We are often told: “You, Seventh-day Adventists, are different from other Christians! You are rather peculiar!” Indeed, many Adventist church members like to cite 1 Peter 5:9 in the King James Version and pride themselves that they are a “peculiar” people. Unfortunately, in many parts of the world many have never heard of Seventh-day Adventists or, if they know of their existence, have a rather negative view of them. In fact, Adventists are often better known for what they don’t do—smoking, drinking alcohol, eating pork—than for what they do!
I must admit that, growing up, I was often quite uneasy about my Adventist background. It was unpleasant to be “different.” This negative feeling did gradually fade away, but I must admit that I still find some of my fellow-believers rather “peculiar” and in the not so positive sense of the word. In this short article I want to highlight a few important aspects of Adventism that in the past have made us different. I will suggest how these features, in fact, have the potential to make us more “peculiar” in a positive way.
1. Adventists have almost everywhere constituted a small minority.
We were the only Adventist family in the village where we lived, some 25 miles north of Amsterdam. The less than 3,000 Dutch Adventists were seen as a small American sect among the different Calvinistic denominations. Undoubtedly, many fellow-Adventists of my generation have similar memories of what being an Adventist was like “when we were young.” Today, Adventists are still a small minority in most places. Worldwide, there is only one Adventist for every 358 persons. In the USA we find one Adventist for every 305 people, and in Europe the ratio is as low as 1:2,049.
But there is another side to the coin. Today, in 2024, we are a minority of over 22 million people. This means that there are now almost as many Adventists as, for instance, there are Sikhs in the world, and the Sikh religion is regarded as the fifth largest world religion! There are more Adventists than Jewish believers, who worldwide number just under 16 million.
We may be a minority, but we are far more numerous than many other religious groups! We have every reason to no longer emphasize our minority position but to claim our rightful role on the ecclesiastical scene. In the past we were “different”—largely because of our minority status. Now the time may have come to tell the world: “Look, we are here! Yes, we are still small when compared with the Catholic Church or the Methodists or the Southern Baptists, but we are not as small as you may have thought.” Moreover, you find Adventists in almost every country of the world. And listen: We have a contribution to make. We have resources and expertise. We deserve a place at the table when important social and environmental issues are discussed.
Our “remnant theology” suggests that we will remain a minority, but we are a minority to be reckoned with. We have something important to say and may have to be much more daring than we have often been in speaking up.
2. Can our enemies become our allies?
In its early history, the Adventist Church often found itself in a hostile environment. Our forms of outreach were not appreciated by other religious communities. Also, the Adventist end-time scenario, in which Sabbath keepers would have to face the fury of a Sunday keeping coalition, did not endear them to other Christians.
Today, Adventists are living in a totally different world. Tragically, quite a few church members seem not to be not aware of this, and, as a result, continue to treat other Christians as their enemies. In reality, institutionalized Christianity has suffered a dramatic decline in the Western world. All churches—Seventh-day Adventists included—are facing the challenge of preaching the gospel in an ever more secular and materialistic society.
The differences between Seventh-day Adventists and other Christians have not been obliterated and Adventists still have a “peculiar” message, but these other Christians are now, in fact, our allies. Together we must stand firm for the gospel of Christ in a world that has largely forgotten its Christian values. Let us not waste energy on fighting other Christians but recognize what other faith communities have done and are doing, while ensuring that our “peculiar” message gets heard.
3. The Sabbath—from being a burden to being a blessing.
Millions of believers have experienced that keeping the
Sabbath holy has been a great blessing. But all too often it was also a burden for many of us. It made us “different.” My place in the classroom of my secondary school remained empty on Saturdays, leaving my classmates wondering about my strange religion. Many church members lost their jobs and missed opportunities for promotion because they refused to work on Saturdays. Even today, in our 24-hour economy, insistence on having Saturdays off can cause serious problems. When sharing the Sabbath doctrines with others, their first reaction tends to be negative. It would upset their life and would mean a significant burden if they were to decide to keep the Sabbath!
But now, with the twenty-first century well under way, the Western World is suffering from an epidemic of stress and burnout. Medication can help people relax and can suppress the symptoms of their mental exhaustion. There is, however, no better antidote for a burnout, and no remedy for the relentless pressure of our society, than the divine prescription of one full day of rest, on the seventh day, after every six days of work. The Sabbath is a day of physical rest—of radically interrupting our daily activities—and a day of spiritual refocus. It is a day of connecting in a special way—with God, our family, and significant others. Far from being a burden it can become a blessing for millions around us. When will Adventists become more cognizant of having this unique selling point?
4. Are we living in the time of the end or in a time of new beginnings?
Adventist preaching about the nearness of the Second Coming was a major factor in the growth of our movement. But, after about 180 years, this theme has lost much of its momentum. As war is tearing its destructive path through Ukraine and the Gaza strip, there is every reason to place the current military and political developments once again in the world in the prophetic timeframe that once was a steady diet in Adventist preaching.
Preaching about the time of the end must, however, be combined with actions that show how the gospel can improve life, even in this final phase of earth’s history. “If I knew that Jesus would come tomorrow, I would plant an apple tree today.” This statement, which is often attributed to Martin Luther, has greatly increased in relevancy. Adventist should do more than they have done so far in showing the world what a healthy, balanced, lifestyle looks like. The link between Adventists and “Blue Zones” should not only be a Loma Linda phenomenon but can be duplicated in many places.
Adventists can do much more in reducing their carbon footprint and can be much more on the forefront in campaigns to reduce the consequences of climate change. They can become much more outspoken (and active) in the fight against poverty, racial discrimination, and gender inequality. They could have a much bigger role in peace projects. While reminding the world that time is short, we must be determined to plant as many apple trees as we possibly can!
5. Turning past “present truth” into today’s “present truth.”
From the beginning, Adventists have referred to their message as “present truth.” They were convinced that some aspects of the biblical prophecies had a special application for the very times in which they lived.
‘Present truth’ is a biblical term, inspired by 2 Peter 1:12 (KJV). Unfortunately, more recently this concept has mostly been restricted to the body of doctrinal truth that we inherited from our Adventist forebears. In other words: This present truth refers to a past understanding of truth, i.e. to aspects of the truth that were considered particularly relevant for the days of the “pioneers” of Adventism. A better interpretation of the text in 2 Peter would be: “truth” that is “made present”—that is actualized in what we (individually and collectively) say and do today.1
We do well to study the historical development of our doctrines. But being an Adventist in 2024 entails more than knowing about our Adventist heritage and preserving the “present truth” of earlier generations. The truth we have inherited can easily become just “past truth,” if we do not succeed in making it present, so that it can continue to speak to us, and to those we seek to reach, in ways that are meaningful in today’s context.
In summary: As we seek to be faithful to our mission, let us critically look at what made us what we are today, and how these characteristics might be re-shaped so that they can help us to share our message in our day and age with greater effectiveness.
Reinder Bruinsma, PhD, has served the Seventh-day Adventist Church in publishing, education, teaching, and church administration in West-Africa, the USA, and Europe. He now lives in his native country, the Netherlands, together with his wife Aafje. Although retired, he is still very active in preaching, lecturing, and writing. Among his latest books is He Comes: Why, When and How Jesus Will Return. Email him at: [email protected]
1 For a very informative essay about the concept of “present truth,” see: Roberto Badenas, “Dealing with ‘Present Truth’: 2 Peter 1:12 Revisited,” in: Reinder Bruinsma and Børge Schantz, eds., Exploring the Frontiers of Faith: Festschrift in Honour of Dr. Jan Paulsen (Lüneburg, Germany: Advent-Verlag, 2009), pp. 207-217.