You Are the Light of the World

“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.” Matthew 5:14. These powerful words of Jesus point out to us what discipleship look likes. We are here to bring light into the darkness. To truly be filled with light means that we are filled with the power of an indwelling Christ. Our light comes from the covering of the righteousness of Christ.

If we are then filled with Christ and covered with light we will then be doing the works of Christ in the world. We will be his hands and feet and ministers to those in need. This is what it means to be the light of the world and to be the salt that seasons.

There is a disturbing trend in the church, however, that tends towards exclusiveness. It reminds me of the condition of the church when Jesus came to the world. If you recall, it was a very dark time in the history of our planet and a very dark time in the church. Religion had become a system of forms and elaborate rituals and sacrifices, but it was devoid of the virtues of mercy and of concerns for the good of the people. Only the “pure” were looked upon with favor by the church and the smallest of infractions could find one shunned and excommunicated from the body of believers.

Jesus was highly criticized because of the time he spent hanging out with people the church considered untouchable. They drank alcohol, they were sexually immoral, they had a lot of problems, and they didn’t even attend church. His great heart of love had the audacity to care for everyone, even the immoral Samaritan woman who had been married way too many times.

As a church, are we inclusive or exclusive? Do we shut those in need of the healing power of Christ’s love out because of what they do and how they behave? Do we embrace the power of the Holy Spirit and pray that we will be filled with the miracle working power of God so that we too, like the disciples of old will be able to minister to the healing of those in great need? Or do we live in fear, cloaking ourselves off from the needs of the world?

Do we take care of our planet or do we make excuses for our irresponsibility saying that it will all burn up anyway? Do we believe the majority of people are destined for the flames? Do we call every experience we cannot explain as being from Satan? Do we look for the Christ in people or do we look for the Anti-Christ? Are we a light on a hilltop or has our light been covered by a bushel because we are afraid?

The song “Onward Christian Soldiers” call us, not to be exclusive and ignore the needs of the world—that would be “Onward Christian Chickens”—rather to be a soldier of Christ means that we will work for the good of everyone. We will shine wherever we are and our lives will look a lot like Christ’s.

We can become so fearful of “last day deceptions” that we are useless as far as being a soldier for Christ. I am not speaking of being militant here, I am speaking of being compassionate, available, Spirit-filled, and burdened with the needs of humanity and a dying planet.

Fear is really mistrust of God. Fear separates and insulates us from the needs of those around us. Fear is selfish and is focused on a personal salvation only. When we are busy doing the work of God in the world we will cease to be consumed with our navel-gazing insecurities about our personal salvation. Moses came to an amazing place in his walk with God where he cared more for the good of the people he was trying to help than for his own salvation.

What I long to see is a church where we are more focused on how to make a difference than we are about protecting our fundamental 28. Our beliefs should make us ambassadors of God’s love. They should never insulate us from the needs of others. The world is dying for the light of God’s love. Let’s be a light to the world.

Pitcairn: Paradise Lost

Seventh-day Adventists have had a longterm interest in Pitcairn Island. It has been presented as a model case of the Adventist life. Pitcairn Island has also fascinated the wider society for over 200 years. Way out in the middle of nowhere in the South Pacific, it was discovered by the British in 1767, and populated in 1790 by a group of mutineers from HMS Bounty and a number of Tahitian men and women led by Fletcher Christian. Alcohol, murder, disease, and a range of other nasties killed off most of the population. John Adams began reading the ship's Bible and the Church of England's Prayer Book. The islanders converted to Christianity and constructed 'a new and peaceful society' that has become legendary. They later became Seventh-day Adventists. Here is what Sir Charles Lucas wrote in Pitcairn's register book in 1829:

Many notable cases of religious conversion have been recorded in the history of Christianity, but it would be difficult to find an exact parallel to that of John Adams. The facts are quite clear. There is no question as to what he was and did after all his shipmates on the island had perished. He had no human guide or counsellor to turn him into the way of righteousness and make him feel and shoulder responsibility for bringing up a group of boys and girls in the fear of God.

He had a Bible and a Prayer Book to be the instruments of his endeavour, so far as education, or rather lack of education, served him. He may well have recalled to mind memories of his own childhood. But there can be only one straightforward explanation of what took place, that it was the handiwork of the Almighty, whereby a sailor seasoned to crime came to himself in a far country and learnt and taught others to follow Christ. (cited in Ford 2008, emphasis supplied)

Idyllic, exotic, Christian, peaceful, crime-free, away from the rest of the sinful world, 'the handiwork of the Almighty'. Wouldn't you just love to live there?

Until recently, you might very well have wanted to. The problem is that, in 2000, a police investigation began that was to uncover widespread, decades-long, multi-generational child sexual abuse that probably goes back to the beginnings of the island. Almost every man on the island is implicated and almost every girl who lived there has been a victim of this abuse. The ensuing trials have torn this small community apart and the romantic mythology around Pitcairn Island is forever gone.

Kathy Marks was one of only six journalists allowed on the island during the trials. Her book Pitcairn: Paradise Lost tells the sickening tale of the generations of abuse, the trials, and the aftermath down to its conclusion in 2007. Well — the conclusion as far as legalities go. The women who suffered at the hands of the incredible evil of men, who were allowed to perpetrate these crimes, suffer on as these pedophiles and abusers are "punished" with sentences that are minimal compared to what they would receive in Australia or New Zealand.

Marks's book is agonising to read. Her story is divided into two parts. The first part is on the island itself as she describes Pitcairn's 'surreal little universe in the middle of nowhere'; the romantic mythology that has developed around Pitcairn — now completely shattered; the courage of one girl who finally speaks out about the pervasive abuse; the wielding of power by a few men who are free of the normal legal accountability of most decent societies; the duplicitous propaganda spread by even the women on the island who try to rationalise away the perverse behaviour of even their husbands and sons; and the trials that were frustrated by women and girls often manipulated to retract statements or withdraw from being witnesses.

In Part 2 of the book, the author "steps back" from the island and views 'Pitcairn from a distance'. How did the myth of Pitcairn develop? What role did politics and power play in the events on Pitcairn? And he silence and collusion of women and visitors who worked on the island. The story is heartrending as Marks documents how these little children were abused and raped as young as 3 years old. The men (and women) on Pitcairn Island accepted that 'this is just the way it is' on Pitcairn. While the image of a Christian society, free from crime, was perpetuated by those living on Pitcairn and authorities that interacted with the islanders, men were brazenly forcing young girls into the forests of the island and destroying their innocence and scarring them for life.

For those of us looking from the outside, it is hard to believe that such perverted evil could go on for so long with noone doing anything about it. It is also difficult to believe that denominational leaders could not have known. The Adventist Church has always had a resident pastor and nurse on the island (SPD Staff/ANN 2001). How could they not know?

Kathy Marks documents a number of people who either suspected or knew of the ongoing abuse and the attitudes of the islanders. These individuals never said anything or, if they did, were dismissed by those in authority. It is reassuring that at least one of the people mentioned in the book, a friend of mine and who lived on Pitcairn for some time in a professional role, was one of only a couple of people who spoke out about what they were observing on Pitcairn.

Pitcairn: Paradise Lost reveals an incredible litany of evil on a little island we thought was paradise. That paradise has been lost as we have realised that it never was. Kathy Marks's book Pitcairn: Paradise Lost lays bare the real hell of that imaginary paradise — at least what we know. Who knows what else will be uncovered in the future (there is emerging evidence of the oppression and abuse of adult women and child-to-child sexual abuse).

Simone Weil has written that '[w]e must prefer real hell to an imaginary paradise.' Pitcairn was an imaginary paradise. We must have the courage to confront and acknowledge the real hell of Pitcairn. The 'handiwork of the Almighty'? I don't think so.

References

Ford, H 2008, Pitcairn Island & Pacific Union College, Pacific Union College, viewed 15 February 2009, <http://library.puc.edu/pitcairn/studycenter/pit_puc.shtml>.

SPD Staff/ANN 2001, Turning Point for Historic Adventist Community on Pitcairn Island news.adventist.org, viewed 15 February 2009, <http://news.adventist.org/data/2001/0991166375/index.html.en>.

