Anxiety seems to be at a record high. In the US, the share of children aged 3 to 17 with diagnosed anxiety rose from about 7% in 2016 to almost 11% in 2022. When Pew asked American teenagers what the biggest problems were among people their age, 70% said anxiety and depression, ahead of bullying and drugs. Younger generations are feeling it more, and they’re also more willing to say so.
None of us is immune. Anxiety is part of everyone’s life at some point.
Our health message gives us a real head start. Sleep, good food, exercise and rest are all things we’ve preached for 150 years. But Adventism done badly can add a kind of anxiety all its own: the worry about whether you’re saved, whether you’ve done enough and whether you’ve done it well enough.
That isn’t biblical, and it isn’t Adventism at its best. At its best, our faith puts grace first, with salvation through Jesus alone and our eyes fixed on Him. “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). John wrote his letter so believers “may know that ye have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). He wanted them to know it, not just hope for it.
BarelyAdventist wants to be a place for that kind of Adventism, one that’s confident and even exuberant. We can live in blessed assurance, knowing we’re saved and knowing that God is “a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1), including today’s trouble.
We’re on the move, in a good way.
Photo: Katia Miasoed / Pexels (https://www.pexels.com/photo/17397003/)
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