One Friday evening a stranger walked into the church to share his concerns with me. The church, he said, was in a state of apostasy, because we no longer preached the "straight testimony." He charged that pastors did not even know what it was. I told him, "The straight testimony is calling wrong wrong." He was surprised I passed his test.
"The straight testimony," Ellen White wrote, "must be revived, and it will separate those from Israel who have ever been at war with the means that God has ordained to keep corruptions out of the church. Wrongs must be called wrongs. Grievous sins must be called by their right name."1 "The plain, straight testimony must live in the church, or the curse of God will rest upon His people as surely as it did upon ancient Israel because of their sins. God holds His people, as a body, responsible for the sins existing in individuals among them. If the leaders of the church neglect to diligently search out the sins which bring the displeasure of God upon the body, they become responsible for these sins." 2
I gave him only the answer he wanted to hear. There is much more to the "straight testimony," some of which would have surprised my visitor. Many Adventists know that the "straight," "pointed," or "living" testimony is pointing out sins in the church, and that it brings the shaking among God's people.3 Yet few seem to realize that among the sins the "straight testimony" refers to are those of criticizing church leaders and faultfinding.
Hurting the body of Christ
Some assume that the "straight testimony" is condemning church members for not practicing Christianity in their daily lives. In support they quote this statement: "There is still another class who have had great light and special conviction, and a genuine experience in the workings of the Spirit of God; but the manifold temptations of Satan have overcome them. They do not appreciate the light that God has given them. They do not heed the warnings and reproofs from the Spirit of God. They are under condemnation. These will ever be at variance with the straight testimony be cause it condemns them." 4
But the context of this statement provides a different picture. The context is a discussion about "the rebellion" of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Ellen White deals with dissension in the church, murmuring against God's appointed leaders, and sympathizing with those who take an independent course of action. The failure to practice Christianity that evokes the "straight testimony" includes a failure to work in harmony with the body! "It is hardly possible for men to offer a greater insult to God than to despise and reject the instrumentalities that He has appointed to lead them." 5
The "straight testimony" exhorts individuals within the church to desist from taking their own course of action independent of the body! But many miss this point when they read the "straight testimony" with someone else's address on the envelope. Consider the following message, for example: "According to the light that God has given me in vision, wickedness and deception are increasing among God's people who profess to keep His commandments. Spiritual discernment to see sin as it exists, and then to put it out of the camp, is decreasing among God's people; and spiritual blindness is fast coming upon them. The straight testimony must be revived, and it will separate those from Israel who have ever been at war with the means that God has ordained to keep corruptions out of the church. Wrongs must be called wrongs. Grievous sins must be called by their right name. All of God's people should come nearer to Him and wash their robes of character in the blood of the Lamb. Then will they see sin in the true light and will realize how offensive it is in the sight of God." 6
This passage is found in a testimony addressed "to a young minister and his wife," and how easy it is for some to direct this message at the church as a whole. The context reveals that the problem was the independent spirit of this particular ministerial couple. They wanted to do what they pleased. They did not want to yield to others. Soon this young pastor was murmuring, suspicious and jealous of other church workers. The entire chapter deals with murmuring, faultfinding, distrust, suspicions and jealousies against church leaders. Ellen White felt it necessary to point out the failings of this couple who were not in harmony with the church body. She gave them a "straight testimony."
As Ellen White says elsewhere, "Satan has his work to accomplish, and he brings his power to bear most strongly at the great heart of the work. He seizes men and women who are selfish and unconsecrated, and makes of them sentinels to watch the faithful servants of God, to question their words, their actions, and their motives, and to find fault and murmur at their reproofs and warnings. Through them he creates suspicion and jealousy, and seeks to weaken the courage of the faithful, to please the unsanctified, and to bring to nought the labors of God's servants." 7
It is easier to find fault with others than to correct our own. If we must find fault, we would do well to find it within ourselves. God is not pleased with those in the church who nurse their pet peeves, seek sympathizers, and pull away from the body. If we are inclined to point critical fingers at the church or its leaders, we might do well to look closer to home!
How to present the "straight testimony"
What does it mean to preach the "straight testimony"? Are we not being hard enough on sinners in the church today? Should our preaching include condemnation of specific sins of individual members within the church?
Ellen White speaks of certain principles involved in giving the "straight testimony." Here are some of them:
1. Be aware of the effect of sin on the church. "The plain, straight testimony must live in the church. . . . God holds His people, as a body, responsible for the sins existing in individuals among them. If the leaders of the church neglect to diligently search out the sins which bring the displeasure of God upon the body, they become responsible for these sins." 8
2. Mingle reproof with love and compassion. The objective of dealing with sin is to destroy the sin, not the sinner. Any surgical operation to remove sin must attempt to save the individual. "All are not fitted to correct the erring. They have not wisdom to deal justly, while loving mercy. They are not inclined to see the necessity of mingling love and tender compassion with faithful reproofs. Some are ever needlessly severe." 9
3. Make plain the truth with patience, and kindness. God requires that we show the same love, patience, and kindness toward those we reprove as God does toward us when we err. The truth needs to be made plain, but always in an atmosphere and spirit of love. The pulpit is an appropriate forum for dealing with corporate sins, but it is not the place to start with personal sins. God has ordained a method for dealing with personal sins in Matthew 18. As ministers, we would do well to remember that we too are sinners before we deal with sin among our members.
"We should ever bear in mind that we are all erring mortals, and that Christ exercises much pity for our weakness, and loves us although we err. If God should deal with us as we often deal with one another, we should be consumed. While ministers preach the plain, cut ting truth, they must let the truth do the cutting and hewing, not do it them selves." 10
1 Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church
(Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn.,
1948), vol. 3, p. 324.
2 Ibid., p. 269.
3 Ibid., vol. l,p. 181.
4 Ibid., vol. 3, p. 361.
5 Ibid., p. 355.
6 Ibid., p. 324.
7 Ibid., vol. 4, p. 194.
8 Ibid., vol. 3, p. 269.
9 Ibid., pp. 269, 270.
10 Ibid., vol. l,p. 383.
