Fine Prints: January, 2007

The Reason for the Hope We Have January 6

The True Religion January 13 

A Time to Give Thanks January 20  

Good Thing, Bad Reason January 27

The Reason for the Hope We Have

On Wednesday, the 8th of November, I received the following email:

"I am an anthropology student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. I am currently working on a fieldwork project in which I am comparing the differences between the Catholic Church and the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

"I was wondering if you could enlighten me as to what your faith believes, as well as why you believe it. I would also appreciate any comments you have on the Catholic religion and their views.

"I realize that this is a very broad topic, but any thoughts you wish to give me would be most helpful. Thank you very much for all of your time and effort on my behalf. If you could reply by Friday, the 10th of November, that would help me greatly."

Granted that I’d been given less than two days to address a rather comprehensive topic, I replied:

"Thank your for your email. As you’ve noted, you’re covering a very broad-range subject.

"Since I don’t have anything in electronic form that addresses what you would like to see covered, I would recommend that you simply do a Google search for ‘Seventh-day Adventist beliefs.’ You’ll find under that search both the official statements of the church and comments from onlookers.

"In fact, there’s even a Catholic analysis of the difference between SDA teachings and Catholic teachings. I believe such a search will yield useable material for you.

"I wish you well in your research. And should you encounter some specific question that’s quite narrow and for which I might provide insight, feel free to email me again." Granted my schedule, I probably should have left off that last paragraph–because the next day I received this reply:

"Thank you very much for your help. I took your advice and am looking at the official Seventh-day Adventist Church website for general information.

"I did, however, come up with one more question that I think might be easier for you to answer: How did you personally come to decide that the Seventh-day Adventist religion was the true religion?

"Again, thank you for your thoughts and input."

So how would you answer his question? After all, the Bible says to "always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do it with gentleness and respect" (1 Peter 3:15, NIV).

As I thought about the Bible’s "gentleness and respect" criteria, something I had recently read came to mind. Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, who happens to come from my home state of Missouri and who’s noted for his religious fundamentalism, had this to say:

"You know, none of us have it quite right. We all think we do. Assemblies of God think that they are just right. Baptists think they’ve got it right. So do the Mormons. But you know what? No one does have it right. We’re all off. We’re all some shade of gray. I just pray that God is patient" (quoted in Tempting Faith, by David Kuo, Free Press, 2006).

Since we’re out of space, I’ll have to ask you to check in next week to find out how I responded.

Jim Coffin, Senior Pastor

The True Religion 

In last week’s Fine Print I shared the emails I exchanged with an anthropology student at the University of Hawaii. The student, who was doing a paper that compared Seventh-day Adventist and Roman Catholic belief, asked: "How did you personally come to decide that the Seventh-day Adventist religion was the true religion?"

Here’s how I replied:

"Thanks for your question. It’s a good one. However, I’m sure that if you asked the question of 100 Adventists, you’d get 100 different answers–because you’re really asking for a personal testimony. Anyway, here’s how I see it:

"1 Peter 3:15 (NIV) says to ‘always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do it with gentleness and respect.’ That last sentence–calling for gentleness and respect–is important to me. Thus I wouldn’t choose to use the terminology you’ve employed. I wouldn’t choose to call the Seventh-day Adventist Church the ‘true religion.’

"For starters, to call Adventism the true religion’ makes it sound as if all other religions are false. I don’t think they are. I suggest that we’re dealing with an error-truth continuum rather than an absolute polarity.

"The Apostle Paul says of our earthly spiritual insights: ‘Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known’ (1 Corinthians 13:12, NIV).

"If I read those words correctly, no earthly religious system is going to have all truth. Every system will have its corporate blindspots and its outright errors. And each has its insights and truths.

"While Catholics and Adventists disagree on numerous points of theology, Adventists believe that Christ’s true followers are to be found in all denominations—and even outside of Christianity. Jesus said He has other sheep who are ‘not of this fold.’

"Our denomination’s official working policy states: ‘We recognize every agency that lifts up Christ before men and women as a part of the divine plan for the evangelization of the world, and we hold in high esteem the Christian men and women in other communions who are engaged in winning souls to Christ.’

"That having been said, we as a denomination do feel that God has called us to a special task at a special time in earth’s history. In the same way that John the Baptist came to prepare the way for Jesus’ first advent, we believe that we’ve been commissioned by God to help prepare the way for His second advent.

"We see ourselves as a prophetic movement. We believe we have been called to continue the spiritual reformation begun hundreds of years ago when Christians began to return the Bible to its rightful place as the rule of faith and practice. We believe it’s our responsibility to highlight truths that have particular relevance as we near the time of Jesus’ return–truths that may have been lost sight of or never fully appreciated.

"But Adventists lay no claim to having grasped all the truth about God. That will be our study for eternity."

Jim Coffin, Senior Pastor

A Time to Give Thanks 

Our Sabbath School lessons this quarter focus on the Book of Ecclesiastes—in which we’re told there’s a time for everything. And it strikes me that right now is the time for saying a big Thank you to the entire congregation.

