Proof positive (as if we needed it!) that we're living in the past!

Jonathan

That's not to disparage the past wholesale (no pun intended). You may be talking tongue in cheek, but there is a sense in which you're absolutely right. Adventism, in many ways, is far behind culture. And Loma Linda is generally on the leading edge in Adventism!

For quite some time, I was down on Adventist practices that seem beyond passé - people who grow their own food and have compost piles in the back yard, people who insist on a strict vegetarian diet and refuse to drink coffee, for example seem particularly antiquated and past their expiration date.

I had an epiphany, though, just this year: some of those old-school practices are tremendously progressive and current, leading me to adopt them wholeheartedly!* Particularly when it comes to environmental care, some of the practices I'd written off are actually en vogue right now as partial solutions to the environmental crises of today.

Change the displays in the Loma Linda Market from old-fashioned bins to sleek, shiny new ones, put in some tract lighting, and all of a sudden the market is a cutting-edge, super trendy organic outlet that might once again be well ahead of its time!

Now some of Adventist thinking, on the other hand - its outdated methods of biblical interpretation and antiquated modes of evangelism may no longer be as relevant no matter what sort of sleek new packaging is used to display them. Rather, they may in time take their place alongside the dinosaurs and those who are still trying to prove that dinosaurs and hominids co-existed. Or that the cosmos is 6,000 years old plus or minus a few years.

*I should be clear that it wasn't simply because the practices were current or progressive that I adopted them, as though progressiveness and currency are the guiding criteria for what I do. Those practices have tremendous practical value not least of which is saving money, which these days is a big deal. Maybe currency is more influential than I thought.

Groucho Marx was driving from Hollywood to Palms Springs when his little dog got hungry. Groucho turned off the inter state at the Loma Linda exit. It was the day of the grand opening of the New Loma Linda Market. Groucho walked up and down all the aisles but couldn't find a fresh meat market. He stopped, of all people, The Associate Pastor of the University Church and asked directions to the meat market. The Pastor told Grouch there wasn't any. Groucho explained that his little
dog need fresh ground steak. The Pastor said, the store carried canned dog food. That was not good enough. Groucho said, "I bet you don't sell cigars either." The Pastor agreed,
Groucho said, "nor wine," again the Pastor agreed. Groucho said, I suppose you plan to go to heaven." The Pastor agreed.
Groucho said, "I thought so. In that case I don't want to go!"
About 1962-3
Tom

Some good observations, Jared. Though I was being a little tongue in cheek, we need to think again about some of our hangups (hangovers?!) from the past. The good ones you mention relative to health, sustainability, and the environment are (or were) ahead of the curve--though doesn't it irritate you that all those good things we knew and did are now being taken up by others who do a better job than we did in promoting them?

It's the other ones that concern me--like the way we think we HAVE to do church. We wonder why "Dead Men Do Tell tales" doesn't work so well any more. We still get out all the beast pictures and the charts, and are surprised that people smile at us. We repackage old evangelistic sermons (like "The Truth about the Amazing Metal Man" for Daniel 2--I kid you not!) and are shocked that nobody but oddballs turn up. And then there's the Adventist church structure (some might say SUPERstructure!) that is in danger of sinking the whole ship. We clearly can't continue the way we were, but still hanker for the past, and fail to do anything until we absolutely HAVE to.

And maybe that's why 'currency' as you put it drives the church, whether we like it or not. The day that we cut the funding sources for programs and structures that don't work, the day we'll see progress...

We have an incredibly important message about God's good news to share--it's just we don't know how to any more, since we are all to often living in the past and those around us aren't. Time to share God with those around us in new and unconventional ways!

And I'm just in from planting tomatoes in the flower-beds...

Best, Jonathan

Jonathan, just realize that for every tomato plant, there will immediately emerge the beautiful green worms who thrive on those tomatoes!