Itâs a puzzle, isnât it ? How we Adventists refer to ourselves as the âRemnant Churchâ, and yet attempt to model our âGeneral Conferenceâ according to the majority â not the âremnantâ â vote ?
Of the 10 lepers who came as a âchurchâ, as a âcircleâ, to Jesus for healing, only the dissenting âvoteâ â the âremnantâ â was so grateful for what God had done for him through Jesus, that in his newborn fidelity (âfaithâ) toward God â not toward the majority â he forgot himself :
âAnd one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back,
and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks:
and he was a Samaritan.
And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.â
Luke 17:15-19 KJV
Paul explained to the Roman, âGentileâ church:
âIsaiah also cries out concerning Israel: [Isaiah 10:22]
âThough the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea,
The remnant will be saved. . . .
What shall we say then?
That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness,
even the righteousness of faith;
but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness.â
Romans 9: 27 . . . 30,31 NKJV
The âoopsâ âsplitâ of true reformers, then, is never an intentional move away from the majority of fellow sinners, but an intentional move toward God in appreciation of Godâs gracious fidelity toward, even, infidels and âlepersâ, such as myself.
Few people would gladly choose to stand alone against the overwhelming flow of the âmajorityâ.
Few people would eagerly choose to be a lonesome âremnantâ.
Rather it is the choice, the âmajority voteâ, of the unappreciative many â who coldly take Godâs blessings for themselves and turn away from the warm pleasure of âgratitudeâ, as if they somehow deserved those blessings â that leaves a âremnantâ behind.
âRemnantâ âreformationâ should be understood as the Creator-intended individual default setting of enjoying grateful fidelity toward a gracious God, and not merely an innovation craving acceptance by a âmajorityâ of sinners.
~ âHainât we got all the fools in town on our side?
And ainât that a big enough majority in any town?â ~
Thought from, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain