Upon This Rock I Will Build – Part 2

TimeWatch Editorial
January 15, 2016

In part one of this subject, we looked at Jay Gallimore, President of the Michigan Conference of Seventh Day Adventists, and his published article in Adventists Affirm entitled: “Can the church be relevant and survive?” in the article he makes the point that Many are fascinated by the great mega churches with their thousands of members. Their highly visible ministries are so well executed that everything about them seems to breathe success. Yet while measured against the global spread of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, there is absolutely no comparison. Listen to how President Gallimore puts it.

“Despite their flying of international flags, mega churches are only able to dream about having a true world church. Seventh-day Adventist penetration around the world is more than remarkable. It is absolutely astounding! Look at our humble beginnings! No one back then would have believed this global growth possible. It is not just the numbers. Consider the breadth and depth of our presence. Today we can rejoice that each year the Adventist ratio to world population continues to grow. Not only has our church growth been phenomenal, our world-wide educational system is a class act.” Jay Gallimore, “Can the church be relevant and survive?” Adventists Affirm.

Yet today, leaders seem not be concerned with the spread of the message to the world. They tend to be insular in their fascination with what is described by them as “church growth.” This phrase is tragically constrained to the idea of an expanded number of bodies in an expanded building. The larger the crowd, the more isolated the immediate environment becomes. The concept of a movement is lost. So we have changed so very much. We have deleted some fundamentals of our faith, for the sake of numbers, but even more troubling, we have changed our worship, for the sake of numbers.

“For the last ten or fifteen years some Adventist congregations have been experimenting with the growth methods of non-Adventist churches. I believe the pace of this has picked up, because many church leaders are encouraging the shift. First there was "celebration worship." According to the promoters, this charismatic face lift was going to transform the Adventist church. In the estimation of the proponents, Adventist churches were stuck in a time warp. Their message to all of us was "Change or become a dinosaur." Of course, their scariest message, the one that has always ignited our fear, was, "If we don’t adopt these methods we will lose our young people." Jay Gallimore, “Can the church be relevant and survive?” Adventists Affirm.

We might have retained their bodies, but it is clear that the matter of character building has failed. An understanding of the fundamentals of our faith is sadly missing. The commitment to worship has lost its meaning. A deep abiding faith, based upon an understanding of God’s word has been replaced with a superficial emotional experience. The concept of the Ecclesia, the “called out ones” has been replaced by the concept of the “Called in ones,” those fashioned after the very standards and styles that we have been called to abandon. Where has all this led?

“Let’s look first at the Adventist church that became famous for starting the "celebration" movement among us. It captured the imagination of the North American Division. At its height that church had more than a thousand members. However, with the passing of time some interesting developments took place. Its leading pastor developed an independent spirit that led to internal problems in the congregation. This, coupled with the pastor’s unwillingness to take counsel from his conference leadership, led to his leaving the Adventist ministry. Today he has joined forces with those who are most bitterly attacking the Adventist church and its fundamental doctrines. Buying into the same spirit, one of his leading elders left the church and started his own Sunday-keeping church.” Jay Gallimore, “Can the church be relevant and survive?” Adventists Affirm.

So upon which rock are we now building? Is it Christ Jesus? Is it the faith of our redeemer? Or is it an apostate alternative that will ultimately produce an expansion of the synagogue of satan? The answer to this question must be an individual one.

Cameron A. Bowen