The Impossibility of Separating Doctrine From Life

Many Christians separate doctrine from their daily lives. This idea is manifested in the idea of “doctrine is less important than relationship.” Some who each this argue that doctrine is good and fine, but a personal, vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ is more important. This is the common way that this is taught. We hear about how Adventists know too much doctrine, but don’t know the Man behind the doctrine.

There is definitely value in reminding people that the Christian walk is not merely a thing of the “head,” but it is also a thing of the “heart.” I think this is a part of what these sisters and brothers are preaching when they push this idea, but it has the side effect of making people think that a proper and good relationship to God can be obtained devoid of doctrinal understanding. Often little definition is given for this “relationship with Jesus” beyond a comparison to a friendship.

This idea makes doctrine something that is “nice to know.” It is not important or even valuable. It is an impediment. What this view misses however is the is a valid definition of doctrine. Doctrine is not esoteric, useless, or irrelevant facts. Doctrine is simply codifying our understanding of God. Certainly it will change as we learn more, but it is simply not possible to not have doctrine. We may have a doctrine we have not thought about much. We may have doctrinal understandings that center in irrelevancy, or we may have doctrinal understandings that focus totally on things that are relevant to daily lives. We simply cannot dispense of doctrine.

While it is true that having a growing connection to the Divine life is more important than merely knowing about the Most High, it is also true that one cannot fully separate our learning about God from our real relationship to God.

In short, if you are growing in your relationship with your wife, would you stop learning about your wife? Will you get to a point that you no longer study to find out what makes her happy? Do you stop learning about her using the tools you have access to? How is that any different from learning all you can about God?

Ultimately it is a false dichotomy. You will not be growing in this “relationship with Jesus” if you have no desire to grow in your knowledge of Jesus Christ (Doctrine). In fact, how can you even know the difference between the false Jesus and the true Jesus unless you have some kind of learning to back it up. I know my wife immediately from her voice, from the way she looks, and from the things she does. How is it that I can be ready for the last day when God will have a people who “follow the lamb withersoever he goest.” (Revelation 14:4) If I marginalize or put down the very pursuit of knowledge of what Jesus is doing and will do in this world and in my own life.

In short, the separation of doctrine from life is not a viable position. The true position is to live out your doctrine. Live out your understanding of God. We don’t have to choose between putting an ephemeral and undefined “relationship with Jesus” above our understanding of Jesus. Neither do we have to choose to ignore doctrine altogether while glorifying this disconnected idea of “relationship.” We can go another road that is a doctrinally informed and lived life that is empowered by a growing relationship with the Most High.

Thinking About Camp Meeting

Photo by Boksi
Being a son of an Adventist preacher, I will never forget the camp meetings. We were out there. We were out at the camp when my father and the other workers worked to get the camp in shape for the visitors and members. I can still remember seeing preachers who you normally see gracing pulpits instead cleaning stalls throwing away trash and cleaning kitchens.

I then remember the encampment itself. There were programs for the youth. I still remember the “happy time tent.” It was an era when little kids could roam and discover the landscape of our old “Camp Shady Hill.”

I remember walking around everywhere. I can remember getting chiggers and mosquito bites. I can remember seeing frogs and other animals as we invaded their teritory. Those were great days.

Then the meetings themselves. Of course you got to hear the other preachers from the conference. You could hear T.A. Mcneally and Butch Rice and the rest of the preachers out there. But then you could also hear the best of the preachers outside of the conference. people like Henry Wright, C. D. Brooks, E. E. Cleveland, and Calvin Rock would come in. Then there would be singers some you have heard of like Walter Artist and some who you may not have heard of although well known out side,

Camp meeting was more than meetings, it was a time to interact with the children of the other workers. Folks who I still remember and many who I even interact with on occassion today. It was a time to become a community. We were a conference. But more than that, it was a time for many, who find themselves at very remote areas, to recognize that there were more Seventh-day people than just the 30 or 40 who meet at their congregaton.

It was a time to be reminded of who we are and why we are here. It was a time to be encouraged that the end is still coming and Jesus is still coming again.

I sometimes wonder what the moving of camp meeting online means for camp meeting. Certainly it is a different era than the era of a 10 year old kid running around “Camp Shady Hill” in the 1970s, but I miss it. Don’t get me wrong, I love the ability to turn on camp meeting online. I did it this year. I looked at Kentucky-Tenn, South Central, and 3abn camp meetings online. I love seeing these preachers and musicians sing and preach to the glory of God. I love the lack of heat and travel. In short, I love the convenience.

