Young Adventists aren’t asking a hundred different questions. They’re asking one: Can this church tell the truth about itself without panicking?
They’re watching what happens when uncomfortable realities surface—about LGBTQ members, women’s leadership, mental health, abuse, racism, or doubt—and noticing how quickly the room tightens. How often the instinct is to manage the conversation instead of enter it. To issue statements instead of listen. To preserve calm rather than pursue clarity.
The pattern is familiar. When honesty threatens control, we spiritualize caution and call it faithfulness. We warn against “division” when what we really fear is exposure. We reassure ourselves that silence equals unity, even as trust quietly erodes.
What young Adventists see—often painfully clearly—is that the church isn’t allergic to questions. It’s allergic to the vulnerability required to answer them honestly. Questions don’t scare institutions. Loss of certainty does.
But here’s the hopeful truth: a movement born from radical Bible study, dissent, and reform should not be startled by self-examination. Panic is not a fruit of the Spirit.
Hope doesn’t mean pretending everything is fine. Hope looks like leaders who can say “we don’t know” without losing authority. Communities that can admit harm without rushing to self-defense. A church confident enough to believe that the Spirit still works when the conversation gets messy.
If Adventism can relearn how to tell the truth about itself—out loud, without flinching—it might discover that honesty doesn’t weaken faith. It renews it.
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