What is a conservative? Someone who needs Jesus.
What is a liberal? Someone who needs Jesus.
How do you like my definitions for these two words? I know you conservatives and liberals out there are not too happy about what I just wrote. Oh well! I cannot go through life worrying about what everyone thinks and feels about me. My main concern is to be like Jesus in everything I think, say, and do… and let Him do the rest.
I believe that when conservatives and liberals label themselves, they are placing themselves at a higher spiritual level than their competition, rivals, or enemies. You may say, “Hey, I never said I was enemies with the opposite party.” Well……. I do not know about that. When the cheese is on the potluck table and church members are drinking soda, the conservative food critics are sure to let the liberal eaters know that they are going to burn in hell for their dietary choices. On the flipside, you will almost always find liberals in just about every church who rant and rave about the judgmental conservatives… dressing and eating in such a way, it gives the conservatives something to rant and rave about. And this is just scratching the surface.
Conservative: Conservatives are usually very legalistic when it comes to rules and regulations. They seem to be narrow-minded when applying the law. If the theology and methodology is not in line with their understanding of what they think truth is… then the opposing party is wrong and lost. Conservatives are usually very traditional and old school when it comes to methodology. Some believe we should only use the King James Version and all other translations are inferior to their translation of choice. Some believe only old fashioned hymns should be sung in church and that all praise music is wishy-washy and superficial. Some believe that men must wear suits and ties and women must wear dresses to church and that all other dress is a sign of rebellion (some even want all women to cover their heads in church). Conservatives usually make church into something so cold and formal that you could ice skate up and down the aisles. These types of churches are not visitor and family friendly. They talk about Ellen White to new believers (and non-believers) as if they were lifelong Adventists. They want the deep theology to be preached from the pulpit even though there might be new or non-believers in the congregation who have not been discipled yet. And the list could go on and on…….
Liberal: Liberals are usually just as legalistic as the conservatives. Instead of focusing on the rules and regulations, they tend to emphasize their “freedom” in Jesus (cheap grace). If you do not have their “Jesus,” you are lost. Liberals are “buffet” Christians. They pick and choose what Biblical teachings they think are relevant and disregard the rest. Liberals are usually very lazy when it comes to witnessing because they do not want to offend non-believers. Most liberals have bought into the postmodern mindset that embraces multiple paths to salvation. They usually dress like the world… low cut necklines, jewelry, makeup, etc. They go out to eat, shopping, and work on the Sabbath. Many drink caffeinated drinks and alcohol (wine). Liberals want to use the world’s rock & roll music to attract non-believers. And the list could go on and on…….
I believe that both parties are killing our churches in North America and other developed countries. Conservatives are so afraid of change, they forget about the mission to seek and to save the lost in the world around them. The liberals are so eager to change that they throw out our lifesaving theology to make it “easier” to stay in the church and to bring people into the church.
We need balance… and that is exactly what Jesus brought to His people when He walked this earth. Think about it… Jesus deviated from the ultra conservative methodology and the sinners in need of a Savior were drawn to Him. At the same time, He was not afraid to speak the truth about law and how it is to be applied to our relationships with other people and God. I could go all day talking about how Jesus brought balance to a religious organization that was out of whack.
Today, we are a religious organization that is out of whack. We need Jesus like never before. Let us prayerfully seek to study and be like Jesus in all that we do as a Church. If something old is not working… get rid of it. If something new is Biblically sound… embrace it. Now is the time to be the Church God has called us to be!!!
NOTE: Because of time, I am not able to really unpack this subject… I will write more later. May the good Lord keep you safe in His arms of love. Share the love of Jesus with someone today!!!
Luke
August 8, 2010
Well Said Brother, I agree with you, balance is needed, as you pointed out, Jesus was balanced and we are supposed to be his followers. will be interested to read more.
Frank Allen
May 16, 2011
You say: “Liberals are usually just as legalistic as the conservatives. Instead of focusing on the rules and regulations, they tend to emphasize their “freedom” in Jesus (cheap grace).”
Speaking for liberals SDA’s, we do not believe that we practice “cheap grace”—just believe and you are saved, all else is unessential. We believe that the just are saved by faith alone, apart from works, for God “justifies the “ungodly” (Rom 4:5).
This does not mean that we abandon standards or morality because the heart is changed giving new desires. Yet even obedience prompted by the Spirit offers no merit. Freedom in Jesus means to me that my focus is not on the law but Christ, who is the “end of the law” (Rom 10:4).
You say, “Most liberals have bought into the postmodern mindset that embraces multiple paths to salvation.”
