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nternational Journal for Pastors June 1999

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ZJA 111. THE PASTOR IS FIRST GLANCE Ministry Ministry is the international journal of the Seventh-day Adventist Ministerial Association and has been published since 1928.

Association Secretary Pastoral Assistant Editors 5 James A. Cress John C. Cress, Fredrick Russell, Maylan Schurch, Loren Seibold Editor A pastor's spirituality: Balancing ministerial priorities Willmore D. Eva International Advisors A. Abdulmajid, Alejandro Bullon, The lifeblood of effective pastoring Assistant Editor Jaime Castrejon, Victor P. Julia W. Norcott Krushenitslry, Gabriel Maurer, Douglas Tilstra Editorial Assistant Joel Musvosvi, David Osborne, Sheila Draper David Parks, Paul Ratsara, Peter Roennfeldt, John Willmott, Eric Professional Growth and Winter, R. A. Zeeman Inter-church Relations Nikolaus Satelmajer Pastoral Advisors 9 Leslie Baumgartner, S. Peter Contributing Editors Campbell, Miguel A. Cerna, Sharon Cress Jeanne Hartwell, Mitchell Contemporary manifestations of the prophecy gift Peter Prime Henson, Greg Nelson, Norma Joel Sarli Osborn. Leslie Pollard, Dan The role of the gift of prophecy in the local congregation Kit Watts Smith. Steve Willsey Consulting Editors Advertising Roy Naden Matthew Bediako, Ben Ministry Editorial Office Clausen, Raoul Dederen, Subscriptions and Circulation Teofilo Ferreira, Ron Flowers, John M. Fowler, Michael Jeannette Calbi Hasel, Roland Hegstad, Resources 16 Kathleen Kuntaraf, Ekkehardt Cathy Payne Mueller, Jan Paulsen, Robert Cover Design Peach, George Reid, Angel Harry Knox The stop-start journey on the road to a church manual Rodriguez, Penny Shell, William Shea, Russell Illustrator Part 2: How the church adopted a manual in 1932 Staples, Richard Tibbits, Ralph Butler Edward Zinke Gil Valentine

Subscriptions: For 12 issues: United States us$29.95; Canada and overseas us$30.95; airmail "$39.95; single copy us$3.00. To order, send name, 24 address, and payment to Jeannette Calbi, Ministry The pastor and planned giving Subscriptions, 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904 U.S.A. The value of the pastor's role in Trust Services Subscription queries and address changes: E-mail: [email protected]; fax: 301-680-6502; W. Ronald Watson telephone: 301-680-6503. To Writers: We welcome unsolicited manuscripts. Editorial preference is to receive manuscripts on diskette with name, address, telephone and fax 28 numbers, and Social Security number (if U.S. citizen). Send editorial correspondence to 12501 Clean and unclean meat Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904-6600. Viewpoint: A review of biblical material Phone: 301-680-6510; fax: 301-680-6502; E-mail: [email protected] or David Merling [email protected] (editorial offices). Writer's Guidelines available on request. Ministry (ISSN 0026-5314), the international journal of the Seventh-day Adventist Ministerial Association © 1999, is published monthly by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and printed by Pacific Press® Pub. Assn., 1350 N. Kings Road, Nampa, ID 83687-3193. Member Associated Church Press. Standard mail postage paid at Nampa, Idaho. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. Vol. 72 Number 6

I N EVERY ISSUE Bible credits: Scripture quotations marked NASB are from the New American Standard Bible, ©The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 31 Pastor's Pastor 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Texts credited to NIV are 3 Letters from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright @ 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible 4 Editorial Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

2 Ministry/June 1999 L E T T E

The competent pastor subtle undercurrent of protectionism, and Reo Christenson (February 1999). It is refreshing that pastors are not restoration. Restoration ministry The good news is that both writers speaking out on real issues (David is the heart of the gospel, and minis- apparently are hearing a great deal of VanDenburgh, "The competent ters need it also. If Vandenburg would preaching about the abundant, pastor," February 1998) that are rarely have articulated a plan of restoration, matchless grace of Christ. Hopps sees discussed. Many pastors (and their his article would have been well- a ten year emphasis in Adventism on spouses) have been unfairly labeled as rounded. Without it, it is no more justification by faith alone; Christen- "incompetent" by local conferences Christlike than what the church may son calls it a more "recent trend." I'm solely on the basis of opinion of the do in secret now. When you fire sure they both appreciate Ellen few—the money giving and out- someone (or the person resigns) White's superlative descriptions of spoken core of the congregation. without a plan of restoration, you grace as "the ground of our faith" (1T Being labeled as "incompetent" have damaged the church. You are 438), "the precious, saving truth for jolts pastors spiritually and mentally driving a wedge between current these last days" (The Voice in Speech and harms their professional standing. workers and the church, frightening and Song, 116) and "our choicest When a conference, because of low future workers from entering the treasure" (In Heavenly Places, 220). ratings by the core, suddenly relocates ministry, and damaging the church in The bad news is that somehow pastors with no more explanation the eyes of the community. It is time they also have found controversy in than "we've been getting a lot of calls for the church to be more Christlike the subject, as if there were conflict and letters from your church," that than the corporate world. As a church, between God's saving grace and His can lead to pastoral self-doubt we would do well to remember that it ability to transform us into people regarding their calling. is the wounded soldier of the gospel, who "abound in every good work" I believe many pastoral moves who has found healing, who does the (2 Cor. 9:8). Hopps doesn't "see much have been based primarily on the greatest work.—Name withheld. improvement" in church members, "core's" opinion, which is often a and Christenson has discovered reaction to the pastor's desire to point • Pastor VanDenburgh makes an insincere beliefs, inappropriate all people to Christ even if it means excellent point, and I would like to behavior, and "a rather empty way of stepping on the "core's" toes. ask him: Why not apply the John life." Both appear to blame the —Connie Johnson, Valrico, Florida. Wesley principle at the very beginning message of grace for the "rebellious when a student enrolls to become a spirit" of Christians, for "immature • VanDenburgh's article deeply minister? Of the seven or so who churches," and for our being comfort- concerns me. The article lacks the passed through the church and able with "an undemanding lifestyle." element of the restoration of ministry. Andrews, only one remains in the Nothing could be further from Vandenberg's proposal creates an ministry, and some are now not even the truth! "God's grace alone can image of a giant street sweeper who church members. I am convinced that work a reformation" (4T, 378). "It is mindlessly handles the city trash. Or screening students early on would the matchless grace of God alone that more fitting perhaps is the image of achieve the goal Vandenberg so will triumph over the rebellion of the an aborted child that has been judged beautifully outlines in his article. One heart" (3T, 322). unworthy to live, the fetus thrown can only wonder whether our It is also inaccurate to ascribe into the dumpster, while the perpetra- educational system would not have Paul's gospel emphasis to a reaction to tor walks away with never a second been fairer to those students if early Jewish "theological misconceptions." thought. Yes, sometimes the church on they had been guided into a Paul believed that his "task of does employ this heartless approach, different field of study; maybe some testifying to the gospel of God's perhaps in secret. But in secret or in would still be members. —H. D. grace" had been given by the Lord open, it is a crime and a blot that Schmidt, Loma Linda, California. Jesus Himself (Acts 20:24), in order covers my church. This approach does that all of us, by His grace, might have nothing to remove the shame but only Balance in theology "eternal encouragement and good adds to it. There is good news and bad news hope" (2 Thess. 2;16).—Stuart Tyner, VanDenburgh's article has a in the two articles by James Hopps Riverside, California. •

blfeyh?eu'verehreceivitzgritsf7tery bmic e ;Ma ar;: o t If hoarvecfnerg't ypaledvefor atsubscere foriptioner;ei nrcsenaotemis take. sencrgijubrelisabedod If)eirthSeeventh-dtruai t4dvetharitistt ; Free Subscription resurgence Sofinc1419in28the auistthrYonhlyasobfe great evernail nthe gospel of our salvation by grace, through faith alone in Jesus Christ. We want to share our aspirations and faith in a way that will provide inspiration and help to you as clergy. We hope you will accept this journal as our outstretched hand to you. Look over our shoulder, take whalyou want and find helpful, and discard what you can't use. Simontho I gift subscriptions are available to all licensed and/onordain ed clergy. Requests should be on church letterhead and addressed to the editorial office.

Ministry/June 1999 3

EDIT O R I A

. . I•4; .> oward the but let them go. There is no need, is end of his there, to say more to pastors, even life, Napo- Come fire disheartened ones? The trick is not to H-- _ leon is supposed to dismiss the reality so beautifully have said of Elba, personified in this story as impractical "Able was I ere I or ice or detached from the heat of your furnace or mine. The truth of the saw Elba." Elba is WILL E V A the Mediterranean Presence in the fire lies at the heart of island to which Napoleon was exiled wield their verbal lashes and target Christian faith. in 1814 after a life of achievement and their cunning probes. But let's shift the metaphor from conquest. Aside from the fact that this As I thought about him, I could fire to ice. I have a love for the poetry statement says the same thing, not help thinking that he is one of of T. S. Eliot, especially that which whether read from left to right or many pastors who in one way or flowed from his soul after he became a right to left, it is full of pathos. If another are walking about amid the Christian. In his poem, The Waste indeed Napoleon said it, he was flames of similar furnaces. Are you Land, there is a magnificent, prosaic expressing in a few choice words his one of them? allusion probably to the desperately own sense of personal tragedy, loss, I am not about to broadcast life-threatening Antarctic expedition and decline. Although he ruled the unfounded comfort throughout the of Ernest Shackleton:2 island before moving into further ranks. But I know something, at least, Who is the third who walks always exile on St. Helena, Elba marked the must be said when I read that 80 beside you? time and place of his personal and percent of North American clergy When I count, there are only you professional collapse. believe ministry has affected their and I together The other day I heard a highly families negatively, 70 percent report But when I look ahead up the successful but disheartened pastor use a lower self-esteem now than when white road Napoleon's sentence to describe the they began their ministry, 40 percent There is always another one depletion he had been feeling since say they experience serious conflict walking beside you pastoring a church from which he had with a parishioner at least once a Gliding wrapt in a brown mantle, recently moved. (I use his story with month, and 70 percent confess to not hooded. his permission.) He had not sought having someone they consider a close I do not know whether a man or a his move, but he felt it had been a friend.' woman kind of redemption for him. He Looking at such percentages and ---- But who is that on the other described scuffling with feelings of the quality of pain they imply, I think side of you?3 clinical depression and once or twice of the dramatic time when three In the whiteout swirl of a deathly experiencing involuntary suicidal Hebrew "worthies" found themselves Antarctic iceland and the intermi- urges. In recounting his ongoing in a Babylonian furnace where almost nable plod to simply keep alive, is it inner battle, he concluded with a wan mysteriously they were personally just "you and I together," single file? smile, "Able was I ere I saw . . ." and accompanied by the fabulous, No, as on that awfully terrible, awfully he named his former church. recognizable presence of a Fourth. wonderful road to Emmaus, "there is I was surprised to hear such a They were "ministers" trying to always another one walking beside confession from him, because he is maintain their integrity, and in so you." too obviously productive and positive doing they were indicted by the "When I count" it's only you and a person for anyone to suspect that hostile politically and legally correct me." But "when I look" there is always such turmoil could twist about within watchdogs of the day. Frightened and that Other. Look now, look long, and him. It was evident that much of his embarrassed, yet with their heads up, look carefully with me. ■ set-in perception of reduction was they were publicly hauled into a due to a couple of high-profile hostile court and angrily sentenced to 1 From results of a 1991 Survey of Pastors a seven-times heated furnace. In that conducted by Fuller Institute of Church interpersonal crises he had worked Growth. Referred to by H. B. London, Jr. and through with members of his former desperate moment, alive and looking Neil B. Wiseman, Pastors at Risk (Colorado congregation. Along with these, he about, they discovered Jesus Himself Springs, Colo.: Victor Books, 1993), 22. had been chronically entangled with right there in it with them. Recogniz- ' From Notes on The Wasteland. Selected Poems T S. Eliot (San Diego: Harcourt and one or two critical, difficult people, ing such a presence with them, the Brace, 1964), 73. who had learned well just how to hostile authorities could do nothing 3 Ibid., 65.

