Part 1: What Is Our Authority?

At the 2023 Triennial Convention, there was much discussion about restructuring our denomination. Particularly through a panel discussion, and many follow-up conversations, it became clear that most people within the Advent Christian denomination see a need for some amount of change. Yet, there was a lot of disagreement on what type of change needs to happen. This article is the first in a series, that will be published over the course of a few (or perhaps many) months, that will focus primarily on a biblical-theological look at the needs and changes we face.

The first question before us is this: what authority should guide and direct our evaluation of our current situation and any change we may endeavor to make? Consider some options.

Preferences and traditions keep people comfortable with the way things work. This comfort should not be dismissed; it can be a useful tool in keeping all of us working together. But at the same time it tends to keep us complacent, preventing us from following the Triune God in the way he has called us to. In Matthew 15:1-9 Jesus challenged the Pharisees for setting their own traditions as the standard above Scripture. Many of us have seen and heard similar ways of thinking in our churches: “it worked in the past just fine, so we should still do it this way,” “this way of doing things is good enough and trying to find something better is too hard,” or “I like it this way.” And, sadly, this way of thinking has caused far too many churches to collapse, or even close. As a primary guide, preferences and traditions fail us. But if not those, then what?

Perhaps Pragmatics? “Let’s look at the practical side of things.” In a way this makes sense. We need to discern between what does work, and what simply does not. When something does not work the way it is intended, does not accomplish the goals it is designed for, then we need to change what we are doing and find something that does work. The problem with using this as our primary guide is that we too often take this too far. “Whatever works.” “The end justifies the means” (a phrase that is not new, but traces at least back to Machiavelli’s The Prince roughly 500 years ago). This, of course, has been a ruling philosophy in many segments of Western culture over the past century, and it has crept into the church. But it shouldn’t rule the Church. We see the extent of what can happen when this way of thinking rules us in 1 Chronicles 13:5-14. King David sent Uzzah to retrieve the Ark of the Covenant on a cart. As the cart began to topple, Uzzah reached out and touched the Ark to steady it, so that it would not fall. His intent was to protect the Ark. He thought he was honoring it, but in attempting to do that his own way, he disobeyed the Lord’s instruction. The result, as many of you likely know, was Uzzah’s immediate death. Although it is important to consider the practical, it cannot be our foremost guide.

There is another important option: Scripture. As the church, God’s Word must be the foremost authority for all that we do. Paul tells Timothy that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2Tim 3:16-17, ESV). The work of the church is good work, or it ought to be. After all, the church is the Kingdom of Heaven here and now, as we await for the King to return and bring forth the Kingdom in its fullness. We receive necessary instruction in God’s Word for how we are to accomplish all of the tasks that are set before us. This instruction is ignored to our peril, but followed for our good and God’s glory.

So then, I propose that we put everything we do, and everything we think we are, on the table and submit it to the final authority God has given the church – the Bible – so that we might move forward in the way that most honors the Lord our God.