The Heart of Adventism Part 3

Let us address the elephant in the pew, a topic on which there is a strange, deafening silence from many church leaders today: the issue of jewelry and personal adornment.

As a church that holds the Bible as our only rule of faith and practice, what is our position? More importantly, what is God's position? Is jewelry "wrong ever" as far as God is concerned?

To understand this, we must look at the biblical pattern. Throughout Scripture, outward adornment is consistently tied to spiritual conditions. When God called His people into deep covenant relationship, repentance, and preparation to meet Him, He consistently asked them to strip themselves of their ornaments.

• In Genesis 35:2-4, when Jacob was leading his family back to Bethel to build an altar to God, he commanded them; "Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments." What did they give him? They gave him their foreign gods and their earrings, and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree.
• In Exodus 33:5-6, following the apostasy of the golden calf, the Lord commanded Moses, "Say to the children of Israel... 'Now therefore, take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do to you.' So the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by Mount Horeb."

Why did God ask this? Because outward pride is an index of the inward heart.

In the New Testament, the apostolic counsel is equally clear and uncompromising. The Apostle Peter wrote, "Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel — rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is  very precious in the sight of God." (1 Peter 3:3-4)

The Apostle Paul echoes this in 1 Timothy 2:9-10, calling for women — and by extension, all believers — to adorn themselves "in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for [those] professing godliness, with good works."

So, is jewelry wrong? Yes. As far as God is concerned, pride of appearance, self-display, and the use of jewelry for self-exaltation are spiritual hazards. They divert attention from the Savior, feed the carnal ego, and violate the principles of Christian simplicity and stewardship. The resources we spend on prideful, unnecessary adornment are resources withheld from the proclamation of the Three Angels' Messages to a dying world.

Dr. Paul A. Scavella

Leadership Consultant & Theologian