The Remnant: Only Adventists?

I used to believe that I was part of an elite group of people ("the remnant") that God has specifically chosen to be the most significant group of people at the end of the world. This group had all the truth necessary for salvation. The "proof" that this group was the right group was the doctrine of the Sabbath and the presence of Ellen White as a prophet (although long dead). The aim of evangelism was to tell people they needed to be part of this group if they were going to really be part of God's kingdom.

It took me years to come to the realisation that believing that I belonged to a group that claimed to be the voice of God on earth and responsible for the last saving message to all humankind was the height of religious arrogance.

Now... I open the Week of Prayer Readings for 2008 and read things like this:

I want to mention a sign about which we do not usually talk. It is a sign that points to the fact that God's design for His people is being fulfilled within history. The presence of the end-time remnant people of God is such a sign (p. 4).

Jan Paulsen, our General Conference President, is the author of the first reading entitled The Adventist Church and the Signs of the Times in which the above statement appears. There is no doubt he is referring to the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) denomination. There are a number of reasons for concluding this even though Paulsen doesn't explicitly name the denomination:

1. He believes this sign occurred 'in history at the time indicated in Scripture.' Notice the past tense — this has already occurred according to Paulsen.
2. He believes this sign is currently visible.
3. He believes this currently visible sign 'points beyond itself to a greater reality'. According to Paulsen, this pointing beyond itself occurs 'through the fulfillment of its [the sign's] mission, to the consummation of Christ's work of salvation at the second coming.
4. He doesn't believe that the presence of this remnant is 'a denial of God's interest in the rest of the Christian world.

That last point (along with the rest of what he says) makes it pretty clear that the remnant in Paulsen's mind is the SDA denomination - there is the remnant; and then there is the rest of the Christian world.

The statement that leaped off the page for me, however, is this statement:

'... the presence of the remnant indicates that God has not rejected the Christian world, but that He is looking for ways to use them to His glory if they so wish. The end-time remnant is a sign of hope for Christianity and for the non-Christian world. (p. 4)

To my mind, this highlights the spiritual arrogance that results from traditional Adventist remnant theology. God wants to use the non-Adventist Christian world for God's glory, but they are not listening to God. God hasn't rejected them — yet. There's a chance. They just need to listen to the Adventist message, leave their churches, and join the SDA denomination, and God will be able to use them for God's glory.

If you are an Adventist, doesn't that make you just want to celebrate and say, 'Thank God I'm an SDA and not like those other (so-called) Christians! I keep the Sabbath and have Ellen White as a prophet — the two identifying marks of the remnant — and am bringing God glory by being part of this group (that anyone can join, of course, if they want to).'

But hang on a minute ... I seem to remember a story that Jesus told about two men who went to their Temple to pray. Here is the story updated for today:

Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: “Two men went to church to pray. One was a Seventh-day Adventist, and the other was a non-Adventist Christian. The Seventh-day Adventist stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not a Christian like everyone else. For I am part of the remnant that believes in the seventh-day Sabbath and has Ellen White as a prophet. I’m certainly not like that non-Adventist Christian.  I keep the Sabbath, and I give you a tenth of my income.’

“But the non-Adventist Christian stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Seventh-day Adventist, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (an adaptation of Luke 18:9-14, NLT)

Here's my view of the remnant concept: God has always had a group of people who cling to God no matter what happens to them. This will be no different when the end of all things arrives (whenever that might be). Any person who stays with God by resting in the grace of God and lives a life committed to keeping God's commandments to love — no matter what pressure is brought to bear — is/will be a part of God's faithful remnant.

There are many Christian believers around the world who, right at this present moment, are suffering persecution for their faith and are remaining faithful to God. They are not giving up under pressure. I don't see any other definition in scripture of 'the remnant' and hope and pray that, if the day comes when I am pressured to abandon my faith in God, I too will have the God-given strength to stand with all those who have been part of God's remnant down through history.

» Steve Parker

References

Paulsen, J 2008, 'The Adventist Church and the Signs of the Times', Signs of Hope: 2008 Week of Prayer Readings, pp. 3-5.