SEPTEMB ER 5, 1974
ADVENT REVIEW AND SABBATH HERALD • GENERAL CHURCH PAPER OF THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS
Aloft on salt air Whispers of breeze comes the hiss and heave tousle of ocean upon the sand. a shock of wild flowers Spangled by sun, and dissolve wave in the fragrance of sage. rushes to rock I am washed in thunderous embrace. in the solitude of eternity; reborn REBORN on the shores of God. By KIT WATTS Editor's Viewpoint
The Need for "Spiritual" Men Perhaps the most serious danger that threatens the out the gifts of the Spirit, and it can be done well and church is that it will lose its uniqueness, that it will skillfully. But work designed for eternity can only become like the world around it, that its schools, its be done by the eternal Spirit. No work has eternity in it medical institutions, its methods of promotion, its litera- unless it is done by the Spirit through gifts He has ture, its standards of measuring success, will be scarcely Himself implanted in the souls of redeemed men. . . . distinguishable from those of the secular world. Spiritually gifted persons are ominously few among us. Yet few people in the church seem concerned about When we so desperately need leaders with the gift of this danger. Too many measure success merely by gains discernment, for instance, we do not have them and are in tithe and membership. They are confident that all is compelled to fall back upon the techniques of the world. well with our educational institutions so long as enroll- This frightening hour calls aloud for men with the gift ments are increasing and accrediting bodies are pleased. of prophetic insight. Instead we have men who con- They seem satisfied with our hospitals so long as their duct surveys, polls and panel discussions."—Ibid., bed-occupancy rate is high and their budgets are bal- pp. 40, 41. anced. They are content with our literature so long as Can religious work be done skillfully and well by it sells well and is appreciated by readers. natural men? Yes. Physicians can treat diseases. Sur- When anyone raises questions as to whether spiritual geons can perform operations. Teachers can teach. Pro- values are being given sufficient emphasis, whether our moters can promote. Pressmen can run presses. Nurses literature is distinctively Adventist, or whether an can care for the sick. Secretaries can manage offices. institution is being operated in harmony with God's re- Editors can edit. Layout artists can create clever de- vealed will, often he is considered a gadfly, a negative signs for magazines. Administrators can manage and influence, or a fanatic. Few people in the church wel- direct. Treasurers can handle finances. And on, and on. come criticism, even though it be constructive. Most All of these activities may be carried forward by nat- would rather be told that everything is going well, that ural men. conditions may not be perfect but they are the best The Difference they have ever been. How right the True Witness was when He charged The difference between a "natural" man and a "spir- Laodicea with feeling self-satisfied and in need of noth- itual" man is made quite clear in 1 Corinthians 2:11-16 ing. (also in Rom. 8:1-14). "The natural man receiveth not But it is important to keep in mind that the church the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness may operate institutions that meet worldly standards unto him" (1 Cor. 2:14). but not God's standards. The church may give the ap- The natural man sees no necessity for yielding to and pearance of being enormously successful and still be a following implicitly the counsel from God's Spirit as set failure. Burgeoning financial and membership statistics forth in the Bible or in the writings of Ellen White. may be accompanied by a sharp decline in spirituality. The natural man sees no great danger in deviating Employees in denominational institutions may be effi- slightly from the express will of God. By contrast, the cient but not spiritual. spiritual man distrusts self, and seeks earnestly to do Some time ago we were startled by several passages God's work in God's way. Thus, if natural men are in in a book entitled Keys to the Deeper Life, by A. W. positions of leadership in God's work, the church is in Tozer, a consecrated non-Adventist Christian. In the peril. book the author declared: "The separating line be- What, then, is one need of Laodicea? That all lead- tween the church and the world has been all but oblit- ers, all workers, all employees of the remnant church erated. Aside from a few of the grosser sins, the sins shall be spiritual men, not natural men. Wrote Ellen of the unregenerated world are now approved by a White: "To our ministers, physicians, teachers, and all shocking number of professedly 'born-again' Chris- others engaged in any line of service for the Master, I tians, and copied eagerly. Young Christians take as have a message to bear. The Lord bids you to come up their models the rankest kind of worldlings and try to higher, to reach a holier standard. You must have an be as much like them as possible. Religious leaders have experience much deeper than you have yet even thought adopted the techniques of the advertisers; boasting, of having."— Testimonies, vol. 8, pp. 317, 318. baiting and shameless exaggerating are now carried on The True Witness counsels us who are members of as a normal procedure in church work. The moral cli- the church of Laodicea, "Anoint thine eyes with eye- mate is not that of the New Testament, but that of salve, that thou mayest see" (Rev. 3:18). See what? See Hollywood and Broadway. Most evangelicals no longer our drift toward the world. See our unbelief. See our initiate; they imitate, and the world is their model."— pride and self-sufficiency. See our need of Christ's Page 16. righteousness. See our need of faith and love. See our Is this indictment too harsh? We think not. Too many need of spirituality. Christians are aping the world in appearance and con- "Be zealous . . . , and repent" (verse 19), Christ duct. They imitate rather than initiate. They bring secu- urges. What will be our response? Will we continue to lar techniques into the church to carry forward the excuse our deficiencies, and proclaim our lack of any work of God. need? Or will we repent? Perhaps Mr. Tozer described Laodicea best when he While we make up our minds, Jesus stands at the said: "Religious work can be done by natural men with- door and waits. K. H. W.
