25 October 2001 Editorial:
Unplugging the Incubator

To incubate is "to maintain at optimal environmental conditions for development," according to my dictionary. According to the Spirit of Prophecy, God has His own people, "His church, to be His own, His own fortress, which He holds in a sin-stricken, revolted world" (Testimonies For Ministers, p. 16). Accordingly, He intends "that no authority should be known in it, no laws be acknowledged by it, but His own" (Ibid.). And yet, certain conditions were reached in the church in recent decades especially, that created the right environmental so that certain ideas could be coddled and incubated in her. In the place where God's authority alone is to be acknowledged, a safe, shadowy place has been available for the promotion of error.

What are some of the conditions that fueled this capacity to incubate where there ought not to have been any?

Surely certain attitudes are among the conditions that make that possible. "God would not let anything too bad happen, He would simply overrule first." "I cannot make a difference by interacting with church leaders about my concern anyway." "The church is already given over to the enemy, so it is useless to do anything now." Let's consider some of these points for a moment.

"God would not let anything too bad happen, He would simply overrule first." This is a dangerous assumption. It proposes that God will intervene to save us from ourselves -- something by no means that we can count on. Such an attitude takes the prize of human conscience and free will much more lightly than God does. History is littered with countless examples of God letting people have what was not good, but granting them the error of their ways. How would we ever learn if He kept heavy-handedly swooping in like Batman and intervening just when we were about to learn something about consequences flowing from actions and decisions?

Following Him is a voluntary course. We can cleave to our natural pathway and He will permit us. We must not presume upon His mercy. I am sure there is no surer way to discover our folly than to try to force God's hand on the basis of an assumption that we know better than He what He shall do.

"I cannot make a difference by interacting with church leaders about my concern anyway." If you hold this view, then you are a fatalist. You are a Calvinist. Everything is predetermined and you are just meaningless dust on the side of the road. We may all make a mighty difference, now more than ever. Do you expect them to tell you, "Hey, you're getting under our skin. YouÕre the third person today to call me about ____." Or, "That is the fourth letter this month about ____." You make ALL the difference. Your voice is part of heaven's deep plan for proper church governance. You are the last hope, for it is up to each one of us individually to determine that "no authority" or "laws" shall be acknowledged in her but God's own. You can remain faithful and be an anchor for truth.

Wherever you are.

And you can be that with a loving attitude. Nothing will carry greater force or make a larger difference.

"The church is already given over to the enemy, so it is useless to do anything now." This is another fatalistic answer, but it is one based only on partial knowledge. We do not know what is happening six churches over and four churches up on the chart. And, I would rather be found working while the collapse occurred than standing by watching the collapse occur. Few ever averted disaster by determining that there was no hope of making a difference because it was too late. The heroes were always found working against all odds, even when there seemed to be no odds for victory. Yes, some of them went down in the ruin too. But they died in the line of duty. They exemplified nobility rather than resignation.

So, should you hear these three excuses, either dropping from someone else's lips, or issuing from the recesses of your own mind -- and should you begin to incline more to watch as the tower collapses than to step up to the emergency and act -- take heed what you are hearing, and readjust your listener. Heaven would have an active church, a people of hope. They should stand in the gap, even when no one else will. An environment has developed in recent years that has left certain errors to develop and grow and threaten us as a people. May you yourself be a steadying force, unbending in your convictions of truth, unyielding when error sings her seduction song, unmerciful to every false innovation and poisonous ideological pestilence walking among us, and unremittingly loving toward all so deceived by the devil and taken captive of him to do his will. Firm and yet kind, resilient and yet unbending, Adventist, not falling into the primrose path of political-correctness.

In doing these things, we will impact and chop away at one part of the incubational atmosphere that has permitted so much to run loose for so long. We will put on the brakes that ought to have been applied long years ago. Then our Father can work. Think about it. And act. Find the Father's line, and stand on it. Be a faithful watchman on the wall. We want to see His working. Let not a one stand in the way, but rather may we each clear the King's highway at this time. The air is fresh with new possibilities for His church. Samuel Pipim and I were talking earlier this week, and he said, "Thank God for giving us the internet!" I am of the same conviction. It is a new day in which to work righteousness. It is a new day in which to chase evil. It is the hour to pull the plug on the incubator and watch our Father renew His authority in His church.

Pastor Larry Kirkpatrick is an ordained minister of the gospel. Since 1994 he has served in the American Southwest as pastor to several churches. He received his BA in Religion from Southern Adventist University in 1994 and a Master of Divinity from Andrews University in 1999 with a specialization in Adventist Studies. While in Michigan he was employed by the General Conference at the White Estate Berrien Springs branch office. More important than his scholastic preparation has been his immersion in the biblical and Spirit of Prophecy materials. He is author of the 2003 book Real Grace for Real People. Presently he serves as Pastor of the Mentone Church of Seventh-day Adventists, located near Loma Linda, California. Larry is married to Pamela. The couple presently live in Highland, California along with their two children, Etienne and Melinda.