For a people who expect to stand before kings, we spend very little time running for office.
Our hesitation makes sense. Adventists have long believed church and state should stay separate, because when they merge, conscience usually loses. History proved the point. Between 1885 and 1896, more than a hundred American Adventists were prosecuted under Sunday laws. R. M. King, a Tennessee farmer, went to jail after a conviction for Sunday ploughing. In 1895, seven Adventists in Rhea County, Tennessee, served on a chain gang. Add our reading of Revelation, which warns of government power turned against faith, and Jesus’ words to Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world,” and many of us decided politics was no place for a believer. That caution has kept the gospel from becoming a party platform.
Scripture also gives us a long line of believers in government who did good. Joseph ran the food supply of Egypt and saved a region from famine. Daniel served Babylonian and Persian kings without giving up his prayers. Esther was told she might have come to the kingdom “for such a time as this.”
Then there is Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the council. His position gave him access the disciples didn’t have, so he went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. The honour of that burial came through a seat at the table.
Today, Papua New Guinea’s prime minister, James Marape, is a lifelong Seventh-day Adventist. He has said, “God has placed us in different mission fields. I’m placed in society where other church members aren’t placed.”
So yes, more of us should serve, with clean hands and a clear Sabbath. Our first loyalty belongs to the King whose kingdom is not of this world, and any office we hold is a place to honour Him.
Image: Simon Bening, Joseph of Arimathea Before Pilate, about 1525 to 1530, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Simon_Bening_(Flemish_-_Joseph_of_Arimathea_Before_Pilate_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg (cropped, text added)
Head over to Adventist Today for current events, analysis, and opinion on all things Adventist.
