Alliances between Christians and the outside world are discouraged and denounced throughout the Bible, but perhaps the strongest passage of this nature is a familiar one from the writings of the apostle Paul:

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part that he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? (II Cor. 6:14-16).

Most of the time, when Christians cite these verses, it is with reference to the issue of marriage between believers and persons not sharing their faith. But while marriage is certainly one very important question where the above passage applies, it is by no means the only one. Worldly connections of a spiritually compromising nature can be experienced in numerous other areas of life. The perils of the unequal yoke as described by the apostle Paul most assuredly extend beyond the marriage altar.

Labor Unions and Confederacies

One such issue where this principle applies is that of labor and commerce. Many Seventh-day Adventists are familiar with Ellen White’s warnings against involvement by church members with labor unions and confederacies. One such statement specifically associates this counsel with the apostle’s admonition against being unequally yoked with unbelievers:

The wicked are being bound up in bundles, bound up in trusts, in unions, in confederacies. Let us have nothing to do with these organizations. God is our Ruler, our Governor, and He calls us to come out from the world and be separate. “Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing. If we refuse to do this, if we continue to link up with the world, and to look at every matter from a worldly standpoint, we shall become like the world. When worldly policy and worldly ideas govern our transactions, we cannot stand on the high and holy platform of eternal truth [1].

The above passage makes reference, of course, to Second Corinthians 6:17, which immediately follows the verses cited earlier on being unequally yoked. Ellen White is clearly, in the above statement, including relationships with unbelievers in the arena of labor and business within the definition of the unequal yoke.

The larger principle on which the above counsel is based is further elaborated upon in the following statement:

There is to be no change in the general features of our work. It is to stand as clear and distinct as prophecy has made it. We are to enter into no confederacy with the world, supposing that by so doing we could accomplish more. If any stand in the way, to hinder the advancement of the work in the lines that God has appointed, they will displease God. No line of truth that has made the Seventh-day Adventist people what they are is to be weakened. We have the old landmarks of truth, experience, and duty, and we are to stand firmly in defense of our principles, in full view of the world [2].

In other words, whether romantically, professionally, or ecclesiastically, the unequal yoke is to be shunned. God’s people are not to make alliances with the world.

Other statements relative to the issue of labor unions and confederacies include the following:

Those who claim to be the children of God are in no case to bind up with the labor unions that are formed or that shall be formed. This the Lord forbids. Cannot those who study the prophecies see and understand what is before us? [3].

The trades unions and confederacies of the world are a snare. Keep out of them, and away from them, brethren. Have nothing to do with them. Because of these unions and confederacies, it will soon be very difficult for our institutions to carry on their work in the cities. My warning is: Keep out of the cities. Build no sanitariums in the cities [4].

The time is fast coming when the controlling power of the labor unions will be very oppressive. Again and again the Lord has instructed that our people are to take their families away from the cities, into the country, where they can raise their own provisions; for in the future the problem of buying and selling will be a very serious one [5].

These unions are one of the signs of the last days. Men are binding up in bundles ready to be burned. They may be church members, but while they belong to these unions, they cannot possibly keep the commandments of God; for to belong to these unions means to disregard the entire Decalogue [6].

But when we consider carefully the language of the above statements, as well as others, it is clear that Ellen White doesn’t merely have labor organizations in focus. These statements speak not only of labor unions, but of trusts and confederacies as well, and that all of these are to be eschewed by God’s people. The context of the last statement cited above especially underscores this point, making it clear that big business is as much the target of these inspired admonitions as big labor:

The work of the people of God is to prepare for the events of the future, which will soon come upon them with blinding force. In the world gigantic monopolies will be formed. Men will bind themselves together in unions that will wrap them in the folds of the enemy. A few men will combine to grasp all the means to be obtained in certain lines of business. Trades unions will be formed, and those who refuse to join these unions will be marked men [7].

Elsewhere she again cites Paul’s command to be separate from the world, and describes the controlling power of large business conglomerates in the same way as she describes labor unions, and forbids the people of God to be involved with them:

This is a wonderful age in which we are living. God is beholding the deplorable state of society. He requires those who believe His gospel to come out from the world. “Be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing.” . . .

