Controversy rages in certain circles of Adventism regarding the extent to which sensitivity to diversity, equity, and inclusion should drive the church’s agenda. Some, perhaps many, who promote these concerns reflect similar concerns in segments of society as a whole. There are those in the church who denounce these concerns as the product of certain political, cultural, even allegedly anti-Christian ideologies.
Especially has this become an issue in certain Seventh-day Adventist colleges and universities, some of which have established offices with the specific goal of facilitating diversity, equity, and inclusion in various aspects of institutional life and leadership. Some who believe these initiatives to be the product of outside, even nefarious influences are demanding that these offices be abolished and such endeavors brought to an end.
But regardless of the labels and philosophical crosscurrents which may influence this discussion, Seventh-day Adventist Christians have a God-given, Bible-driven agenda which supersedes societal polarization and conflict. To the extent that we permit cultural and political priorities to dilute and even determine our moral and spiritual witness, we lose the transcendent authority which only the written counsel of God provides (Isa. 8:20; Acts 17:11).
“Every Nation, and Kindred, and Tongue, and People”
Diversity, equity, and inclusion cannot be ascribed to some postmodern cultural fad. The origin of these imperatives traces to the earliest chapters of the Bible, and extend throughout the Sacred Narrative. In the original call of Abraham, God declared to the future father of the faithful: “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:3). Following Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac on Mount Moriah, God repeated this promise to him (Gen. 22:18), as He later did to Jacob when the latter fled from his homeland (Gen. 28:14).
In Israel’s later history God gave the assurance: “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him” (II Chron. 16:9). The universal reach of God’s saving initiative is affirmed again in the prophecy of Isaiah, where God stated: “Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people” (Isa. 56:7). Several chapters later we again find such a promise, in which God’s glory is promised to His people with the result that “the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising” (Isa. 60:3).
At Jesus’ dedication in the temple, Simeon declared that the Savior’s mission would be “a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of [God’s] people Israel” (Luke 2:32). In His later healing of the Roman centurion’s servant at Capernaum, Jesus declared that “many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 8:11).
The apostle Paul declared to the Athenians that God has “made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth” (Acts 17:26), and hearkened back to the original promise made to Abraham when he wrote: “And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed” (Gal. 3:8).
It should thus not come as a surprise to Seventh-day Adventists that in the proclamation of God’s last warning to humanity in the messages of Revelation 14, the scope of this proclamation is to include “every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people” (verse 6). A more diverse, equitable, and inclusive message would be difficult to find anywhere!
Few sins in the human story have proved as degrading and horrific as racism and its attendant injustices. Perhaps most perverse of all is the role played in the commission and perpetuation of these crimes by professed Christians. Lack of candor in the acknowledgement of this painful, embarrassing reality, whether historical or contemporary, is in no way an option for members of the great Advent movement, whose divinely-authorized, divinely-empowered mission is to become—and invite all others to become—“they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Rev. 14:12).
“Neither Male Nor Female”
God’s agenda of diversity, equity, and inclusion doesn’t stop with race or ethnicity. It involves gender as well. Again, in the apostle’s words: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28).
Like mistreatment based on race, mistreatment based on gender has left its dark stain on the human experience in general and the saga of Christendom in particular. The abuse and exploitation of women—in the home, the church, and society at large—has left a heartbreaking, grotesque trail of tears and suffering. The witness and work of the Biblical gospel must both call out these injustices and facilitate the establishment of measures whereby such conduct is prevented before it happens and corrected if in fact it does happen.
God’s Parameters: Gender and Sexuality
At the same time, no moral agenda or goal can be defined or sought by the Seventh-day Adventist Christian outside of the guardrails set by the inspired text. Whatever label it wears, whatever quadrant of the cultural or political spectrum from which it arises, no standard of justice or morality qualifies as Christian unless it passes muster with the Word of God.
Regarding issues of gender and sexuality, this principle is especially relevant. Gender is the only distinction between human beings that traces back to a sinless world. Neither racial, social, nor economic stations can claim such origin in Holy Scripture. But gender distinctions do. “Male and female created He them” (Gen. 1:27), the Bible says. Transgenderism, as some conceive of it today, finds neither echo nor justification in Scripture. Male and female are the only genders recognized in God’s order.
These distinctions, with their varying roles as designed at creation, represent the image of God in humanity (Gen. 1:26), together with the relationship of Christ to His church (Eph. 5:22-25). This distinction, which traces back to the Godhead as well as the original created order on earth (I Cor. 11:3; I Tim. 2:12-13), forms the basis of divinely-designed gender authority in both the home (Eph. 5:22-25) and the faith community (I Tim. 2:12-13).
