Holiday dinners have a way of turning otherwise reasonable Adventists into unpaid, uninvited panelists.
No one asks about church. But the wine comes out. The bacon sizzles. And someone casually mentions relaxed Saturday plans that don’t involve church. That’s when it hits.
Suddenly we feel the need to explain why we’ll be elsewhere. To justify. To preempt questions that haven’t been asked. So we start defending things no one attacked.
Let’s be clear: your non-Adventist relatives are not waiting for a bulletproof Sabbath argument between courses.
They’re watching something else.
They’re watching to see if you can relax. If you can listen without correcting. If you can sit at a table where people live differently—and not turn it into a moment.
They’re watching to see if the holidays can survive without you turning dinner into a 3ABN broadcast special.
This might be the only exposure they get all year to what Adventism actually produces. Not your doctrines—your demeanor. Does your faith make you freer, or just more fragile?
You can live the love of Jesus without launching the 28 Fundamentals. You can practice grace without cracking open an SDA Bible Commentary. You can give a gift without it feeling like a stealth tract.
The Sabbath does not need your defense at dinner. But love? Love sometimes looks like restraint, humility, and passing the rolls without commentary.
❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
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