I Think, Therefore We Have Nothing In Common

I LOVE this shirt. Sadly, it resonates with my Adventist experience.

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I’m not an Adventist careerist, so I have a mind of my own. The careerists hate that. So do the institutionalists.

The careerists succumb to the hive-mind in order to climb the corporate ladder. They can’t have a mind of their own if they want to make it to the top. If they did, they simply wouldn’t get promoted or elected. That’s not what they want. And if they can’t have a mind of their own, I think they resent anyone who does.

The institutionalists (often the careerists and the institutionalists are one and the same, although plenty of lay Adventists—okay most—are institutionalists) can’t stand the idea of change. And thinking leads to change. Opinions lead to change. In their minds, change is dangerous.

Both the careerists and the institutionalists utterly disdain people who question mediocrity.

It’s like Ed Crooks, a writer for the financial times, says: “When you’ve had a monopoly for a hundred years, and you’ve never seen change, change may seem like death to you.”

For over 100 years, the church has felt a monopolistic right to be a gatekeeper and the sole distributor of certain information. In many respects, I believe the institution feels that is has no competition and is therefore not compelled to pursue change; and when you’re thinking like that you basically have no reason to innovate.

What the thinkers among the Adventist church know (yes, there are more than Adventist leaders would lead you to believe) is that you can’t grow—cannot—unless you are willing to change. Growth is change. Change is growth. Lack of change is decline. Lack of growth is decline.

Yes, God never changes, but He is perfect. He doesn’t need to grow. He invented growth.

Want to add more people to your congregation? That’s growth. Are you adding more people to your congregation? That’s decline (be honest).

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