They understand themselves to be a people that
God has raised up at the end of time who keep His commandments and have the
“testimony of Jesus”. But this traditional position has been losing ground in
recent years. Increasing numbers of Seventh-day Adventists are unconvinced that
the text can be focused so narrowly on a specific denomination and its beliefs
at the end of time. And outreach efforts in the post-modern context have
encountered more resistance to the remnant idea than to such traditional
Adventist “testing truths” as the Sabbath, the state of the dead and tithing. I
find the perception, even among students at the Seminary, that the very phrase
“the remnant church” smacks of arrogance and exclusivity. In the evangelistic
context, such an impression can become an immediate barrier to acceptance of
the church and its teachings.