4 Ministry/June 1999 A PASTOR'S SPIRITUALITY: Balancing Ministerial Priorities

the people are crowding and pressing against you." But Jesus said, "Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me" (Luke 8:45, 46).

Douglas Tilstra is One of the occupational hazards of from you for a short time (in person, pastor of the Burnaby pastoral ministry is constant brushing not in thought), out of our intense and Coquitlan and bumping against Jesus without the longing we made every effort to see Seventh-day Adventist benefit of spiritual power from the you ... for what is our hope, our joy, or Churches in British contact. Like Peter and the careless the crown in which we will glory in the Columbia, Canada. crowd, we blindly bang against Jesus yet presence of our Lord Jesus when he find no power flowing into us. comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are Not long ago, in an attempt to our glory and joy" (1 Thess. 2:17-20). arrest some of the superficiality seeping I read the familiar cries of the into my own soul, I sought out some of psalmist: "As the deer pants for streams the passionate portions of Scripture. I of water, so my soul pants for you, 0 marveled at Abraham's agonized pleas God. My soul thirsts for God, for the for Sodom (Gen. 18:22-33). I heard living God. When can I go and meet Moses sing with Israel on the far side of with God?" (Ps. 42:1, 2). "0 God, you the Red Sea, "'Who among the gods is are my God, earnestly I seek you; my like you, 0 Lord? Who is like you— soul thirsts for you, my body longs for majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, you, in a dry and weary land where there working wonders?" (Exod. 15:11). I saw is no water" (Ps. 63:1). "My heart and David dancing as the ark came home my flesh cry out for the living God" (Ps. (1 Chron. 15). I wondered at Daniel's 84:2). tears for Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 4:19). I found Ezra tearing his clothes and hair Danger of superficiality in anguish at the sins of his people and At the time I was reading and gathering those who would tremble at marking these passages in my Bible, I God's word (Ezra 9:1-6). I listened to was also reading Richard Foster's Cel- the passion in Paul's voice as he wrote ebration of Discipline. His opening lines to the believers in Thessalonica: sharpened the contrast between the "Brothers, when we were torn away passionate people of Scripture and my

DOUGLAS TILSTRA

Ministry/June 1999 5 own often bland brushes with Jesus. for the day but gotten about as much (John 6:44). "'But I, when I am lifted "Superficiality is the curse of our age. good from the contact as the crowd that up from the earth, will draw all men to The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a banged into Jesus but didn't know myself"' (John 12:32). Hunger for God primary spiritual problem. The desper- which bump was from Him and which is a gift! Jesus is lifted up, and we are ate need today is not for a greater came from the encircling crowd. drawn. The Father declares, "'I have number of intelligent people, or gifted So, is the answer to double or triple loved you with an everlasting love; I people, but for deep people:" the time in devotional pursuit? Will that have drawn you with loving-kindness'" David Watson in a foreword to the bring about the power connection? (Jer. 31:3), and we hunger for Him. We same book makes a painful evaluation Again, the wrong question! Our actions cry out in response, "I spread out my of Western Christianity as "flabby" with will never produce the change! The hands to you; my soul thirsts for you a "sad decline in true spirituality?' Per- actions of the bleeding woman were not like a parched land" (Ps. 143:6). haps in the nearly twenty years since As pastors, I think we minimize or Foster wrote, the decline has spread be- overlook this gift. Too often we are too yond North America and Europe and preoccupied with finding a three-point threatens to characterize too many outline that we miss the voice of our more of us. "We have forgotten how to Father. We are crafting words, planning projects, advancing the kingdom, and be still before God, how to meditate, conically, the trapped as we are in the vortex of mod- I forgetting that we are little children, like ern life. We have lost our sense of art of waiting, or finding rest, everyone else, desperately in need of a direction; and, confused and bewil- Father's love that is lavished beyond dered, we know little of the exuberant seems to take great effort! It is imagination. joy of celebration enjoyed by God's Hunger for God is a gift—purely people down the centuries, even in so contrary to our nature, if of grace, born of the Father's love. I tough and depressing situations. There cannot will it. I cannot manufacture it. is little to attract the unbeliever in the not our environment! Yet it is I may embrace it. I may also embrace traditional, organized Church."' those attitudes and actions that nurture If this analysis is even half true, the single most important skill this gift and resist those that destroy it. perhaps we pastors need to take inven- My experience has shown me how tory of our own spiritual lives. Have we I have discovered to embrace easily I forget that hunger for God is a been numbed into a "professional pas- the gift of grace—the gift of gift of grace. My experience has also tor role" that can blandly bang together shown me how slow I am to embrace the things of God? Is the result little hungering for God. So, I have those attitudes and actions that nurture better than "a resounding gong or a the gift and resist those who destroy it. clanging cymbal" (1 Cor. 13:1) that has struggled to carve out times One of the attitudes I am embrac- little impact on the unbelieving world? ing is my identity as a son. I am God's So, what can we do? How can we and places and ways to learn son, His little child, before I am pastor touch Jesus and receive power? Actually, (or teacher or counselor or administra- those are the wrong questions. Our to rest—to wait on God. tor or anything else). I am His little actions will never produce the change. child. I am precious to Him without Even our attempts at devotional performance. I am vulnerable without connection with Jesus may still leave us His help. I am just as vulnerable to a empty. Ellen White said it so well: all that different from the actions of the divided heart, a distracted mind, a di- "Many, even in their seasons of casual crowd. The difference was her minished love, as any of the people to devotion, fail of receiving the blessing hunger for healing. "In that one touch whom I minister. My role as a pastor of real communion with God. They are was concentrated the faith of her life."' gives me no "corner with God" nor does in too great haste. With hurried steps The touch was merely an expression of it excuse pretense or hypocrisy. I am a they press through the circle of Christ's her intense hunger. child, like those I serve, desperately in loving presence, pausing perhaps a need of daily drawing from my Father. moment within the sacred precincts, Hunger for God As I embrace that attitude, I embrace but not waiting for counsel. They have Where does that hunger come the gift. no time to remain with the divine from? Not from my actions. Not even Teacher. With their burdens they return from an act of my will. Hunger for God Integration of life to their work."' These people know all is a gift—a gift of grace. Jesus said it so Other embracing attitudes flow about bumping into Jesus. They do it plainly, " 'No one can come to me un- from this primary one. I am learning an every day! They've checked in with Him less the Father who sent me draws him'" integration of my life (emotional, so-

6 Ministry/June 1999 cial, family, physical, spiritual, voca- of hungering for God. So, I have tional). Keith Miller, in The Taste of New struggled to carve out times and places Ministerial Association Wine, expressed it well ten years after and ways to learn to rest—to wait on his conversion. "All the different per- God. I have tried to take a clue from • WEB SITE • sonalities I had projected in the various Ellen White in her statement about Check out our wide selection of areas of my experience were somehow those who hurriedly check in with Jesus resources for pastors, elders, being melded into one. I didn't have to and return to work with their burdens. laypeople, or others who want to take a more active role in have a separate vocabulary, a different She says, "These workers can never at- their church. kind of humor and a different set of eth- tain the highest success until they learn ics for my business life, my church life, the secret of strength. They must give Visit us at my family life, and my prayer life. It was themselves time to think, to pray, to wait www.ministerialassociation.com as if Christ had taken his fist and begun upon God for a renewal of physical, to knock out the partitions in my soul mental, and spiritual power. They need Accountability which had made my life so frag- the uplifting influence of His Spirit. I will mention briefly a few other mented."' Receiving this, they will be quickened actions that are allowing me better to I am also learning to "put myself by fresh life. The wearied frame and embrace the gift of hunger for God. One under the authority of the Word" tired brain will be refreshed, the bur- powerful habit is accountability to a instead of just using it as a tool of my dened heart will be lightened. prayer partner(s). Twelve years ago I trade. I am learning to think in terms Not a pause for a moment in His began praying and opening my life to a of God's church, God's work, and God's presence, but personal contact with handful of other Christian men. perspective instead of my congregation, Christ, to sit down in companionship Topping the list of many benefits from my job, and my plans. I am learning with Him—this is our need."' such prayer-partnering is this: I never (painfully at times) vulnerability, I am learning the art of waiting in come away from one of those sessions transparency, and authenticity. I am daily unhurried time with Jesus. I am without a sharply increased hunger to learning more of the meaning of grace learning the value of days or half days know God better. in the Sabbath—even for pastors! And spent alone in silence at the ocean or in Other significant practices that that, like all God's gifts of grace, the the mountains. I am learning to listen nurture my hunger for God are: re- Sabbath as well, can be destroyed or as well as talk in prayer. I am learning sponding to the exact challenges I enjoyed because of the boundaries I am to express more of myself and my preach to the congregation, putting willing to live within. emotions as I pray through the psalms myself under the teaching of those more and reflect on each day from God's spiritually mature than I, worshiping Waiting on Him perspective. I am learning new ways to with music at "off times," and studying All these attitudes that nurture my journal and listen to God for insights. I the classic spiritual disciplines. hunger for God overlap with actions am learning (slowly) a language of Have you bumped into Jesus lately? that embrace and nurture that passion. adoration, surrender, and trust. Are you hungry for something more? For me, the most significant actions are I am learning that here, in the art " 'Blessed are those who hunger and those that teach me the art of waiting. of waiting, actions and attitudes thirst for righteousness, for they will be More than a dozen Hebrew words are intersect like no other place! Richard filled' " (Matt. 5:6). " 'Jesus stood and translated into the familiar "wait" of the Foster says it so pointedly, "We must said in a loud voice, 'If anyone is thirsty, King James Version. Those words have come to see, therefore, how central the let him come to me and drink . . . root meanings of silence, ceasing, whole of our day is in preparing us for streams of living water will flow from standing still, waiting earnestly, waiting specific times of meditation. If we are within him' " (John 7:37, 38). ■ with hope, staying, expecting, looking constantly being swept off our feet with for, observing, watching, etc. and are frantic activity, we will be unable to be * All Scripture passages in this article are from the New International Version. translated as such in other versions of attentive at the moment of inward the Bible. Sometimes the word rest is silence. A mind that is harassed and ' Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline used, as in Psalm 62:5, "Find rest, 0 my fragmented by external affairs is hardly (Toronto: Hodder & Stoughton, 1980), 1. 'David Watson, in Foreword to Celebration soul, in God alone; my hope comes from prepared for meditation. .. . With our of Discipline. him." tendency to define people in terms of 'Ellen G. White, Education (Nampa, Idaho: Ironically, the art of waiting, or what they produce, we would do well Pacific Press® Pub. Assn., 1903), 260. 'White, The Desire of Ages (Nampa, Idaho: finding rest, seems to take great effort! to cultivate 'holy leisure.' And if we Pacific Press® Pub. Assn., 1898), 343. It is so contrary to our nature, if not expect to succeed in the contemplative 'Keith Miller, The Taste of New Wine our environment! Yet it is the single arts, we must pursue 'holy leisure' with (Waco, Texas: Word Bo oks,1965), 65. 'White, Education (Nampa, Idaho: Pacific most important skill I have discovered a determination that is ruthless to our Press® Pub. Assn., 1952), 260, 261. to embrace the gift of grace—the gift date books."' 'Foster, 20, 21.

Ministry/June 1999 7 offers a challenging and thoughtful look at the origins of Christian sabbatarianism. Drawing on compelling reesearch by leading African-American historians and theologians, SABBATH ROOTS unfolds a story of faith and obedience on the African continent that has frequently been obscured by Euro-centric authors. Charles Bradford's balanced scholarship offers an important contribution to world Christianity at a time when believers everywhere are awakening to a gospel that preaches cross- cultural inclusiveness and interracial harmony.

PRICE: US$14.95 PLUS 15% SHIPPING AND HANDLING

Charles E. Bradford, Send check, money order, or credit card number (MasterCard/Visa) with experation date to: a much loved preacher, pastor, General. Conference Ministerial administrator, and churchman Association, Resource Center for more than half a century, 12501 Old Columbia Pike served as president of North Silver Spring, Maryland 20904-6600 tel: 301-680-6508 American Division of Seventh- fax: 301-680-6502 Day Adventists for 11 years. www.ministerialassociation.com. He was the first African ALSO AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL American to hold that post ADVENTIST BOOK CENTER CIATMER NIfETIN OF Til PROPHECY

hrough the spiritual gifts given each believer, the church will accomplish Teverything God has commissioned it to do.

Roy Naden, Ed.D., is Nurturing the members of each Holy Spirit, as enumerated in professor emeritus of congregation, sharing the gospel world- 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4. . . . religious education wide, and any other legitimate church These gifts operate in harmony with the from Andrews action will be accomplished through divine principles of the Bible, and are University and lives the application of the gifts of the Spirit given for the perfecting of the saints, the in Bainbridge Island, in the life of each individual. work of the ministry, the edifying of the Washington. Why hasn't the Seventh-day body of Christ" ( 377-380).3 Adventist Church developed a compre- Twenty years later, in the 1951 year- hensive theology of such a crucial as- book, the following words were added: pect of truth? The question is more "The gift of the Spirit of Prophecy is one perplexing because of our official be- of the identifying marks of the remnant lief that one of those gifts, prophecy, is church. 1 Cor 12:1, 28; Rev 12:17; 19:10; an important identifying mark of our Amos 3:7; Hosea 12:10, 13. They church.' This article seeks to explore [Adventists] recognize that this gift was this little-discussed theme.2 The thesis manifested in the life and ministry of is that a widespread misunderstanding Ellen White." about the distribution of the prophecy Whatever the motivation to add gift has been at least partially respon- those words 36 years after Ellen White's sible for a thwarted nurture ministry death, the results are clear: the church- among members—which in turn has wide understanding that Ellen White's led to a serious apostacy rate (802,995 prophetic ministry constituted the in the last quingennium alone). manifestation of the prophecy gift in the end time. Fundamental beliefs The 1981 yearbook published a Despite our long standing antipa- much more comprehensive affirmation thy to creeds, "the fundamental beliefs" on spiritual giftedness. It stated, in part: of Seventh-day Adventists were first "God bestows upon all members of His described in 1930 by a group of four church in every age spiritual gifts which (M. E. Kern, F. M. Wilcox, E. R. Palmer, each member is to employ in loving and C. H. Watson). Athough never ministry for the common good of the voted by any official committee, their church and of humanity.... According statement was printed in the 1931 Sev- to the Scriptures, these gifts include enth-day Adventist Yearbook. It such ministries as faith, healing, proph- included this paragraph: "God has ecy.... One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit placed in His church the gifts of the is prophecy. This gift is an identifying

ROY NADEN

Ministry/June 1999 9 mark of the remnant church and was New Spiritual Gifts Inventory and the the entire local congregation] may be manifested in the ministry of Ellen G. Personality Profile Inventory to identify instructed and encouraged;"' and still White. As the Lord's messenger, her clusters of gifts rather than name indi- again, "Therefore, my brothers, be ea- writings are a continuing and authori- vidual gifts including prophecy.4 ger to prophesy,"8 for this is how mem- tative source of truth." But is there not some way to rec- bers of the body of Christ are nurtured. This 1981 statement affirms that oncile the twin contentions of the 1981 If Paul's words are true, can we af- lay members gifted with prophecy statement? Having discussed this theme firm the prophecy gift among lay should minister through that gift and with hundreds of Adventist ministers in persons in local congregations and also that Ellen White did and continues to my doctoral classes at the Seventh-day uphold the unique and distinctive minister through the same gift. To many Adventist Theological Seminary, I be- prophecy ministry of Ellen White? This Adventists, that is a conundrum. They lieve Adventism has not yet embraced is something we must affirm, because a conclude that one cannot have it both the verity that the prophecy gift is and comprehensive lay involvement in nur- ways, and with little or no further always has been one of the most wide- ture and outreach will never be fully thought, they relegate the gift to Mrs. spread of the Spirit's gifts. It has to be, realized until we understand the mul- White alone. because it is a major nurture gift (along tiple distributions of the prophecy gift. Having attempted over the past 25 with pastoring) intended by God to years to assist members in discovering build the church and maintain its spir- New Testament teaching their giftedness, I know how disbeliev- itual health. Like other New Testament epistles, ing and diffident they become when The apostle Paul makes this clear Romans has two sections: doctrine and faced with the probability that they have in his words to the local congregation in duty. And Paul usually bridges the gap the ministry of prophecy. "That can't Corinth: "Follow the way of love and between these two major divisions with be," they reason, "that's Ellen White's eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the word therefore, as we read at the gift." It was this reality (in part) that led the gift of prophecy,"5 and "prophecy, beginning of Romans 12—"therefore to the withdrawal of my Spiritual Gifts however, is for believers"6 (i.e., the con- brethren." After the development of the Inventory (which identified the proph- gregation); and again, "For you can all doctrine of righteousness by faith, Paul ecy gift) and the development of the prophesy in turn so that everyone [i.e., presents a logical application. Once we

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10 Ministry/June 1999 have experienced the joy of salvation by suffice for the complete nurture of the ening, encouragement, and comfort." faith, have died to self and been raised worldwide church today either. We need 3. The prophecy gift is rarely in- to a new life as a new creature, only then and can expect multiple contemporary volved with foretelling future events. can we begin a life of ministry. manifestations of both these gifts. (Some contend that foretelling is more There is great intentionality in the the work of a seer than a prophet.) To use of the words therefore brethren in Three spheres of ministry illustrate: Romans 12:1. They introduce Paul's Which brings us back to the ques- Sphere A. Comparatively speaking, presentation of spiritual gifts. All who tion: If local congregations need people there is little foretelling of the future in join God's family because they have to utilize their prophecy gift (as was the the books of the Bible—with exceptions been made righteous by faith are gifted case in the early Christian churches in in some chapters of such books as for ministry. Each receives gifts/abilities Corinth, Ephesus, and Rome), how do Isaiah, Daniel, and Revelation. But that to minister for the Lord Jesus, and these we understand Ellen White's church- constitutes a small percentage of the gifts fall into two major areas: nurture wide prophecy gift? It is obvious that Scriptures. and outreach. Romans 12 names sev- although in one sense these two mani- Sphere B. Similarly, Ellen White's eral ministries that one can expect in festations are the same gift, in another ministry was rarely concerned with the local congregation. They include sense they are very different. foretelling future events—with the ex- helps, teaching, exhortation, giving, To begin, it should be affirmed that ception of the eschatological segments leadership, mercy, hospitality, and, pre- every gift from the Holy Spirit is appro- of The Great Controversy as an example. dictably—prophecy.9 priate for its purpose. Although the gifts In her corpus, that represents a small In reading the clear sense of this are given to finite sinful human beings, percentage. passage, there is no possibility of sepa- the Spirit's gifts are completely appro- Sphere C. And at the local church rating prophecy from the other gifts priate for their divinely-appointed level, one would not anticipate any fore- that Paul indicates will operate through purpose. More than a decade ago (when telling. the members of local congregations. this article was first submitted to Min- 4. Those with this gift are fully in- In 1 Corinthians there are two gift istry), I had come to see the prophecy spired by God to accomplish His lists. The first names ten gifts, includ- gift as operating in three spheres of in- intended purpose through them. You ing prophecy.1° The second gift list at fluence. First are the "holy men of God" can't be partially inspired! As a result, the end of the chapter names eight gifts, who penned the words of Scripture. in all three spheres, ministry will be again including prophecy." The mean- Second, I believe that Ellen White was appropriate for its divinely appointed ing is clear when you read all of Paul's equipped by God with the prophecy gift purpose. The Holy Spirit guarantees it lists of the gifts, in Romans, Ephesians, (and several other equally important will be so as long as the messengers are and 1 Corinthians: Every spiritually, gifts) to guide the Adventist Church. faithful to the call. healthy local congregation will have And third, I believe that today, as in ev- Now four dimensions in which people ministering through the gifts, ery other period of church history, both there is divergence. including the prophecy gift. men and women are gifted by the Holy 1. Duration. How long is each Paul uses the identical illustration Spirit to exercise the gift of prophecy/ individual's prophecy ministry to con- for an understanding of spiritual gifts nurture at the local congregation. In tinue? in all three New Testament passages, each of these three spheres, the prophecy Sphere A. Over three thousand where he discusses the topic at length. gift is perfectly appropriate for its desig- years ago, the writers of Scripture be- He likens giftedness to the organs of the nated purposes, but there may be gan to record the thoughts God placed human body. While some organs are significant differences in those purposes in their minds. And God intended those most useful, they are not vital to life from one situation to another. words to be a continuing expression of (you can live a full life without a hand, In each of these three spheres of His will until the end of the ages. The a foot, an eye, an ear); other organs, influence, the prophecy gift operates in prophecy ministry of these men has though, are imperative. Without a heart four dimensions that are divergent from lasted for scores of centuries. or liver, for instance, the body dies. each other and in four that are similar. Sphere B. By contrast, Ellen White Similarly, the gifts of prophecy and First, the factors in common. came in the end time to serve as a spe- evangelism are essential. Without them 1.All with the prophecy gift speak cial messenger, with her writings a congregation will die. For example, for God, because it is a spiritual gift from maintaining relevancy until the Lord Someone's past utilization of the evan- God to speak for Him. returns. This is a much briefer period; gelism gift will not suffice for the church 2.All minister in harmony with the to the present, only a century and a half. today even though they may leave a heri- Bible's definition of the gift in Sphere C. In the third category, the tage of many printed sermons, appeals, 1 Corinthians 14:3. (This is the only gift operates for even briefer periods, and techniques. And someone's past uti- spiritual gift in the New Testament that just the years of the members' commit- lization of the prophecy gift will not is defined.) Paul says it is for "strength- ted lives. The duration of the ministry

