Shabbat Shalom: Southern שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם

Ever since traveling to Israel and opening the Shabbat with my Jewish friends I have been fascinated with the theology, faith, religious practices, and culture of Judaism. I believe that Christians have lost much of our wonderful Jewish heritage. In some respects our Jesus is not the Jewish Jesus of Scriptures, but rather the Christian Jesus of tradition.

On the campus of Southern my friends and I welcome in the Shabbat the traditional Jewish way - with a few modifications. We all bring some food and prepare a Shabbat feast, bless the Shabbat candles, recite Kiddish, a prayer over wine (we will mostly use grape juice) sanctifying Shabbat, recite the usual prayer for eating bread over two loaves of challah, and pray and wash our hands. We usually do this at least one hour before sunset to properly observe the tradition and to be on time for vespers. It is interesting to note that in Jewish literature, poetry and music, Shabbat is described as a bride or queen, as in the popular Shabbat hymn Lecha Dodi Likrat Kallah (come, my beloved, to meet the [Sabbath] bride). It is said "more than Israel has kept Shabbat, Shabbat has kept Israel."

Welcoming in the Shabbat in this manner helps to bring together our community, show our reverence towards God and His Commandments, gives us an opportunity to relax from our stress-filled lives as college students, and prepare us to worship and honour God with our whole being. This celebration of Shabbat by Adventists - in the tradition of the Jews - is not as uncommon as some think. I have had many of my friends share with me similar practices that their family or friends of the family have partaken.

Personally welcoming in the Shabbat in this way helps me to realize heaven in the present moment, not waiting for some distant reward or destination, but rather to live in the wonderful moment that God has given us. Shabbat Shalom. שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם

Homosexual Ministers - Gay Theology Without Apology

It is a controversial topic, especially within our church. Homosexuality is one of the last issues where bigotry and hatred is tolerated by the so-called religious. The retired Rev. John Shelby Spong of the Episcopal Church of America spoke at a recent convention saying,

"The Church is a strange institution that’s not always honest. I had to overcome the religion of my childhood to become a practicing clergyman. Christianity seems to have the need to have a victim. Jews, heretics, witches, scientists, people of color, women and now gays, every generation in the church has its victims. We always have to pass that victimization on to another. We need to get over that guilt message that you are so evil that Jesus had to die on the cross for you."

This is a very interesting point that need further study and contemplation by Christians. I believe that Rev. Spong is onto something here; it would appear that homosexuals have become the present victim of the religious. This is such a troubling fact. Homosexual men and women have been with the "church" since its inception. This notion that homosexuals are amoral or irreligious is purely based on ignorance and bigotry - such cannot be the fruits of a Christianity centered on Divine Love and Compassion.

Within the Episcopal Church of America the Right Reverend Bishop Gene Cannon Robinson was ordained as the first openly-gay bishop. It is interesting to note the backlash that the Episcopal community around the world sent the church in America. And the World Anglican Community is no the only denomination struggling with this - almost all of Christendom is obsessed with homosexuality. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has launched a study into human sexuality, the Presbyterian Church recently lifted its exclusion of homosexuals from the ministry, the Pope projected more bigotry and intolerance (which is typical of Benedict) with his statement that questioned the "masculinity" of homosexual men, and the Adventist Church refuses to address the issue with the proper consideration it deserves, instead opting to issue a "statement" on the matter - way to be a "peculiar people and "lead."

Although Adventism isn't free from its share of homosexual ministers. One example is Ron Oden. Oden who made history in November 2003 when he became the first openly gay African-American man elected mayor of an American city is also an ordained Seventh-day Adventist minister; yet there are few Adventists that are aware of this fact. I find this quite interesting; true, Ron Oden left the religious life to pursue a career in politics, his ministerial credentials remain valid from what I can gather.

Meditations On Living

There is an interesting devotional book that I picked up recently 365 Dalai Lama: Daily Advice from the Heart written by His Holiness The Dalai Lama that speaks volumes to my spiritual relationship with God. One interesting entry reads,

"Let us cultivate love and compassion, both of which give true meaning to life. This is the religion I preach, more so than Buddhism itself. It is simple. Its temple is the heart. Its teaching is love and compassion. Its moral values are loving and respecting others, whoever they may be. Whether one is a layperson or a monastic, we have no other option if we wish to survive in this world" (Dalai Lama p. 9).

In this passage, with my Christian-influenced understanding of God, I can read the words "let us cultivate love and compassion" what I believe is the very essence of God, and connect instantly on a spiritual level with the Dalai Lama and what he is writing. It is such an awesome feeling to be able to put aside religious differences - labels, whether they be Christian, Buddhist - I like to put it this way when discussing my faith, "I'm a believer in a Higher Power - greater than my existence, yet interconnected with my being - and a follower of 'The Way,' manifested in many faith traditions."

This comes off as "New Age" to some and I'm, quite frankly, fine with that. I believe that our understanding of God must grow and constantly evolve. Living life with a stagnant view of God only produces, at best, bitter Christians or, at worst, broken atheists. God inspires the biblical author to write, "My ways are not your ways." It is interesting to recall that Christ continually challenged the contemporary view of God and the "religious community" in his day.

