Such terms as social justice, environmentalism, and man-made climate change have become vulgarisms to many conservative Christians, including some Seventh-day Adventists. This is primarily due to the association of these causes in certain minds with ideologies believed to be hostile to Christianity. But what too many are forgetting is that the enemy of all righteousness is a master at mingling truth and error, and that truth thus mingled doesn’t cease to be truth because of such mingling.
This week I noted an online article which described the imperative of living out the principles of God’s kingdom while we wait for the physical establishment of that kingdom at Jesus’ second coming [1]. This imperative was especially underscored relative to issues of social injustice and humanity’s exploitation of the earth’s natural resources [2].
But when we read the Bible, it’s hard to find any tension at all between practicing the principles of God’s kingdom—social and otherwise—and preparing for the return of Jesus. After all, our Lord’s parable of the sheep and the goats is quite clear that readiness for the second coming will be determined by how we treat the vulnerable (Matt. 25:31-46). The problem arises when inordinate emphasis or studied neglect is attached either to the kingdom’s here-and-now imperatives or its future reality.
How Not to Hasten the Advent
The author of the article quoted earlier writes as follows:
I have heard Adventists say they don’t need to care for the earth or be concerned with climate change. They state that there is no reason to conserve water or recycle because it will all burn in the end anyway. Some have even proposed that our neglect of the earth will hasten the coming of Christ [3].
Actually, it is true that unrighteous deeds—such as neglecting needful care of God’s natural creation—will in fact hasten the return of our Lord. Righteous deeds, of course, accomplish the same thing. The book of Revelation speaks of two spiritual harvests taking place when Jesus comes—one of the righteous, the other of the wicked:
And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle.
And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a load voice to Him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in Thy sickle, and reap: for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
And He that sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
And another angel came out of the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud voice to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God (Rev. 14:14-19).
Obviously, genuine Christians want to be part of the first harvest, not the second. But the ripening of both harvests results in the hastening, and ultimately the fact, of Jesus’ physical return to this earth.
No true Christian would want to indulge in, or facilitate, the exploitation of the natural environment as a way of hastening Jesus’ coming, any more than a true Christian would want to hasten Jesus’ coming by engaging in self-love, covetousness, pride, blasphemy, disobedience to parents, ingratitude, unholy conduct of any sort, or embracing a form of godliness without the power—all of which are listed by the apostle Paul as signs betokening our Lord’s return (II Tim. 3:1-5).
The article in question correctly notes that “humanity was charged with the care and keeping of the earth back in Eden” [4], and rightly states that “if we disregard our responsible stewardship of the earth and its resources, we are neglecting a command of God from the beginning of time” [5]. In fact, not only were human beings commanded in the beginning to care for God’s natural kingdom (Gen. 2:15); the Bible also states that those who inflict harm on that kingdom will suffer divine punishment when Jesus comes back:
And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that Thou shouldest give reward unto Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear Thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth (Rev. 11:18).
So while it is true that Jesus’ coming is hastened by the ripening of both righteous and wicked harvests, by evil as well as good deeds, none of us would wish to be among the wicked and evil whose conduct brings the Advent closer. And indeed, the above verse from Revelation is clear that those who destroy God’s earth will themselves be destroyed in the final execution of divine justice.
Fighting—and Defining—Injustice
The article in question goes on to say:
Another example of living out the kingdom of God is how we encounter systems of injustice. These systems can show up in our workplace, in the church, in our family systems, in relationships, just to name a few. Unjust systems are revealed when people groups are marginalized. Marginalization and bias usually show up in policies and practices that benefit some at the expense of others. . . . Just as we are stewards of the earth, so we are stewards of each other. We are our brother’s keeper. When people have the kingdom of God within them, they will begin to do the work of dismantling systems of oppression [6].
One finds it hard to dispute any of the above observations; indeed, the Bible is full of exhortations against the economic, judicial, and social mistreatment of persons different from ourselves. The fact that some who deny the authority of God’s Word have embraced such causes is no proof whatsoever that Christians should eschew them. To fight injustice is very much a divine command to all who bear our Lord’s name.
We must be careful, of course, not to allow the world to define for the church what is just or unjust. There are those, for example, who desire the church to accept within its fellowship persons who disregard Biblical standards of sexual morality, and who call unjust the discipline and removal of such persons from the faith community. But while the church has no divine mandate to impose by force Biblical standards of consensual sexuality on those not accepting Biblical teachings—our Lord being clear that His kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36)—it is imperative that the church uphold within its ranks the Biblical model of gender order and sexual purity. Economic, racial, and social distinctions are all a product of the age of sin. Gender and sexual roles, by contrast, come to us from the Creator’s hand in a sinless world (Gen. 1:27; I Tim. 2:12-13).
Conclusion
While Scripture never promises a perfect earthly society before Jesus comes, it does in fact promise the earthly perfecting of Christian character for those desiring to meet Him in peace when He does come:
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess. 5:23).
But thou, O man of God, flee these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;
That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Tim. 6:11-14).
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? ...
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless (2 Peter 3:11-12,14).
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure (1 John 3:2-3).
The Old Testament prophet Zephaniah foretold this end-time perfecting of character in the following passage:
The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies, neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth; for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid (Zeph. 3:13).
Echoing this Old Testament promise, the apostle John writes in Revelation of those who will be translated without seeing death at the return of Christ:
And in their mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God (Rev. 14:5).
And Biblical faultlessness is both social and personal; it enjoins obedience to “every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). The article in question declares, quite correctly: “Whether it be in our stewardship of the earth or our stewardship of our fellowman, we are called to be kingdom-of-God ambassadors in all we do” [7]. But Biblical stewardship, while certainly including the above imperatives, encompasses more than this. It includes the Biblically-guided stewardship of our physical health, our material resources, our sexuality, our emotions—indeed, all that lies within our possession and power. Those Christians who urge needful attention to social and environmental causes while neglecting or subverting in any way the transcendent authority of God’s written counsel (Isa. 8:20; Acts 17:11), have effectively undermined their moral credibility, whatever the issue might be.
REFERENCES
1. Krystalynn Westbrook-Martin, “The Second Coming: 50 Years or Less?” Spectrum, May 15, 2024 https://spectrummagazine.org/sabbath-school/the-second-coming-50-years-or-less/
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
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