God is the author of all that is good. He blesses the children of men with prosperity, and gives abundantly to them by causing the earth to yield her treasures. But what does He behold among the few educated and trained men of talent? Not many are working after the divine order. Yielding to temptation, they rule the markets and control the merchandise in accordance with Satan’s principles. They have the money which belongs to the people, the money which would give them a fair chance. God’s poor are left to suffer and perish, while men’s cupidity grasps every advantage [8].

In a similar statement she writes:

How long will the Lord suffer oppression of the poor that rich men may hoard wealth These men are heaping together treasures for the last days. Their money is placed where it does no one any good. To add to their millions, they rob the poor, and the cries of the starving are no more to them than the barking of a dog. But the Lord marks every act of oppression. No cry of suffering is unheard by Him. Those who today are scheming to obtain more and more money, putting in operation plans that mean to the poor starvation, will in the last great day stand face to face with their deeds of oppression and injustice [9].

Then she continues, with the words of another statement cited above:

Partnerships With Unbelievers Forbidden

It should be clear from the above counsels that Ellen White was not—as some have mistakenly believed—pro-business and anti-labor when she writes of the evils of unions and confederacies and warns our people against membership in the same. Not only does she forbid membership in labor unions, she very explicitly forbids Seventh-day Adventists to enter into business partnerships with unbelievers:

The world is to be warned, and God’s people are to be true to the trust committed to them. They are not to engage in speculations, neither are they to enter into business enterprises with unbelievers, for this would hinder them in doing the work given them [11].

God is testing His people to see who will be loyal to the principles of His truth. Our work is to proclaim to the world the first, the second, and third angels’ messages. In the discharge of our duty, we are neither to despise nor fear our enemies. To bind ourselves up in contracts or in partnerships or business associations with those not of our faith is not in the order of God [12].

Neither Anti-Labor Nor Anti-Management

Many years ago, the late Neal C. Wilson, then-president of the North American Division and later president of the General Conference, wrote an article in the Review and Herald on the issue of Adventists and labor unions. Addressing both the relevant Biblical principles and a great deal of the counsel of Ellen White on this subject, Wilson summarized the church’s position on this issue with the following balanced observations, among others:

1. The church considers its members under obligation to support a way of life that will provide for the social and economic security of employees and that will remove any justification for grievance, strife, or complaint.

2. The church is not anti-labor, nor is it anti-management.

3. Members who are employers should be counseled to stand apart from manufacturers’ or employers’ organizations that have as their objectives resistance to, or strife against, the labor movement.

4. Members who are employees should be counseled to stand apart from labor union organizations that have as their objectives resistance to, or strife against, management. This might include not accepting membership in such a body not directly participating in its financial support [13].

Conclusion

In short, the Bible-based message and mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church holds no animus toward the essential purpose of the business community, nor does it hold animus toward the aspirations of laboring men and women to fair wages and decent working conditions. The stance of the writings we hold sacred against alliances in either direction is based, first and foremost, on the Biblical command not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers (II Cor. 6:14-17), as well as on our unwillingness to participate in the strife and alienation that too often results from the goals and grievances of either management or labor.

No secular political or economic philosophy lies behind the inspired counsel relative to this issue. Rather, the principles behind this counsel are Biblical and spiritual in nature. We wish the best for all, employers and employees alike, as all are to receive the invitation to heaven’s pardon for sin and the divinely-empowered conquest thereof embodied in God’s last message to a dying world.

REFERENCES

1. Ellen G. White, SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 4, p. 1142.

2. ----Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 17.

3. ----Selected Messages, vol. 2, p. 144.

4. Ibid, p. 142.

5. Ibid, p. 141.

6. Ibid, p. 143.

7. Ibid, p. 142.

8. ----Manuscript Releases, vol. 4, pp. 72-73.

9. Ibid, p. 78.

10. Ibid (see also Selected Messages, vol. 2, p. 144).

11. ----Counsels on Stewardship, p. 38.

12. ----From the Heart, p. 320.

13. Neal C. Wilson, “Where We Stand on Labor Unions,” Review and Herald, May 22, 1969, p. 9

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