Danielle and Ben Fullerton desperately needed a newer car. The rusty, worn-out pile of metal and tires slowly dying in the driveway wasn’t as reliable as it once had been, and they had a baby on the way. One bright, fall Sunday morning they decided to start their search. Confident and hopeful, they set out scouring the city, scouting every dealership and flipping through every Auto Trader they could get their hands on. Too soon dusk pushed its way into the sky, and Danielle and Ben still hadn’t found anything that met their needs.

They wanted something bigger, something more comfortable, something with four-wheel-drive and anti-lock brakes, something reliable that would last a long time. Tired and disappointed, they puttered to the last dealership on the edge of town. Then they saw it. Heaven’s light seemed to beam down on this shiny, black, affordable, perfect vehicle. They couldn’t believe their luck! With angel choruses ringing in their ears, they hurried over to further examine their newly discovered treasure, not noticing the salesman with slicked-back hair who eyed them for a moment before sauntering in their direction.

“Hey there, folks, I see you found something you like.”

“Oh, yes, this is just what we’ve been looking for!” Danielle gushed.

The salesman looked them over. “Are you sure about that?” he asked skeptically. “I mean, how much do you know about this vehicle? There’s a lot to know, and you really should be more informed.”

“We know enough to see that it’s what we’d like to buy,” said Ben.

“Looks like the car you have now is in pretty bad shape,” the salesman observed. “I doubt you’d be able to take care of this fine vehicle.”

“Well, um, can’t you just let us try?” pleaded Danielle. “We really like it a lot.”

The salesman’s brow furrowed. “I don’t want our dealership misrepresented if people see you driving this car and it’s not taken care of properly. I mean, we can’t let just anybody buy a car from us.”

Isn’t that the purpose of a dealership?” asked Danielle, glancing at Ben in confusion.

“Maybe other, lesser dealerships, but not this one. Until you can prove to me that you will maintain this vehicle to our standards, I simply cannot sell it to you.”

The salesman turned abruptly, pulled out a rag, and started dutifully shining the Fullertons’ dream car. Danielle and Ben walked dejectedly back to their scrap pile, casting a longing glance back at their lost hope.

Sometimes the Adventist Church is like this dealership. The world we are here to help and uplift is the very world we often shun when it does not measure up to our brick-wall beliefs. The fundamentals we guard and defend so vehemently are those that should draw people to Christ, not keep them away from him.

What is it that makes someone ineligible to be included within the group of believers? Is it smoking or swearing or taste in music? Are these outside things so much worse than the pride and selfishness that all of us hide inside? Is the young woman who strips on the weekends to make ends meet for her fatherless baby somehow more unworthy than the vegan man who rests on the seventh day and verbally abuses his wife the other six? If God is the only one capable of judging hearts, then we have no right to be exclusive with the hope He has given us to share.

Room to Grow
Bright, smiling peonies. Lush, full roses. Color-drenched tulips and graceful lilies. Soft petals exhaling the sweetest of aromas adorned by dewdrops that catch the warm sun. Majestic trees giving off shade and a subtle green glow, and sturdy cedar benches inviting anyone to sit and enjoy the sights and sounds of birds’ happy chatter.

A person with a garden like this would be justifiably proud, right? What if that person carried in buckets of cement and poured it all over this garden, smothering its fullness and vitality?

“It’s crazy!” you might say. “Why would someone destroy something so beautiful?”

What if this was their reply? “It was so perfect and beautiful that I didn’t want it to change at all. I wanted to preserve it just as it was.”

Still think that’s crazy? I do. Often we do this with our own faith and beliefs. We pour cement over what seems to be right, refusing to budge from that, forgetting that we have to be flexible to allow our faith to grow. When everything is set in stone, there can be no more cultivation, no more tilling or fertilizing. While cement may allow a flower or two sprout up through the cracks, it can never produce the full, thriving garden that soft, pliable, and fertile soil produces.

In the same way, the mysteries and intricacies of God can never fit into one set standard. Of course there are things in our faith that we need to cling to tightly, such as salvation through the grace of Christ. We can hold on to those and open our minds and hearts to other concepts as well. Coupled with the promises and revelations of Jesus in His Word, new ideas can strengthen our faith instead of weakening it.

With God as huge and constant as he is, we need not fear newness and change. When we realize this, we can start to truly accept and trust other people. Instead of defending our choice to pour cement over our garden, we can invite them to enjoy its sights and smells while they join us in caring for it.

The church will not crumble, religion will not break up, God will not fall apart if we decide to be less defensive and more inviting. We are not the ones keeping everything together. God has parts for us to play, purposes for us to fulfill, but he is in control. He has been working things out since the beginning and will continue doing so, even after we are gone. We can be no use to this shifting world if we refuse to acknowledge and accept that.

We can let others own and drive the car. We can put up with some weeds in our pot for the sake of a growing, verdant garden.

Our purpose in this world is the world.

pp.17,18 adventist today | vol. 15 issue 6