems of truth to His people in new settings. This light from heaven by some was rejected with all the stubbornness the Jews manifested in rejecting Christ, and there was much talk about standing by the old landmarks. But there was evidence they knew not what the old landmarks were. . . . The minds of men were fixed, sealed against the entrance of light, because they had decided it was a dangerous error removing the 'old landmarks' when it was not moving a peg of the old landmarks, but they had perverted ideas of what constituted the old landmarks."7 Customs engraved in the mind through many years of habitual behavior can become identified with truth. Change the order of worship, move the pulpit, or paint the mothers' room a different color, and you may hear some unusual theological arguments. The church will not remain as it is. It is not possible. We will change as we always have throughout our history. The only question is Will the change be a planned, balanced change that will bring the gospel to bear on our decisions, or will the force of events change us against our will? Without thoughtful proactive change, the law of unintended consequences will result in the church changing by following the cultural road of least resistance. 2. Unity in diversity. Today the Adventist Church is feeling centrifugal forces of change. As the spin of theological, sociological, and cultural differences pull us in different directions, we need an underlying foundation to stand on so that we may fulfill the prayer of Jesus that we all be one (John 17:21-23). That foundation needs to be adequately broad to hold our diverse church and narrow enough to give us identity. The temptation will be for those who seek uniformity rather than unity to construct a narrow foundation that reflects their culture and time and call it a doctrinal absolute. The church of the new millennium must be a mature church that isn't threatened by diversity and is open to multiple ways of representing our Lord in this world. Our church must not isolate itself Salvation did not come to the Jews through their laws, and neither will it come to our church by law. Seventh-day Adventism will not be held together by developing a muscular Adventism, by a strengthening of the central authority of the church, and developing a catechism, Talmud, or expanded Church Manual. Unity is not produced by new rules but by a revived mission. Unity is not brought about by new policies but by renewed vision. Unity will not come because we have tinkered with the structure of the church, but because we have a dream. The glue that holds us together in this very diverse world must be shared convictions on the interpretation of Scripture, not a bureaucracy that seeks to "hold the line" by policy adjustments and Church Manual changes. Strengthening the tie that binds comes through thoughtful discussion in an atmosphere of grace and acceptance, not through dogmatic statements that vilify those who think differently. The church at the beginning of a new millennium must have an atmosphere of openness to discussion such as our church experienced at its beginnings. 3. Vision. There is power in vision. And for the church to survive, it needs to dream again. Dream of how it can minister to the world by meeting its spiritual and physical needs. Rotary International, a secular service club, has embarked on a mission to rid the world of polio by 2005. They have cast a vision of how they can make a difference in the world, and they are making a measurable impact on the incidence of polio in the world. Certainly the Adventist Church, with its human resources and its motivation, should be able to cast a challenging vision that meets a real need in our world. Let us portray a practical spirituality to the world, a spirituality that casts a vision of meeting its spiritual and physical needs. Our church must not isolate itself from the suffering in the world. We are no longer able to live in isolated cocoons of security, affirming one another as our health message extends our life spans, while the life spans of people around the world collapse from ethnic cleansing and disease. Let our doctrines delight and inspire the hearers with their relevance to meeting human need. 4. Communities of hope. May our spirituality be manifest not only in contemplation but also in action! As we look to the new millennium may our spirituality be counter cultural and community-building. It should be open to uncertainty while at the same time confident of the gospel. Our spirituality should be worn like a robe of righteousness and not carried like a chip on the shoulder. People today are in need of hope. They desire a worldview that will give them confidence to face a changing world and a community of people that will support them in that world. People desire an understanding church that does not simply preserve the faith of the fathers but energizes the faith of the children. Under God, let us provide such a church for our world in the new millennium. 1 The White
population is already below 50
percent in Hawaii, New Mexico, and the District of Columbia. Scott
Thomas, Demographics Journal, Monday, Dec. 9, 1996. Gordon Bietz is the president of Southern Adventist University, Collegedale, Tennessee. |
up in the town of their birth,
continued in the vocation of their parents, and rarely traveled more
than a few miles from their home. When they did travel, it was by
foot, by horse, or by donkey. Change for our ancestors meant one
season turning to another and day turning to night.
but from
being immersed in their culture. But the life of the church must
transcend cultural and ethnic divides. Our identity must come from our
Christian roots, not our social roots; from our relationship with
Christ and not from our relatives.
