Have you heard? Today is the end of the
world! It’s the day of the super blood moon eclipse. Some popular Christian “leaders”
have been saying that this is it, the end of the world. I posted this on
Facebook today:
“I'd like to wish all my
friends who believe this super moon eclipse is the sign of the end a happy end
of the world. You can tell me all about it tomorrow at work.”
I’m sure for most of you
reading this the day has already come and gone with no significant events other
than a pretty cool lunar display and the pope visiting Philadelphia. (Somehow I
don’t think that’s what Christians meant when they said this will be the day of
his return.”) Of course many of the responses to my Facebook post were hilarious,
saying things like, “Wear clean underwear!” and “The survivors can feast on my
left over canned goods from ‘Y2K.’” But a few of them posted by some folks I
love and respect caused me to see just how much my views on Christ’s return
have shifted over the years. They wrote things like, “And if it is? We are
ready!” and “I say bring it!” I totally get where they’re coming from. A decade
or so ago I probably would’ve either said something similar or replied with a
hardy, “Amen!” But now my first thought was, “Are we really ready? Do we really
want to ‘bring it on’?” Allow me to explain why. And it’s not for the reasons
most are probably thinking.
When most of us respond
that we’re ready for Christ’s return we’re thinking about our own spiritual
condition. More specifically, we see
ourselves as ready for Jesus to come back because we believe in Him. So when I
ponder whether we’re ready most immediately assume I think most Christians don’t
really believe in Jesus or are living in immorality. But those aren’t the
reasons I don’t believe we’re ready.
Dr.Stephen Crosby often
points out that the individualistic western mentality of which most of us are
so accustomed was completely foreign to the first century Middle Eastern world in
which Jesus lived. They lived in a dyadic culture in which one received his/her
identity through the group. As Crosby put it, “Our sense of being comes from ‘I
think therefore I am.' Theirs was: ‘I am, because the group (the other) says
so.’” This is one of the reasons the letters written by the early apostles often
end up being so terribly misinterpreted. They’d make statements that we interpret
and apply to ourselves individually while they were thinking of the group. For
example, look at 1 Peter 2:9. “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood,
a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of
him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” Today in the West
we interpret that as, “I’m a chosen person. I’m a royal priest. I’m a citizen
of a holy nation.” Although there is truth to that, the writer’s intent based
on their culture and world view was a plural “you.” You, the group, are chosen.
You, the group, form a holy priesthood. You are a holy race of people (like the
Jews in the Old Testament). So when Jesus and the writers of the New Testament
spoke about being ready for His return they weren’t talking about us
individually. “Go get Jesus in your heart and live a good life!” They were
talking about US as a group, His church, His body, being ready.
Revelation speaks of the
bride having made herself ready and being beautifully dressed. Who is the bride
of Christ? Just you? Just me? Just a bunch of individuals doing their own
thing? Of course not! It’s His entire church, all who follow Christ. Do you
still think we’re ready? Are you still set to “Bring it on!”? Do you think the
church is done making herself ready for His return?
Just the fact that many
good hearted believers tremble in fear at the very thought of Christ’s return
reveals we’re not ready. Darin Hufford, author of The Misunderstood God, asked how would you feel as a groom showing
up to marry your bride only to find her cowering in the corner terrified of
you? That’s a bride who is not ready.
She doesn’t even know the heart of her lover. Do we think Jesus is going
to show up for a bride that feels that way about Him? He’s coming for a bride
who is going to run into the arms of her lover. She’ll be like most brides are
on their wedding day: bursting at the seams with joy, excitement, and stomachs
full of butterflies.
The church has a long way
yet to go. We are not yet ready my brothers and sisters. We’re getting there,
but we aren’t there yet. And this is not a message of condemnation. I’m saying
it’s time we drop the “I’ll fly away oh glory” nonsense and start thinking like King
David preparing to build the temple – long term! This isn’t a “are you going to heaven or hell?”
issue. It’s a “are you living for the Kingdom?” issue. That’s just it. For too
long has this, “I-got-Jesus-in-my-heart-unlike-those-unbelieving-jerks-who-are-ruining-my-comfort-zone-get-me-out-of-here-now!”
attitude has prevailed in the church. It’s time to knock it off and grow up! Many
Christians look like workers sitting around a construction site doing nothing
hoping the whistle will blow to go home before they have to pick up a hammer.
King David knew the construction of the temple wasn’t going to happen under his
watch. So he spent much of his time and energy making preparations so that his
son Solomon would have everything he needed to get the job done.
It’s time to stop selfishly
looking at ourselves and start thinking of the generations to come. What tools
and preparations are we leaving for them? Are we doing our part to beautify the
bride? Do we love one another? I don’t just mean being nice on Sundays. Are we
making sure none of our brothers or sisters are in need? Do we love the
outcasts, the foreigners, and the rejected? Are we feeding the poor and
speaking up for the oppressed? Are we taking the lead on these things or
constantly lagging behind until the world pressures us to do something? (As has
been the norm for the last several decades.) In other words, are we preparing
the foundation upon which others will build? I believe THAT is the question
that pertains to our generation. It’s not “Were you ready to fly away?” but “Did
you leave the next generation the foundation and tools of Christ on which they
can build?” Stop thinking like a rapture freak and think like Paul and the
other apostles. Labor for those who are yet to come.
Several years ago my
wife, Lilly, had a vision. She and I were standing on a dock fishing but we
were only catching a few fish. Then she noticed there was a shark in the water
that was eating most of the fish. She then saw me grab a knife and dive in and
kill the shark. I climbed back on the dock and we returned to fishing. We began
to pull in bucket loads of fish. Then her vision changed and we were no longer
on the dock. She saw our daughter
standing there fishing and she was catching tons of fish; far more than we did.
Father showed us that in her vision the shark was religion. Religion is what
has been making the body of Christ so unfruitful. Once religion was slain we
began to see amazing productivity and results. But this didn’t end with us.
What we accomplished was passed on to the next generation who saw even greater
results. This my friends is where I believe we stand as the people of God. We
need to stop goofing off and indulging escapist mentalities and start thinking
long term and labor for the Kingdom so the next generation has some foot steps
to follow; something on which to build.
We have to be the generation that kills that nasty shark of religion
that has been doing nothing but stealing from us and rendering us virtually
unproductive for centuries. It’s time to take out the knife, and without mercy,
slay that foul thing. Let’s clear the waters so the generations to come will see
the results in the Kingdom of which we dreamed.
Loren Rosser
