15 November 2001 editorial:
Three-headed Monsters

Larry Kirkpatrick

It makes for an interesting point to reflect upon: in Revelation God's church is represented as a human woman; opposing entities as various beastial forms. Some of them have multiple heads.

In the Bible we learned that Christ is the head of the Church. Or do we learn it? Two different ecclesiologies seem to vie for our minds. The fundamental difference is whether Christ is really the head or not.

In the divine plan Jesus is the head. Competing plans tend slyly to add human heads alongside the divine Head, at least the illusion of such. Satan will accept no co-headship in his kingdom though. When we make any human the head we are displacing Christ. Antichristos, the Greek basis for the english word antichrist has two meanings, one being that which is opposed to Him, and the other meaning that which is in His place. An antichrist can be either or both. The church is never the head, not of the true church, for Christ is always the head of the true church. But a false church will represent its leadership as the head of the church in whatever form it takes.

Our consciences are bound to the true head, to obey Him. We submit to Him and His plan and His truth. The truth is never defined by the neck or the thumb or the buttock. Truth is defined by the head. Church counsels are not meant to define truth; administrative meetings are not supposed to be events where the people of God overrule the truth of God. Truth cannot be constructed from nothing and voted into being as truth; truth is truth because it harmonizes with Jesus.

There seem to be those suggesting that because they hold some position "in the church," they have been granted the prerogative of defining truth.

They have not.

The church is under Christ, her head. He is the truth, He alone defines truth, or transmits the truth He has already defined, to us. He uses the inspired writings to do this. And that means that when we are reading the Bible, when we are reading the Spirit of Prophecy writings, we are listening to the voice of Jesus, the voice that itself has already defined the truth for us. A sound Adventist ecclesiology can only be one where the church discovers truth already defined; never will we create a truth. We are not the head, nor are we co-heads. Our model of church governance proposes no three-headed monsters attached to the body of the church.

Pastors and teachers and administrators in the church need to get their marching orders from the Head. Their ultimate fealty is to the Chief Shepherd Jesus, and nobody else at any level holds trump card against that. We must be willing to function under His headship. The church is represented as the betrothed of the Savior. The wedding (investigative judgment), we are told, is presently under way. Isn't it interesting that some are opposed to the idea of headship and want to create their own truths on this point? Could it be that the model of church governance they prefer would elevate them to head-status or co-head, or do the same by eliminating any distinction between head and body altogether? And the parallel between the investigative judgment and the wedding is also important. To deny the investigative judgment is to deny that the divine Groom has gone in to the wedding, even to deny the occurrence of the wedding. These are telling and testing truths (investigative judgment and headship). Could the antagonism against them today stem from the same source?

The church must avoid making more monsters. Enough of these exist in the religious scene already without our adding an Adventist variant. A serious formula for revival and reformation in the church will always mean that we submit to Jesus' leadership of the church; we cease from any plastic-surgery on the head and body of the church that would graft our faces into the divine space. Let elbows be elbows. Let's hear what God has to say to us through His speaking in the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy writings, and be determined to follow His authority. Let's interpret them through principles of interpretation derived from them, not imposed upon them. May our fealty be always to our Lord as head, and may we choose no human agency's interposition in the place of Christ. God grant that the Seventh-day Adventist Church organization shall cleave ever more completely to the model outlined above.

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.