The Road Not Taken Prayer

Robert Frost (1874–1963). Mountain Interval. 1920.

The following are two accounts of answered prayer
concerning cockroaches and locked vans
in the February 8, 2007, Adventist Review

I. The Road Not Taken

Patty Froese
Prayed “one of the most desperate prayers” of her life
when cockroaches were driving her crazy.
“You brought on the bugs in Egypt,
and then you removed them.
So please, remove them from our home.”
She never saw another cockroach.
She wrote, “It’s hard to explain to someone
when you feel a prayer has been answered.
I just felt it somehow.”

Don Droze
Prayed, when keys had been accidentally
locked in a van at summer camp
and he tried to open a door
using the keys from two similar vans
“God, in the name of Jesus Christ,
make one of these four keys work,
for Your name’s sake.”
The van door remained locked.
So he “prayed yet again,
Oh God, for Thy glory,
For the sake of these kids,
Make this key work in the other direction.
With fear and trembling and holding fast to faith
(total reliance upon His strength)”
and “the key moved within that tumbler
as though it was cut to do so.
All the locks instantly popped up”

II. The Road Less Traveled

My Prayer

What am I to believe, Lord?
How do I figure in Grace*
With cockroaches and keys?
Are we that love Grace not desperate enough?
Are the words we pray not the right ones?
Is it that we don’t we rely totally on your strength?
Is Grace’s problem too big for you to handle?
Are you only able to work with cockroaches and keys?

God, I’m taking the road less traveled on this one.
As far as I’m concerned
there was nothing miraculous
about the cockroaches disappearing and the key turning.

Every day really bad things happen
to people of deep religious faith
who pray using all the right words.

Yet implacable, monstrous, mysterious evil remains.

That doesn’t mean that I don’t believe in prayer,
or that I don’t pray,
or that I don’t believe in miracles.

I pray to thank You for the miracle of this planet,
the miracle of life, of modern medicine;
the miracles of hope and generosity
and kindness and friendship and wonder
And understanding.

I pray to thank You for spending time on the earth with us.
Because of your life I can believe in justice
and forgiveness, the end of suffering, and happy endings.
I pray to thank You for the fact that this world is not my home
and my mistakes and foolishness and awkward selfishness
do not separate me from your love.

I pray for wisdom and thoughtfulness and compassion
and perseverance and a loving spirit.
I pray that my prejudices don’t blind me to suffering,
and that I will always do right because it is right.

Finally, I want to thank you
for my my companions,
on the Road Less Traveled.
It has truly made all the difference.

*An 8-year-old friend with an inoperable brain tumor

ah
11/09

BY REQUEST: OUR COMPLETE POLL LIST

As long-time readers of RTAW know, it has been tradition since this blog's early days to post opinion polls on the sidebar. Certainly not scientific by any stretch, it's still a good way to "take the temperature" of our varied and unpredictable reading audience, which fluctuates, and to an extent reflects Adventism's diversity. Recently, I was asked by email whether every poll we've ever done could be posted. Well, the answer is yes. Below is the complete list, with links to each poll results, starting with the most recent poll first.

What was the biggest Adventist news for 2008?
RESULTS HERE

Proposition 8, if passed, would amend the California State Constitution to define marriage as ONLY between a man and a woman. Do you vote yes or not on this amendment?
RESULTS HERE

If you could change one or two things about your church to make it more friendly to outsiders, what would it be?
RESULTS HERE

In today's society, which of these is the MOST 'morally acceptable' behavior?
RESULTS HERE

What is your understanding of 'Sabbath,' 'Sabbaths' or 'Sabbath days' in Colossians 2:16?
RESULTS HERE

Do you believe God created the universe in six literal days as stated in Genesis?
RESULTS HERE

What is your opinion of the risque artwork found on Spectrum Magazine's March cover, which depicts a semi-nude female body?
RESULTS HERE

Does the Adventist World Church discriminate against women?
RESULTS HERE

I observe the sabbath by (various practices/customs listed)...
RESULTS HERE

What type of Adventist do you consider yourself to be?
RESULTS HERE