2 (954) R&H, SEPTEMBER 5, 1974
tariums' or 'Hospitals,' " p. 6; H. M. Tip- pett, "Beloved Medical Pioneer," p. 12). The article by Elder Nichol probes the rea- Scan News Briefs From the Religious World Review sons for establishing Adventist health-care institutions and what types of services these 110 institutions should provide in view of our BAPTIST LEADER: EDUCATION NO denominational mission. Elder Tippett's ar- "CURE-ALL" FOR PROBLEMS OF SOCIETY ticle, an interview with A. W. Truman, ALEXANDRIA, LA.—Dr. Abner McCall, M.D., a pioneer in the medical work of the president of Baylor University, Waco, church, provides an interesting counterpart Advent Review & Sabbath Herald Texas, the nation's largest Baptist college, to Elder Nichol's address. 124th Year of Continuous Publication said during the Southern Baptist Education Eighty-nine years ago during the REVIEW Commission meeting here that people "who campaign D. M. Canright wrote a short ed- Editor: used to believe higher education would solve KENNETH H. WOOD itorial in response to an Adventist woman all our political, moral, and social problems Associate Editors: who had commented that the cost of the DON F. NEUFELD, HERBERT E. DOUGLASS have become disillusioned because it has REVIEW was too high. "Just think," she Editorial and Administrative Secretary: not solved any of these things." The former CORINNE WILKINSON said, "of two dollars per year for so small a Baylor Law School dean and Texas Su- Editorial Assistant: paper!" preme Court Justice said, "We have heard JOCELYN FAY At that time the REVIEW had fewer than that the college degree earns the graduate Editorial Secretaries: 10,000 subscribers. Canright pointed out AILEEN ANDRES, PAT HILL, IDAMAE MELENDY $250,000 more than a nongraduate over a that "most of the cost of publishing a paper Art Director: ELERED LEE lifetime. That may have been true 20 to 30 Designer: G. W. BUSCH comes on the first few copies struck off. That years ago, when students came from afflu- Editors, Monthly Editions: is, if there were only one single copy of the ent homes with influence to get them high- RAY D. VINE, English REVIEW published weekly, that copy would FERNANDO CHAIJ, Spanish—North America paying jobs. But now there are 10 million GASTON CLOUZET, Spanish South America cost several thousand dollars. For all the C. R. TAYLOR, Spanish—Inter-America students in school, many from disadvan- writing, all the editing, all the typesetting, all taged backgrounds, who won't earn much Consulting Editors: the proofreading, all the machinery, all the ROBERT H. PIERSON, W. R. BEACH, more over a lifetime than those in voca- W. DUNCAN EVA, W. J. HACKETT, buildings, and all the capital would be just tional training." C. D. HENRI, M. S. NIGRI, NEAL C. WILSON as much required to print that one copy as to Special Contributors: print one hundred thousand copies. So the BRITISH SURVEY: CLERGYMEN C. 0. FRANZ, K. H. EMMERSON, R. R. FIGUHR, FREDERICK LEE, R. R. FRAME, P. H. ELDRIDGE, larger the subscription list, the cheaper can WORKING A 61-HOUR WEEK B. L. ARCHBOLD, ALF LOHNE, E. W. the paper be printed. . . . If you want the PEDERSEN, R. A. WILCOX, R. S. LOWRY, BRIGHTON, Exo.—Clergymen in Britain M. L MILLS, C. L. POWERS REVIEW to be cheaper, help raise the [sub- work an average of 61 hours a week, and Corresponding Editors, World Divisions: scription] list." Afro-Mideast, R. W. TAYLOR; Australasian, After eliminating the chief reason for not bishops more than 70 hours according to a ROBERT H. PARR; Euro-Africa, E E. WHITE, survey conducted here by Peter Bates, a associate E. KOEHLER; Far Eastern, D. A. ROTH; subscribing to the REVIEW, Canright gives Inter-American, MARCEL ABEL; Northern this reason in favor of subscribing: "Our management expert. Two men, including a Europe-West Africa, PAUL SUNDQUIST; South bishop, were found to clock almost 90 hours American, H. J. PEVERINI; Southern Asia, cause could not be maintained without such A. J. JOHANSON; Trans-Africa, a paper as the REVIEW. It is the great me- of labor each week. DESMOND B. HILLS dium of information and instruction to our HEROIN NOW NO. 2 TO ALCOHOL, Circulation Manager: people. . . . It would be ruin to the cause to EDMUND M PETERSON A MAJOR PUBLICATION DECLARES Field Representative; be deprived of this invaluable medium of JOEL HASS communication." NEW YORK—Alcohol, which was over- shadowed by heroin and