The Allemani and the Heruli?

Posted January 18th, 2010 by Ed Dickerson

Mention the Minneapolis General Conference of 1888, and most Adventists immediately think of righteousness by faith. We tend to forget that another issue occupied a great deal of the time and attention of that gathering. The Uriah Smith/George Butler faction also differed with Jones and Waggoner about the identity of two of the ten tribes represented by the ten toes of the great image in Daniel 2. In his history of the church, Spalding said something to this effect: Diverting so much effort over such a small issue would be like sending troops to defend a small cabin when the greater battle hung in the balance. But it was Smith's cabin.

From our perspective more than 130 years later, the question of which ten tribes represented the ten toes seems both trivial and irrelevant. For one thing, the text itself mentions neither the number ten, nor the word toes. So we had an argument based on, well, nothing. Even granting those unmentioned details significance, neither side had a compelling argument about why the identity of the tribes mattered. We wonder how so much energy could have been wasted on something so forgettable, when the issue of righteousness by faith confronted the same assembly.

Of course, hindsight is much more acute than foresight. What is obvious today was not as clear then. And there's little value in criticizing people long dead for mistakes that cannot be corrected today. The value of examining history always comes from its ability to give us perspective on our own actions. The questions for us are 1) what is the great defining issue facing us today, as righteousness by faith was the great issue in 1888, and 2) what are the "Allemanni and Heruli" of today- pet concerns that will fade into irrelevancy?

My first article dealt with how the issues that occupy the attention of those in large Adventist centers are of little or no interest outside of those centers. I also attempted to highlight the mass exodus of young adults from the Adventist church in locales not near a large Adventist institution. Reviewing the content of this periodical over the intervening weeks gives me little hope any of that is changing. It appears to me that we are so fascinated by the process of allocating tribes to toes, of arguing over Allemanni and Heruli, that we simply cannot be bothered with the fact that we are suffering catastrophic internal bleeding.

We are hemorrhaging talent and youth at an alarming rate all across North America, Europe, and the South Pacific. According to one report, more than one fifth of all congregations in North America have no children or young adults. Our educational institutions are struggling with low enrollments in many places. Many elementary and secondary schools have closed, and others are on the brink. At least one reason for this is simply that there are no longer young adults or their young families to supply children for the schools.

Yes, the church is experiencing growth, especially overseas. But even there we see an alarming trend. Wherever the population becomes better educated and affluent, we have great difficulty in reaching them. This is most evident in second generation Adventists. In North America and Europe, we do well with first generation immigrant populations. But as their children become assimilated into the indigenous culture, we lose them. And if Adventism cannot appeal successfully to our own children, with whom we share so much in common, how can we hope to reach their educated and affluent peers, with whom we share less? The sad truth is that too often we continue to express Adventism in its 19th century form. Where the culture is stuck in the 19th century, that message does well. But much of the world is in the 21st century, and we have largely failed to keep the present truth in the present tense.

Noted evangelical Howard Hendricks has said, "If your religion doesn't work at home, it doesn't work. Don't export it." If Adventism doesn't appeal to our own children, how can we hope to export it?

It seems to this observer that this is one of the most crucial issues facing the world church today. Praise God, the world is in many places becoming more affluent and better educated. But this means that more and more people are joining the groups we cannot reach effectively. One approach I hear advocated repeatedly suggests that we can write off the educated and affluent as somehow hardened and beyond saving. That hardly seems true to the gospel commission. And I, for one, am not prepared to let go of my children and grandchildren so easily.

I propose that the great question confronting the church today is whether we of the Elijah movement will heed the Elijah message: "He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers." Not only do I think this is the central truth confronting the church today, I believe it is the central truth confronting the affluent and educated society of the 21st century. Many of today's hot-button issues look quite differently if viewed through the lense of the Elijah message. The Allemanni and the Heruli faded into insignificance compared to righteousness by faith. Let's learn from that experience, and turn our attention to central issues, not peripheral ones.

The Allemani and the Heruli?

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