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12 Ministry/June 1999 identifies another fifteen Old Testament of Israel (a sphere 2 ministry). But it was In the centuries of the Old Testa- individuals as prophets, including the clarity and universal applicability of ment, it seems there was no need for Daniel, Jonah, Enoch, and David. the timeless principles they recorded that more than one sphere 2 prophet to ex- Throughout the centuries of the marked these books, intrinsically, for pres- ercise the prophecy gift for the entire Old Testament, of all those God called ervation and recognition as a sphere 1 nation at any one time. Nor was there to exercise this special gift, a mere 38 prophecy ministry. always the need for back-to-back suc- are explicitly named prophets/prophet- The Old Testament canonical writ- cession of prophets. But in those cases esses. And of the writers who penned ers who knew they were called as sphere where God indicated that there would the Old Testament corpus, only some 2 prophets acted also in sphere 3; that be an immediate succession, that also fifteen are actually called prophets. is, they were human beings in contact became clear. For example, the cloak of This article has already suggested with the people among whom they lived the ascending Elijah descended from the that there are three discrete spheres in and responded to individuals' questions sky and was taken by the succeeding which the prophecy gift operates to and needs as well as speaking for God Elisha, based, at least in part, on God's benefit the Adventist Church today: to the nation at large. For example, knowledge of the need. Scripture writers, Ellen White, specific Elisha didn't delegate another to assist The record of the New Testament, members of local congregations—iden- the workman who lost a borrowed ax. spanning a mere seven decades, does tified above as spheres 1, 2, and 3 re- Spontaneously, he met an axman's need, not contain the same quantity of infor- spectively. although the outcome was of no na- mation as the Old. It contains only some At this point, the question will tional significance. two hundred references to prophets and probably be asked, Did any sphere 1 Inevitably, based on the examples prophecy. And hardly any people are prophets know they were to have sphere of history, there is an overlap in the actually named as possessing the proph- 1 influence? Probably not. If they had, spheres of prophecy ministry in which ecy gift, except some eight, including their words would presumably have the wider incorporates the narrower, but John the Baptist, Silas, Zachariah, and been couched in broader, less localized not the reverse. That is, sphere 1 includes Anna. Apparently, just as in the times terms. What seems more likely is that spheres 2 and 3. Sphere 2 includes of the Old Testament, the prophets of these gifted people recognized God's sphere 3; however, a sphere 3 ministry the New provided such a vital function call to speak His message to the nation appears to operate only in sphere 3. for the church that they were recognized Unspiredgeading

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Ministry/June 1999 13 as exercising the gift of prophecy with- church at large as we await the Lord's of the prophecy gift, the ministry is a out always being named as such in the return and preach the gospel to earth's limited local ministry, unlike the wider record. last generation. authority of the first and second spheres. God can and does equip people The end time Two important clarifications for just such local ministries. That is the Then what of the end time? As the Before concluding, two brief but very essence of the theology of spiritual fifteenth century began, a series of in- important observations need to be gifts: Believers are equipped for minis- dividuals were raised up to speak for made. First, there will be some who re- try, and the healthy manifestation of God. As the world church came out of main skeptical about a local congrega- this ministry is one that cannot contra- the depressing darkness of the Middle tional application of the prophecy gift. dict the essence of what has been com- Ages, it faced the twin tasks of rescuing They may wish to curtail its application municated through the first two the truths long distorted by centuries in a given congregation because they spheres. of individual and ecclesiastical med- fear that it might be abused on that dling and the sharing of the gospel with level. They may wonder if it will encour- Conclusion multitudes of unsaved. With no attempt age splintering or "congregationalism," Which brings us back to the origi- to be comprehensive, the succession as persons on a local level claim that nal hypothesis. If church members are included Wycliffe, the Morning Star of prophetic revelations give them a doc- to be adequately nurtured, if the fruit the Reformation, and Luther, who re- trinal or structural authority which of evangelism is to be faithfully pre- vived the doctrines of righteousness by sup ercedes that of the church as a served and commissioned into service, faith and "the priesthood of all believ- whole. In that connection it should be there must be nurturers with the proph- ers"—crucial for a revived spiritual-gifts said that the most recent Statement of ecy gift in every congregation. There ministry. Williams revived the symbol Fundamental Beliefs of the church de- must be many of them, as was the case of the washing away of sin in baptism nies this objection when it affirms: in Corinth, Ephesus, and Rome. by immersion. Calvin, among other "God bestows upon all members of His The Bible continues to nurture things, revived a form of church gov- church in every age spiritual gifts which those who read it. The words Ellen ernment that restored authority to a each member is to employ in loving White wrote to her church, our church, local congregation. Wesley emphasized ministry. . . These gifts include such continue to nurture those who read the fruit of a methodical Christian life. ministries as prophecy." And if read in them today. And the spoken words of Miller recovered the truth of a return- context, the apostle Paul could have some individuals in each local congre- ing Savior. Each of these people made been speaking of no other sphere but a gation around the planet must be ac- an invaluable contribution to the pro- local one when be referred to the proph- cepted as part of God's purpose for the cess of restoring lost truths taught by ecy gift in Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians nurture of His church. This third- Jesus in order that, in these last days, 14:1, 3, 4, 5, 22, 24, and 29. Besides, it sphere manifestation sees godly indi- there might be a worldwide proclama- would indeed be a travesty to be so con- viduals chosen by God, gifted by God, tion of "the faith which was once cerned about possible abuse that we and inspired by God with the spiritual delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3). quenched the authentic manifestation gift of prophecy, excercising it for the All of these heroes I would classify of the gift. "strengthening, encouragement, and as sphere 2 people, with the prophecy Second, what can one say about the comfort" of the members of local con- gift given them by the Holy Spirit that issue of "inspiration" when manifested gregations. The acceptance of this real- they might contribute something of in the local church through the proph- ity is a key to the nurture of the church; major importance to the congregations ecy gift? A fear that is a twin to the one otherwise, the erosion of membership of the church worldwide. Without ques- mentioned above may cause some to will continue unabated in most areas of tion, the natural consequence of the shy away from embracing the gift as the world. ■ ministry of these prophetic voices was God offers it in the congregational set- Rev 12:17; cf. 19:10. spiritual life, health, and growth for the ting. They may be afraid that some will Additional aspects of the discussion can be found in my body of Christ in the end time. commentary on Revelation 14 and 19 in The Lamb Among the Beasts take the "revelations" they receive (Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1996). Is the ministry of the founders of through the prophecy gift in the local ' See LeRoy Edwin Froom, Movement of Destiny (Wash- ington, D.C., Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1971), some end-time denominations named fellowship of believers and place them 413-415. An additional factor was the difficulty of using nomen- above the same as the Old and New Tes- above the authority of the inspired work clature from the New Testament that frequently carry preconceptions and misconceptions of meaning. tament prophets? Not exactly, but of Ellen White or even the Bible. s1 Cor. 14:1. 5 1 Cor. 14:22. perhaps their work is comparable. But because there is no such thing '1 Cor. 14:31. 1 Cor. 14:39. Clearly, the ministry across denomina- as "partial inspiration," we can only 'Rom. 12:6-13. tional boundaries of Luther, Calvin, conclude that people are fully inspired 15 1 Cor. 12:8-10. " 1 Con 12:28. Wesley, and others will continue by God to perform their specific min- Ministry, October 1981, 7. "Ellen G. White, Evangelism (Hagerstown, Md.: Review- and through the end time to the Christian istry. In the third sphere of application Herald Pub. Assn., 1946), 257.

14 Ministry/June 1999 LIVE ON he Voice of Prophecy Sabbath, August 14 sponsors the second Family Reunion 8:00 p.m. (EDT) Concert this August. More than 100 Watch at your church on Telstar 5, Channel 24. musicians will be on stage together at Or attend in person at the Tivoli. All seats reserved: $10. the Tivoli Theater in downtown Chattanooga. Invite your friends to Tickets: 423.757-5050 join you for this outstanding musical Phone Monday- Friday 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. EDT event of the year! (Ticket lines open June 1.)