other drugs for a SUBSCRIPTIONS: United States, $12.95. For each These statements of Canright's are still subscription ordered in the United States to go valid—the cost of the REVIEW is negligible while, is once again emerging as the No. 1 to other countries, add $2.50 postage. Address "drug of abuse" among young people, ac- all correspondence concerning subscriptions to and could be lower if every Adventist family the Manager, Periodical Department. were on the subscription list. But more im- cording to Jules Saltman, author of a public- TO CONTRIBUTORS: Send news stories and portantly, it is a medium of communication affairs pamphlet, The New Alcoholics: Teen- pictures, articles, and letters to the editor. agers, published here. Mr. Saltman said that Unsolicited manuscripts are welcome but will be that the church needs as it seeks to go forth accepted without remuneration and will be united to finish its task on earth. excessive drinking among teen-agers has returned only if accompanied by a stamped, Photo Credits: Cover, Kimberly Clark; been a traditional concern of parents for self-addressed envelope. many decades. But he noted a difference in A monthly edition of the, Review is printed by the p. 4, Concerned Communications; p. 7, Stanborough Press, Ltd., Alma Park, Grantham, Keith Waterbrook; p. 12, Kenneth H. Wood; the way young people are using alcohol to- Lincs., England. A monthly edition also is printed day. "It seems apparent that youngsters are in Spanish and a quarterly edition in Braille. For other photos, courtesy of the respective au- information write to the Manager, Periodical thors. drinking to get high, whereas years ago they Department. drank to be 'smart,' to show that they were An index is published in the last Review of June and December. The Review is indexed also grown up. And for some, the emphasis is on in the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index. drinking to block out the troubles and pres- Letters sures of the world—as is true among many The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald is (Letters submitted for publication in this column cannot adults today, too." published every Thursday by the Review and be acknowledged or returned. All must carry the writer's Herald Publishing Association, 6856 Eastern name and address. Short letters (less than 250 words) will Avenue NW., Washington, D.C. 20012, U.S.A. be given preference. All will be edited to meet space and lit- PSYCHOLOGIST CHARGES NETWORKS Second-class postage paid at Washington, D.C. erary requirements. The views presented do not necessar- PROMOTE TELEVISION VIOLENCE Copyright © 1974, by the Review and Herald ily represent those of the editors or of the denomination.] Publishing Association. DALLAS—Dr. Robert Leibert, of the Appropriate Worship Music State University of New York at Stony There is a great deal of discussion about Brook, told the United Methodist Television the kind of music we should have in our Consultation here that the U.S. Surgeon churches. General issued "conclusive" evidence in To me it is not a question of whether the 1972 that violent programs are harmful. This Week music is fast or slow, rhythmic or non- Networks persist with such material, he Kit Watts, who authored our cover poem, rhythmic, or whether the accompaniment is said, because they believe violence draws is publications editor and director of public a guitar or an organ, but what effect does it larger audiences than nonviolent pro- relations at Sligo church, Takoma Park, have on the hearers? grams. Maryland. Her name is familiar to REVIEW During the rendition are the hearers lifted One hour of prime-time TV, he held, pro- readers (e.g., "Miriam, Secret Weapon," up and drawn closer to heaven or, if they duces an average of seven and one-half vio- Jan. 17, 1974). In her poem Miss Watts closed their eyes, would they imagine them- lent acts. "And when you analyze programs vividly describes the awareness of God that selves in a rock dance hall? made especially for children, such as car- comes through meditation on His creation. Does it prepare the hearers for the spirit- toons," he continued, "you find there is This issue contains two articles about Ad- ual sermon, or has the Spirit been driven so three times as much violence and aggression ventist medical work (F. D. Nichol, " `Sani- Continued on page 16 in those programs as in prime time."