"An Ambassador in Chains"*

From Paul's letter to the Ephesians, chapter 6, verses 18 to 20 (Weymouth), we read:

Pray with unceasing prayer and entreaty at all times in the Spirit, . . . and ask on my behalf that words may be given to me so that, outspoken and fearless, I may make known the truths (hitherto kept secret) of the Gospel—to spread which I am an ambassador in chains.

We are a group of informed people and we do not need to be told that the General Conference is the highest authority in the denomination; that the union conference is an integral part of the organization, and that the local conference is the close-knit cutting edge of the worldwide machine of the harvest. The church that embraces these working organizations is not just another congregation, keeping Saturday for Sunday and holding other dogmas contrary to pop­ular opinion, but it is a great and mighty world movement, spoken into being by the Saviour Himself when He said: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations," "If ye love me, keep my commandments," "And, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."

The loyalty and devotion of one fortu­nate enough to be called to service in such an organization should become an irresist­ible and overmastering passion as we so clearly see the signs of Christ's return.

This charge of faithful ambassadorship has been passed on and on, down through the ages to this mighty hour—to us, the last in the line of the bearers of the good news!

Our predecessors have been cast out and flogged, stoned, burned, and beheaded for their loyalty to the gospel. Are we who are eyewitnesses of the stupendous and light­ning-fast fulfillment of Holy Writ possessed oL such loyalty today?

Much is said against the domination of any one man. And the wisdom of a few should not be regarded as sufficient to con­trol the work. But the Lord has given some very definite instruction through His serv­ant about working together:

By some, all efforts to establish order are regarded as dangerous—as a restriction of personal liberty, and hence to be feared as popery. These deceived souls regard it a virtue to boast of their freedom to think and act independently. They declare that they will not take any man's say-so, that they are amenable to no man. I have been instructed that it is Satan's special effort to lead men to feel that God is pleased to have them choose their own course independent of the counsel of their brethren. . . .

Some have advanced the thought that, as we near the close of time, every child of God will act inde­pendently of any religious organization. But I have been instructed by the Lord that in this work there is no such thing as every man's being independ­ent. . . .

Some workers pull with all the power that God has given them, but they have not yet learned that they should not pull alone. Instead of isolating themselves, let them draw in harmony with their fellow laborers. Unless they do this, their activity will work at the wrong time and in the wrong way. They will often work counter to that which God would have done, and thus their work is worse than wasted.—Testimonies, vol. 9, pp. 257-259.

Elder Figuhr, in his sermon at the Gen­eral Conference session, quoted the follow­ing paragraph:

God has not passed His people by and chosen one solitary man here and another there as the only ones worthy to be entrusted with His truth. He does not give one man new light contrary to the estab­lished faith of the body. . . . Let none be self-confident, as though God had given them special light above their brethren.—Ibid., vol. 5, p. 291.

We observe another statement right to the point:

I have been shown that no man's judgment should be surrendered to the judgment of any one man. But when the judgment of the General Conference . . . is exercised, private independence and private judgment must not be maintained, but be sur­rendered.—Ibid., vol. 3, p. 492.

For many years the brethren have invited the presidents and other leading men to counsel with the General Conference Committee. Full liberty of discussion is permit­ted and decisions are reached in unity and brotherly love.

Thus it becomes clear that every "ambas­sador in chains" is under the most solemn obligation of loyalty and faithfulness to the sacred work from which he receives honor, support, and security.

A man may have a right to little quirks of opinion in his personal study and devo­tion, but should teach only those things that are in harmony with denominational orthodoxy.

No man has authority to set up his own standards for our people. The messenger of the Lord says:

Take the Bible as your study-book. All can un­derstand its instruction. Christ calls upon His peo­ple to believe and practice His word. . . . Do not advocate theories or tests that Christ has never mentioned, and that have no foundation in the Bible. We have grand, solemn truths for the peo­ple. "It is written" is the test that must be brought home to every soul.—Gospel Workers, p. 309.

The denominational rules governing divorce, marriage, remarriage, baptism, and rebaptism should be obeyed. To depart therefrom is an act of disloyalty that em­barrasses the brethren and brings reproach upon the church. We may personally dis­agree with some of the policies of the Church Manual, but in interpretation and practice before our people, we have no other course than to follow it to the letter.

When a working program is outlined by the organization it should be honored by the ministry.

