What is the “mission” of Adventist education?

We are now nearing the completion of our education summit. I’ve sat in meetings now for two days. Lots of information. I’m grateful for the investment of time by so many people, but I’m worried that in having such a meeting whether we are doing anything more than diagnosing what we already know. And what do we know?

Basically that only 25-30% of Adventists enroll their children in Adventist schools. I am told we should take comfort in the fact that this percentage is significantly higher than other parochial school systems, yet it does not comfort me. And the bottom line is that while our churches have grown in North America over the last 60 years enrollment in Adventist schools has remained stagnant. The bottom line: as churches grow the percentage of Adventist families who value Adventist education has declined.

So what is the solution?

In our keynote address we were told by Dr. David Smith that millennials learn differently so we need to teach differently. I agree.

Then we were told by Bob Kyte, president of Adventist Risk Management, that we need to use basic business practices summarized from a number of classics in business management about our need for mission, building a team and collaboration, etc. Sounds great, and kudos to him for turning around Pacific Press last decade. The one point he did make that I thought was significant was that we need a clear mission.
The problem is that now after two days of meetings I’ve heard so many different “mission” ideas for Adventist education that I don’t believe that we have made any real progress to figuring out what the “mission” of Adventist education should be. In fact, I’m now sitting in another presentation and the presenter  is reminding us that we need to follow the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy to discover our “mission.” BUT, WHAT IS IT? The implication is that if we only followed the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy more faithfully we wouldn’t have the problem that we are in. But I’ve studied the Spirit of Prophecy and as I listen I am not hearing anything new that we aren’t doing already.

One school of thought is that the mission of Adventist education is to introduce our young people to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. But, how is this different from any other Christian school? I agree, our schools should do that, but is there something more?

Another school of thought is that our schools are evangelistic outposts. The reason they exist is to do evangelism. OK. If that is the case then we are in serious trouble because we need to really get serious about education if we are going to finish the gospel commission and try to have the biggest schools that we possibly can. I think this is actually a bit of a trap because as Adventist parents have stopped sending their kids to our schools collectively that we have tried to keep our schools floating by filling them with other children. After all, aren’t they important, too?

But is this really the reason why we have an Adventist educational system? I hope not or we may never see the eschaton.

Then there is the school of thought that if we could only “fix” our schools: whether that is the pastor, teacher, school board, better facilities, or improved curriculum then our schools would be fixed. Adventist schools exist for academic excellence. The problem is that there will always be other schools who can do better.

I would suggest that the real challenge is that the reason our schools are in decline is that we have forgotten our Adventist past. It all boils down to identity. Why are we Seventh-day Adventists? If we truly understand that question then I think we can “fix” the problem of Adventist education. We have not had a single presentation that really explores our Adventist identity, or, for that matter, tries to identify our Adventist past, and specifically how we have gotten to where we are at today.

Our earliest pioneers were actually opposed to Adventist education. After all, if we believe that Jesus is coming again soon, then why take the time to education youth? There are public schools if you have to do that.

But, with time, Ellen White in 1872 cast a broad vision for what Adventist education could be: a comprehensive and holistic approach to learning that encompass the entire person. You see, it is all about a worldview. It is preparing people to think for themselves. And for that matter, it is not only introducing that young person to a relationship with Jesus Christ, but preparing them to be ready to meet Him and tell others about His soon return.

If that is indeed the case then Adventist education is very radical. It is not about the academics–as important as they are. It isn’t just about having a Bible class or chapel. It is an entire way of thinking and approach to life that is all encompassing.
The challenge is that some of the earliest failures in Adventist history related to Adventist education came about when people tried to take the latest trends in education and applied them to Adventism. That is why some of our earliest Adventist educators really struggled. They took the classical curriculum and just added a Bible course.
Later, when Ellen White went to Australia and then also was instrumental in relocating Battle Creek College to the newly purchased property in Berrien Springs, Michigan, to become Emmanuel Missionary College, both of these schools were radical because they were more than just a school with curriculum with added Bible courses. They were an all-encompassing curriculum that prepared both the heart and mind to be prepared to know Jesus Christ. Then young people would be effectively trained to go out and tell others of the Adventist apocalyptic vision (i.e. the second coming).

So, as we near the conclusion of this MAUC Education Summit, I’m grateful for all of the diagnostic information, but at the end of the day, what really counts is that we figure out what is the real “mission” and purpose of Adventist education. When we can agree on that then I think we can begin to figure out why Adventist education as a whole has been and continues to be on a gradual slope of decline.

Drums, Coke, Jewelry, and the Search for Balance

A little over a year ago I had the privilege of joining a team to hold conduct two Bible conferences for pastors overseas. I won’t say where, but it isn’t too difficult to guess. In each of the regions where we were at we had a large portion of Adventist clergy for each region.

At the time I pastored a small, rural congregation that would proudly consider themselves traditional. We sang from the hymnal every Sabbath, and once, when we sang a praise song, the worship committee was chided for becoming too “liberal” and “lowering the standards.”

While I was traveling in a remote region in the jungle through jungle huts in a place where people would come up to me to touch me–they had only seen a “white person” on the television and some had thought that such people weren’t even real! In one such jungle hut I sat in awe as I listened to incredible praise music. In that part of the world there were no pianos or guitars, only drums. And it was some of the most sacred music to this day that I have ever heard. The only problem was the drums–some as tall as me–that had some of my church members back in the United States seen would have caused several heart attacks.

That is not to say that I’m a huge fan of drums either. But what I learned was that it isn’t so much about the instrument, but about how that instrument is played.

