Broad vision is a desirable virtue. Growth is an ideal that should be fostered by every sector in the church. But as we try to expand the work of the Lord we must watch for some trumps that the devil can put in our way.
There is increasing danger that as we grow larger and spread out as a people, we shall lose that oneness, simplicity and fidelity to the simple faith of this movement that characterized our early days, and be tinctured by the subtleties and philosophies of the world about─a world that has lost its way, wandered from God and the truth of God.
There is real danger that our young men and women attending the universities of the world will unconsciously absorb ideas that blur the clear vision of truth, a condition resulting in the yielding of a little here, the compromising of a shade there, and the disastrous broadening of ideas in another place.
These little changes become tangents that lead farther and farther away from our basic platform. That has been the course of every historic religious body that once had a mission and a message from God. We need to apply ourselves one and all to the study of the blueprint. We still need to study carefully the Bible. We still need to listen to God's orientation revealed to us through the prophetic ministry of Ellen G. White. We need to check our attitudes. We need to watch and to adjust. Some have already gone from us. Others will go. "He who would serve Christ cannot follow the world's opinions or meet the world's standard. Heavens's path is too narrow for rank and riches to ride in state, too narrow for the play of self-centered ambition, too steep and rugged for lovers of ease to climb. Toil, patience, self-sacrifice, reproach, poverty, the contradiction of sinners against Himself, was the portion of Christ, and it must be our portion, if we ever enter the Paradise of God." ( Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, p.138).
The Advent pathway will become too narrow for some. Remember that broad is the way that leads away from God and vital truth, and ends in destruction of the faith. Jesus warns the believers, "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it"(Matt 7:13-14).
One of the goals of Elder's Digest is to help the leaders of the local congregation to be everything that God wants us to be. So let us each examine ourselves to see whether we have departed in some degree from the faith. If so, let us repent and return. This is no academic matter. It is a question of vital significance.
