Conflict and Conformity
149
Unity, but Not at the Cost of Conformity—Some who profess to
be loyal to God’s law have departed from the faith and have humiliated
His people in the dust, representing them to be one with worldlings.
God has seen and marked this. The time has come when, at any cost,
we are to take the position that God has assigned to us.
Seventh-day Adventists are now to stand forth separate and dis-
tinct, a people denominated by the Lord as His own. Until they do
this, He cannot be glorified in them. Truth and error cannot stand in
copartnership. Let us now place ourselves where God has said that
we should stand We are to strive for unity but not on the low level of
conformity to worldly policy and union with the popular churches.—Lt
113, 1903.
A Line of Demarcation—A deep and thorough work of reform
is needed in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The world is not to
be allowed to corrupt the principles of God’s commandment-keeping
people. Believers are to exert an influence that bears witness to the
power of heavenly principles. Those who unite with the church must
give evidence of a change of principle. Unless this is done, unless
the line of demarcation between the church and the world is carefully
preserved, assimilation to the world will be the result.
Our message to the church and to our institutions is: “Repent ye:
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (
Matthew 3:2
). The attributes
of Christ’s character are to be cherished, and these are to become a
power in the lives of God’s people.—MS 78, 1905.
Custom Is at War With Nature.—Our artificial civilization is en-
couraging evils destructive of sound principles. Custom and fashion
are at war with nature. The practices they enjoin and the indulgences
[560]
they foster are steadily lessening both physical and mental strength
and bringing upon the race an intolerable burden. Intemperance and
crime, disease and wretchedness, are everywhere.—
The Ministry of
Healing, 125, 126
(1905).
When Principle Is Not Violated, Follow Custom—When the
practices of the people do not come in conflict with the law of God,
you may conform to them. If the workers fail to do this, they will not
only hinder their own work, but they will place stumbling blocks in
the way of those for whom they labor and hinder them from accepting
the truth.—
The Review and Herald, April 6, 1911
.