I have observed that, too often, it is unfortunately the so-called religious community that typifies a faith tradition; this is a sad fact, I believe, because it limits the expression of a particular faith to its most conservative and fundamentalist elements - our religious communities are much more diverse than that, Adventism emphatically included. What does it mean to be an Adventist?

The answer to that quest must be different for everyone. For me, it means "cultivating love and compassion." I let my temple be my heart - welcoming the Spirit of the Lord to dwell within me and God to work through me, i.e. having and upholding "morale values [of] loving and respecting others, whoever they may be." This includes the "outcasts" of society - homosexuals, women, nonbelievers, believers of other faiths, AIDS victims, the poor, those who have a different "non-orthodox theology" than ours, ect. When Jesus ministered to the people, he widened the inclusion of his ministry and outreach.

Christ included the outcasts of society - his moral values were centered on loving and respecting others. His life dramatically portrayed the Divine Love and Compassion that God has for humanity. May we as a church community learn to respect and love the "outcasts of Adventism." May we cherish the spiritual wisdom of other faith traditions. May we be vessels to express the Divine Love and Compassion that our Lord had for humanity.

Save Darfur - A Modern-day Genocide

This is a reprint of an opinion article written for Southern's 'Accent' newspaper, published in March and part of a speech given at Emory University.

Images of starving men, women, children, their skin tightly clinging to their bones; mass graves of nameless bodies, camps where thousands, forced from their homes, occupy and live in the constant shadow of fear – one cannot help but be reminded of 1940s Europe and images of the Nazi Holocaust, but the images of those who suffer are not Jews, but Black Arabs of Darfur, and this is not 1940s Europe, but 2007 Sudan. “Never again.” was the cry of humanity after the Holocaust - a massive genocide taking the lives of Jews, Roma Gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, conscientious objectors, and the mentally disabled. Since that time what has “Never Again” meant to the countless victims of the Armenian, Kurdish, Rwandan, or now Darfur genocide?

Our generation has been taught to “learn the lessons of the Holocaust,” lessons that demand our action when we know of genocide. In our lifetime we have lived through ethnic cleansing in Serbia, the annihilation of the Kurdish people of Iraq, and, more recently, the genocide in Rwanda. Learning from the fallings of previous generations to act on behalf of the millions who perished in those human atrocities and prevent further terror, our generation faces a similar trial of human will. We are confronted with the first genocide of the twenty-first century – Darfur, Sudan.

The conflict in Darfur is multifarious and complex, but that does not mean we are helpless to aid those affected by this genocide or that we are unable to prevent further atrocities. The Darfur region, about the size of Texas, is home to racially mixed tribes of settled peasants, who identify as African, and nomadic herders, who identify as Arab. The majority of people in both groups are Muslim. The history of neglect by the Khartoum-based government has left people throughout Sudan poor and voiceless and has caused conflict throughout the country. In February 2003, frustrated by adverse poverty, famine, drought, and continual neglect by the government, two Darfurian rebel groups launched an uprising against the government.

The Sudanese government responded with a scorched-earth campaign, enlisting the help of a militia of Arab nomadic tribes in the region against innocent civilians who lived in Darfur. These militia forces, sometimes referred to as the Janjaweed and the Sudanese military have used rape, displacement, organized starvation, and mass murder to kill 450,000 and displace 2.5million. Violence, disease, and displacement continue to kill hundreds of innocent Darfurians every day. Some of the victims have escaped to the neighboring country of Chad, but most are trapped inside Darfur. Thousands die each month from the effects of inadequate food, water, heath care, and shelter in a harsh desert environment. All are afraid to return home because the countryside is not safe.

The generation that lived through the Holocaust answered for their compliancy to the atrocities of Nazi Germany, “Had we only known.” Well, my friends, WE KNOW, so what will be our response to the genocide in Darfur. Gandhi once spoke, “All humanity is one undivided and indivisible family, and each one of us is responsible for the misdeeds of the others.” When the government of Sudan failed to do what government primarily exists to do, protect their citizen, we must respond by uniting against genocide and boldly declaring, “Not On Our Watch!” The people of Darfur are helpless to change their plight; we must be their voice in this conflict, we must demand action on the part of the international community.

Southern’s campus is responding to the genocide in Darfur by raising awareness and rallying students, faculty, and community members to action. Students have formed a chapter of STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur) and have planed activities and events that will help raise awareness. I would encourage you to become involved with STAND and to log onto http://www.savedarfur.org/ to learn more about this genocide and how you can make a difference. Our generation has proven itself unwilling to join the ranks of past generations who have fallen so often on the wrong side of history. We realize our importance in the international community and unite with students across the globe in demanding prompt action by the international community. We take a stand not only for the 450,000 that have died, but for the 100 that have died today, and for the hundred that will die tomorrow. We are the voices of the people of Darfur. As Isaiah wrote may we, “learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, and plead the widow’s cause.”