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he first of this two-part article told of a failed attempt in 1883 by the Adventist rf Church to adopt a church manual. Gilbert M. Valentine, In this article, the author examines mind and adopt a formal church Ph.D., is a vice- how the church addressed the need for a manual 50 years later? To begin with, president of Avondale manual during the next 50 years until in place of a "manual," a variety of College, Cooranbong, fin ally adopting one for the whole books by individual writers appeared to New South Wales, denomination in 1932. fill the void. The story of these interim Australia. In 1883 Adventist Church leader- efforts provides a fascinating backdrop ship categorically rejected the need for to the church's about-face. a church manual. At the time, General Conference President George Butler The closed communion advocate was certain that the church had no in- Less than two years after rejecting tention of heading down a formalistic, the manual, the General Conference creedalistic road. had the issue back on its agenda, the This determined stance, however, matter being pursued by J. H. Waggoner. did nothing to address the need for As editor of Signs of the Times®, he had some compendium of guidance on local published a manuscript for a manual in church life and ministerial practice. Nor the Signs.' But when he broached the did it stop the ongoing codification of idea of the General Conference endors- church polity as local conferences and ing the document, session delegates the General Conference continued to deftly sidestepped the issue. They re- legislate uniform practice for the ferred it to the California publishing growing sisterhood of churches. But the house to be dealt with as any other decision had been made. Pastors, manuscript published under an churches, and conferences were to labor author's own name. Pacific Press® pub- on with the Bible as the "only rule of lished the eight-chapter, 122-page vol- faith and practice." This did not mean, ume in 1887. Only 20 copies were however, that the need for a general printed, and it was never revised or re- volume would vanish. issued.' So how did the church change its Even without ideological opposi-

GILBERT M. VALENTINE

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Review sample chapters The most extensive on the Internet at Zondervan Publishing House www.zondervan.cornIreference application-oriented tion to a manual, the content of metaphor was military. The emphasis ample, the advocacy of the sanctity of Waggoner's manuscript indicates why was on recognizing and submitting to the pulpit as opposed to the Sabbath it did not qualify. The style is sermonic, "authority." Loughborough conveyed School desk. Yet Richards conveyed chatty, hortatory, polemical, and is pep- the feeling that the church had "arrived" these ideas with pastoral and persuasive pered with personal illustrations. Both in its organizational development and warmth. In many ways the manual was nameless ministers and churches come things were now the way they should superior to Loughborough's. The two in for critique. It would not have been have been all along' The integrating volumes helped fill the church manual difficult for some to have identified theme was based on an often repeated vacuum, each in its sphere, for almost themselves and their faults.' 1893 statement from Ellen White that twenty years. But as the decades wore Also limiting the usefulness of "the Lord has wrought in the organiza- on, both became dated. Waggoner's manual was his vigorous tion that has been perfected."' The first advocacy of a "closed" Communion 14 chapters dealt with broad principles A departmental leader's turn which would have offended Adventists of church organization and consisted In 1922 General Conference Home who came from a Freewill Baptist or almost entirely of lengthy quotations Mission Secretary, James Adams Christian-connection background. Fur- from Scripture and Ellen White. The last Stevens, freshened things up with The ther, Waggoner's argumentative ap- 15 began with a historical review of Officers of the Church and Their Work.8 proach was inappropriate for a general Adventist church organization and This volume became the forerunner of manual.4 No wonder Waggoner's moved on to discuss conference struc- an official church manual. manual didn't go farther than a few ture, committee procedures, elections, Stevens had 13 years of pastoral churches in southern California. and the jurisdiction of officers. While and departmental leadership experi- the book touched on local church is- ence before being elected to the Gen- A veteran speaks sues, its focus is on the church as a broad eral Conference. His approach was At the turn of the century came the organization as opposed to the indi- more polished and scholarly than that turmoil of denominational restructur- vidual worshiping congregation. of his predecessors. He began with a his- ing, followed immediately by the seis- torical overview, tracing the roots of mic upheavals of the Kellogg schism. A pastoral approach Christian church order back to the Jew- These events added weight to the per- Even as Loughborough was work- ish synagogue system and on through ceived need for a manual on church ing on his manuscript, H. M. J. Richards the New Testament church. His empha- order. It seemed as important to explain of Colorado was also writing a church sis was on the local church and its of- and defend the validity of the new pat- manual in order to answer "the great ficers, reflecting the new departmental tern of the denomination's organiza- need for a plainly written work of mod- approach to church life that had de- tional practice as to provide guidance erate size and easy reference on the veloped during the first two decades of on matters of congregational life. subject of Gospel Order."' the century. With a didactic approach, In 1906 John N. Loughborough Richards's 12-chapter volume be- Stevens addressed the contemporary took up the challenge. Published by the gins with a catechetical approach: problems and procedures that church Review and Herald in 1907, Lough- answers supported by extensive quota- officers should know about. The book borough's 183-page book, The Church: tions. Like Loughborough's work, the was a "how to" handbook of instruc- Its Organization, Order, and Discipline, first chapters deal with broad principles, tions; it included a stronger emphasis proved exceptionally helpful as a while the latter chapters deal with the on the leadership of the local elder who, compact guide. In 1908, the General practical application of these principles. in Stevens's view, almost rivals the role Conference sent the author on a world In contrast to the authoritarian and of the local ordained pastor. In fact, if tour to promote the volume and to triumphalist tenor of Loughborough, Stevens's prescriptions had been fol- speak about church order and organi- Richards's manual has a warm, soft, pas- lowed, local elders would soon have felt zation. The book was not an official toral tone and focuses more on issues overburdened with the duties of their manual, although it represented a of congregational life and the work of office.9 strong consensus on church polity. In the pastor. While the writing is less pol- While Stevens's work was prescrip- fact, it came to be accepted as a de facto ished, the approach is more winsome. tive in its focus on the role of church church manual for the next 20 years. Richards's work was based on the officers, it did not convey heavy pre- Loughborough's book illustrates a understanding that a manual on church scription with regard to church order clear development in the culture of the order is supposed to be primarily de- per se. The book illustrated, however, denomination, during this period, to- scriptive. It acknowledged the need to the changed perspectives since the days ward a more centralized approach to yield individual interests for the sake of when George Butler and Ellen White denominational life. The volume was the whole body. It dealt with authority had set the agenda and pointed out the assertive, prescriptive, and almost au- sensitively. It also reflected a creeping danger that formalism might sap spir- thoritarian in tone. The dominant sacramentalism in the church; for ex- ituality. Stevens was heading in the

Ministry/June 1999 19 other direction. "Experience has dem- during the 1920s. One for foreign began work on it the following year.' onstrated that faithful adherence to missionaries set out policies and served The background to the request is certain rules in the conduct of our as a guidebook for those appointed to mysterious. General Conference corre- church work results in a deeper spiri- serve overseas. The other, in 1925, a spondence and committee actions tual life on the part of the members and Manual for Ministers, detailed the work indicate that church leaders understood consequent progress in every phase of of the pastor with explanations of that the invitation to McElhany had church activity."" Stevens's book ordination and credentials and sug- been a formal request from the General showed that things were changing. gested service outlines and scripts for Conference Committee." There is, In 1929, H. S. Miller, a theology lec- the celebration of Communion, mar- however, no extant record of such for- turer at Southwestern Junior College, riage, and funerals. Although the scripts mal authorization. Whether the General wrote to the General Conference ask- were even more detailed and specific in Conference officers were sensitive to ing if Stevens's volume was "authorita- some areas than the general suggestions possible criticism and wished to initiate tive." Miller had heard that the status in Littlejohn's rejected 1883 manu- the project discreetly without a minuted of the book was "seriously questioned." script, the two volumes were accepted action or whether an action was taken Was its "mission and counsel endorsed without objection. They provided that was "inadvertently" not minuted unquestionably" by the General Con- useful guidelines for these important is not known. ference? If not, was "there anything to and usually formal occasions. What is known is that the officers substitute it?"' T. E. Bowen, editor of were enthusiastically behind the idea. the Church Officers' Gazette, who re- A manual again The book would be comprehensive, plied for the General Conference, Perhaps the success that attended explained T. E. Bowen to an enquirer; it hedged. He could assure Miller that as these two smaller manuals persuaded would pick up "the principles of the far as he knew "there was no outstand- church leaders that the church might be book Elder Loughborough first brought ing defect in the book"12 regarding the ready to accept a formal manual on out, as well as the main features of questions under consideration. But the church order --ifhandled properly. The Brother Stevens' book, and then go even manuscript had only been "passed codification of matters of church polity beyond this in a careful survey of the upon" by the book committee of Pa- had burgeoned through the years as the church work and problems often arising cific Press®. It is significant to note that church grew, becoming more inter- in the church with a view of offering questions such as Miller's suggest that national, institutional, and complex. suggestions and principles developed by the church was on the way to being This codified material needed to be in long usage that would more fully meet ready for a formally endorsed manual. an accessible compendium. The the requirements of the churches." emergence of a distinct organizational McElhany had to fit the project A periodical approach "policy" book dealing specifically with around his regular duties as a union The Church Officers' Gazette was matters of denominational employ- president. Although he did not discuss another attempt to fill the void. In 1913, ment, organizational and institutional the task, at least not in the extensive the North American Division requested relationships, and industrial issues had correspondence held in the General that a "Church Officers' Manual" be also perhaps clarified what needed to Conference archives, there was clearly prepared. Whether the 1883 episode be included in an official "church" much consultation." But it was not was still too fresh and there was linger- manual, thus making the task easier. until five years later, in October 1931, ing resistance to a manual is not clear. The old rationale for a manual had that McElhany submitted his work to What is clear is that in place of a gathered fresh intensity. Inexperienced the General Conference officers.'' "manual" the Gazette was initiated. The ministers were being employed. The The approval process moved 16-page monthly carried articles on church had spread to many countries. rapidly. In an interesting appropriation church order and on the role of church The number of new churches had of authority, the General Conference officers. Feature articles, both sermonic grown rapidly, and this meant waves of officers "authorized" the Executive and didactic, elaborated on the way new church leaders. The means of pro- Committee "to take steps towards officers should carry out their duties. viding the necessary instruction editing the manuscript."" The presi- The Gazette lasted for 37 years before it without a standardized document dent quickly nominated an editorial was replaced in 1951 by two publi- seemed out of reach. But given the committee of seven, endorsed by the cations, the MV Program Kit for the church's past experience, the question Executive Committee, to fulfill this Youth Department and Go for the still remained: how to get such a vol- task." Two months after the manuscript Home Missions Department. ume as a church manual? General had been handed over, the General Conference leaders decided to brave it. Conference Executive Committee Minor manuals During late 1926, James L. received the report of the editorial Two smaller volumes bearing the McElhany was asked by General Con- review group and approved the word manual staged an appearance ference officials to draft a document. He amended manuscript. They added the

