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Some critics suggest that contextual (JC) discipleship ministries lead to syncretism, that is, religious mixing.* This is debatable. But let's assume that this is actually the case. Then we must admit that many practices and teachings in today's Christian churches are also syncretic from an Adventist perspective. Two are particularly striking: Sunday observance and belief in the immortal soul. Both have their roots in antiquity. The latter even repeats the lie that the serpent told Eve on the tree (Genesis 1:3,4). These two syncretic tenets will play a crucial role in the final confrontation of the great struggle.* With these introductory thoughts, let us now examine four case studies.

Case Study 1 – The Adventist Spiritual Legacy

The book From shadow to light enumerates a host of individuals, along with a number of movements, considered spiritual ancestors by Adventists: the Waldensians, John Wyclif and the Lollards, William Tyndale, Jan Hus, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, John Knox, Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, Thomas Cranmer, the Huguenots, the Wesley brothers and many others. Almost all were Sunday keepers and most of them believed in the immortal soul. So they were syncretic Christians. In addition, some believed in total or partial predestination, most did not baptize adults, some believed in consubstantiation (i.e., the union of the body and blood of Jesus with the bread and wine), and not a few persecuted other Christians who differed from their understanding of the faith deviate

God calls His disciples in context

Two questions arise. First, when calling these individuals or groups, wasn't God also working in a Young Men's ministry sense? (See part 1/July 2013) Wasn't he also calling disciples in their context? Actually, how many of these noble men and women fit into the picture of full truth as Adventists understand it? Yet God seems to have overlooked the gaps in their faith. He dipped his hands in the mud of medieval religion and theological darkness in a process of re-creation to win men and women who, like the people of Nineveh, longed for something better. Then he began to slowly restore the truth. That's what every JK service is about. You meet people where they are and lead them step by step along the path of truth, as far as they can follow, as slowly or quickly as they can, not an inch further, not a second faster.

Second, if God has been patient for centuries before the light of truth was fully restored in Christianity (Proverbs 4,18:XNUMX), why do we expect emergency measures and all-or-nothing approaches to working with non-Christian peoples?

The history of the Reformation, of particular concern to Adventists, shows that (1) God encouraged JK ministries and (2) in restoring truth, every step in the right direction is indeed a step in the right direction. Each of these steps is therefore a blessing and not a problem. JK ministries are valid because they are aligned with God's example of practice!

Case Study 2 - Adventists and Contemporary Protestantism

Adventists rejoice in their Protestant heritage and consider themselves part of the Protestant family. Sometimes they go to extremes to prove they are real, Bible-believing evangelicals. Adventists spend thousands of dollars sending their ministers to training courses offered by other churches. Ellen White advises us to pray with and for other ministers. She says many of God's children are still in other churches. We believe that many will not join the Adventist movement until close to the close of probation. All of this indicates that we regard other Protestant churches as places where genuine spiritual life of faith can develop and where God's spirit is at work despite theological deficits.*

We measure with double standard

This raises an important question: How is it that we assume genuine faith in a fellow Protestant who eats unclean meat, drinks wine, breaks the Sabbath, thinks he is saved always saved, the moral law is abolished and man has an immortal soul? Maybe he even thinks the Adventists are a cult! But do we deny a person who holds all Adventist beliefs just because he recites the Shahada, the Muslim creed, and reads the Koran?

What logic! Christians seem to draw an in many ways artificial dividing line between Christianity and all other religions. Perversions of the gospel are readily accepted; they wear a Christian robe. However, genuine spiritual revivals in the Nineveh style are denied any credibility because they do not bear the label "Christian". This is the trap Adventists should beware of!

I therefore maintain that those who see their fellow Protestants as brothers and sisters in Christ should be even more open and affectionate towards JK disciples. Although they do not call themselves Christians, they have a salvation relationship with Jesus and often follow the truth better than many Christians.

Case Study 3 – Adventists and Movements Beyond “Truth”

A third case study concerns the spread of "Adventist" teachings outside the immediate Adventist setting. As the Adventist Church expands rapidly, teachings considered Adventist are making great strides outside of the Adventist Church. For example, today there are over 400 Sabbath-keeping communities. In the Anglican communion, the subjects of "hell" and "life after death" have been studied intensively, so that today several outstanding Anglican theologians advocate the doctrine of conditional immortality. Should we be sad that these groups are not converting en masse to Adventism? Or do we rejoice that "our" teachings are reaching non-Adventist circles? The answer is too obvious to elaborate.

Anyone who rejoices when non-Adventists embrace "Adventist" teachings should also rejoice when non-Christians embrace more than that through a JC ministry! JK ministries take our faith outside of the confines of the Adventist Church in a way no other ministry has done in the past century and a half. Instead of worrying about the growing number of JK services, we have every reason to be happy.

Case Study 4 - Other Adventist Young Men's Ministries

A fourth case study should also dispel any doubt that Young Men's ministries may conflict with the Adventist spirit. Through the years, Adventists have provided a number of ministries to improve the physical and spiritual quality of others without having their membership as a goal.

Smoking cessation

A classic example is the 5-Day Quit Smoking Plan.* Thousands of these courses have been conducted among Christians and non-Christians alike. For some, this program was the beginning of a long journey that eventually led to membership. For the vast majority, however, the smoking cessation plan was just that: a smoking cessation plan. The authors of the plan cleverly included messages about God in the hope that even if the participants did not join the church, they would still begin a relationship with God.

disaster and development aid

A similar philosophy is behind the welfare projects. When Adventists provide disaster relief and development work in areas where Christian mission is considered a crime, open evangelism is out of the question. Still, there is always hope that the Adventist spirit reflected in daily life will have its influence, that it will be a silent witness to the effectiveness of the gospel. We do not expect this testimony to inspire others to join the church. We do hope, however, that it will sow seeds that will bring into the hearts of non-Christians a clearer image of God, a better understanding of the plan of salvation, and a greater respect for Jesus in the context of their culture and religion.

media programs

TV and radio broadcasts work in a similar way. When the Advent message is broadcast in lands closed to the gospel, the best the church can hope for is that a tiny fraction of the listeners or viewers will make a public confession and join the Adventist Church. But we expect that far greater numbers will either accept Jesus quietly and secretly, or recognize some biblical truth and come to a more biblical worldview in the context of their own culture or religion.

Selfless service always justified

What am I trying to say? The 5-Day Quit Smoking Plan, disaster and development relief, media programs broadcast to closed countries, and similar services are essentially JK services, although the community doesn't call them that. They are JK ministries because they develop beliefs in context, beliefs that may never translate into formal membership. We rightly help others quit smoking, love God, read the Bible. Various ministries rightly teach good things, even though their students remain nominally non-Christians! Therefore, it is perfectly legitimate to impart all Adventist beliefs and to offer baptism in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit even to a person who remains nominally non-Christian.

The Identity Question

So far we have found JK ministries to be consistent with the Bible and the Adventist understanding of the church. Because God wants to change the lives of all people, whether Christian or non-Christian, because they are His children.* Adventists emphasize even more than most Christians that God is at work everywhere, even in the darkest corners of this world where the gospel hardly ever appeared openly. In the face of such enlightenment, why do we encounter resistance to JK services?

I believe the answer lies in the word "identity." This does not mean the identity of the JK believers, but our own self-understanding as Adventists. Over the past 160 years, the Adventist Church has developed into a very close-knit and closed spiritual community. We have a clearly defined faith and a precise understanding of our end-time purpose.*

Fear for our self-image

This self-image is questioned by JK services. If a faith develops in a non-Christian context that stops at basic theological truths, we can praise the Lord because this does not threaten our self-understanding. However, when that faith reaches a more mature theological level and includes baptism but is not accompanied by church membership, then our self-understanding as Adventists is called into question. Are JK Believers Adventists? If so, why don't they join the church? If not, why are they baptized?

So the real question is: How do we relate to people who are like us but don't belong to us, especially when we are the ones who got them to this point? That this is the real question is clear from the manner in which critics cite the church handbook. But how often do we quote the church handbook when it comes to the validity of other Christians' beliefs? It's not about whether JK believers are legitimate believers. The real question is how we want to approach them. It affects our self-image, not theirs.

transition structures?

This tension is evident in the terms we use to describe JK movements. Two terms stand out. The term "transition structures" suggests that a JK service is in a transition state. So when the time comes, it is expected that he will be fully integrated into the community. The term also shows that the church wants to closely monitor and control all developments. This language reflects our problem with our self-understanding. The term "transitional structures" implies that we do not want these people to remain near-Adventists. Sooner or later we must do something to ensure that they are fully received into the bosom of the Church!

Such terminology is more harmful than useful. At the grassroots level of the Adventist Church, this could foster divisions as other ministries emerge that do not fully agree with the church policies as formulated in the church handbook. In addition, transitional structures raise serious questions at the administrative level. If JK services are transition structures, when should the transition be complete? How fast should it be and how should it be implemented? Are we diluting our identity if we don't make JK believers members immediately?

Duped?

The notion of "transition" is also difficult for JK believers to understand themselves. At what point should JC believers learn that they have become Seventh-day Adventists, even though they were unaware of it? Will they feel betrayed for not knowing the full truth of their new identity from the start? Will some turn against the faith they have embraced?

Anti-state secret operation?

In addition, transitional structures can lead to problems with religious and/or state authorities. If JK services are just a front for the Christianization of non-Christian ethnic groups, they will be regarded as anti-state secret operations. This could damage not only these services, but also the official community structures in the host culture. There are many problems with the concept of transitional structures, and serves more to our desire for JC believers to join the Adventist Church than to serve the needs of JC believers.

parallel structures?

