Christmas season draws together brothers and sisters in Christ from all denominations to celebrate our common faith. Despite doctrinal differences, believers around the world unite in appreciation for the gift of our Savior. However, some Christians feel duty-bound to abstain from such inclusive fellowship. They imagine that interfaith interaction betrays their own biblical distinctiveness. I regret that more than a few of my fellow Seventh-day Adventists fall into that exclusivist mindset. 

Invariably they quote Ellen G. White in holding themselves aloof from fellowship with the larger Christian community. It’s true that Ellen White initially was a separatist who shared the “shut door” mentality of ex-Millerite Sabbatarians. But as she matured in her theology over the years, she extended herself into connectivity with the wider Christian community. (This is an aspect of her ministry strangely overlooked by most of her fervent followers.) 

For example, in the 1880s Ellen White joined forces with the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, a group of Protestant prohibitionists. She spoke at their rallies and even recommended that some of our best Adventist talent should work for that organization.

In 1892, she braved much criticism from narrow-minded Adventist brethren when she entrusted her signature book, Steps to Christ, to non-Seventh-day Adventists for initial publication. Few today are aware that she contracted with Dwight Moody’s brother-in-law, Fleming Revel, to print that treasured book. 

Even her controversial “borrowing” from non-Adventist authors, in writing her later books, is a form of collaboration with Christians outside our denomination. The enemies of Ellen White allege plagiarism, while her friends point out that copyright standards back then were much more relaxed than they are today. Lost amid this arguing is the undeniable reality that Ellen White thought so highly of non-Adventist theologians and historians that she incorporated their insights—not just their language—into her own books. This amazing fact is highly instructive for Adventists today who wish to quarantine themselves from Christians outside our denomination.

Many of my exclusivist Adventist friends want Sabbath worship services to include only songs from the official SDA Hymnal, to preserve denominational distinctiveness. I’m wondering . . . do they realize how many songs in the SDA Hymnal were composed by non-Adventists (including contemporaries of our good brother Dwight Moody—the most popular Sunday-keeping preacher in Ellen White’s day)? Think of it! Every time we hold Sabbath services, we are effectively welcoming non-Adventist influences into our worship. 

Like it or not, we are one body in Christ with fellow believers of the larger faith community. Thus I’m dismayed and ashamed that some influential Adventists are restricting fellow Christians from speaking at our youth rallies, women’s groups and other church meetings. No matter how sincere their concerns, I believe they are guilty of the inconsistencies already cited here regarding worship music and the example of Ellen White. Moreover, I fear they are quenching God’s Spirit, who operates throughout the general body of Christ. They also limit the sovereignty of God, who exercises His right to anoint anyone He chooses for ministry, whether or not he (or she) carries Seventh-day Adventist credentials. And so God is blessing the songs, sermons and books of many Christians outside our Adventist community.

Some may wonder: “Well then, if God is working everywhere, why should I be a Seventh-day Adventist?” Because this is the only denomination on earth where we don’t have to sacrifice biblical convictions that are dear to us. All Seventh-day Adventist doctrines—when (and only when) they are interpreted properly—are special truths about Jesus for these last days. 

That said, I affirm again that God is alive and well throughout the general Christian community. Despite the exclusive mentality of some Adventists, there is much benefit to keeping our minds and hearts open to the ministry of faithful people outside our community. Just as Ellen White was enriched by fellow Christians (Sunday-keepers!), Adventists today may be likewise blessed.

Speaking personally, the folks at Logos Bible Software are dear to me and friendly to Adventists (they recently published the digitized version of Andrews Study Bible). My friend Pete Heineger at Logos told me that he attended a meeting at Saddleback Community Church where Rick Warren affirmed all the good Seventh-day Adventists are doing in Africa through medical missionary work. Warren’s books Purpose Driven Life and Purpose Driven Church have been a major blessing to me. So have books by other non-Adventists such as Phillip Yancey and Lee Strobel (The Case for a Creator, etc.). Every evening while driving home from work, I listen to Chip Ingram’s “Living On the Edge” broadcast—nobody explains Christian living to me better than he does. I get his podcasts on my iPhone along with “Just Thinking” from Ravi Zacharias, perhaps Christianity’s finest advocate against atheism and secularism. Although I can’t agree with everything I hear from these esteemed fellow believers, neither do we Adventists see everything alike.