When it comes to gender, in other words, Biblical equality is not the same as identical or interchangeable roles. The roles of a father and a mother in the home are certainly equal in importance, but these roles are not the same. This is true in the fellowship of faith as well. Men and women both play an imperative, indispensable part in fulfilling the gospel commission. But as in the home, the original order of creation defines the variance between these equally important roles (I Tim. 2:12-13).
Without question, the leadership role God has given to men in spiritual matters has suffered tragic abuse since the Fall. The same is true with the relationship God has established between parents and children (Eph. 6:1; Col. 3:20). But merely because abuse has occurred in such relationships does not invalidate the order God has established in these relationships. True Christianity, in particular Seventh-day Adventism, must rise in unqualified condemnation of the dreadful abuse inflicted on so many women by professedly Christian men. But as with the abuse of children by parents, the answer to such misdeeds is not the obliteration of the lines of spiritual authority God has drawn in these relationships. Diversity, equity, and inclusion as designed in Scripture do not abolish these distinctions or the authority that goes with them.
In matters of sexuality the same principle holds. Sexual fulfillment as depicted in the Sacred Pages is designed solely for expression between one man and one woman in the context of heterosexual marriage (I Cor. 7:2). Same-gender sexual intimacy is condemned without qualification in both Old and New Testaments (Lev. 18:22; 20:13; Rom. 1:26-27; I Cor. 6:9-10; I Tim. 1:10).
As with all behaviors defined as sin in the inspired text, the Bible-believing Christian must treat all offenders with the spirit of redemptive love, especially in the exercise of church discipline. But in the pursuit of diversity, equity, and inclusion, neither gender confusion nor sexual fulfillment outside the Bible’s parameters can in any sense be tolerated within the believing community. In no Seventh-day Adventist congregation or institution can endorsement be granted, or a blind eye directed to, any club or organization that views such identity or relationships as an acceptable choice for church members, faculty, or students in good standing.
God’s Parameters: Church and State
Contrary to the claims of certain contemporary Christians [1], the separation of church and state is not a “myth” created by the secular mind as a means of marginalizing religionists in the public square. Indeed, it was Christ Himself who first articulated this principle. To those seeking to trap Him into defying the Roman authorities, Jesus declared: “Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s” (Matt. 22:21). And to Governor Pilate, whose sole concern in the adjudication of Jesus’ case before him was whether or not Jesus was fomenting political revolution (Luke 23:2), our Lord declared:
My kingdom is not of this world: if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is My kingdom not from thence (John 18:36).
Ellen White elaborates on the above declaration of Jesus in the following, very insightful statement:
But today in the religious world there are multitudes who, as they believe, are working for the establishment of the kingdom of Christ as an earthly and temporal dominion. They desire to make our Lord the ruler of the kingdoms of this world, the ruler in its courts and camps, its legislative halls, its palaces and market places. They expect Him to rule through legal enactments, enforced by human authority. Since Christ is not now here in person, they themselves will undertake to act in His stead, to execute the laws of His kingdom. The establishment of such a kingdom was what the Jews desired in the days of Christ. They would have received Jesus, had He been willing to establish a temporal dominion, to enforce what they regarded as the laws of God, and to make them the expositors of His will and the agents of His authority. But He said, “My kingdom is not of this world.” John 18:36. He would not accept the earthly throne [2].
In light of this principle, it becomes clear that what a non-theocratic society regards as diversity, equity, and inclusion can rightly involve an entirely different agenda from what is facilitated and fostered by the church. In a Bible-believing faith community, diversity of thought and action are governed by what the written Word endorses and allows. But in a non-theocratic state, where religious and private moral choices cannot rightly be dictated by civil government, citizens are not required to adhere to Scripture or any other sacred text as a prerequisite for citizenship. It is imperative that Seventh-day Adventists keep these spheres of authority distinct and separate.
Conclusion
No Seventh-day Adventist Christian should fear, much less loathe, the terms diversity, equity, and inclusion. We simply need to define and apply them in harmony with the teachings of God’s Word. Where the definition and application of the above terms places us on some secular cultural or political continuum is none of our concern. Faithfulness to the sacred text, not to some non-religious ideology—regardless of the philosophical direction from which the latter arises—is the sole agenda of those proclaiming God’s last message to the world.
REFERENCES
1. David Barton, The Myth of Separation: What is the correct relationship between Church and State? (Aledo, TX: Wallbuilder Press, 1992).
2. Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 509.
Pastor Kevin Paulson holds a Bachelor’s degree in theology from Pacific Union College, a Master of Arts in systematic theology from Loma Linda University, and a Master of Divinity from the SDA Theological Seminary at Andrews University. He served the Greater New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventists for ten years as a Bible instructor, evangelist, and local pastor. He writes regularly for Liberty magazine and does script writing for various evangelistic ministries within the denomination. He continues to hold evangelistic and revival meetings throughout the North American Division and beyond, and is a sought-after seminar speaker relative to current issues in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He presently resides in Berrien Springs, Michigan