Another term used for JC organizational structures is "parallel structures."* This term is already better than transitional structures because it allows room for a JC movement to exist permanently alongside the Adventist Church without at some point full strive for transition into the Advent family. But even the idea of ​​parallel movements or parallel structures is difficult. It suggests that the Adventist Church sees itself as a permanent model and permanent overseer, indeed that it desires administrative connections. As a result, we then face the same problems as with the transitional structures, although not to the same extent.

Autonomous Organizations

It seems to me that the best way forward is if we view JK movements that have emerged from JK ministries as distinct organizations with their own context-adapted structures. JC believers cannot fully conform to Adventist expectations. Attempting to establish organizational links will create friction on both sides. Nineveh can serve as a model here. Jonah ministered there, and when the people responded to his message, a reform movement emerged with the king at the head. This movement by no means petered out immediately. We do not know what forms and structures this movement took. One thing is clear, however: She had no administrative ties to Jerusalem or Samaria.

efficiency and resilience

If we take Nineveh as a model and let JK moves stand in their own right, there are certain benefits. First, a JK movement can develop the organizational structure that best suits its societal sphere of activity. The four-tier hierarchy that has proven very successful in the Adventist Church may not necessarily be the best model in a non-Christian culture. A distinct JK movement, on the other hand, is agile and adaptable.

Second, a JK movement can naturally mature as an insider movement, without external considerations having a lasting effect on this maturation. In other words, the movement can take shape in its environment without having to constantly question whether these forms are acceptable to the Adventist church leadership, which is completely uninvolved in this movement.

Third, a JK movement can function as a mature insider movement without fear of being discovered or exposed. A JK movement with a strong independent identity can rightly feel that it represents its culture. It is then not a camouflaged attempt at Christian infiltration.

risks and opportunities

On the other hand, an organizationally independent JK movement also harbors dangers. The biggest is that the host culture and worldview has diluted the biblical worldview and in the end a syncretic movement has emerged that eventually loses its reformative power. Of course, venturing into uncharted waters with the gospel always involves risks, and history provides many examples of how the gospel has been compromised by adaptation. Yet what victories can be won for the gospel as one goes ahead despite risks! They far outweigh the casualties we suffer as we passively wait by the wayside, hoping that the closed folk groups will one day open up to the more familiar C1-C4 methods [see Part 1 of the article]. They also far exceed the losses that a JK service suffers when made dependent on processes and structures located in another part of the world where there is little understanding of the local situation. As we establish and nurture Young Men's ministries that can ignite independent Adventist insider movements, we give the Holy Spirit the greatest freedom to bring about beautiful developments in people groups long thought unreachable.* The contemporary Christian scene offers examples that such ventures can be successful (e.g. Jews for Jesus).

There will certainly be some degree of osmosis between a distinct JK movement and the Adventist Church. Adventists who are called to serve in the ministry will convert and serve in various levels of leadership in the Young Christians movement. In turn, JC believers who have matured theological understanding and see beyond the immediate structures the larger picture of God's work will enter the Adventist Church as individuals when circumstances permit. Open collaboration between the two entities can be encouraged where appropriate. But the Adventist Church and a Young Men's movement can move side by side in the same direction and yet be entirely self-contained.

Conclusion

This article has looked at various case studies from the Bible and Church history. Are JK movements problematic? In a way, yes, because a JC believer does not fully live up to what Adventists expect of a mature believer. Are JK services eligible? The answer is a double yes. While JC believers may not become as theologically mature and literate as we would like, we find plenty of similar examples in the Bible and in church history. There people were touched by the Holy Spirit and blessed by God who also did not reach full maturity in their theology or their understanding of doctrine. Ultimately, what matters is not whether a JK ministry leads people to full knowledge, but whether it reaches them in their communities where there is little Bible knowledge, and then gently guides them through Bible truth from darkness to light, out of ignorance to a living relationship with God. This and not the perfection of the end result gives JK services their justification. Are JK services offered? Again, the answer is a double yes. The great commission commands us to take the gospel to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people. C1-C4 models are biblically the best and should be implemented wherever practicable. But in a context where such a model does not bear fruit, Adventists should be creative and pursue models that work. YC ministries have proven effective in adverse circumstances, making them not only valid but imperative if the church is to fulfill its gospel commission.

Today many Ninevites live scattered all over the world. From the outside they appear sinful, degenerate, depraved, and spiritually blind, but deep down, thousands like the people of Nineveh yearn for something better. More than ever we need people like Jona who, no matter how hesitant, will take the big step: step out of their comfort zone and do unusual things. In doing so, they trigger movements that are also unusual and may never join the Adventist Church. But they satisfy the spiritual hunger of precious, searching souls and lead them to a relationship of salvation with their Creator. Meeting that need is a gospel commandment. If we don't let the Spirit move us, we betray our mission! Then God will not hesitate: He will call others who are ready to go.

Part 1

Many references have been omitted from this article. There is a * in these places. The sources can be read in the original English. https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/jams/.

From: MIKE JOHNSON (pseudonym) in: Issues in Muslim Studies, Journal of Adventist Mission Studies (2012), Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 18-26.

With kind approval.