If you remain unconvinced that fellow Christians have anything good to offer Seventh-day Adventists, I’ll let you borrow my scissors so you can get to work on the official SDA Hymnal. And while you’re clipping away, maybe you can explain why Ellen White collaborated with non-Seventh-day Adventists whose descendants some of us feel we must shun.

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    Few Christian virtues are more important—or less respected—than joy. Within the fruit of the Spirit, joy is right there at the top of the list: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, cheerfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23).  Joy in its purest form is the quiver that electrifies our hearts when we encounter Jesus in a deep, unexpected way—like the believers in the upper room at Pentecost. The filling of the Spirit brought them so much joy that concerned or curious outsiders thought they were drunk. They had never seen religious people so happy!

     To read the rest of this blog post, click here and access Outlookmag.org, a website of the Mid-America Union of Seventh-day Adventists, where Martin Weber is communication director.

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How should Adventists relate to fellow Christians?

The following article by Martin Weber appeared in the NAD edition of Adventist World magazine, Sept. 2011.

Are non-Adventist churches our rivals or our friends when it comes to evangelism?  To faithfully and effectively present the unique last-day truths entrusted to our church, need we be confrontive rather than collaborative?

Postmodern culture supremely values inclusiveness and tolerance—to a fault. Anything appearing partisan or divisive is automatically dismissed as unworthy of belief. What succeeds is a humble yet confident sense of doctrinal identity communicated in an inclusive, winsome spirit. This approach emerges: If it weren’t for fellow Christians who prepared the way, we Adventists wouldn’t exist. Join us for the rest of the journey.

I propose that we brand Seventh-day Adventism as the final chapter in a shared story; our prophetic movement is the last step in a joint journey of recovering truth that sincere Christians (including many Catholics!) have been traveling through the centuries.

But does such an approach diminish Adventism’s unique message? Not when each doctrine is framed in the context of the faith in Jesus that fellow Christians already have, as the next logical step in their discipleship journey. Unbelievers respond too.

Historically, however, Adventists have tended toward confrontational outreach. A century ago and more, Adventist evangelists often were master debaters. They arrived in town, pitched a big tent, and challenged local preachers to doctrinal debates. Quick on the draw with silver bullet proof texts, the Adventist won the spiritual showdown. He carried much of the crowd into subsequent evangelistic meetings. Before leaving town, he planted a church.

This approach, while successful in its time, left a bitter aftertaste. Churches founded on confrontation with fellow Christians were unwelcome in the community. Moreover, these congregations tended to be internally contentious, with Sabbath keepers fighting each other over nuances of doctrine, diet and assorted lifestyle issues. Many century-old churches still haven’t attained the unity for which Christ died. Contention is in their DNA, transferred from generation to generation. I know a little church that nearly split amid a nasty discussion about mushroom dishes at “fellowship” dinners.

We might learn from Ellen White. Her teaching and example admonished nineteenth-century Adventists who contended among themselves and their Sunday-keeping neighbors. In 1888, delegates convened in Minneapolis for a General Conference Session. Not surprisingly, a big debate ensued. Ellen White famously rebuked the contentious spirit—but what is less known is that while in Minneapolis she collaborated with non-Adventist Christians. She spoke at a rally of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union—fellow Christians who at that time were agitating for a national Sunday law. Obviously Ellen White didn’t agree with them about that. But she did unite with them on common ground in seeking moral reforms in American society. She became quite popular at these non-Adventist rallies—to the consternation of Sabbatarians more interested in being “peculiar people” than loving and collaborative neighbors.

Ellen White even entrusted her signature book, Steps to Christ, to non-Adventists for publication. She awarded initial printing rights to Dwight Moody’s brother in law, Fleming Revell. In writing other books, she often borrowed the language of non-Adventist authors, effectively collaborating with their teaching.

Ellen White’s approach speaks directly to our time. We too may mingle with fellow Christians regarding areas of common faith without compromising unique Seventh-day Adventist doctrine.