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Price and availability subject to change. Add GST in Canada. Helping Others Prepare for Eternity proviso that the galley proofs be nominational practices and polity"— way, while benefiting from an authori- furnished to local members of the but also to "preserve" these. For those tative guide, the church will avoid the Executive Committee. In early 1932 who feared a drift toward creedalism, trap feared so intensely in 1883, that President C. H. Watson declined the the worrying word was preserve, which such a document may become narrowly invitation to write a personal foreword suggested an element of prescription determinative for the future. ■ for the manuscript (he wanted to give and raised the difficulty of how the the project universal appeal). Instead, a manual could be revised should that small subcommittee drafted a statement need arise. "The Church: Its Organization, that could be signed by the whole Perhaps the most distinctive fea- Ordinances and Discipline," Signs (January 1, General Conference Committee.2° In ture of the manual was the inclusion of 1885 to August 6, 1885). 2 See Book Committee Proceedings, late March, last-minute revisions were a new statement of fundamental beliefs. Oakland Session 1887, 78; The Church: Its Or- added before the Review and Herald Drawn up by a committee of four, ganization, Ordinances and Discipline (Califor- presses rolled for a midyear release. A chaired by Adventist Review editor nia: Pacific Press® Pub. Assn., 1886), 3. formal church manual bearing the Francis M. Wilcox," the 22-article 'Ibid., 84. authority of the General Conference document was not formally approved 4 Ibid.,104ff. 'Ibid., Preface. was finally a reality. by any committee but was passed to 6 Ellen G. White, Christian Education No recorded discussions or actions Edson Rogers, General Conference stat- (Battle Creek, Mich.: International Tract approving the manual indicate an istician, for inclusion in the 1931 SDA Society, 1893), 135. See Loughborough, 50, 51, awareness of the rejection 50 years ear- Yearbook. Endorsement occurred later 61, 62, 90-94, 127. lier. Neither, it seemed, was there any as part of the approval process for the H. M. J. Richards, Church Order and Its Divine Origin and Importance (Denver: reaction from George Butler, who was manual as a whole. There was no review Colorado Tract Society, 1906). pastoring churches in Ohio when the or wide consultation on the statement, 'Pacific Press® commissioned and pub- manual was issued. One wonders nor formal vote of the wider church. lished the book. whether leadership might, in fact, have Sensitivities about the appropriateness 'James Adams Stevens, The Offices of the Church and Their Work, 20-27. been familiar with the first attempt and of voting on statements of belief and the "'Ibid., 5. judiciously avoided the need for ap- prospect of being charged with "H. S. Miller to T. E. Bowen, January 11, proval by a full General Conference creedalism possibly explain the unusual 1929. Session. way in which the Statement of Funda- "T. E. Bowen to H. S. Miller, January 20, mental Beliefs became "official."22 1929. A manual for the church Keeping the document current " J. L. McElhany to T. E. Bowen, August 12, 1927. McElhany's 1932 Church Manual soon became a problem. Revisions were 14 General Conference Minutes, Novem- did not break new ground. It was pri- authorized by the General Conference ber 9, 1932. marily descriptive of church life and Committee, appearing in 1934 and " T. E. Bowen to H. S. Miller, January 20, practice as it existed, but it incorporated 1940. But in 1946 the General Confer- 1929. recent consensus agreements voted at ence Session resolved that changes " J. L. McElhany to Union and Local Presidents, August 14, 1929; General the General Conference on such mat- could be approved only by its delegates Conference Officers' Minutes, October 15, ters as committee procedures, church- in session." 1930; G. C. Minutes, May 6, 1931. board membership, and issues concern- "General Conference Officers' Minutes, ing disfellowshiping of members. The Conclusion October 28, 1931. approach was "this is our custom," with Today the Church Manual is a ma- "General Conference Officers' Minutes, room for variations at the local level. It tured document, accepted as an November 11, 1931; General Conference Min- was prescriptive in the sense that new authoritative guide. It has been of ines- utes, November 12, 1931; November 13, 1931. churches were to be organized on the timable value to countless ministers and 20 General Conference Officers' Minutes, basis of the manual. The General Con- churches and has played an immensely February 11, 1932. ference agreed that local fields could helpful role in keeping the church a co- 21 Other members of the panel: M. E. Kern, dean of the seminary; E. R. Palmer, develop their own adaptations of the hesive body. But a church manual, in publishing director; and C. H. Watson, General manual (provided they were approved). an important sense, is a backward- Conference president. Wilcox appears to have The British Union Conference was the looking rather than a forward-looking been the chief draftsman. only organization to take up the offer document. It began primarily as a de- 22 See L. E. Froom, "Creeds," 5; General Conference Archives; also Gottfried Oosterval, in the early years. scriptive document: "This is the way the "The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Mis- The preface avoided a heavy- church does things." As variation, sion: 1919-1979", unpublished paper cited in handed creedal approach; it stated that growth, and development occur in the Lawrence Geraty; "A New Statement of Fun- the manual was set forth "as a guide" light of Scripture, future editions of the damental Beliefs," Spectrum 11 (1983): 1:3. 23 See Review and Herald, June 14, 1946, in matters of church administration. It manual will describe what is custom- 197-199; also Gary Land, Adventism in America was not, however, just to set forth "de- ary and what has proved helpful. In this (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1986), 180.

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W. Ronald Watson is the director of the I did not understand all the proto- after conference legal matters such as Department of Planned Giving, Loma col and procedure of life in relation with church properties and the management Linda University, California. the office staff. I therefore found my- of trusts. His thoughtfulness and friend- self at times either at odds with the ship soon caused me to recognize the programs or ignorant of the legitimate need of a proper will for my own per- help they could give my congregation sonal situation. At the time, my wife and and me. I had two small girls, and we had begun It was not until after a number of to grasp the worth of having a plan that years of experience that I discovered a would care for them in case we as par- more focused relationship with the de- ents faced unforeseen trauma or death. p artmental ministries of my lo cal And so, with Alf, we initiated the pro- conference. One of these I must admit cess of preparing our own will. I had hardly noticed—the Trust Serv- ices department. My discovery of the Will preparation for the pastor value of this department was largely due In this we were encouraged to Se- to the Trust Services director in my con- lect guardians for our children and ference at the time, Alf Johnson. His provide funds for their education and friendly and kind authenticity attracted future needs in case we would not be me, and I began to have an interest in there to do so. The process also called what he was actually about in the con- for us to think about our parents, who ference. might need to know that we were con- The conference association (the le- sidering them when we prepared the gal corporation of our church) came document. The entire experience gave under his supervision. I was fascinated us a sense of satisfaction and security. with the details that he administered We had provided for our family in case and was amazed with the order and we could not do so in the future. As we carefulness with which his office looked arranged to write our will, we also pro-

W. RONALD WATSON

24 Ministry/June 1999 vided for a percentage for the work of Learning from mistakes I recalled a well-to-do parishioner the church. This also gave us a touch of After my initial experience with Alf in one of my churches. The elders of my fulfillment as we realized that our min- and making our will, I continued to church called me one afternoon and istry could continue even after death. enjoy my years of pastoring. I kept a told me that this man wanted to leave In those early years our "estate" was close relationship with the people, es- the local parish a sizable gift from his not large, but we did have some assets: pecially the older ones in my parishes. I estate. His wife had died some years a small savings account, household pos- associated easily with them. I also found before. He had no children and though sessions, an automobile, and a monthly that I had a special interest in legal is- he had some financial obligations, his bank account. "Not worth the trouble sues. I realized that I enjoyed working major desire was to benefit the local of designing a will!" you might say. But with the procedural patterns in real es- congregation and its program. My in those "gathering and collecting" tate, had a curiosity about powers of church leaders wanted to draft an in- years, we had more than we realized or attorney, elder care, and con- strument right there in the boardroom had actually counted up. We rightly servatorships. So it is not surprising that of our church. They asked me to "type decided it was worthwhile having even during a conference presidential annual it up." Then, in well-intentioned zeal, these small assets properly designated review of my work I mentioned these they encouraged him to sign this "draft" for family and faith. We also realized interests to my pastoral leader. Not long while they gathered around to sign as that sometimes there are lawsuits that after this conversation, I was invited, witnesses. can accrue to one's estate or, as in my and accepted the invitation, to join the This was not a good plan. I was case, there are life-insurance policies local conference Trust Services depart- young and inexperienced, so I followed that have been carried by one's own ment as one of the trust officers. Among along. If only I had called the confer- family. I remember that I cashed in one other things, in doing this I hoped that ence Trust Services personnel and got- such policy that had been carried on my I could be of genuine assistance to pas- ten guidance and input. How much life, provided by my grandparents since tors who needed thoughtful help from more appropriate to have had a quali- the time of my birth. So, it is wise to a colleague who had made his mistakes fied third party to assist our member in consider that there may be "outside" with these issues while pastoring. I re- his decisions and desire or to have the and "contingent" assets in your estate membered especially one situation I resources of the conference to help in that you have not thought of. had not handled too well as a pastor. these arrangements.

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Ministry/ June 1999 25 I remember another situation I pending death as the motivator. With their ministries of generosity. Church learned from, involving another pastor. long-term planning, much good can be members can gain from Trust Services He came to the conference office with a accomplished in families and in the an inventory of available avenues and nonchurch member from his commu- church circle. different types of instruments for plan- nity. She loved the local programs Not everyone will respond to the ning as they think of their families and offered by the local Adventist church provisions of Trust Services. Many may the work of God. and wanted to "make a donation" of feel more comfortable with their own The first important movement for properties to this small parish. In this legal counsel and personal planning. If the minister is, as a spiritual leader, to case the minister was wise in coming to this is the case, it is definitely best to acquaint himself or herself with what the Trust Services department of his leave the arrangements with the mem- the local conference and union or mis- conference. What caught the attention bers. Hopefully they will still include sion office provides. In this there are of the Trust Services personnel was that the Lord's work in their wills and trusts. wide differences between local confer- the pastor evidently had a seriously lim- Our regular preaching and teaching, ences and unions. For example, of the ited knowledge of property and real along with intelligent and balanced calls 300 listed personnel for the North estate deeds and documents, because to remember God's vineyard in life and American Division Trust Services, just none of the papers he laid before them in death, should make its mark. We 203 are full time in this department. Of had the woman's name on them. He should be careful not to exert "undue the 121 on record in other global divi- could have saved himself embarrass- influence" on our members or get into sions, less than fifty are full time in this ment, time, and mileage. The woman situations that may be construed by ministry. This employee ratio is not in had apparently collected deeds from the them or their families to be an "unlaw- balance, but it is the situation at present local county clerk's office and made ful practice of law." in our world field, for reasons that are copies. These she offered to the church However, people do appreciate undoubtedly reasonable and valid. as if they were legally viable. There were being helped. As pastors and parish So it may be that when you go to no documents upon which she had any leaders, we are facilitators, helpers, and explore your sectional Trust Services vested rights as an owner. The confer- enablers within the church community. facilities, you may find them to be very ence Trust Services director was obliged Since any one of us is always looking limited, nearly nonexistent, or quite to pleasantly thank the woman and to for means and avenues of skillfully sophisticated. Either way, it is worth- diplomatically decline her offer. aiding our parishioners, I would recom- while to explore your options as a As colleagues in ministry, we would mend that your list of options include pastor. This may well enhance your do well to acquaint ourselves with some the assistance of Trust Services. ministry and your usefulness to your of the legal issues that arrive within the local congregation. church community and among its busi- The pastor and Trust Services ness affairs. It is also important for As already implied, Trust Services Specific services offered pastors and local church leaders to have (also called Legal Affairs, the Asso- Testamentary will information is information concerning the work of ciation, and Planned Giving) is a user- offered by many conference Trust Serv- Trust Services and the office of the le- friendly concentration of advantages ices departments. They may provide kits gal corporation of the church. This and benefits for one's church members or brochures to enable church members contact can certainly be the source of and for the minister's own estate needs. to understand how to prepare a will. much benefit to the congregations and There the door is open to provide a Some conferences will even pay for an to the leadership of local churches. qualified and comprehensive look at attorney to meet with an interested per- As ministers we are in a position planning providentially for the future. son and then draft the instrument for to bless and benefit our membership. The services can include: ideas for the their approval and execution. Usually One way of doing this is to have a well- care of family needs, providing for they have an attorney or solicitor on informed sensitivity to the charitable peace in the hearts of children, provi- retainer to assist in this provision. Also, concerns of the people under our care. sion for elderly relations and extended the conference officer will seek to dis- Since the Trust Services department can family, thoughts for enhancing chari- cover the desires of the individual or offer some real security for maturing table interests and sympathies, gaining individuals so that the local church pro- church members and can assist them in security by action now for potential gram and/or conference entities benefit planning for their families and for an problems later, learning of income- from their estate. People may include ultimate gift to the church, this is an producing trusts that pay donors now the church in any size gift in their wills. interest area that pastors can nurture. and assist church programs later. However, because of the extent of the We can encourage our people to dis- This list constitutes a limited enu- responsibilities of those who service the cover the guidance of God's will in the meration of opportunities that a visit member's estate, most church organi- handling of their estates and not sim- to Trust Services can open up as pas- zations find it necessary to have at least ply seek to influence them with im- tors seek to broaden the potential of a 25 percent gift for the church in order

