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Messenger of the Lord

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    A Far-sighted Leader on Social Issues

    Ellen White maintained inspired balance in her counsel to church members, notably in regard to social responsibilities. The primary purpose and motivation for all Christian service is to proclaim the gospel of restoration. 33See pp. 257, 344. No single branch of Christian service is to become “all absorbing” so “that which should have the first place becomes a secondary consideration.” 34Welfare Ministry, 256.MOL 366.3

    The poor and disadvantaged. In reference to working for the disadvantaged she stated the principle of balance: “The great question of our duty to humanity is a serious one, and much of the grace of God is needed in deciding how to work so as to accomplish the greatest amount of good.... God does not require His workmen to obtain their education and training in order to devote themselves exclusively to these classes. The working of God is manifested in a way which will establish confidence that the work is of His devising, and that sound principles underlie every action.”MOL 366.4

    Ellen White saw the danger of focusing on certain kinds of social work “which will amount to the least in strengthening all parts of the work by harmonious action.” 35Welfare Ministry, 257.MOL 366.5

    While emphasizing her concern for balance and priorities, she made it clear that the Christian’s responsibility to the needs of others is as important as his or her duty to God. This may sound good in theory but more difficult to work out in practice. Too often Christians are more concerned with the first half of the Lord’s command: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart....” Compliance to the other half of Christ’s command, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39), has been “left to caprice, subject to inclination or impulse.” 36Christ’s Object Lessons, 382.MOL 366.6

    Genuine Christians realize that their religious profession has “little weight” before God or man if they “bend every energy toward some apparently great work, while neglect[ing] the needy or turn[ing] the stranger from his right.” 37Welfare Ministry, 383-384.MOL 366.7

    Christians also believe that when “self is merged in Christ, love springs forth spontaneously.” How is this spontaneity revealed? Ellen White declared: “The completeness of Christian character is attained when the impulse to help and bless others springs constantly from within.” 38Ibid. “Wherever there is an impulse of love and sympathy, wherever the heart reaches out to bless and uplift others, there is revealed the working of God’s Holy Spirit.” Welfare Ministry, 385.MOL 366.8

    To put the question of social issues in the sharpest focus, she wrote with unambiguous clarity that the judgment of all men and women rests on “one point.... When the nations are gathered before Him, there will be but two classes, and their eternal destiny will be determined by what they have done or have neglected to do for Him in the person of the poor and the suffering.” 39The Desire of Ages, 637.MOL 366.9

    How does this profound principle work? Note Ellen White’s focus on Isaiah 58, the chapter on the Christian’s responsibility for the needy and disadvantaged. 40In the Comprehensive Index to the Writings of Ellen G. White, approximately 200 references involve Isaiah 58. She frequently referred to the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah as the “message for this time, to be given over and over again,” and “the whole chapter is of the highest importance.” 41Welfare Ministry, 29-34.MOL 366.10

    Three “arenas of service” are depicted in Mrs. White’s voluminous counsel regarding the Christian’s responsibility to others. 42See Calvin B. Rock, “Did Ellen White Downplay Social Work?” Adventist Review, May 5, 1988. The first arena is the local church’s responsibility for its own congregation: “It is the duty of each church to make careful, judicious arrangements for the care of its poor and sick.” 43Welfare Ministry, 29.MOL 367.1

    The local community is the second arena: “Wherever a church is established, its members are to do a faithful work for the needy believers. But they are not to stop here. They are also to aid others, irrespective of their faith.” 44Welfare Ministry, 180.MOL 367.2

    The third arena is the world community, outside of the local community: “Any human being who needs our sympathy and our kind offices is our neighbor. The suffering and destitute of all classes are our neighbors; and when their wants are brought to our knowledge, it is our duty to relieve them as far as possible.... Our neighbors are the whole human family.” 45Welfare Ministry, 45, 46.MOL 367.3

    When Adventists today consider these three arenas, they think immediately of Dorcas societies, renamed in recent years as Community Services, and SAWS (Seventh-day Adventist World Service), also renamed in the 1980s as Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA). For example, during the relief services needed at the end of World War II, between 1946 and 1949, the General Conference relief organizations “provided more than 3,300,000 pounds of food and 1,100,000 pounds of clothing” to Europe alone. 46Land, Adventism in America, p. 178.MOL 367.4

    In 1995, ADRA, working in 142 countries, administered humanitarian aid (including donated material) that was valued in excess of $120 million. The budget of ADRA’s operations, based in Silver Spring, Maryland, exceeded $60 million. 47ADRA 1995 Annual Report. Adventist Development and Relief Agency, 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904, USA.MOL 367.5

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