Chapter Two

THE SEARCH FOR MEANING WITHIN ADVENTISM

Thoughtful Seventh-day Adventist young people can hardly be lackadaisical about their religion. When it makes sense to them, their devotion becomes all-out. But when it doesn’t, they tend to throw all religious devotion to the winds.

In other churches, young people often keep up their profession because of the momentum of family tradition for generations. Nominal Catholic or Protestant church membership is respectable. But the “traditional,” Adventist youth living in today’s ungodly society has difficulty coping with the unique demands of his or her church’s standards. The pressures of living in a secular world are severe enough, but when other Christians as well tend to disparage their Adventist convictions, many of our youth ask themselves if being Seventh-day Adventists is worth all the trouble.

There are too many ex-Adventists. Conservative estimates indicate that the church loses vital connection with well over half of our youth by the time they reach the age of 18. Some drift away without formally cutting their ties, but a 1973 article in Insight reveals that some fifty percent reject the church so purposefully that they “actually sever their church connections.”¹⁴ Of the remainder who still maintain a tenuous link with the church, only a few seem eager to reproduce the zeal of former generations of “missionary volunteers.” Almost any church board can observe first-hand how serious is this hemorrhage of our youth loyalty.

An investigation by Charles Martin in 1963 revealed that only about half agreed that “the doctrines are clear to me and I believe them.”¹⁵ A 1971 study documented even further erosion of religious conviction.¹⁶ By 1973 a similar sampling showed that the percentage had dropped to about a third.¹⁷

An experienced and knowledgeable educator said in 1978, “A significant stream of Adventist teenagers turn their backs on the values we hold so dear.” “Almost every thinking adult is concerned with the slippage among our adolescent members. Hand-wringing is common. It is not unusual to hear remarks such as ’We’re spending huge sums for evangelism to bring new converts in the front door of the church while our own young people are streaming out the back door.’”¹⁸

The usual pat solution suggested for these problems is that we need to send more of our youth to Adventist schools. But these professional studies were made of youth who are already in our schools.

A New Development

Candid investigations in the 1980s are even more disturbing. A four-part series in the Adventist Review of June, 1986, entitled “To Catch a Star,” discloses that the problem has become denominationally embarrassing. Now we find disturbing numbers of Adventist youth joining other churches. “Not exciting, not positive, not big enough, and not related to life”—these are “the specific inadequacies” that they see in today’s Adventism. So they are now joining the “Baptists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Episcopalians, and Catholics,” says the 1986 Review series. These formerly Adventist youth see “denominational distinctiveness … as of lesser importance than a general belief in a Supreme Being.”

Thank God that some of our youth are happy in their religion and express solid commitment to this church and its unique message. They are precious. But for every one such there are three others (or more) who have lost their way since their Primary or Pathfinder days. The Adventist Review (June 2, 1988) says flatly: “The church is losing its young people.” Period.

And even among those who remain in church fellowship, self-sacrificing devotion is not common. Calls for professionally trained personnel to go to difficult fields are not easily filled. Those who find paid employment within the church organization will naturally profess Adventism; others may preserve their ties because their social life centers around the church. But this physical presence in the church can often mask a deep spiritual emptiness. To reproduce the pioneers’ all-consuming devotion “to catch a star” we need some nutriment that is lacking in our standard Adventist spiritual dietary. The problem is not that our youth are worse than previous generations; there is spiritual malnourishment.

Typical attitudes of many indicate that somewhere between the Cradle Roll and college they have absorbed a fear-motivated distortion of the third angel’s message. And such fear does not hold them when temptation comes. A bird-in-the-hand pleasure is thought to be worth two-in-the-new-earth future, and the fear of losing out on the thrills of this world eclipses fear of losing the world to come. Fear of hell and hope of reward in heaven must always fail as effective motivations.

Here are some documented remarks of our youth about Adventism. It would be impossible for them to say these things if they understood the New Testament “everlasting gospel” as “the third angel’s message in verity”:¹⁹

“Dull, and it gets in the way.”

“It’s just a bunch of do’s and don’ts.”

“I don’t have any feelings toward it.”

