everlasting-gospels.gif A Foundation For Cooperation-2
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April 19  A Foundation For Cooperation-2

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"Teacher," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us." Mark 9:38, NIV.

"Do not stop him," Jesus said, "No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us if for us." Mark, 9:39, 40, NIV.

Should we as Adventists unite our efforts publicly with those who have some truth along with some serious theological error? That is the question we raised yesterday.

Ellen White and other Adventists during the 1890s were well aware of the Sunday advocacy views of the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), but they sought to cooperate as much as possible with them throughout the 1890s.

Still other Adventists were not so sure that that was the right position. Alonzo T. Jones, for example, as editor of the Review and Herald unleashed a string of editorials suggesting that the WCTU was apostate and hadn't gone far enough in its opposition to religious intolerance.

The black-and-white mentality triggered a series of letters from Ellen White. As one who was willing to work within a certain amount of tension, she counseled Jones not tobe so hard and judgemental on those who didn't see things through Adventist eyes. "There are," she wrote, "vital truths upon which they have had very little light." As a result, "they should be dealt with in tenderness, in love, and with respect for their good work. You ought not to handle them as you do"(Lt 62 1900).

She noted that she was not arguing with the "real truth" of his position, but rather with his lack of vision, tact, and kindness. His approach, she claimed, would lead the WCTU members to conclude: "You see, it is impossible to have any union with Seventh-day Adventists; for they will give us no choice to connect with them unless we believe just as they believe"(ibid).

Thus she distinctly opposed such a black-and-white attitude. Rather, she noted, "we should seek to gain the confidence of the workers of the WCTU, by harmonizing with them as far as possible." They could learn things from us and we from them(ibid).

By way of contrast, she urged Jones not to represent truth as "so formidable" that other would turn away in despair. She pleaded with him to have "Chrislike tenderness" toward those who didn't see things like him(ibid).

How is my "tolerance quotient"? Does my approach to other who differ from me express "Christlike tenderness"?

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Help me, Lord, to be more like You in my relationships with all people.
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