The Precipice

 

For those of you who do not attend the HomePage - this blog will probably look more analytical in nature - its a glimpse into the soul of the group. I understand that for the most part it will most likely be information of little interest - but these thoughts have weighed heavily on my mind and beg for release. So for this blog I ask for your indulgence.

Ever since the HomePage started we have spiritually lived (for those who attend) on a precipice. The questions that repeatedly demand an answer:
1. Are we Christian?
2. Are we Adventist?
3. Are we in the World?
4. Are we of the World?

This is the precipice we live on. To prevent from crashing down on either side of this precipice is a spiritual balancing act. Being drawn by both sides of being non-christian and of the world or being completely perfect in adherence to Adventist doctrine and not in the world at all, is the spiritual reality we face everyday.

How do I live my Christian faith in cooperation with my Adventist beliefs in a world that so desperately needs kindness, hope and love? For it is so easy to appear Christian but not Adventist, and in the same token it is easy to appear Adventist but not Christian. This is the precipice we live on.

I find it interesting that for the last 13 years it has been a small group of believers that have dared to attempt to live this reality. Living on the  precipice of being a Adventist filled with grace living in the world is not for the faint of heart. Adventist communities are notorious - providing a safe group of people to connect with and provide support of like-minded people. However large groups of like-minded people do not ensure an attitude of grace, but are often known for being exclusive and creating "relational clicks."  And yet there are those who are seeing that being exclusive and creating "relational clicks" drives out those who do not fit in, and there are those who seek now to join us on the precipice. To live on this spiritual precipice is to embrace ambiguity and uncertainty regarding the future, and is the only place I know that also provides limitless opportunities. Opportunities to abundantly bless others as the Father has blessed me, with "a good measure-- pressed down, shaken together, and running over." Luke 6:38. This is also a place of dialogue and questions. Every Adventist church I have observed expresses Adventist doctrine differently. The expression of Adventist doctrine is often where disagreements begin, and in those disagreements it is often where belief ends.

There is also the matter of maintaining family connections. To be Christian is to reorganize the way a family lives. To be an Adventist Christian re-organizes more than just how one family lives, it changes the way an entire extended family lives, even if just one family changes. A family changing the way it is organized too quickly can actually break a family apart. This applies to families on both sides of our precipice. A family who becomes Adventist is suddenly different from the rest of their family, possibly even causing emotional cut-off and alienation. A family who is already Adventist but has based their faith on perfect adherence to doctrine risks losing the energy that forces their family into spiritual agreement by basing their faith on grace instead of perfection. This is the precipice we live on.

To live on this precipice is to live a life of faith, to trust God will use us to bless the lives of our families, children and friends, and the larger Christian church body, and the larger Adventist church body, without knowing how. This is the precipice we live on.

Our only solution is to embrace fully the One who has chosen us for He desires all of us to join Him someday - "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you" John 14:2. The judgment of human-kind is not in my hands and those are not decisions I want to make. My desire instead is for there to be a spiritual group that is a shelter in the storm, a place where its OK to dialogue and ask questions, a place to belong.

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