Thoughtful Adventists around the world are wondering:
Do conferences have the right to bully and, perhaps, threaten committed SDA churches for inviting and listening to ordained ministers they appreciate?
Do conferences have the right to approve LGBTQ+ speakers in the conference while forbidding speakers who fully support the 28 Fundamental Beliefs?
Do local churches have the freedom to invite speakers with ministerial credentials in good and regular standing to conduct meetings at their church?
Should conferences have a litmus test outside of the 28 fundamental beliefs for blacklisting Adventist speakers?
When a Conference blacklists an ordained minister in good standing, is that not an indictment of the Conference that credentialed him?
Seventh-day Adventist Churches who invite ministers with impeccable credentials to feed their congregation are not setting a precedent. Jesus commends such church leadership,
“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods” (Matt 24:45-47).
But Jesus immediately follows this commendation with a warning to other leaders at the end of time,
“But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (vv. 48-51).
When leadership has fellowship with the wicked, believing good of evil (Mal 2:17), it must inevitably believe evil of good (GC 571).
Apostle John Disinvited
“There is nothing new under the sun.” Eccl 1:9.
The early church was not without similar problems like what some churches today are currently facing. None other than the loving Apostle John was disinvited to speak to churches. His letters could not even be read publicly. Those who invited him were actually cast out of the church. John, himself, tells the story,
“I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church” (3 John 9,10).
Be of Good Courage
Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus (Heb 12:2). Show His cheerful, patient kindness, and courtesy (see LP 162). Inspiration has given counsel for those who are misjudged and attacked:
“Let them rest in the love of God, and the spirit will be kept calm, even under personal abuse. The Lord will clothe them with a divine panoply. His Holy Spirit will influence the mind and heart, so that their voices shall not catch the notes of the baying of the wolves” (DA 353).
Leave all this in the hands of God. When you do this, no stain of sin will rest on you. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Gal 6:7).
The religious liberty that we enjoy today in Western culture can largely be traced back to Martin Luther who stood against religious tyranny in the Roman Catholic church. Resisting wrong in the spirit of Jesus not only results in a clear conscience, it also benefits others by helping to bolster their freedoms.
****