The Bedlam of Confusion was Never Part of the True Adventist Experience

"Let God's people act so that the world will see that Seventh-day Adventists are an intelligent, thinking people, whose faith is based on a surer foundation than the bedlam of confusion" (Selected Messages, Vol. 2, p. 24).

As more and more churches and conferences seek to reinvent their worship services, we need to understand clearly that a bedlam of confusion has never been part of the Seventh-day Adventist Movement and never will be. The increasing worldliness in our churches and the Hollywood-style entertainment in our worship services are a result of a lack of understanding of Seventh-day Adventism. The bedlam of confusion has always existed, but it was never part of our movement.

Ellen White was once waiting for a boat, and the seating area was located in close proximity to a "beer and wine garden." She described the music, noise, and dancing and was astonished that even "pleasure lovers" would approve of such a "great demonstration" (Manuscript, 33, 1886). The bedlam of noise is more similar to what you hear in drunken bars than any early Adventist church service.

But through a number of fanatical movements, Satan tried to bring his chaos into our meetings. James White described the worship service during the Exeter Camp Meeting in Massachusetts and mentioned the "noise, shouting, and great excitement" that attended the meetings. He links these displays with "fanaticism." (Life Incidents, p. 168).

He also compares these demonstrations with the Midnight Cry of the Advent Movement. He made a point of contrasting what God was doing with what these fanatical movements were doing. The contrast in worship couldn't be any clearer. James White said when God leads, there is "solemnity, reverence, repentance, and tears." Satanic agencies working through fanaticism always display "lightness, exaltation, trifling, irreverence, self-justification, and pride" (Life Incidents, p. 169).

In 1893, Ellen White contrasted the worship services of the Seventh-day Adventist Church with those of the Salvation Army. Ellen White stated that they "may learn that meetings can be held without drum or instrumental music, and without the jumping and the gesticulations and ridiculous performances to create a laugh and remove all solemnity." She also stated that "our meetings have been surprisingly orderly" compared to other churches (Letter 68, 1893).

Ellen White was shown in 1901 that Satan was once again attempting to introduce false worship styles into Adventism with the strange work that was just then developing in Indiana. Mrs. White decided to leave Australia and attend the General Conference Session in 1901 to speak about this matter. Sister White didn't remain inactive or neutral in the midst of grave apostasy. No, she took action to prevent these errors from developing further in the church.

Ellen White gave a scathing rebuke during the 1901 General Conference Session to those who were "jumping, dancing, and shouting." She said the "wild demonstrations" only created disgust and that the "Lord desires to have in his service order and discipline, not excitement and confusion" (General Conference Bulletin, April 23, 1901).

Where is the voice of stern rebuke that should also denounce these fanatical demonstrations sweeping Adventism today? Pentecostalism is harming our churches while biblical truth and worship standards are being abandoned. Many churches have transformed worship into pure entertainment in an effort to draw in young people. A key component of the Adventist faith is the call in the first Angel's Message that says: "Worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters" (Revelation 14:7). This is a call to embrace true worship and reject the bedlam of confusion.

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