City Life Vs Country Living

There is a compilation of Ellen White writings on the subject in a booklet called Country Living published
by our Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1946.I spent 5 hours reading this book and another book called
“Ministry to the Cities” because I really struggle with her writings on this subject and how to apply them
in our time and culture. I see some of her writings as a paradox and unfortunately, our church has
promoted one version of her writings more than another. That is why this topic intrigues me and why I
chose to study it. Country Living for Adventists is a response to the question asked by fellow Adventists
as to when the time is to leave the cities. 

There has been a recent urgent push by the General Conference and the world church to evangelize the
cities, but the practicality of that is that we must live in the cities to evangelize them. But what do we do
with the quote from Ellen White, “He (Enoch) did not make his abode with the wicked. ... He placed
himself and his family where the atmosphere would be as pure as possible. Then at times he went forth
to the inhabitants of the world with his God- given message. ... After proclaiming his message, he always
took back with him to his place of retirement some who had received the warning. —Manuscript 42,
1900.

Is that how we should also do it or is that impossible? The reality is that with the size of cities today,
working from a country outpost can, at times, mean one would have to drive for hours and hours in
heavy traffic just to get to the area where one wants to do ministry. And when the day is done, one
would have to endure the same torture to get back. Such a strategy is extremely hard. I understand why
Ellen White favored the outpost method because having grown up in a city, I would never want to raise
my kids in the environment I was raised in. The crime, gangs, drugs, violence, and corruption were
intense. I know kids I went to school with who turned out to be drug addicts, alcoholics, and home
wreckers. I hated living in an environment where I always had to be paranoid about getting mugged or
assaulted. In contrast, my country friends tell me of how they spent their teenage years, horse riding,
camping, and taking care of the farm. They enjoyed the benefits of an outdoors life while I and my non-
criminal friends hid in our apartments from all the garbage outside. I envy them.

Ellen White recognized that this was city life and as such, the consistent pattern of her counsel was anti-
city living. She recommended the outpost method, a method in which city workers set up camp outside
the city and then enter the city for ministry and exit when done. The idea was to minister to the people
living in the city without becoming “city dwellers.”

In another book of her collected writings, “Ministry to the Cities” page 17 we read, “The example of the
followers of Christ at Antioch should be an inspiration to every believer living in the great cities of the
world today. While it is in the order of God that chosen workers of consecration and talent should be
stationed in important centers of population to lead out in public efforts, it is also His purpose that the
church members living in these cities shall use their God-given talents in working for souls.” Here Ellen
White clearly states that it is God's will that chosen workers be stationed in the cities and that the lay
men living in those same cities work for souls as well.

In page 95 we read, “The Lord has presented before me the work that must be done in our cities. The
believers in these cities can work for God in the neighborhood of their homes.” In page 95 she speaks
directly to Adventist “city dwellers” when she writes, “I address Christians who live in our large cities:
God has made you depositaries of truth, not that you may retain it, but that you may impart it to
others. You should visit from house to house as faithful stewards of the grace of Christ.” In none of these
statements does she tell the “city dwellers” that they are wrong for living in the city and neither does
she instruct them to leave but to remain and reach their neighbors for Christ.

In page 112 we read that “Some must remain in the cities to give the last note of warning…” and while
this statement is followed by the admonition that this will become more dangerous, it nevertheless
captures her paradoxical thinking on the matter. The fact that “some must remain” is clear evidence that
she did not view the outpost method as the only viable method and in fact, viewed it as limited. If “some
must remain” in the cities to give the final warning, the final warning cannot be adequately given via the
outpost method. Instead, it must be given by “city dwellers.” The most shocking statement comes in
page 113 where she encourages Adventists to move to the city. She writes, “Close around us are cities
and towns in which no efforts are made to save souls. Why should not families who know the present
truth settle in these cities and villages, to set up there the standard of Christ, working in humility, not in
their own way, but in God’s way, to bring the light before those who have no knowledge of it? ... There
will be laymen who will move into towns and cities, and into apparently out-of-the-way places, that they
may let the light which God has given them shine forth to others.”

Her paradoxical thinking is also seen in her counsel for building schools in relation to the cities. In page
117 she says, “Especially should our schools… be located outside of the cities…” and yet in page 115 she
writes, “Church schools are to be established for the children in the cities…” This she says even though
she maintained that "Out of the cities is my message for the education of our children.” Thus the
paradox seems clear. When it came to boarding schools, Ellen White maintained that they should not be
established in the cities but that did not mean that standard schools such as the church school could
not. This demonstrates her practical thinking on the matter. Not everyone living in the city can afford to
send their kids to a boarding school in the country. To minister to the city kids then, church schools
should be established in the city.