26 Ministry/June 1999 to manage a trust. ber who has appreciated property to gift nuity will pay an unchanging amount The revocable trust is a fine medium this to the conference organization. This of income during the individual's life, a for a person, single or married. Since instantly takes care of any capital gains portion of which may be tax-free. The assets are named during one's lifetime liability, since the church is tax exempt remaining portion of the annuity prin- as part of this trust, the probate proce- when it sells such real estate. This is an cipal (left at the death of the donor) dure of most jurisdictions is not excellent plan in countries where this is then goes to the church organization as necessary. At death, the trustee (usually feasible and allowable under existing tax directed by the donor before his or her the conference trust department) sees codes, especially for members who death. to the distribution of the assets with- would experience large tax assessments This is only a brief overview of the out the use of time-consuming, costly, were they to sell the property them- options. It is commendable and advis- and unwieldy court proceedings. Many selves. Once the trust is funded with able for a pastor to gain at least a clear organizations now have self-directed cash from the sale of the gift property, sense of the available charitable trust trusts, which are the same as the revo- the organization can invest this and pay and contract arrangement options. cable, except that the donors themselves the donor an agreed percent in income The beauty of stewardship in gen- become their own trustees. This is an for their lifetime. A charitable deduc- eral, and this kind of stewardship spe- acceptable plan to many who prefer to tion is also available in many locations. cifically, is that it carefully considers the look after their own affairs until age or This is calculated from the value of the issues of family responsibility, the needs incapacity should change this. In such gift property, minus the potential pay- of gospel work, and the interplay of cases conferences can become succes- ments to the donor. God's blessing and His providence in sor trustees to assist the donor when A gift annuity is a fine way to in- the life of the believer. It is a wonderful events or circumstances make it diffi- crease one's income by simply placing extension of the kind of gratitude that cult for them or their family members cash in contract with a church organi- centers the life, work, and existence of to provide the work and maintenance zation. The person is then paid accord- an individual pastor, a parishioner, and as trustee. ing to a set percentage, based on his or the heartbeat of the Seventh-day A unitrust allows a church mem- her age at the time of the gift. This an- Adventist Church as a whole. ■

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Ministry/June 1999 27 VIEW POINT

here is Old Testament, koinoo, translated in nothing the NASB as "impure" and "defiled." outside the Clean and man which going Meaning of "impure" into him can defile When koinoo is used in the New him; but the things unclean Testament, the meaning is that which proceed out something good or holy has become of the man are meat profaned or desecrated. This use is a what defile the unique Palestinian Jewish concept and man. . . . (Thus he declared all foods DAVID MERLING is not found in secular Greek writings. clean)" (Mark 7:15, 19).* During the intertestamental period, a What did Jesus mean by "defile" two kinds of animals: those that were significant cultural shift occurred and "clean"? Was He referring to clean and fit for food and those that among traditional, religious Jews. clean and unclean foods? were unclean and unfit to eat. An They became determined to remain At issue in Mark 7 are the early distinction between clean and separate from all uncleanliness, "traditions of the elders" (verses 3, 5, unclean animals is found in the Flood including anything to do with the 8, 9, 13). These "traditions," according story (Gen. 8), but we have no way to Gentiles. Jews were instructed by their to Jesus, were used to disregard the determine from this passage which religious leaders to refrain from commandments of God (verse 9). For animals were clean and which purchasing oil, bread, milk, or meat example, the "traditions of the elders" unclean, though obviously Noah from a Gentile.2 allowed a person to ignore the fifth knew. Thus, the issue in Mark 7 has to commandment by giving a donation The clearest identification of do with the "cultically unclean hands" to the temple. Jesus pointed out that which animals were clean for food of the disciples (Mark 7:2).3 There was the Pharisees had many such escapes and which were not is found in nothing intrinsically evil about the from God's law (verses 10-13). Con- Leviticus 11. Land animals must disciples' hands, but the "tradition of demning such practices, He quoted "chew the cud" and have a split hoof the elders" stated that one's hands had the "commandment of God," passages (Lev. 11:2). Water creatures must have become cultically defiled by the from Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuter- fins and scales (Lev. 11:9). All other commonness (koinos) of their onomy (Mark 7:10, 11; cf Exod. animals are considered "unclean." activities. According to the tradition, 20:12; 21:17; Deut. 5:16; Lev. 20:9). Mark 7, like the rest of the New if the disciples touched polluted food, The issue that precipitated this Testament, was written in Greek. the resulting defilement would cause discussion in Mark 7 had to do with Because the New Testament writers them to become unclean and they the accusation of the Pharisees and used a Greek version of the Old would become spiritually unaccept- scribes that the disciples ate with Testament (LXX), it is helpful to able to God. "impure hands." "Impure hands" was compare the LXX with New Testa- Jesus denied that such a thing is a specific, technical distinction not ment passages to check for hidden possible. He explained that spiritual found in the Old Testament. The idea issues that may have been obscured in defilement comes from within, not of hands becoming "unclean" or the translation process. In the Old without (Mark 7:20). In saying so, "impure" was developed during the Testament, when "unclean" is associ- Jesus underscored a significant truth: intertestamental period. Because ated with animals, the Hebrew word Even external actions like English words like "defiled" and used is m. In the LXX, m is regularly "fornications, thefts, murders, "unclean" are used in Mark 7 in translated by the Greek word adulteries" were defiling, not due to conjunction with food, some have akatharton ("unclean"). Akatharton is their outward action, but because they assumed that the issue being disputed used many times in the New Testa- represent the fruit of the evil within earlier in the chapter was "clean" and ment, including Mark 7:25. However, (Mark 7:23). It is the internal "unclean" meat.' in the discussion between Jesus and rebellion that "defiles" a person's But is this the case? the Pharisees, neither Jesus nor the relationship with God. Real evil (i.e., Pharisees speak of akatharton defilement) comes from within, thus Clean and unclean meat (unclean). The key word in their producing the outward signs of that The Bible differentiates between discussion is one rarely found in the rebellion.

Viewpoint articles are designed to stimulate thought and do not necessarily reflect the position of our editorial staff or of Ministry.

28 Ministry/June 1999 V I E W P 0 I N T

Jesus against external rituals discussed in Leviticus 11 is a tempo- steal" (19:11); "you shall not oppress Thus the issue of Mark 7 is not rary one that resulted from your neighbor, nor rob him" (19:13); food. Jesus was primarily arguing inadvertent contact with unclean "you shall love your neighbor as against external strictures that animals. Those who touched an yourself" (19:18). And Leviticus also ostensibly raised the level of spiritual- unclean animal were advised to wash has teachings pertaining to typical ity while undermining the authority their clothes; they remained unclean Jewish cultic practices. One needs to of the Holy Scripture. Lambrecht "until evening" (Lev. 11:24-28, 31-40). distinguish between the two. writes that Jesus said the Pharisees' "hypocritical fidelity to the tradition Mark 7 and Leviticus 11 Peter's vision of man induces them to neglect the The confusion between the One cannot discuss the issues of commandment of God."4 Jesus' "unclean food" of Mark 7 and the Mark 7 without considering Peter's refocusing of the issue clearly under- "unclean" meats of Leviticus 11 has vision found in Acts 10. Mark 7 and mined the "traditions of the elders" resulted due to some unfortunate Acts 10 are bound together by the use and all externally practiced rituals circumstances. First, since the time of of the word koinos and the shared and, at the same time, raised the the gnostic Marcion, many Christians theme it introduces. In Acts 10 Peter status of the Scripture.' have tried to impose a major rift has a vision in which he sees animals This accusation by Jesus against between the teachings of the Old of two kinds: those that are "common" the Pharisees is pertinent because Testament God and the New Testa- and those that are "unclean" (koinos some have suggested that Jesus ment Jesus. It is this often kai akathartos, Acts 10:14). According Himself acted in the same manner in unmentioned and assumed predispo- to the then-current Jewish idea, things which He accused the Pharisees; that sition that influences interpreters to that have become "common" (koinos) is, some have assumed that Jesus set suggest that Jesus introduced a new have attained that status by their aside the "commandments of God" by commandment in Mark 7. These association with things that are creating His own new tradition.' In interpreters see a major break between unclean." So what Peter sees in the support of such a stance, they use the the Old and New Testaments, and sheet are unclean animals and clean parenthetical phrase of Mark 7:19, Mark 7 is to them one of those animals that have become "common" "Thus He declared all foods clean." milestones. By doing so, however, they (i.e., defiled) by touching the unclean Even some Seventh-day Adventists inadvertently accuse Jesus of commit- animals. have suggested that Jesus in Mark 7:19 ting the same error that Jesus attached The purpose of this vision is to had done away with the clean and to the Pharisees—teaching a new remove from Peter (and the early unclean distinctions of Leviticus 11.7 tradition that undermined God's Christian church) all racial prejudice If that is what Jesus did, Jesus was commandments. (see Acts 10:28, 34, 35), but many guilty of doing what He accused the Second, the confusion is a result suppose that this chapter is also the Pharisees and scribes of doing: setting of some wanting to make Christianity basis for the repudiation of the aside the commandments of God to as unlike Judaism as possible, thus "unclean" meats of Leviticus 11. After follow His own, newly introduced, ignoring the early and clear roots of all, does not the text state that God tradition. Such an interpretation Christianity. cleansed all meats? Actually, what the cannot stand theological scrutiny. Third, some see confusion in text states is, "What God has cleansed Leviticus 11 recognizes two types Leviticus 11 itself. Some Seventh-day no longer consider unholy" (Acts of "unclean" animals. The first is that Adventists argue that if we obey 10:15; 11:9). It is the choice of English which is not fit for food. No prescrip- Leviticus 11, then we have to adhere words and the uniqueness of early tion is offered to make them "clean" to all of Leviticus. While this argu- Roman Jewish thought that have so because the distinction between ment sounds logical, it is flawed. often confused the reader. If we were "clean" and "unclean" was not based Leviticus is a complex book, with to read it this way, "What God has on cultic distinctions. Eating such many teachings, some of which are cleansed no longer consider koinos," it foods made the eater "detestable" universal principles and some would be immediately clear that the before God; mainly, it seems, because uniquely Israelite. Among the message of Acts 10 is the same as in such creatures were in themselves universal principles are the com- Mark 7. What had God cleansed? obviously implausible sources of food mandments of Leviticus 19: "Do not Things that were thought to be defiled (Lev. 11:42, 43). turn to idols or make for yourselves by association.' While Peter said he The second kind of uncleanness molten gods" (19:4); "you shall not had never eaten anything that was

