Entropy and the Adventist Church

[Webster]

## The Principle of Entropy in Human Institutions
The speaker introduces the concept of entropy, the scientific principle that closed systems tend to wind down and dissipate over time unless replenished with energy. This principle is applied sociologically to human movements and organizations, which, starting with passion and warmth, can degrade into cold, institutionalized, and controlling systems. This "institutional entropy" often leads to authoritarian leadership and passive followership.

## Entropy Within the Adventist Church
The sermon details four areas of entropy observed within the Seventh-day Adventist Church:

- **Members and Pastors:** A shift from pastors acting as shepherds dedicated to their flock to employees primarily loyal to their conference. This was highlighted during the pandemic when many pastors reportedly refused to support members seeking religious waivers.
- **Members and Local Conferences:** Conferences, originally established for practical reasons like property ownership and credentialing, are seen as increasingly coercive. The speaker argues that the church is the community of believers, not the legal structure, and that the current system can lead to discouragement and disengagement among members.
- **Members and the General Conference (GC):** The GC's consultative status with the UN and its support for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are criticized for potentially compromising religious liberty and the freedom of conscience. Specific concerns are raised about the GC's reaffirmation statement during the pandemic, which the speaker believes asserted an authority to override members' consciences.
- **Administrators and Ideology:** The rise of a progressive worldview, described as rooted in cultural Marxism, is seen as antithetical to biblical truths. Examples cited include a conference statement implying divine judgment on Charlie Kirk's death, LGBTQ+ advocacy at Loma Linda University, articles promoting Marxist social justice, and publications supporting theistic evolution and LGBTQ+ affirming lifestyles.

## Addressing Institutional Entropy: Member Actions
The speaker proposes several actions for members to address these issues:

- **Tithing Practices:** Members are encouraged to prayerfully consider where their tithe is directed. Options include returning tithe to faithful local conferences, contributing in-kind (e.g., food) to conferences as a form of civil disobedience and inflation-proofing, or directly supporting faithful independent gospel workers and ministries, citing Ellen White's example.
- **Demands for Reform:** Specific demands are made of church leadership, including dissolving the UN partnership, revoking problematic statements, apologizing for the reaffirmation statement, ensuring institutions uphold biblical truths, and ceasing the "cancel culture" against faithful preachers. Leaders who cannot or will not uphold fundamental beliefs are urged to resign.
- **Contending for the Faith:** The message emphasizes that true Adventism lies in faithfulness to scripture and freedom from institutional control. Members are called to stand for truth, even if it means facing consequences, and to remember that the church is the community of believers, not solely its administrative structure.

 

[Frankj]

Just a thought: Initiations usually develop to serve a valid purpose, the longer they exist the more they become opposed to that purpose.

 

[Webster]

Just a thought: Initiations usually develop to serve a valid purpose, the longer they exist the more they become opposed to that purpose.

Institutions, you mean?

I've long said any religious denomination usually goes one of three ways: (1) they become so ossified and hidebound w/human tradition (think Catholicism) that they resist any effort at reform (Protestant Reformation anyone?), (2) they become so weak and willing to bend to societal norms that they eventually schism (Anglicans and the recent UMC-GMC schism come to mind here) or (3) they figure out a way to remain true to their faith and founding credo w/out losing sight of the world around them, adapting to the circumstances as needed while continuing to carry out the Great Commission.

Adventists, by and large, fall in the third category; we know this because the largest block of new Adventist members come from (a) Africa and (b) so-called "veiled countries" (veiled is SDA-speak for countries where open practice of Christianity is either illegal/discouraged).

Now, Dr. Vine makes some really good points above, especially w/regards to selective enforcement of Church rules. Case in point would be the long-running decisions in both the Pacific Union and North Pacific Union Conferences to officially ordain woman into pastoral positions. The thing is, back in 2015 at the 2015 GC Conference, the SDA church re-iterated its position that only males could serve in pastoral positions (all other church positions were open to both males and females, however).

Here's the funny part, Frank: these two conferences, particularly the North Pacific Union, are only now getting around to asking the General Conference for permission to do this, never mind the fact that they've doing this in contravention of Church doctrine/rules for the better part of three decades. Ironically, this issue actually almost got settled in favor of woman's ordination but were "convinced" by African and Eastern European Adventists to leave the issue as it was.

Here's more info on the NPUC's request and the current state of affairs....

Mother, May I … Be an Ordained Female Pastor? – Adventist Today

atoday.org

 

[Frankj]

Institutions, you mean?

I've long said any religious denomination usually goes one of three ways: (1) they become so ossified and hidebound w/human tradition (think Catholicism) that they resist any effort at reform (Protestant Reformation anyone?), (2) they become so weak and willing to bend to societal norms that they eventually schism (Anglicans and the recent UMC-GMC schism come to mind here) or (3) they figure out a way to remain true to their faith and founding credo w/out losing sight of the world around them, adapting to the circumstances as needed while continuing to carry out the Great Commission.

Adventists, by and large, fall in the third category; we know this because the largest block of new Adventist members come from (a) Africa and (b) so-called "veiled countries" (veiled is SDA-speak for countries where open practice of Christianity is either illegal/discouraged).

Now, Dr. Vine makes some really good points above, especially w/regards to selective enforcement of Church rules. Case in point would be the long-running decisions in both the Pacific Union and North Pacific Union Conferences to officially ordain woman into pastoral positions. The thing is, back in 2015 at the 2015 GC Conference, the SDA church re-iterated its position that only males could serve in pastoral positions (all other church positions were open to both males and females, however).

Here's the funny part, Frank: these two conferences, particularly the North Pacific Union, are only now getting around to asking the General Conference for permission to do this, never mind the fact that they've doing this in contravention of Church doctrine/rules for the better part of three decades. Ironically, this issue actually almost got settled in favor of woman's ordination but were "convinced" by African and Eastern European Adventists to leave the issue as it was.

Here's more info on the NPUC's request and the current state of affairs....

Mother, May I … Be an Ordained Female Pastor? – Adventist Today

atoday.org

Yes, I did mean institutions. A combination of spell checkers and very old eyes often lead me to post erroneous words.

In any event, what you are describing illustrates how things change over time when the idea of absolutes becomes secondary to the will of men, the change starts slowly without notice then continues to gain momentum till it breaks out visibly as a major, but accepted, change in direction and purpose that leaves people wondering, at least the more deeply thinking people, how this could have happened and how could anyone have seen it coming as if it just came right out of the blue all at once?

FWIW, as a child I was raised in a Lutheran Church which became the American Lutheran Church (ALC) through the merger of several essentially German and Norwegian (and somebody else whom I don't remember) synods into a single body which them became The American Lutheran Church (TALC) which later merged again with somebody (when I was young I didn't pay attention to the politics of the situation, just went along with whatever those above me did) and became the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA). The acceptance of women as pastors started, I think, somewhere around 1970, but that was basically after I had left the Church I was raised in as a young man. I know that when I was still a member of it the idea of women in pastoral leadership positions was not accepted.

Interestingly, Frank Buckman was a Lutheran minister in what became the ALC. His original Oxford movement later became the Moral Re-Armament (MRA) movement which grew world wide and still exists today as the Initiatives of Change (IofC) that seems to be, in the little knowledge I have of it, to be a sort of new age oriented mixture of political and spiritual beliefs that don't actually fit into any specific religion.

All illustrating how things change and drift away from their original purpose when men abandon the simple idea of unchangeable absolutes.

May your day be blessed.