“No fun on Saturdays until the sun is down.”

“A ritual-type thing. Emotional ups and downs.”

Among those who are trying to hold on there is often deep spiritual frustration. The signs of the times indicate how prophecy is being fulfilled, and to them that means a horrible future. They wonder how can they ever be prepared for the time of trouble. It’s too difficult to be good. Being a committed Seventh-day Adventist Christian in modern society seems to be an uphill struggle; few have the guts to endure. Here are more typical remarks, recorded by Roger Dudley:

“I believe in it. I understand it. But I don’t know whether I’ll be able to stand up for it when the time of trouble comes! I’m afraid of that time!” (Somehow Adventist kids have nightmares about the time of trouble and horrifying dreams of Christ coming when they are not ready.)

“I have a lot of work to do if I want to be saved.”

“I wish I could be completely good, but it’s not always easy.”

“I want to serve God, but I find it very hard.”

“I couldn’t go through life with all those do’s and don’ts. But I guess I have to if I want to go to heaven.”²⁰

The attitudes of youth are often the realistic, unmasked, tell-it-as-it-is attitudes of adults. Grown-ups usually see their own measure of devotion mirrored in their children.

Youth Are Not the Only Problem

The overall attrition rate of our church membership for both youth and adults is cause for concern. In North America, between 1981 and 1985 there were 177,485 accessions, but we lost 27,980 by death, and 71,519 by recorded apostasies or missing members. In other words, reported losses totaled 56.1 per cent of accessions. Many more have dropped out who are not reported. For every two new members we gain, we lose more than one. Something is rendering our labors more than doubly difficult.

Why do so many find Adventism “not exciting, not positive,...not related to life”? Why is it that the closer we come to the second coming of Christ, the less we are motivated by the good news about it? Why can’t we catch the vision of that star that shone so brightly for the youthful pioneers who started the Seventh-day Adventist Church?

There are two distortions of Adventism which have come down to us for a century through the avenue of our denominational history.

1. One is the extremely rigid, authoritarian, toe-the-line cult of conformity to rules and high external standards. This high performance is understood as demanded on pain of a rejection slip in the investigative judgment. Arch-conservatives often are forward in quoting extensive excerpts from Ellen White’s writings, producing in youthful minds an impression of sledge-hammer force. Adventist youth discover that other churches do not have this severely high standard.

The idea is almost universal within Adventism that it is virtually impossible to obey God’s law, and thus it is hard to be saved and easy to be lost. Youth often have the impression that teachers don’t lose much sleep if they flunk their finals; and it seems that God will also hardly care if they flunk their great Finals at the end. He has done His part long ago, as the teacher has done his part in dishing out the course content, and now it’s up to them to do their part in shaping up. For many, this is the traditional Adventist “gospel.” They often feel that they can’t shape up, that the burden is too heavy. Whether or not their impression is a fair one is not our point; this is what we have allowed them to pick up, and this is what matters.

2. The opposite extreme has become popular in Adventism, especially in academic communities—a relaxed attitude of laissez-faire liberalism. This downplays the necessity or even the possibility of true obedience to God’s law. He knows that it is impossible for any of us to keep it properly, and therefore He does not expect us to. Try to be moral if you can, but if it’s not easy, trust His indulgent, grandfatherly softness. He will excuse you. “Occasional lapses” of moral failure are par for the course. Since Jesus is our Substitute, His perfect obedience always must be a substitute for a mythical obedience that has never been possible for us. The more relaxed atmosphere of non-Adventist churches since 1844 has been right all along, and Adventists have been naive to be so strict. So says this alternative Adventist “gospel.”

These two extremes are a thesis and antithesis. Each is a protesting reaction against the other. And each produces confusion in the minds and hearts of youth. The traditional arch-conservative philosophy generates either resentment, alienation, and rebellion, or pride if one imagines he measures up. The liberal philosophy generates unconcern because it ridicules the traditional high standards and emphasizes the idea that God is too good to condemn professed Christians who find they can’t live up to them.

