Bringing Disrepute to the Seventh-day Adventist Name

Ellen White talks about a class who bring “the name of Seventh-day Adventists into disrepute” (Testimonies, Vol. 2, p. 533). This is used to describe people who do things that harm or defame the Seventh-day Adventist name. It refers to acting in a way that is viewed as inappropriate or contrary to the standards of the name they are supposed to uphold. There are behaviors that ought to cause us shame. And when we have churches or other organizations that use the name Seventh-day Adventist while not actually embodying what the name means, they bring the name Adventist into disrepute. We cannot project one thing and then fail to adhere to those standards.

Earlier this week, we published a report along with a video of the Mr. & Miss Intramurals event that was hosted by the Adventist Technological Institute (ATI) located in the Philippines. The video we posted on Facebook has gone viral and is causing many to spread a lot of misinformation. Basically, some are trying to dismiss the wild music and worldly dancing by saying that ATI isn’t an Adventist entity anymore. They are diminishing the relationship of ATI with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. And since it is not connected to the church, as alleged, somehow this is supposed to be okay for Adventist Technological Institute to bring the Seventh-day Adventist name into disrepute with their public apostasy. 

But I don’t believe that the relationship between ATI and the Church has been eliminated, and you shouldn’t either. This claim is an attempt to deflect and excuse this worldliness and make of no effect the counsels of God. We’ll explain why we must not downplay the seriousness of ATI’s hosting of the 2023 Mr. & Miss Intramurals celebration and why we must speak out against this heresy.

You can’t pick and choose whether or not to be affiliated with the church based solely on convenience. You are not allowed to specify when you are or are not a Seventh-day Adventist. And it is interesting that we want to downplay ATI’s connection to Adventism when discussing  their apostasy. However, they don’t downplay those connections when other church-sponsored or church-led events take place on its campus. You cannot speak to one group in one way and act in another with another group.

So telling fellow Seventh-day Adventists that this bedlam of noise and worldly activities taking place on ATI’s campus is nothing that we need to worry about because they are no longer Seventh-day Adventists is not the right response because ATI does have an affiliation with the church. And secondly, the idea that it is okay for ATI to blaspheme our name in the eyes of society because, as it is asserted, they are no longer Seventh-day Adventists is the wrong response because that is not what is being projected to the world. The general public is being led to believe that ATI and the Seventh-day Adventist Church have a close relationship. That is what the public sees. That is the message that is being conveyed. And it is the right message because ATI and Adventism are affiliated.

When the world sees ATI’s partying, loud music, and dancing, they associate all that with Adventism. The world sees the hypocrisy and the inconsistencies. It’s our people who can’t see this. It’s our people who make excuses. It’s our leadership that is neglecting their duty to reprove sin and correct evil.

So here we have an institution that wants to be with the world, is currently using the name Adventist, and wants to pick and choose when to highlight their connection to the church and when to play politics by saying, “We are not connected to the church.”

Listen, you are either in or you are out. There is no middle ground. Either you are, or you are not. You can’t have it both ways. ATI used the name “Adventist” with their blasphemous 2023 Mr. & Miss Intramurals competition. They are associating Adventism with apostasy. They are misusing the name, which is supposed to reflect certain principles and values that are consistent with the faith. And church members are okay with that?

Instead of excusing this abomination, church leaders should take some responsibility, assume their spiritual duty, and put these sins out of the camp by not allowing this distortion of truth to be associated with our name. But nobody does anything. Pride, fear, ego, slothfulness, apathy, blame shifting, and the lack of accountability will only contribute to the rapid spread of sin and disobedience.

Let’s look at the facts.

• There is a Seventh-day Adventist community within the administration at ATI. [1]

• ATI does, in fact, publicly support Seventh-day Adventist leaders by hosting church events on their campus. [2]

• ATI promotes the Seventh-day Adventist lifestyle. [3]

• ATI promotes other church-owned institutions. [4]

• ATI quotes from the writings of Ellen G. White. [5]

• ATI supports the Union’s work of revival and reformation. [6]

• ATI supports the Seventh-day Adventist Pathfinders. [7]

• ATI is currently allowed to blaspheme the church’s name with impunity, while other faithful Seventh-day Adventists are being sued in federal court for trademark infringement.

You may wish to believe that ATI has nothing to do with the church or that it isn’t affiliated in any way. You may have somehow accepted the lie that if ATI dropped the word “Adventist” from its name, somehow that would erase its affiliation with Adventism. The truth is that there are dozens of church-owned and church-affiliated entities that don’t use the terms “Seventh-day Adventist” or “Adventist,” and it doesn’t change their connections to the church. The truth is that ATI is just as Adventist as our local Seventh-day Adventist churches are. Not only does the world perceive that—they are not fooled—but God does as well. Notice what will happen if we excuse apostasy, promote it, or do nothing to purify and sanctify the family of God:

“Those who have had opportunities to hear and receive the truth and who have united with the Seventh-day Adventist church, calling themselves the commandment-keeping people of God, and yet possess no more vitality and consecration to God than do the nominal churches, will receive of the plagues of God just as verily as the churches who oppose the law of God. Only those that are sanctified through the truth will compose the royal family in the heavenly mansions Christ has gone to prepare for those that love Him and keep His commandments” (Manuscript Release, Vol. 19, p. 176).

The days of providing excuses for apostasy have to end. We have become experts at making excuses and minimizing the gravity of sin. When the truth is being publicly slandered before the church and the world, and when others are being carried away by wrong examples, it’s not time to make rational arguments and justifications for this evil. An immediate response to stop this apostasy is needed to avoid further damage to the cause of Christ, both inside and outside the church. That is the only appropriate response to this matter. Enough of the excuses. The path to hell is lined with people who make excuses.

Sources

[1] https://www.facebook.com/ATIGyud/posts/pfbid02tncYdjbpgQsK7quWYuyF5MExHGfa32osQ7Z845uQw7y44Re47WcJfspMJLmUYZYel

[2] https://www.facebook.com/ATIGyud/posts/pfbid024X1hsacMmJbprrUZsr9iC7WZVCH4qZwGHt4i3Y1rQmHSBEK6A7msPrKNPbyb6CkAl

[3] https://www.facebook.com/ATIGyud/posts/683717791736391

[4] https://www.facebook.com/ATIGyud/posts/656461591128678

[5] https://www.facebook.com/ATIGyud/photos/a.249459065162268/539338102841028

[6] https://www.facebook.com/ATIGyud/posts/749508091824027

[7] https://www.facebook.com/ATIGyud/posts/pfbid02GEdM4nKs1R5gGKVQU2H5csNLE2nrDeSspRyJjZR41xeazpGJdTZSFeEQcXcBqrGZl