Speaking for liberals, you have oversimplified this issue. Why, because Jesus is found in the most unusual places. Culture, family, education, friends, and imbrued prejudices, countries of origin, influence our understandings. God knows and understand this. Many are on medications, have sustained brain injury, or have personally limitations such as grief, sorrow, and failure etc, that prevent them from advancement. It is simple faith that saves, not dogma for Jesus saves “apart from the law” (Rom 3:21).
You say, “Many drink caffeinated drinks and alcohol (wine).”
Let’s be honest, many liberals do drink coffee and tea, because Jesus never made food a test, although EGW did. Liberals don’t judge those who abstain from coffee. To a liberal coffee is a non salvatic issue.
“Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer. By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes. And then he added, It is what comes from inside that defiles you” (Mark 7:18-20).
Christine
June 10, 2011
I have been wondering about the SDA’s diet issues. Is it all really from God, or is it mostly legalism? I do think that God wants us to be healthy, but is the fanatacism of some ultra-conservative SDAs with diet all that necessasry?
Ken Lytle
June 10, 2011
Diet is more than diet… What we eat, how we exercise, and what we feed our brain with is all connected. We need to realize that there is a lot of harmful foods and drinks that can slow down our brain and make us (the temple of God) sick. I am not where I need to be with my lifestyle habits, but I do know that God has given us the knowledge we need to be healthy and strong in a world full of sickness and death. The story of Daniel and his three friends is a great example of how we are to live our lives.
Roger Metzger
September 22, 2014
I became a Sabbath School member upon attending a Sabbaths School class for the third week in a row. That was in 1944.
Our parents didn’t read Ellen White’s writings aloud at home every day but off enough that, by the 1950s, I was acquainted with how Ellen White used the word, “conservative”. In every case (Ok, maybe it was only two or three places) it was to describe people who made wrong choices because of their traditions–including “traditional” interpretations of scripture.
The first time I found a reference in a Seventh-day Adventist publication that Seventh-day Adventists consider ourselves to be “conservative” was in the late 1950s. I was astonished!
In 1958, our parents hosted “discussions” with LDS ( Mormon) missionaries. When I realized that LDS refer to other books beside the Bible as “scripture, I didn’t talk to them about “the primacy of scripture” but chose to refer to that protestant doctrine as “the principle of prior reference”–the principle that anything purported to be special revelation should be evaluated and interpreted by older revelation.
Do you evaluate and interpret the Greek additions to the Bible by the older Hebrew portions of the Bible? If not, it is because you have failed to adopt the principle of prior reference and you are as vulnerable to deception as anyone else.
Our parents urged my siblings and me to always think about what kinds of questions a visitor might ask about what was said and done during sabbath services. That may have been one of the reasons I paid close attention to what was said and done when I was in the audience but that advice also influenced what I said and did on the platform the many times I was asked, even as a boy, to read scripture or provide “special music”. Because of my parents’ advice, I was keenly aware of those times when the person making the announcements used “in-house” language–words or phrases a non-adventist visitor would be unlikely to comprehend. Sometimes even the preachers would use in-house language. It gradually dawned on me that there is a significant difference between inviting someone to observe how Seventh-day Adventists conduit worship services and inviting non-adventists to worship WITH Seventh-day Adventists on sabbath morning.
I have attended the sabbath services of dozens of Adventist congregations in several states (USA) and I invite you to decide for yourself which is cause and which is effect but I’ve noticed that the smaller the congregation the greater the likelihood that the pastor, the first elder or the teacher of the adult Sabbath School class is presiding over a mutual admiration society. The implication is, “If you want to be in the in group all you have to do is be as good as we are.”
The people who lead out in the larger Adventist congregations are more inclined to use the words “we” or “us” to mean Christians (not just Seventh-day Adventists). The implication seems to be, “Let’s all help each other to grow in the (Christian) faith.”
When I was a lad, I often heard Seventh-day Adventists speak of the danger of relying on traditions.
I’m reasonably sure that it wasn’t until the 1980s or later that I first heard any reference to “Adventist traditions”. Again I was astonished!
I say, “Away with labeling each other! Away with impugning the motives of people with whom we disagree.”
Instead, let’s have high standards (doctrinal and behavioral) for determining whom to elect to offices in local Seventh-day Adventist congregations; let’s have higher standards for anyone paid from tithe funds; and let’s have no standards for Christian fellowship other than a profession of faith in the Lord. Our eligibility for translation when Jesus returns does not include the requisites for denominational affiliation, no matter how useful those requisites are for deciding whom to elect to offices in the church.
Two friends of mine recently washed each others’ feet during sabbath services. One is a Seventh-day Adventist. The other is a Lutheran.
Next time you attend sabbath services, please speak and act as if any one of the visitors might be my Lutheran friend.
And if there are no visitors that sabbath, for the love of God, practice speaking and acting that way!
Roger Metzger from Michigan U.S.A.