Sabbath Justice

Sabbath and Justice

I Feel Like I’m In a Time Warp

I Feel Like I’m In a Time Warp

Yeah, I grew up in Adventism so I have heard all of the argumentation on various issues. Issues like Jewelry and makeup…Issues like going to the movies. What is interesting is that folks still like to argue over issues like that movies when so many folks not only attend movies, but the ones who don’t simply bring it into their homes.

But that isn’t my point. My point is that whenever these issues come up, we end up with an argument between two sides that I have heard before. No I have heard it many times. I know what the conservative is gonna say. He been saying the same thing since rap sessions when we were in high school. And I know what the so called liberal is gonna say. Ditto.
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Have We Lost the Health Message?

Over at the Adventist News Network there is an article that has implications for the connection between the health message and Adventist practice.

Churchgoers More Likely to Be Obese

According to Purdue University News they found that church goers are more likely to be obese. While the study had a sample of all church members and not just Adventist ones, no one has studied Adventist obesity specifically. Interestingly a typical Sabbath was described as sitting in a church most of the Sabbath and eating a dinner that may or may not be low on calories.

The article speaks of a trend towards obesity in the Adventist church. Jonathan Duffy, health ministries director in the South pacific, states that:

Health has long been a litmus test for our religiosity. You were a good Adventist because you didn’t do this, now you are a mature Adventist because you are no longer tied to the old ‘works’ thing and you show it by doing what you didn’t used to do. For example, Adventists didn’t eat meat or drink alcohol. So how do we emphasize the theology of health, the relationship between my health and my spiritual well being? We have stopped talking about it and the church has stopped doing it and who is left to talk about it?

What about Exercize?

One aspect that should be brought out is that among some Adventists the health message consists of simply not eating pork or not eating meat depending on who you are. I personally know of people who will talk for days about what to eat and yet they are not exercizing one bit. It would seem that at best we have a truncated health message that looks past really poor health practices while congradulating itself on its lack of meat or lack of pork in the diet.

Is It Dead?

What think ye…Is the health message dead? Have we tied it to an old works based religion that we either hold to tightly or diregard as irrelevant? These are questions that we should begin to ask as our waistlines continue to get bigger and bigger.

Structural Change and the Regional Conferences?

What will happen to the regional conferences? A little while ago I heard a rumor that the church was seeking to eliminate them. I don’t know how true that rumor is, but it is certainly plausible when looking at these possibilities for structural flexibility and realignment.

Any structure that touches the local conference will presumably affect the regional conferences. It is possible that in any structural realignment that we would simply remove them by default rather than address why they came into being and allow all sides to tell why or why they do not desire their continuance.

It may be easier to simply do away with the conference layer and never address the regional conferences directly, but that would probably leave a wound that would fester. I would hope that any plan to do away with the regional conferences would directly address these issues and not sidestep them.

I am all in favor of some sort of structural realignment. We have a bloated structure that needs some trimming in my opinion. I also think that we need to come together and talk about why we created these conferences and come up with a plan for when we will know they are no longer needed.

I don’t know if the regional conferences or any local conference is in jepardy today. But once again I thank the church for making all of these resources available on-line and I encourage all members to read and be informed. I could be wrong, but I think that some sort of structural flexibility will be more fully instituted very soon.