In an era when camp meeting attendance during the week seems to be going down, one wonders if the one week on an encampment makes sense financially, but I must admit that I will miss it if it goes away. And I will always remember singing and doing crafts at the “happy time tent.”

TULIP, Calvinism, and The Great Controversy Theme

John Calvin
Herbert Douglass, in the book Fork in the Road has written a helpful summary of why Calvinism and Adventism cannot be unified on the idea of what the Gospel means. You may not know it, but Calvinists are the “big wigs” in the evangelical world. From popular scholars like R. C. Sproul to pastors like D. James Kennedy and John McAurthur. Certainly there are some who do not agree with all of the positions of the Calvinistic cause, but many of the popular authors and preachers in the Evangelical world are Calvinists.

The Five Points

By Calvinists, I mean those who hold to the five points of Calvinism, or at least most of the points. This is often referred to as TULIP, In short these are:

  • Total Depravity – When humanity sinned it was placed in a position where they can do nothing but sin. It is sometimes called “total inability.”
  • Unconditional Election – God unconditionally elected some to be saved.
  • Limited Atonement – God only died and provided the atonement for salvation to those who were elected to be saved.
  • Irresistible Grace – The grace that saves cannot be resisted by the human being it is given to.
  • Perseverance of the Saints – Once you are saved, there is nothing that can remove you from that saved condition.

Where the System Begins

They begin their system with the idea of God’s sovereignty. God is ultimately in charge and can do anything God wants to do. No one else has freedom. God alone has freedom. Due to total depravity, we cannot chose anything but sin. Thus God must choose those who will be saved and thereby will be choosing those who will be lost. Humanity can not judge God, the saved should be happy that they are among the ones that God has chosen to save.

Adventism’s Starting Point

Adventism begins with the concept of God giving humanity Freedom. We say that God has given the gift of freedom to all of humanity. We get to choose whether we will follow Satan or God’s government. This gift of freedom has been given to the entire universe of beings, according to this idea.

Interestingly God uses this world to demonstrate where Satan’s principles will lead. Thus God chooses to demonstrate the rightness of God’s cause in this system.

Finally, God has chosen all of us in his son to eternal life, and those who do not reject God’s rule of love will be saved at last.

In the end, we have one scheme beginning with God’s sovereignty that makes human freedom impossible. On the other end we have humanities freedom as being something given to humanity by a sovereign God. God wants us to choose the righteous government. But the Calvanistic system makes such a choice impossible unless the one has already been predestined to salvation.

Finally, in the Adventist system, God allows Satan’s choice to play out before the entire universe. Freedom of choice is an important component of Adventism while it is impossible under Calvinism.

Can’t Synthesize the Two

While there are certain similarities between the two groups, and both can recognize that one can be saved while agreeing with the other position. But like my Calvinist friend told me after a long conversation, “You may be saved…but you are wrong on this issue.” So we see that we can’t synthesize the two views. And why would we want to? Either the Calvinist view is right, or the Adventism view is right, or perhaps logically another option is correct, but all of them are not right. Because of this, it is time for Adventists to stop getting our “understanding of the love of God” from folks who do not accept at all the freedom of humanity which is at the foundation of the Great Controversy that we preach. It is time to decide if we are Adventists or not. If not, then Calvinism might be an acceptable alternative, go ahead and look into it, but if you are going to be Adventist, then it is time to stop running behind the evangelical teachers who have different presuppositions than we have. If we are going to be Adventists, be Adventists.

They Don’t Mix

No Adventism and Calvinism don’t mix. It is time to stop acting as if it does. It is time to stop acting like the contradictions that we are currently spouting are actually “paradoxes.” It is time to stop telling our people that our evangelical friends have Jesus and we have the law, so go to them to get Jesus and come to us to get the law! No! If we ain’t preaching Jesus, then we need to start preaching him in the context of the message that God has given to us. Be not deceived our Calvinist brothers and sisters do have a place for the law, and it is an important place, but it is just not the same place we have for the law and for Jesus in our understanding.

So what is the answer? Maybe it is time to start reading Steps to Christ again instead of Experiencing God. What’s the answer? Using The Great Controversy Theme as a hermeneutical key to interpret everything. Otherwise we will continue to drift wondering why we even exist as a people.