When the schedule calls for certain Sab­bath offerings, that schedule should not be altered.

To ignore, belittle, or oppose the plans and directions from the organization is the surest possible way to create a disloyal class of people in the church.

Can we expect those who are under our watchcare to be more loyal to us than we are to the brethren who are responsible for directing the work at home and around the world?

It is an awesome fact that the spirit of loyalty, or otherwise, within a church, a conference, or an institution quite accu­rately reflects the attitudes and the think­ing of those who are in charge.

When a worker finds himself in an em­barrassing or awkward position, it cannot but discredit the cause of truth.

There are so many ways to be disloyal: dereliction in duty; indisposition to exer­tion; ecclesiastical featherbedding; pursu­ing sidelines; running into debt and bor­rowing from the brethren; hinting for gifts; talking about being overworked; assuming an attitude of self-pity; and exhibiting an unhappy mood. (A black suit and sepul­chral solemnity are never trustworthy symp­toms of spirituality.) People in and out of the church will be attracted to the gospel by our complete dedication and unequiv­ocal devotion to duty. "An ambassador in chains" cannot turn back, even though he may suffer hardship, ridicule, hunger, wear­iness, imprisonment, or the loss of life it­self. He has embarked upon a long journey from which there is no return.

If one must insist upon teaching and working contrary to denominational ortho­doxy and policy, perhaps saying, "I am working for the Lord; no man is going to tell me what to do or preach," the only honorable course for him is to lay aside the sacred cloth and be freed from the chains of ambassadorship. We are all dif­ferent, and every man should have full freedom to preach and labor and get the task done in his own way. But may we never forget that we are ambassadors of the Lord Jesus—His personal representa­tives. Indeed, we are the most honored and the best cared for, and should be the hap­piest, the most serene and unruffled, class of individuals on the face of this troubled planet.

Do some question that the movement is of God? How else do we explain the ap­pearance of the most complementary arti­cles and news stories published about In-gathering for the past several years? Time magazine of January 19, 1959, carried the bald statement that Seventh-day Adventists have the largest number of foreign mission­aries of any Protestant society in the world —2,000 in 184 countries.

How did it happen that the struggling little church accepted the challenge to go into all the world, and simultaneously es­tablished an educational system to train people to go?

How did the servant of the Lord have wisdom to direct, before the turn of the century, that there should be local and union conferences to relieve the pressure on the leading brethren, when in all the world the membership was less than we have in Oregon today?

If God is not leading us, how do we ac­count for the phenomenal success and sta­bility of the movement, even though we who lead out are just ordinary human be­ings, prone to mistakes and apprehensions?

Now let us discuss loyalty to the breth­ren. The messenger of the Lord has told us that "the inhumanity of man toward man is our greatest sin."—The Ministry of Healing, p. 163.

A frightening statement. Is this sin greater than any other? That is what the servant of the Lord says, and surely it must be so. She also said:

The atmosphere of selfish and narrow criticism stifles the noble and generous emotions, and causes men to become self-centered judges and petty spies. —Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, p. 123.

Loyalty to the brethren must be the great­est virtue; it is power! How we have longed and prayed for power. Mighty sermons have been preached about power, and books have been written about it. Do we really want to know wherein there is power? Here is the answer in a few simple words:

The success of our work depends upon our love to God and our love to our fellow men. When there is harmonious action among the individual members of the church, when there is love and confidence manifested by brother to brother, there will be proportionate force and power in our work for the salvation of men.—Testimonies to Ministers, p. 188. (Italics supplied.)

We once knew a pastor who made a care­ful and laborious survey sometime after an evangelistic campaign, and seemed to delight in announcing to the brethren that only a small number of converts could be found. Perhaps the effort put forth, if placed in another direction, would have won some soul; or if the people had listened only to love and loyalty, more of them might have remained with us.

The evangelist may complain that the pastor has time on his hands and should take a greater interest. The departmental brethren may feel that the field workers take it easy, and the men in the churches and districts may envy the office people in their cozy rooms at headquarters. But we all know very well that every worker is under incessant and unremitting pressure, week in and week out, the year around.

Every worker has the right to know that he has the respect and love and confidence of the brethren, including the conference president. He should know that the presi­dent respects him and will defend him be­fore the brethren to the very limit of hon­esty and within the bounds of reason. As we labor together in an atmosphere of hap­piness and "brotherly love; in honour pre­ferring one another" (Rom. 12:10), great things will be accomplished. We accept the wisdom of Solomon when he said: "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones" (Prov. 17: 22).

There may be disrespect or disloyalty in a shrug, in silence, in assent, or in default. Some time ago a good sister was in the office and a certain brother was mentioned.

"He is one brother in the _________  Conference who does not drink coffee," she re­marked. I could have smiled and said noth­ing. That would have been much more restful! But I said I didn't believe that our ministers in ____  used coffee, that  I did not know of one who did. She became greatly agitated and talked at length in an accusatory vein. It was a warm discussion and I am not sure that I helped her, but I am quite sure she will not go out and tell her friends that I know all the preach­ers use coffee and won't do anything about it!

Just the other day I heard of a board member who was accosted by an irate pa­rishioner. "What does the board mean any­way; don't they have any judgment or con­sideration?" And on and on. As soon as our brother could interrupt he took com­mand and said, "Well, now, my good friend, I will defend every action of this board for as long as I have been a member." We thank God for loyal members of our boards and committees. We could wish that every member of every board and committee—church, conference, or institution—might have that attitude.

Sometimes we shrink from responsibility, perhaps wishing to preserve our personal popularity, and send dear people to the conference office or to the union president when we should have kindly pointed out in the first place that the answer was No.

It may be easier to let it go by default. But that is not loyalty. One writer has said: "A lie has no legs, and cannot stand; but it has wings, and travels with the speed of light." A true and loyal friend will protect us from every false or unkind word—real, borderline, hearsay, or imaginary.

"False friends are like our shadow, keep­ing close to us while we walk in the sun­shine, but leaving us the instant we cross into the shade." But "a faithful friend is the true image of the deity."

The name of Jonathan is treasured in heaven, and it stands on earth a witness to the existence and the power of unselfish love.—Education, p. 157.

Jonathan was heir to the throne, but after having been set aside, he shielded David's life at the peril of his own.

John the Baptist . . . stirred the nation. From place to place his steps were followed by vast throngs of people. . . . But when the One came to whom he had borne witness, all was changed. The crowds followed Jesus, and John's work seemed fast closing. Yet there was no wavering of his faith. "He must increase," he said, "but I must decrease." —Ibid.

Cicero, in the century before Christ, said of a friend: "You can trust him in the dark." A century and a half ago Edmund Burke wrote that "man is an animal that cooks his own victuals," which reminds us of these words from the book Education, page 235.

We think with horror of the cannibal who feasts on the still warm and trembling flesh of his victim; but are the results of even this practice more terrible than are the agony and ruin caused by misrepresent­ing motive, blackening reputation, dissecting char­acter?

What a little vain dust we are! A phi­losopher of another day left with us the baleful thought that the inaudible and noiseless foot of time moves in measured but relentless tread to wean men gently for the grave.

But we think not of doom. The Lord is coming! The clods of earth will burst asunder, the graves will be opened. We are enraptured by His sure promises and the evidences of their quick realization. In ecstasy of anticipation we will be loyal and true to God and to one another. It is time now, using the words of Thomas Jefferson, that "we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." Perhaps sooner than we think, dear people of God may be behind prison bars or hid­ing in the forests and the mountains.

If every worker of this great union con­ference would go out from this place and practice aggressive and belligerent loyalty, in all its lovely and various aspects, the people too would catch the spirit, and I dare say—I will say—that we would see a manifestation of power beyond anything ever experienced in the history of the church. Who knows? If a brother hears that all his fellow ministers are telling how good he is, he might live up to it!

Without loyalty to God and to the church and to one another, all is lost, and our preaching and our piety are in vain. We cannot change the past, but the future is before us.

Loitering slow the future creepeth;

Arrow-swift the present sweepeth;

And motionless forever stands the past.

In closing, let me bear testimony that I make no claim to perfection or personal piety. In shame does the memory of past failures grieve my heart. The words to which you have listened I have spoken to myself. I am the poorest of the poor, but through Christ's righteousness and by His grace I may at last receive His gentle bless­ing. Let 'us abolish "our greatest sin," and each be truly a reliable envoy, an honored and loyal ambassador in sacred golden chains. And nothing will make us more charitable and tender toward the faults of others as self-examination.

To thine own self be true,

And it must follow, as the night, the day,

Thou canst not then be false to any man.