The next morning we ate with the conference president and his family as their guests. I asked them what problems the Seventh-day Adventist Church faced in that part of the world. He proceeded to share with me that what the church struggled with was tolerance over the issue of drinking tea. That particular part of the world produces more tea than anywhere else (now you can get a little closer to figuring out where I was!). And Adventist missionaries taught their converts that drinking tea was bad for their health. And with time it had become not just a lifestyle issue, but a rite of passage. An Adventist, I was told, who was caught drinking tea could face censure, or even worse, being disfellowshipped that same day if he/she was caught.

With that in mind I went to our meetings. Later in the day I had the opportunity to stop by the ABC (which I’m not sure if they knew with the translation what that stood for, but basically amounted to a small store front on the edge of the jungle compound). As I shopped for some souvenirs to bring back home for my family, I incredulously discovered that the ABC sold Coke on the top shelf.

I couldn’t believe my eyes! Here you could be disfellowshipped for drinking tea, but you could buy a caffeinated soda in the ABC!!

When I approached the conference president later that day I asked him if he knew that the ABC sold coke. He looked me straight in the face as he said: “No one has ever really proven that coke has caffeine.”

To his credit in that part of the world there aren’t any ingredients (at least not usually) listed on bottles. But, apparently, ignorance is bliss.

The real problem was that when Adventist missionaries first came to that part of the world they were certain to share with them that tea was bad, but they apparently didn’t do as effective of a job at communicating the reason why. This enumerates the importance of differentiating a principle and its application.

I run into this problem on a regular basis with the writings of Ellen G. White: discerning the principle at stake is absolutely essential.

Of course some of the most obvious cases do not seem very difficult: Ellen White wrote that every girl should know how to harness a horse. Most people can quickly discern that every girl today should probably know how to change a flat tire in our modern world. Then Ellen White writes about the “bicycle craze,” but the problem was a localized one that reflected an infatuation with a trend–not what is today an economical form of transportation.

The biggest challenge when it comes to Adventist lifestyle is that of common sense. And closely related to that is giving other people the freedom of choice. That is not to say that we encourage people to drink caffeinated beverages or to have drums in church: but rather if we can teach them the principles behind a particular application we have a much better chance of growing healthy disciples in our churches.

Occasionally I run into people who think the pastor is the lifestyle police officer in the congregation to mandate how people should eat, dress, and depending on where you are at, just about any aspect of a person’s lifestyle. And lifestyle is important when it is done for the right reason. But I choose to err on the side of letting the Holy Spirit do the work of convicting the heart!

The best example of this was once when I had a church member in tears come to me that they were so disturbed that some of the teenage girls came to church wearing jewelry. They just couldn’t stand it any more. It was my God appointed duty to rebuke these wayward youth. After carefully listening to them I finally told them that I could do not such thing.

Instead I committed it to the Lord as a matter of prayer, and asked that the Lord convict these young girls–if for no other reason that by God’s grace these teenagers would not be driven out of the church. A few weeks later one of the girls came up to me. “Pastor,” she said, “God has really been convicting me that I should be wearing less jewelry.” I was stunned.

Apparently, if we will just get out of the way of the Holy Spirit, then God can do His work. And if we will just give other people a little room to grow, you might just be amazed at what God can do without your help!

Perhaps one of the greatest challenges that each of us face is the search for balance in our own lives (along with exercising more common sense). And what I’ve discovered as a pastor is that those who are the least balanced tend to try to find balance in their out-of-control lives by trying to control others. Instead, each of us needs to study principles and apply them to our own lives. And the next time someone asks you about a lifestyle issue, instead of telling them how they should live their life, perhaps try teaching them the principle and let the Holy Spirit convict their heart. In doing so you will model what it means to live a balanced life and the Holy Spirit will be able to do His work without your help!

Did Jesus Have the Truth?

I once met a Seventh-day Adventist who was meaner than the devil. In fact, I have even met a vegetarian who was meaner than the devil. And I have even met a vegan who was meaner than the devil. That is not to say that I don’t belong to all three of these categories myself personally, but some times as vegetarian Christians we get our priorities mixed up.

As a young pastor I met a vitriolic vegan who went around telling other people of their shortcomings. This particular individual was brazen: when the spouse of my head elder discovered that she had breast cancer he was there to make sure that she knew that the reason she had cancer was because she had imbibed of dairy products. This person was completely devoid of all human compassion.

One day I felt a sense of righteous indignation to the point that I decided to be the devil’s advocate for just a moment. I asked this individual: so what do you do with the fact that Jesus ate fish?

Without missing a beat, and in all seriousness, the person replied: “Jesus didn’t have all the truth. He did not have the Spirit of Prophecy.”—a reference to the prophetic writings of Ellen G. White.

I wondered if this person realized what they were saying.

And I thought that perhaps my experience was an isolated one until recently I had a prominent church leader visit in our home and share with me an almost verbatim experience. And now after having pastored I’ve run into several additional ministry colleagues who have met spiritual cousins to this person who I met early on in my ministry.

Please do not misunderstand me: I am not saying that I do not believe in the health message. I am committed to the fact that God wants us to live healthier lives that are an expression of the wholeness that He intends for us. But he also wants us to become “more loving and lovable Christians” as the same prophetic messenger warned our church. When we truly have “the truth as it is in Jesus” then we will not just know the truth, but the truth should change our lives. And this begins with how we treat one another.

The danger is when we put our lifestyle ahead of the Life Giver.