Charles de Gaulle once said, so I'm told, that the secret to political success is to foresee the inevitable and then support it. That's easier said than done, of course, but it makes a kind of raw, unprincipled sense. If you can succeed at it, you will prolong your political life.
But de Gaulle's maxim is not good enough for the Christian. "It shall not be so among you," said Jesus of the standard political behavior of His day. In the face of the politically inevitable, His counsel took the opposite point of view: "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life" (Rev 2:10); "He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved" (Mt 24:13).
The unerring guide and standard for Jesus' life was the Word of God. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Mt 4:4). Jesus' life and death illustrated the depth of His conviction that it was more important to do right than to be popular. When tempted to compromise fidelity to God's will for the sake of taking a less difficult and troubled path, He stood firm, quoting and sustained by Scripture (Mt 4:6-10).
His true followers have always held the same view. Had the Christians of the first three centuries been content to support the "inevitable," they would have made their peace with Rome; today we might be worshiping Zeus, Woden, or the Great Spirit. In the face of the political inevitabilities of his day, Martin Luther said, "My conscience is captive to the Word of God. Here I stand; I can do no other. May God help me." These faithful ones, and thousands of others like them, stood firm, even though defeat and even death must have seemed inevitable to them. But "they loved not their lives unto the death" (Rev 12:11). Having the mind of Christ, they too "became obedient unto death" (Phil 2:8), if obedience should take them there.
What really is inevitable? From Rabshakeh (2 Kings 18:28-35) to Khrushchev, ideologues and unscrupulous people have attempted to portray the victory of their causes as inevitable, hoping thus to hasten the defeat and surrender of those who opposed them. Though Marx declared the decline of capitalism and the triumph of communism to be inevitable, it is the walls of communism that have come tumbling down. And Sennacherib's army hadn't planned on the work of an angel (2 Kings 19:35), who came in response to the prayers of God's people.
Some today declare that ordination of women in the Adventist Church, at least in North America, is inevitable. Perhaps so, perhaps not. If the Adventist Church has any de Gaulles, that question may interest them. But it does not concern the Luthers of the church. For them, the question is, What does the Bible say about certain leadership roles in the church (irrespective of ordination itself)? They want to know God's pattern and see how closely they may follow it.
How faithfully have we obeyed that Word, even when it cost us?
An honest consideration of that question should keep us from smugly rejecting the concerns of our brothers and sisters who hold a different view from ours on the ordination question. Neither side in this question is all right, nor all wrong. If in our homes we husbands had been the sacrificial lovers of our wives, as Scripture calls us to be (Eph 5:25-29), wouldn't our wives have far less trouble with the submission to which Scripture calls them (vv. 22-24)? And if the church had welcomed, recognized and encouraged the ministry of women in the many areas that are not in theological dispute, paying them fairly where employment is involved (as Mrs. White strongly held we should do), would we have the problems, resentments and demands we have today? Probably not to the extent we do. Our inevitable appearance before Christ's judgment seat calls us all to repentance and obedience.
To these issues the articles in this edition of Adventists Affirm are addressed. Feminism, roles, the home, the nature of Christ's kingdom, form a cluster of interrelated themes, all having a bearing on the issues facing our church today. At the heart of it all is the Bible. How shall we understand what it says? How shall we determine what it means for us today? Recent action on this issue by the Annual Council (see Adventist Review, Nov. 9, 1989) appears to be seeking to solve the church's problems by finding a middle ground between opposing viewpoints, without resolving the underlying theological issues. As we approach the 1990 General Conference, our leaders greatly need our prayers, that they may see the issues in their fullness, and choose what is right on the basis of Scripture.
While the de Gaulles of this world may at times do admirably in leading their countries by supporting the politically inevitable, the church needs leaders who will stand with Luther, leaders whose decisions are captive to the Word of God.
Pardons and Plans
Once more we have to apologize for an issue being published very late. We appreciate the understanding and patience that many have expressed. We hope you will find this issue worth waiting for.
In our next issue, which is coming along nicely, we plan to address the temperance challenge the church is facing today, as our Adventist periodicals tell us we have a growing alcohol problem. Why is this, and what can be done? In that issue we will also include several good items we did not have room enough to place in this issue.
Remember us in your prayers, that we may be a channel to bless and strengthen the church we all love. Maranatha!