The Old Testament sanctuary was familiar to the Israelites because it was copied from the surrounding Mesopatamian cultures. God took something familiar and gave it a new focus and meaning. Therefore, indigenous Seventh-day Adventist people should be encouraged to keep their songs, costumes and dances because they are familiar to them and are an important part of their identity. They should even be encouraged to incorporate dance into worship services with a reverant attitude and approach.
I presented this as an argument, not my argument. I am particularly interested in the line of argument which says that because God used culture we should also embrace culture. Do you think this is valid?
There are some things we can do culturally but then there are others where God has made things clear in the bible that I do not think we should cross those lines. If in doubt, pray on it and wait for God's leading. Webmaster should have an interesting point of view on this....
haha! whew You really had me going there for a minute Sister-in-Christ
Not that i'm any kind of expert, but i do have strong opinions on this. By God's grace, i've been able to travel to many countries promoting this 1858 Great Controversy book, and i've seen many "cultural" things in the churches.
There IS a difference between doing something like the people around you do (which is culture) that is not directly related to reflecting God's image, and doing something that does have a bearing on that. For example, does the place you worship God have a ceiling or not? Does it have a hard floor or not? Does it have pictures on the walls or not? Does it have statues in it or not? Does it have fancy ornamentation or not? Does it have a steeple or not? Does it look like a temple or church or what? Some of these things, to various degrees, have a bearing on how we are reflecting God's image, and some do not. We need wisdom to understand the difference.
Recently, the idea that "whatever the locals do is OK" is absolutely wrong. Under the umbrella of "culture" this idea has crept into the SDA church so much, that now there is even a Seventh-day Adventist Muslim worship place in the Philippines! They don't want to call it a "church" as that might offend some people (and make those people angry enough to kill!). Drums are readily taken in under the "culture" umbrella, cooking on Sabbath, wearing shorts to church, wearing ties or sleeveless or rings or whatever - anything you want to do that is not in harmony with God's inspired words - call it "culture" and presto! - you have an impregnable wall to hide behind........until the hail comes and sweeps away the refuge of lies.
May we cleanse our own hearts from all things displeasing to God, and follow him all the way to calvary.
Thank you for your reply. I have also travelled a lot and seen lots of cultural practices incorporated into worship. As you say, if it is reflecting God's image that is good. However, if it is for the sake of being inclusive or to be seen to be politically correct (e.g. Muslim 'church' as you mentioned) then we need to be careful.
May I have a reply to my query regarding God using the Mesopotamian culture when giving instructions for the sanctuary? Did God deliberately use the culture which was familiar to the Israelites?
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You really had me going there for a minute Sister-in-Christ 
