Pastor and Mrs. Merlin Kretschmar, of Salvador, Brazil, related to me an interesting story. At a certain non-Adventist Protestant church business session a list of names was presented for church disfellowshiping. The first case involved a young woman who had broken the seventh commandment. All agreed that she should be dropped. The next case involved, not the breaking, but the keeping of the fourth commandment. Just before the vote was taken the church leader asked if there were any observations. A very influential woman stood and quietly walked to the front. Several staunch members of the church nudged each other as if to say, here is a person who would let those Sabbathkeeping offenders know just how wrong they are.
She turned to the group and made the following statement: "It seems unusual to me that we disfellowship one young person from the church for breaking the seventh commandment, and now are about to disfellowship another person for keeping the fourth commandment." This puzzling comparison created a condition of hushed attention. After a moment of silence, she further astounded the group by an announcement. She said she had been studying the message of Adventism and praying earnestly for God to lead her. She concluded by stating, "I want my name added to those being disfellowshiped since my heart is already with the Seventh-day Adventist Church!"
This story presents a unique angle relative to the judgment of those who condemn Sabbathkeepers. Most Sundaykeeping Christian denominations would certainly deal with a member who flagrantly violated the seventh commandment, or most any other commandment for that matter. Yet, the same judgment would be executed toward those who persisted in keeping the fourth commandment.