Ministry/June 1999 29 VIE W P 0 I N T

"common" or "unclean," the voice conscience being weak is defiled" Pharisees and scribes in Mark 7, He Peter hears only says that the "corn- (1 Cor. 8:7). Paul spoke for the Jewish drew attention away from external mon" things have been cleansed. What Christians when he wrote, "Therefore obedience to the necessity of a pure about the "unclean" (akathartos) concerning the eating of things heart. Jesus was also not establishing thing? The voice of Acts 10 is silent. sacrificed to idols, we know that there His own traditions. On the contrary, This interpretation fits the story is no such thing as an idol in the He upheld the Scripture and defended of Acts 10-11 perfectly. Peter is asked world and that there is no God but it against the "traditions of the elders." to go to the home of Cornelius, a one" (1 Cor. 8:4). How should His careful use of koinos makes it clear Gentile, and Peter knows "how Christians relate to things not yet that He was well-aware of the unique unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew clear to them? By being sensitive to use of this word among early Roman to associate with a foreigner or to visit those with a different opinion but Jewish scholars and He was not afraid him." But "God has shown me," says faithful to their own beliefs (Rom. to debate them on their own terms. Peter, "that I should not call any man 14:13, 21, 23). Nothing in the teachings of Jesus unholy (koinos) or unclean From these passages, no one can or His apostles undermined the (akathartos)" (Acts 10:28). According conclude that Paul is saying, "I don't authority of the Old Testament or its to the "traditions of the elders," Peter care what the Old Testament teaches; teachings, including the distinction would have become koinos if he had do what you want." If that were his between clean and unclean flesh associated with Cornelius (an intention, he would have been foods. • "unclean" person, i.e., non-Jewish introducing his own new traditions, person). Peter affirms after the vision but that is untenable, as we have David Merling, Ph.D., is curator, Horn that God "is not one to show partial- already noted. First Corinthians 8 Archaeological Museum, and associate ity"; everyone who "does what is right specifically cautions those who think professor of history of antiquity, Andrews is welcome to Him" (Acts 10:34, 35). idols are nothing to be careful how University, Berrien Springs, Michigan. Regarding people, there are none that knowledge might affect those *Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture common or unclean. Such a distinc- who had come from an idol- passages in this article are from the New tion among people was always and worshiping society (1 Cor. 8:10). American Standard Bible. only the "traditions of the elders" Romans 14 encourages those in the For example, Carlston notes that extrapolated from the Old Testament church to be compassionate with their Jesus' statement that "nothing outside a man by those "elders" but not actually fellow Christians. Paul acknowledged can make him 'unclean' by going into him" taught in it. that koinos, as a command, was not (Mark 7:15) was "obviously intended to set binding on Christians, but some in aside" the dietary laws and "the Law as a whole." Charles E. Carlston, "The Things Paul on "unclean" the church had not become free from that Defile (Mark VII. 14) and the Law in That defilement by association the "tradition of the elders." Paul Matthew and Mark," New Testament Studies, was strongly ingrained among the wrote the Roman Christians not to do 15, 75. 2 T. C. Smith, "Acts," The Broadman early Christians is clear from the anything that would weaken the faith Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman, discussion of it by the apostle Paul. In of their fellow Christians, because all 1970), 67. Romans 14 Paul specifically states that must be faithful to their beliefs (Rom. i Frederich Hauck in Gerhard Kittel, ed. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament "nothing is unclean (koinos) 22). in itself" 14:21, In neither Romans 14 nor (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984), 3:797. (Rom. 14:14). The situation in the 1 Corinthians 8 is "unclean" 4 J. Lambrecht, "Jesus and the Law: An early church was complex because, (akathartos) mentioned. Only koinos Investigation of Mark 7:1-23," Ephemerides although the early church was largely ("commonness") is the focus of Theologicae Lovanienses 53 (1977): 49. 5 Hauk, 797. Jewish and rooted in that heritage, attention. 6 Carlston writes "that in the communi- Gentiles began to accept Christianity ties where this story circulated Jesus is seen very quickly. These Gentile Christians Summary as setting aside not only scribal tradition but the binding force of the Mosaic law itself" had grown up in a culture where food Now, back to Mark 7. From a (93). Cf. Hauk, 797. was offered to idols for blessing. For study of that chapter and related 'For e.g., John Brunt, "Unclean or the Gentile Christians, the issue of issues in Leviticus and the New Unhealthful? An Adventist Perspective," eating food offered to idols was a Testament, we can see that Jesus was Spectrum, no. 3, 11:17-23. 8 For a more complete discussion of compelling one. The problem was that radically opposed to anything, these issues see Colin House, "Defilement by "some, being accustomed to the idol including the "traditions of the Association: Some Insights From the Usage until now, eat food as if it were elders," that undermined the Old of KOINO IKOINO in Acts 10 and 11," Andrews University Seminary Studies, no. 2, sacrificed to an idol; and their Testament. In His discussion with the 21:143-153.

30 Ministry/June 1999 PASTOR'S PASTOR

henen recruit a leader who asks the right J questions than one with all the sought Recruiting answers. I leaders, He looked Head for business. Wisdom is in beyond externals far too short supply. Leaders should and considered laity leaders exhibit sound decision-making skills potential more in their personal and business life. important than JAMES A . CRESS Avoid those who make rash choices or pedigree. who rush to judgment. Pastors have the great privilege future. They believe the best days of Focus for heaven. What is the and responsibility to discover and the church past and their goal is to ultimate goal of your leaders? While recruit the very best laity leaders "take us back." Leaders, however, look their business sense needs to be firmly (elders, deacons, trustees) for God's to the future, discern God's will for rooted in reality, their vision must church. tomorrow, and build toward His extend to eternal values and the Remember, however, many with goals. blessed hope! the most to offer think of themselves Arm for cooperation. Do poten- Feet for going. Leaders need to as lacking even basic leadership skills. tial leaders exhibit willingness to actively seek opportunities to serve. Therefore, we must look beyond the cooperate with pastoral leadership They should be eager to encourage obvious and find those whose along with loyalty to church organiza- the believers, strengthen the weak, potential for building the kingdom is tion. When church boards make a and seek the lost. One of the most beyond their own comprehension. decision, leaders have the responsibil- effective elders I ever was privileged to While no potential leader may ity to support and implement the know would constantly ask me, possess every attribute, as you search action regardless of their personal "Pastor, is there someone you need to recruit the best leaders, ask whether opinion. There is a time for dissent, me to visit?" potential elders possess some of the but once a decision is reached, leaders Trust of the members. Regardless following characteristics. unite. Fierce independence is devilish. of an individual's willingness to serve, Mind for God. Many laity Hand for work. Church leader- if their fellow members do not affirm mistakenly believe they must be ship is more than an honorary title. their leadership they will not be perfect to serve in a leadership role. Elders have much greater responsibil- effective. By close observation you will More important than the impossibil- ity than guarding the platform during discover who has earned the trust of ity of arriving at perfection is the worship services. Future leaders will your membership. Entrust greater intent of the person's life. Do they demonstrate their potential by active responsibilities to those who have have a desire to know and follow involvement in various church earned greater trust. God's will? Do they exhibit an interest projects and functions. Develop Empathy for people. Idea people in spiritual matters and an inclination specific job descriptions and recruit are tremendous. Technicians are to quickly respond to the Holy Spirit's those whom you can reasonably essential. But people persons are leading? expect to fulfill the expectations. indispensable. Leaders must have Heart for souls. Even if they fail to Tongue for the Spirit. Leaders are followers and they must love those see their own strengths, effective disqualified for office if they gossip or whom God has called them to serve. leaders are always looking for the even if they mistreat the truth. The They must not consider themselves potential in others. Watch for those biblical admonition to speak the truth superior to those they seek to lead and who are eager to see others come into in love mandates that the love never they must know the value of servant to a saving relationship and those who reveals all that it knows even if it is leadership. are eager to give others the opportu- truthful. Leaders should control their Openness to change. Remember, nity to grow in grace. tongues before they attempt to God consistently says, "Behold, I do a Eye for the future. Leaders must control anything in the church. new thing." Leaders must do more be forward looking. While a sense of Attitude to learn. Teachability is a than maintain the status quo, they God's leading in the past is essential, God-given grace. Beware anyone so must seek new methods and venture too many who fancy themselves impressed with their own opinions boldly toward God's design for leaders are more focused on main- that they are incapable of learning finishing His work and hastening taming the past than building the from someone else. I would rather Jesus's return. III

Ministry/June 1999 31 Yon future may 4..ing fo-F, .4ne?cunexpected ' manage 'them bulifelieoVitetitiihaet3rewr life w1:14 help when,, S.,, they "do • ': '''"Most people , neveris t need hel with everyday activities st14:41,: ,001 1dressing.111. , )A.: *. on live pe()ple over the age of 65::may need sonic e nflongt c-.;:t4tiil t thei r lifetime`— and tong-term care is not just for the eider or nit illness Sitate. „. . long-term care services at any age. In fact, Of 03 eri 'o nee d -term'. Carepercent are under the age, of 65? Long-term car e services Can .,.. very expensive can deplete a lifetithc of savingS; and most people: don't. realm that 1011440m:care their heal is ge under 0 Medica nerally. very, limited.,

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