The Trial of Matt Stevens

What strikes a personal chord with me are some of the implications that this decision has for the University and the religious philosophy of Adventism. To begin with, there are several concerns that I have with a denomination that is fearful of change or the very mention of differencing points of view or a discussion of "beliefs." Beliefs, which are by their very definition a personal matter need not denominations to place parameters or constraints; in Christianity, in general, one can read the collected sayings of Christ preserved in the Gospel accounts to view the many statements made against a dogmatic faith, such as that of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and in Adventism, in particular, one can look to the writings of James White to see such a standpoint articulated. As with most faith traditions, Seventh-day Adventism has its better points as a Christian denomination, such points as an emphasis on education, healthful living, conscientious objection to violence and war, strong fellowship, sense of community volunteerism, and the separation of church and state; however, there are the "struggles of Adventism" and Adventists – most dramatically portrayed in the thousands of members who leave the denomination yearly.

One can note that mainstream, progressive churches such as Anglicans, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Episcopalians, and others do not have the problem of retention that the Adventist Church and other literalist, conservative churches have; while they do struggle with common issues such as women and the priesthood, issues of sexuality, struggles between liberalism and conservatism, modern morals and war, the secularization of the twenty-first century, how to dialogue and coexist, peacefully, with other faith traditions (denominations) and points of view, the institution of marriage, and the separation of church and state, to name a few.

While there are some contentions that I have with the philosophy of conservatism as applied to religious views and the study of theology, conservatism on the whole is quite respectable; rather it is the fundamentalists who hijack these seemingly "concrete" views of their faith and reject the history of progress within their faith tradition. No successful – success being a relative term, defined here as the positive influence impacted in the lives of the believer and the community at large, as well as, the interaction between different faith groups and opinions – faith tradition has gone without change in their history; Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and others have all had their own forms of "reformations," "revivals," "religious epiphanies," and such; while most of these terms are employed, more commonly, in Christianity (reformation, revival, ect.) the general mise-en-scène applies. Adventism while seemingly religiously progressive in certain areas is at its very core a fundamentalist faith tradition. As such there are limitations to the progress that Adventism will make, unless it revises and diversifies its outlook on faith and its active role in Christianity.

With respect to theology, Adventism holds a "remnant position" of their role in Christendom and appoints itself as the "one true, unadulterated" faith tradition in Christianity – a position that is held by other denominations; among them are believers in the Catholic, Baptist, Mormon, and Jehovah's Witness tradition. Remnant theology is exclusionist in orthodox practice and as such cannot, quite frankly, be respected or tolerated in the Universal Body of Believers. Unfortunately such traditions that adhere to this "remnant theology" yield themselves to doctrines that tend to ostracizes believers of different faiths and manifest a theology that promotes exclusionist practices. It is from declarations of ostensible supremacy implied or directed at other denominations that the Adventist Church's claims must be reasoned to be unconstructive to the greater fellowship of Christians or believers in general.

Adventists are not alone in receiving this criticism; the aforementioned denominations that share these views of ecclesiastical supremacy are criticized for such views. It saddens me that some elements and factions within the church of my youth would seem like dividers instead of unifiers in the faith of Christ and thus heed the mission of Christianity – which is commonly understood as the expression of Divine Love in the lives of all of humanity, portrayed, most magnificently in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Jesus Christ wouldn't tote-the-line of orthodoxy in his day, not because he wasn't an agreeable religious leader, but rather because his mission dealt with the manifestation of Divine Love in human form for all of the Cosmos. As such his views were not taken well by the establishment, which by definition must maintain a level of conservative ideals, due to the nature of administration of the State Faith. Such a faith needs to be protected; one might say defended from other views that may place into question the dogmas of the church. In reference to the Protestant Reformation the same is true of the relations between the Holy See and Martin Luther. Parallels can be drawn, in principle, to history's account of Luther's struggles with the Catholic Church; or in Adventism with the relationship between William Miller and the Baptist faith or the Harmon family and the Methodist church. Not that you (Matt Stevens) are in any comparison or comparable to Christ, Luther, Miller, or E.G.W. Rather the underlying principle of unity, in your case, Campus Ministry to the Adventist Church and Southern Adventist University.

Understanding all of the pervious points put into perspective in lieu of your recent dismissal from Campus Ministries directs me to following conclusions. I'm not fully aware of the situation revolving around the dismissal of Scott Fogg for which I am saddened. As per you situation, I'm sorry that Campus Ministries has chosen to dismiss you. Your particular views of Christianity are not completely compatible with the "Adventist Message" and because of your clear passion and connection with the student body at SAU you became a "spiritual liability" for the campus administration. Southern's duty (in their conservative understanding of the matter) as an Adventist institution is to maintain the "orthodox" beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Unfortunately had this incident occurred at a liberal, progressive university within our denomination such as La Sierra, Andrews, or Newbold matters would be different. As this door has closed, be reminded that there is a whole array of other "doors" that are open to you – even at Southern.

It is my hope that you will continue to be an integral part of Campaign 5x7 and maybe be part of an independent group study program. May the peace of our loving God be with you and comfort you in this trying time in your life.