I finally learned this in my own pastoral ministry.  Joining the non-Adventist ministerial association provided opportunities to preach at a holiday celebration. People viewing me on local Christian TV greeted me at the mall as a brother in Christ. Pastors invited me to visit their churches and pray during services. One had me mediate a dispute among his elders. I joined a community Christian music group (no great contribution there, I assure you, but I did have fun and made friends for my church). The pastor of the city’s biggest church, who previously disliked Adventists, sponsored me as a law enforcement chaplain—connecting me with people in crisis whom otherwise I could never invite to church. Fellow chaplains teased me about being a vegetarian—then wanted meatless recipes. Nobody accused Adventism of being a cult.

Meanwhile Sabbath attendance doubled. The key was collaboration with the Christian community while preserving a distinctly Adventist message and mission.

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Recently a pastor called seeking advice about an issue causing controversy in his congregation. The obviously sensible solution also seemed fully compatible with Biblical principles. Then somebody found an obscure statement from Ellen White that appeared to point in another direction. What should be done when Ellen White’s writings apparently conflict with the Bible?

Let’s start with common ground. Adventists everywhere teach that the Bible is the foundation of all spiritual gifts, including the gift of prophecy. We also agree that Ellen White’s writings are not an addition to Scripture. This ought to settle the matter—but it doesn’t. Many Adventists use her writings as a referee over the Bible, thus making her the lord of God’s Word. They would be horrified to realize it, but this is what they actually do.

Think about it. If Sister White comments on anything, they take it as God’s final word. Woe to anyone who wants to “search the scriptures continually to see whether those things are so” (Acts 17:11). But is the gift of prophecy intended to make us lazy Bible students?

To clarify: I believe that Ellen White was a prophetic messenger to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and that her writings are a continuing and an authoritative source of inspiration. And yet the Bible stands alone as the supreme authority and sole determiner of truth. Ellen White herself said: “God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible, and the Bible only, as the standard of all doctrines, and the basis of all reforms” (The Great Controversy, p. 595 [emphasis supplied]).

So all doctrine—and all attempts at reformation—must be founded and focused upon Scripture. This would include the current “Revival and Reformation” initiative within Seventh-day Adventism. Church leaders are calling for renewed focus on the writings of Ellen White—this is a good idea if it does not divert us from searching the Scriptures. And it doesn't need to.

One Sabbath, after some intensive Bible study (using Logos 4 software, my favorite), I turned to Ellen White's Testimonies. I read “The Death of My Husband” (vol. 1, p. 105-11), which is her testimony of undying determination, despite deep bereavement, to carry on with her ministry until the coming of Jesus. So moved was I by her devotion to advancing the cause of “present truth” that I found myself sobbing (so much that the cat on my lap actually became alarmed).

Like Ellen White, I want to be faithful unto death in advancing the Adventist mission and message, for the sake of the Gospel. This includes carrying forward the torch of present truth—in our own context, which is quite different from Ellen White’s culture. She was profoundly relevant within her 19th century context, which was Protestant and primarily agrarian. Is she also relevant to our post-Christian, metropolitan society?

Yes, but not in the same way. For example, her book Great Controversy teaches the timeless truth of Christ’s coming in the context of Protestant America—a place that no longer exists. Great Controversy also heralds the 1755 Lisbon earthquake as a compelling fulfillment of last day prophecy. Well, it was indeed for Ellen White’s world—but not for ours. To connect with people today we must point to contemporary fulfillments beyond what we read in Great Controversy.

Thus our scenario of final events in the 21st century will be different than what Ellen White envisioned a century ago. Will there be a Sunday law? Certainly. (See a proposed scenario on this website by clicking the tab "Issues" and then "Final Events."  

Will Rome still have a key role? Yes, according to Bible prophecy and also by acknowledging the fact that the pope is the premier representative of Christianity in the world. But any credible end-time today scenario must include the mortal clash of civilizations between America with its Western allies against radical Islam in league with leftover Communism.

I've observed that some of us seem afraid to learn anything new about Bible prophecy that Ellen White didn’t know a century ago. Did the Holy Spirit stop communicating to God's people when she died in 1915?

Yet some Adventists seem enslaved to a 19th century perspective. They are even tied to the methods of yesteryear. More on this later.

Martin Weber, DMin

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