Youth Caught in a No Man’s Land of Crossfire

Pathetically, the sincere conservatives appear competent to cite “inspired testimony” to emphasize how difficult and nearly impossible is the path to heaven. These statements (out of context, of course) can be compiled in such a way as to give an impression of God like a stern teacher who dishes out his lecture content and leaves the student to sink or swim when exam time comes. Youth picture Him as pointing out the steep path to salvation: “You want to go to heaven? It’s a rough, rocky, thorny way; I hope you make it. Many people don’t. I won’t be surprised if you fail, if you do fail, I have someone else waiting to take your crown.” Many feel that their absence from heaven would not be missed. Why bother to try? Why lose both worlds?

The opposite heresy is a careless abandon, an Adventist species of antinomianism which arrogantly flaunts worldliness and sensuality in the face of divine warnings. But as surely as rigid traditionalism drives people out of the church, so does this “new theology” entice them out.

The story of 1888 brings refreshing good news, reminding us since “the curse causeless shall not come,”²¹ it has never been God’s will that we lose our youth. The problem can be corrected. “With such an army as our youth” when they are informed and challenged by the third angel’s message in verity, the world can indeed be lightened with the glory of the gospel.
The long delay has not been God’s will. If one is sick with a possibly fatal disease, it is good news to learn the facts about what has caused it, and how healing is possible.

Our general malaise of denominational lukewarmness, our legalism and spiritual impotence, are not inherent in our doctrines or in our denominational identity. They are the consequence of rejecting the 1888 message “in a great degree.” The refreshing good news is that something positive can be done about it.

Both nature and the church abhor a vacuum. The century-long failure to believe and receive the 1888 message of Christ’s righteousness created the vacuum into which have rushed these alternative heresies of rigid traditionalism on the one hand and loose liberalism on the other. Both deny the essentials of the 1888 message. Both are starved for its unique nutritive elements. Neither would be able to sprout within the church, surely not blossom and bear fruit, were it not for the “in-a-great-measure” famine for that “most precious message” that the Lord sent us a century ago.²² Both extremes may battle on for decades; neither can win. And while the struggle drags on, there is no end to that stream of blood-bought souls pouring out the back door of the church.

It is astounding that Adventist youth should consider Adventism “not exciting, not positive, not big enough, and not related to life.” The 1888 message presented an intensely interesting Christ as the true Leader of the church. Is He “not exciting, … not big enough, and not related to life”? The youth in 1889 who heard the message sensed an empathy with Him that was all-absorbing. The problem is that there is something that our church members and our youth today have not seen. It’s not their fault that the vision that shone so brightly in the 1888 message has been “in a great degree” denied them.²³ We can’t blame helpless people for being hungry and malnourished. To berate the church continually for being lukewarm, worldly, lethargic, solves no problems. It’s time for us to hear some genuine Good News that supplies the missing motivation that works. More abounding sin needs much more abounding grace.

The Solution to the Problem

The 1888 message was supremely “exciting,” “positive,” “big,” and “related to life.” It kindled a “first love” experience in the hearts of those who heard it. There are definite reasons why its spiritual fruitage was so effective:

1. It cut the Gordian knot of self-centered motivation that produces the blasé lukewarmness that nauseates so many youth. It restored the pure New Testament motivation of a heart-appreciation of the love of Christ revealed in His cross. Through the utter simplicity of the message of the cross with its enabling demands and imperatives, it abolished both the fear that discourages youth today and the boredom that wearies them.
2. It revealed the Lord as One whose love is active, not passive. Christ was seen as a Good Shepherd out looking for His lost sheep rather than the lost sheep being left to seek for its Shepherd. Salvation does not depend on our holding on to God’s hand but on our believing that He is holding on to our hand. In a very practical way which transcended theological hairsplitting, the gospel became a message of salvation by faith alone—a faith which works, not faith and works.
3. Christ was presented as a Saviour “nigh at hand,” not “afar off.” This was refreshingly different from the ideas held in common by the Evangelicals of the day. The common idea that Christ took only the unfallen, sinless nature of Adam before the fall was exposed as a legacy of Roman Catholicism. Again, this truth of His nearness far transcended a theological dispute: it was beautiful “practical godliness.” As we shall see in Chapter 8, the concept of “Christ’s righteousness” is meaningless apart from the unique 1888 truth of His taking our fallen, sinful nature.
4. Justification by faith was lifted above the realm of doctrinal hair-splitting and became a vital, throbbing message of union with Christ. Righteousness by faith supplied the motivation that makes the repentant, believing sinner to become joyfully obedient to the law of God. The devotion to Christ displayed by the apostles becomes not only possible but certain, if this message is understood.
5. The two covenants, a “doctrine” often regarded as a dry-as-dust theological bore, became a thrilling message of gripping interest. Jones’ and Waggoner’s concept, clear as sunlight, penetrated many dark corners of understanding.
6. The unique truth that was the foundation of Seventh-day Adventist existence also came alive in the 1888 message, like the resurrected dry bones of Ezekiel’s vision—the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary. A blurred picture finally came into sharp focus in relation to righteousness by faith through transforming the experience of the believer on earth. This was seen as the heart of the third angel’s message. Again, “doctrine” transcended theology and became practical godliness.
7. Most of us find it impossible to read all of the 100,000 pages of Ellen White’s writings. But what could not be accomplished in a lifetime of deep study can be done in a very short time through that 1888 message of more abounding grace.

An 1889 hymn expresses something of the thrill of the message:

“I sing the love of Christ, my Saviour,

Who suffered upon the tree.

That in the secret of His presence,

My bondage might freedom be.

He comes to ‘bind the broken hearted;’

He comes the fainting soul to cheer;

He gives me ‘oil of joy for mourning,’

and ‘beauty for ashes’ here.

“I sing the beauty of the Gospel

That scatters not thorns, but flow’rs,

That bids me scatter smiles and sunbeams

Wherever are lonely hours.

The ‘garment of His praise’ it offers

For ‘heaviness of spirit,’ drear;

It gives me sunshine for my shadow,

And ‘beauty for ashes’ here.”

—J. G. Crabbe

Youth of a century ago who had the privilege of hearing the message were captivated by it.²⁴ Youth of today who get a chance to hear it sense the same phenomenal motivation gripping their hearts. The gnawing fear of the time of trouble generated by traditional Adventism melts away because the message recaptures the heart appeal of the cross of Christ. It comes closer to reproducing the New Testament evangel than even the message of the sixteenth century Reformers, wonderful as that was.

On the other hand, the enticements of sensuality, appetite, wealth, the love of leisure and pleasure, the yuppie instinct, the me-first mindset, the allurements of our scintillating electronic age, all lose their charm for the one who has seen that message of Christ’s righteousness. Fanaticism cannot survive in its bright light, and neither can conservative lukewarmness.

It is not that those who believe the good news are made of sterner or better stuff than others. They have simply seen something that others have not seen.

Let us explore the unique content of that message. The truth of both its history and content inspire hope and courage as nothing else can do.

Read Chapter 3 — Christ’s Coming: How Soon Is Soon?

NOTES:

14. See Roger L. Dudley, Why Teenagers Reject Religion, (Review and Herald, 1978), pp.
    20, 21.
15. Charles D. Martin, “Moral and Religious Problems and Attitudes as Expressed by
    Students in Four Seventh-day Adventist Academies,,” M. A. Thesis, Andrews University.
16. Joel N. Noble, “Certain Religious and Educational Attitudes of Senior High School
    Students in Seventh-day Adventist Schools in the Pacific Northwest,,” Ph. D. dissertation.
    University of Oregon, 1971.
17. Stanley G. Hardt, M. A. thesis, Andrews University, 1973.
18. Roger L. Dudley, op. cit., pp. 11,13.
19. Cf. Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, April 1,1890.
20. Dudley, op. cit., pp. 9,17.
21. Proverbs 26:2.
22. Cf. Selected Messages, Book One, pp. 234, 235; Testimonies to Ministers, p. 91.
23. Ibid.
24. Cf. Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, March 5, 1889, concerning meetings at the school in South Lancaster when Jones and Waggoner spoke.

Read Chapter 3 — Christ’s Coming: How Soon Is Soon?

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