First, a big Thank you to all who brought delightful "edibles" to the church office during the holiday season. Just in case you haven’t noticed, the church staff are, like Daniel and his companions in ancient Babylon, "fairer and fatter" as a result of your kindness. So thank you, thank you, thank you. Everything was yummy beyond description, and you spoiled us wonderfully.

Second—and I know I’ve already mentioned this in church, but it bears repeating—I have before me Markham Woods Church’s financial statement for January-December 2006. And what a year it was in terms of financial support. Thanks for making it so impressive.

The Church Budget for 2006 was, to be absolutely precise, $625,740.00. Church Budget income came to a grand total of $612,647.99—meaning that we fell short of the budget goal by $13,092.01. But there’s no reason whatsoever to lament. Although we failed to bring in the budgeted figure, we under-spent the budgeted figure by $48,595.45, meaning we ended the year with a surplus of $35,503.44.

But the picture is even brighter. In addition to the funds given to the Church Budget, $195,119.74 were given to what we call "Trust Funds," in which the donor says, I want to give money for this or that project. So total giving to the local church was $807,767.73. (Trust Funds include the Church Building Fund, the Youth Room Fund, MWC Mission Projects, Pathfinders, the Worthy Student Fund, the Christian Sharing Center and many others.)

But the generosity of the Markham Woods members doesn’t stop there. As a congregation we gave a total of $1,043,674.97 in Tithe, the bulk of which goes to help sister congregations in Florida and around the world that aren’t as financially robust as we are. In addition, our congregation gave $56,572.25 for other denomination-wide ministries. So the grand total for giving during 2006 came to $1,908,014.95—which is impressive by any standard.

I occasionally eat out with a group of clergy from other denominations and faith systems who lead congregations similar to ours both numerically and demographically. When we talk about the giving patterns of our respective congregations, I start to feel uncomfortable. I have to hang my head—in pride!—because our giving so far exceeds theirs that I can’t even share the facts without seeming to boast. As a congregation, you’ve placed me in an extremely difficult situation—and I love it!

Third, delicious though the food was that you gave to the church staff, and wonderful though your financial support for the church has been, what really means the most is that you’re just such a wonderful group of people. If you weren’t loving and caring and fun to be around, the food and the money wouldn’t mean half what they do.

Let’s put it this way: You’re definitely the best congregation this side of the Mississippi River—and it makes no difference which side of the river you start from to get here!

Jim Coffin, Senior Pastor

Good Thing, Bad Reason 

In a literature class long ago I came across a famous observation by T.S. Eliot: "The last temptation is the greatest treason: to do the right thing for the wrong reason."

That quote came to mind when I was talking to the daughter of a deceased woman a few years ago. The daughter had asked me to officiate at her mother’s funeral. Since both mother and daughter were strangers to me, I asked a few questions about their background.

I discovered that both had joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church decades before during an evangelistic series. But the daughter felt the church was too negative and too restrictive.

The majoring in minors, the judgmentalism, the triumphalism—it was all too much for her. She dropped out of the Adventist college she was attending and never set foot in an Adventist Church until the day she came to talk to me about the funeral.

Her mother, she said, had remained a faithful Adventist—"commitment personified." A strict vegetarian, she refused all forms of meat. She even read the labels to ensure that the ingredients were acceptable.

"But," the daughter said, "she did start eating chicken again during her last few years."

"Why the change?" I asked.

"Well," the daughter said, "there was an elderly woman in my mother’s church who crossed every "t" and dotted every "i" when it came to Adventist behavioral expectations. My mother really looked up to her. When she told Mother about Ellen White’s statements that those waiting for translation at the coming of Jesus will not be eating meat, my mother took her words seriously.

"Anyway, the elderly woman died. My mother couldn’t drive, so I took her to her friend’s funeral. On the way home, we drove past Kentucky Fried Chicken.

"‘Stop!’ she said. ‘I want to go in.’ It surprised me, but I stopped. It surprised me even more when she came out munching on chicken nuggets. My mother! The vegetarian who even read the labels!

"‘Why?’ I asked her. ‘Why are you eating those?’

"‘My friend at church didn’t eat meat because she wanted to be translated at Jesus’ coming. I just attended her funeral. It obviously doesn’t work. I too am going to die before Jesus comes. I now know that my eating chicken or not eating it isn’t going to change that fact.’

"My mother never altered anything else about her relationship to the Adventist Church," the daughter said. "But she definitely ate a lot chicken after that."

And that’s when T.S. Eliot’s quote came to mind: "The . . . greatest treason: to do the right thing for the wrong reason."

Being a vegetarian for its health benefits in the here and now makes a lot more sense than doing it merely to convince God of how serious I am about wanting to get to heaven. It seems to me that the deceased woman spent much of her life doing a good thing for a bad reason.

Maybe I’ve got it all wrong, but I don’t think God ever asks us to do something as preparation for heaven that isn’t inherently advantageous on earth as well. There are no prerequisite hurdles merely for the sake of having hurdles.

Jim Coffin, Senior Pastor