Changes and challenges

When Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels secluded themselves in a Paris apartment to put the finishing touches on their Communist Manifesto, they could not know that across the Atlantic Ocean a common laborer—a member of their much-touted proletariat—was spending the winter chopping wood from dawn until dusk for 50 cents a day. Nor could they know that once the ideas they formulated had had their play in world politics, the laborer's ideals would stand ready to supply what their manifesto lacked.

James White spent the winter of 1847 and much of 1848 hauling stone, chop ping wood, and harvesting grain for two reasons. First of all he needed to support his family Ellen and their newborn son Henry. But some of the proceeds from his toil also went to assure that he and Ellen could attend the Sabbath conferences held in New York, Maine, and Connecticut that year. Out of those conferences grew a group with a manifesto far different from the one Marx and Engels drew up.

The year 1848 saw some other important events as well. And the parallels between what happened in 1848 and what is happening today are uncanny. Recognizing these parallels can help us respond to the opportunities that are opening up for spreading the gospel to areas that have long resisted its influence.

I believe that God called the Seventh-day Adventist Church onto the scene of history at an opportune time—a time when the world was ripe for change, a time when turmoil and the breaking down of the established world order would make people receptive to the mes sage the church would proclaim. And I believe that we are entering a similar time of change today. Surely we need to be ready to respond to the opportunities that come.

The year 1848 stands out in history as a year of significant events that would influence developments on a global scale right down to our day. In Europe it was the year of revolutions. From Spain to the western outskirts of the Russian Empire, the most powerful governments in the world came under attack in 20 separate uprisings. In North America the United States emerged victorious, and much enlarged, from the Mexican War.

That same year Ellen White had a vision of streams of light going out from her husband's publishing efforts to encircle the whole world. And in Hydesville, New York, the Fox sisters reported the mysterious rappings that gave birth to modern spiritualism.

The Communist Manifesto had little immediate effect in changing the course of history. It would take nearly 70 years for its principles to foment a sea change in world politics. And it would take nearly as long for the United States to begin to see itself as a world power capable of competing not only with New World rivals, but with the European great powers. It would take the Adventists who hammered out their basic belief system in 1848 another 15 years before they formally organized as a denomination, and 11 years beyond that before they tangibly embraced the vision of world mission that God began to give them in Ellen White's vision. Spiritual ism had its day in the last half of the nineteenth century, then waned, revived again in the 1920s, and waned again until its recent revival as part of the New Age movement.

The changing world

In an interview published recently in Time, Yugoslavian author Milovan Djilas was asked if he would compare the recent changes in Eastern Europe to the late nineteenth century. "The best comparison for me is the middle of the nineteenth century," he replied.

"You mean 1848?" his interviewer asked.

"Exactly," he answered. "But this time it is more important because the great powers have nuclear arsenals. In 1848 there were not many bloody revolutions in Europe, but Europe really started to change. Now the character of history is changing. The whole world will be influenced by what is happening in Eastern Europe. The West will not have to change its system, but it will have to adapt to these changes maybe one of the greatest events in modern history."

Change in 1848 moved at the plodding pace of an oxcart. Today it hurtles forward at satellite speed. The revolutions in East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania have done more to change world politics in one year than the revolutions of 1848 did in a decade. Even as I write this, word has come from Nicaragua of the fall of another Marxist-oriented government. And it has been less than a year since China, the world's most populous Communist nation, had to resort to dire and violent measures to suppress those calling for an end to Communism's repression there. Meanwhile in South Africa the foundational principles of apartheid came into open question and Nelson Mandela was released from prison.

Clearly the time is ripe for changes in much of the world. Times of change are times of opportunity for the spread of the gospel. It seems incredible, but the progress of the Advent message in places such as El Salvador, Peru, and the Philippines indicates that evangelization can sometimes go forward better amid turmoil than it can in seemingly more ideal circumstances.

The challenging world

In 1848 Adventists had time to react to a world order that slowly opened its doors to change. But doors that swing open today may not stay open for long. Some may, in fact, turn out to be revolving doors that never really swing open but still allow us to get in if we are ready at just the right time. In some nations the cessation of government controls on religion may actually make it more difficult for Adventists to evangelize because traditional religious bodies will step in to fill the power vacuum left by the downfall of local party bosses. Still, the times of turmoil and change present opportunities and encourage open-mindedness among the people.

Are we ready to step in and seize the opportunities?

The consensus of opinion among people with whom I have spoken who are familiar with Eastern Europe is that things are changing so rapidly there that it is difficult at this time to know how best to respond. In a future editorial I hope to be able to report in more detail about opportunities and plans.

If developments within the Soviet Union are any indication, we are in for some exciting times. In a recent inter view with Harold Otis, the man at the General Conference who oversees work in that nation, I learned that one of the aspects of Communism that Soviet citizens are calling into question is its emphasis on atheism. In fact, the ideological descendants of Karl Marx are now appealing to those who have carried on the ideas of James and Ellen White to help them instill basic human values among their people.

No doubt we will also encounter openness in other nations as atheistic dogma gives way to spiritual glasnost. But we must be ready to move quickly. We are not the only ones who want to capitalize on the waning of Communism. My re search into the New Age movement has revealed that spiritualism that other religious force that grew out of the events of 1848 is also making strong inroads in the Soviet Union.

The challenges of change, and the opportunities that change present, lie be fore us today. In 1848 James White and other pioneers of our church were willing to strive, struggle, and sacrifice to assure that the truth they knew could be spread to all the world. What sacrifices is the Lord calling us to make today in order to be sure that we do not miss the opportunities at hand ?

I'm praying that God will help me know what my response to that question should be. I invite you to join me in this prayer.