OUR CURIOSITY is aroused as we notice a man standing beside a conveyor belt with packages going past him. He has several large rubber stamps in his hand. Look there! He is stamping one of the packages now. It reads "Adventist," in bold black letters. Another one goes past. We look again and see the word "Vegetarian." We linger long enough to see one more which reads "Approved."
As we walk away we reflect upon this strange procedure. Finally our curiosity overcomes us. We must know what this is all about. We return to the basket at the end of the conveyor belt and pick up one of the packages. No one seems to notice. This one is stamped "Vegetarian." We open it and to our surprise the contents are eight ounces of specially treated, decontaminated, dehydrated ham. What is this? A mistake? This is mislabeling.
Now we wonder, What about the other packages? So we open another that contains reels of film and is stamped, "Approved for showing at Blank Union College." We read on—the titles "Intrigues and Triangles" and "The Best of Seven Husbands," produced by Metro Myer Goldtone, based upon a novel by Ernstine Navaro.
Another package we open is labeled "Adventist— recommended for theology students." Inside is a book entitled "How to Make Your Congregation Feel Guilty" (for the young minister, the psychology of getting action without disturbing too much), by Dr. D. D. Freudson, professor of psychology at TMT and author of "Psychoanalyzing by Para- Puncture."
You look at me and I at you. We must be dreaming! "Well, dream or not," you say, "open this one." It reads, "Evangelist—An Approved Method." Inside is a treatise, provided, it says, by "Courtesy of the Conference on Reaching the Masses, by the Franciscan Fathers." The title reads "Tried and Proven Techniques for Activating the Will and Establishing Faith by Subtle, Hypnotic Parameters."
"This can't be! It isn't real!" There's one more package. I blurt out, "You open it, I can't. My hands are trembling too much." It seems to contain blank certificates for pastors. We read, "Approved, December, 1985, by the G.C.A. Committee on Human and Family Relations." We read on—"Indulgence to Divorce and Remarry Through Justification by Baptism When Approved and Signed by the Pastoral Administrators."
Our minds are in a whirl. We walk slowly away, oblivious to almost everything. We open the door and step outside. You finally stop, turn toward me and say, "Do you suppose they had any idea back in 1975 that the decisions they made then would lead to this?" "No, I suppose not." After several moments of silence I remark, "You know, we have a new magazine coming out. But I don't think I'll tell you about it now. It would be just too much—too much—after what we have just seen."
Impossible? Extrapolation would say that if time were to go on, it would be^possible. If our thinking were to change in the next decade as much as it has in the past one, it is possible.
If nothing changes, you, the present leaders, will pass off the stage of action. This is to be expected. I have seen several sets of leaders come and go, but now it is different. We can see some terrible conditions ahead. The world is not the same—the restraints are all gone, integrity is gone—men act like demons, possessed.
If society and the economy and the processes of civilization collapse, which they will, the scenes that will transpire are beyond description and imagination. The church is in for some very sad and disillusioning experiences. Contrary to what some may think, many laymen are very disillusioned right now. Look around and see the signs. What will it be when further deterioration occurs?
There is only one thing that can prevent such a picture as we have portrayed from becoming reality. The only hope is for the church to arise, now, as one man, and separate from the things that separate us from God. The only hope of this occurring soon is for you, the leaders, to arouse and in turn arouse your brethren, the rest of the ministry. Then, they in turn must arouse the church.
I am convinced that this is no fanciful, intangible idea. It is what is needed. We do not listen to the prophet. We have never really listened. Hadn't we better start listening now as we should have listened while she was alive? This is our only hope. Stop dreaming, there's no other way. True, the prophet used different words, but the picture is there. Separate from the slime and corruption of this world, or face the horrible consequences.
There is no condemnation. It is a plea. This is the Advent message. It is right, but we don't have much more time. The handwriting is on the wall. Can we read it? Do we understand it? Oh, we need so much a united church instead of a divided church. We need one that has the mind of God. Unity, yes, but on God's terms, not ours.
It all resolves into just two choices. It is total Adventism or total evolution. There is no other possibility. Evolution has nothing at all to offer. Its concepts have produced the collapse we see coming—everything is coming to a dead end. it is a miserable failure. Then, what is left? Nothing except Adventism. So let's have the fire in the stubble and whatever is necessary to bring it about. What could be more reasonable than to take Adventism in its totality, realizing that when Adventism is mixed, even to a slight degree, with any other concept, it is no longer Adventism? It is a fraud, a deception, and a trap designed to desensitize one's mind to danger and immobilize him in a train of thought that will carry him to destruction