We see this balanced approach most clearly in Testimonies Vol. 9 page 221 which says, “So far as
possible these schools should be established outside the cities. But in the cities, there are many children
who could not attend schools away from the cities; and for the benefit of these, schools should be
opened in the cities as well as in the country. Ellen White was also clear that churches should be
established in the city. In page 114 we read that “In every city there should be a city mission that should
be a training school for workers.” And in the same page she clearly states that “in every city where the
truth is proclaimed, churches are to be raised up. In some large cities there must be churches in various
parts of the city.” If there are churches in the city, clearly there is a demand for people to live in the city
as well – especially if the church fits into her vision of a vibrant training center as opposed to just a
Sabbath morning club. In addition, locating churches in the city means that the city will not be reached
exclusively by outposts but by established churches within the cities themselves.

Ellen White was also consistently clear that sanitariums should never be established in the cities. This
makes perfect sense since Sanitariums are intended to be a type of health retreat. However, in page 120
she also said “God would have restaurants established  in the cities. If properly managed, these will
become missionary centers.” Again, she emphasized that “Our restaurants must be in the cities; for
otherwise the workers in these restaurants could not reach the people and teach them the principles of
right living.” In page 121 she adds, “I have been instructed that one of the principal reasons why
hygienic restaurants and treatment rooms should be established  in the centers of large cities is that by
this means the attention of leading men will be called to the third angel’s message.” She continues this
chain of thought regarding assisting the addicts when she says, “In every city  a place should be provided
where the slaves of evil habit may receive help to break the chains that bind them” (134).
So, what are we to make of all this? Is Ellen White contradicting herself? How can she say that we should
leave the cities and then say, “Some must remain in the cities…”? How can she praise the outpost
method and then encourage “families who know the present truth (to) settle in these cities”? With the
size of modern cities, was she not aware that establishing churches, vegetarian restaurants, and church
schools would demand that many people live in the city to practically operate these entities? Sure, she
was, and therefore she never maintained that the outpost method was the only  method that God would
bless. Ellen White was a was balanced thinker and we should too. She was sensible. She recognized the
ideal was to work from outposts and to avoid living in the cities altogether, but she also recognized the
real – that it was not always practical to use the outpost method.

So, if Ellen White had such a balanced approach to city evangelism, why then have Adventist’s
traditionally frowned upon “city dwelling”? The Ellen G. White Encyclopedia provides a helpful answer:
…we find in Ellen White’s writings two sets of parallel counsel, one related to institutions, advocating
outpost ministry: and a second dealing with local church work, advocating missionary work from within
the city. Unfortunately, only one set of counsel has received much publicity. The reason for that
imbalance is that statements from the one perspective have been collected and repeatedly published in
compilations, while the other even though equally valid and important, has been neglected. Thus,
Adventist’s have traditionally highlighted only one half of Ellen White’s perspective on city mission (716).
With all of this said there is one other thing I would like to highlight and that is that while Ellen White
was not against city dwelling, we need to be aware of our motivation when we do in fact decide to live
in the city. As I mentioned before, I hated living in the city. However, I must also admit that I absolutely
love the city. I don’t want to be told to leave the cities because I love the city. But that’s not entirely
true. I don’t love the city. I just love the nice parts of it, the skyscrapers glimmering against the night sky,
the elegant restaurants and shopping centers, and the hustle and bustle of a busy street. If this is what a
city was then I don’t think Ellen White would have ever recommended an outpost method, but that’s
not all a city is. The city is also the part I hate, the gangs, the prostitution, the drugs, and violence. City is
the slums and the ghettos, the rough neighborhoods, and the hoodlums. The city is not simply the
beautiful; it is also the ugly reality of poverty and crime. And for those who want to live in the city and
do ministry there – don’t think you’re just there to have interesting Bible studies at Star Bucks  with
university students. That’s part of it yes, but you are also there for the addicts, the convicts, and the
perverted who linger on its streets night after night searching for satisfaction. City ministry is dangerous,
scandalous, and wild. Not everyone is designed for it. It is missionary work in every form and demands
that those who engage in it not become comfortable with the pretty side of city life, but that they
confront the dreadfulness of the degenerate side as well.

So, is the outpost method the only viable method for city evangelism? Not according to Ellen White. In
her paradoxical view God’s people should leave the cities, and God’s people should move to the cities.
The church should not launch establishments within the city and the church should launch
establishments within the city. Both are true at the same time, and it is the context of the situation, be it
corporate or personal, that determines what the best course of action is. However, Ellen White also
warned that the time will come in just before his return when we all must leave the cities to escape
persecution and those called to incarnational city ministry must always be prepared to do so. But no
need to worry for city lovers! The Lord has promised us a city as our eternal home.