harry houdinis of the CHRISTian world

you put a group of seminarians in a room, and ask them about end times theology (also known as eschatology) and you will likely get multiple views, with varying degrees within those views.  in the 1990s, a group of books by tim lahaye and jerry b. jenkins called the "left behind" series popularized the theology of premillenial dispensationalism, also known as the "pre-trib" view, which states that there will be a rapture, a mass disappearance event, where CHRIST-followers will be taken out of this earth in an instant to meet CHRIST in the air prior to the great tribulation, a seven-year period of turmoil on the earth in which the anti-CHRIST rises to power and various plagues and natural disasters befall the earth.  this is view-point is one that was popular in the first centuries of the early church, but lost popularity during the turbulent middle ages, and has recently resurfaced in the church.  it is now one of the most popular among the differing eschatology schemes, but is actually one of many, including those that hold to a mid-tribulation rapture, post-tribulation rapture, or even no rapture at all.  there are also differing views on the millenial reign of CHRIST, as to when it happens, or if it happens at all.  in terms of personal eschatology, meaning what happens when we die, the majority of CHRISTendom holds to an immediate departure of the soul which then goes to a place of paradise, sometimes called heaven or abraham's bosom, or a place of torment, usually referred to as hell or hades.  granted, there are some CHRIST-followers that hold to an annhilationist point of view, which teaches that those souls who did not follow CHRIST will be destroyed in an instant and never see eternal torment, or a universalist view, which says that all will be redeemed.  these are not as popular as the heaven/hell views, but there is very little debate over the existence of heaven.

in light of the recent tragedy in charleston, in which nine church-goers were senselessly gunned down by a racist maniac, along with the increasingly degradation of society, i see many CHRIST-followers making statements that reflect a sense of spiritual escapism.  statements of "Jesus needs to hurry up and come back," or "I'll be glad when I get to heaven and don't have to worry about this anymore," are increasingly common.  a study of church history will show you that this viewpoint was popular in the early church as well, with CHRIST-followers staying in jerusalem after CHRIST's ascension, expecting His return during their lifetime.  it wasn't until persecution fell upon the church that we see the CHRIST-followers scattered and the gospel spread throughout the known world at the time.

while we do have the hope of heaven, whether that comes when we die, or in a rapture, it is not the reason CHRIST saved us.  and the "pie in the sky, by and by" theology that we get from our hymns can cause us to lose our focus and forget that we are on mission here.  it can also cause us to despair as we watch society grow more and more decadent around us, and we fall prey to the fear-mongers that infest the media.  when we look at Scripture, it is obvious that we are not to hold to this viewpoint.  we see the first instance when the disciples are standing on the mount after Jesus' ascension, and they are asked, "why do you stand here looking up in the sky?"  we also see repeated admonishments about not to go looking or listening to others about the return of CHRIST, when even CHRIST said that only the Father knows when He will return.  yet, every time you turn around, you have some preacher trying to "interpret the signs" and saying that CHRIST's return is imminent.  the fact is that every generation since the time of CHRIST has felt that theirs was the last and that CHRIST would return in their lifetime.  they all had their anti-CHRISTs as well.  for the early church, they interpreted the events of Revelation as talking about the roman empire, and nero was the anti-CHRIST.  the middle ages were particularly desolate, with suffering abound and brutal kings that twisted the church into their own tool for enslaving the people with dogma.  there were predictions that hitler was the anti-CHRIST, and the decadence of the 1920s led people to believe that they were living in the end times.  the fact is, nobody knows when it will be, and if they do, Scripture has some strong things to say about them, including labeling them false-prophets.  if we get down to it, we can all point to fulfilled prophecies in Scripture, and we should remain ready at any time for CHRIST's return.

however, remaining ready is very different from focusing on it.  there are those that lose all hope in this life and are so focused on the next that they lose the mission focus.  as someone once said, they are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good.  as CHRIST-followers, we need to re-examine what Scripture says about salvation and the purpose of it.  CHRIST's salvation was not for the purpose of granting us a golden ticket into heaven.  if that is our view, then we have missed out on the bigger picture and consequently the blessing that CHRIST has for us.  salvation is for the purpose of redeeming us to CHRIST, transforming us into new creations, removing our enmity with God, for the express purpose of restoring fellowship with God.  that is the purpose of salvation:  so that we could have a relationship with CHRIST and experience the kingdom of God here on earth!  that is what empowers us to go out and share CHRIST with people.  but CHRIST-followers today have become cowards, looking at the earth around us and begging God for an escape in the form of heaven or rapture.  we have become the antithesis of "fear not, for I have overcome the world."  we fear persecution.  we fear the sinful society.  we fear those that can "kill the body."  we are not overcoming as we were commanded.  and then we wonder why people are leaving the church.  there is no power in the message we preach anymore, because we've dropped our God-given armor and turned tail and ran.  we spend so much time trying to justify our existence to a world that sees the preaching of the cross as foolishness, that we have become argumentative and we lash out like a cornered dog, frightened with our only hope being aggression to scare off our attackers.

Jesus promised us persecution.  He promised us we would be hated for His Name's sake.  He promised us trials and tribulation, and even called us to count it a blessing when we experienced it.  when paul was writing the letter to the church at philippi, he was writing from a hole in a cave with an iron grate over it as a prisoner of the roman empire awaiting trial.  it was there that he wrote "i can do all things through CHRIST," and "my God will meet all your needs."  today, we would be crying out to God to save us instead of using our situation to show others His joy and His love.  i say that as thousands in charleston have chosen to turn this tragedy into an opportunity to show the world that we are not frightened and will not give in to hate when someone attacks us but will overcome and respond with love and hope.  so perhaps we will see a turnaround.  the times that the church has grown the most is during times of the most intense persecution, and the times it has declined is during times of acceptance.  so instead of adopting an escapist mentality when facing the enmity of the world, we should look it in the face and say, "bring it on, because He who is in me is greater than he who is in the world."  we are soldiers, behind enemy lines, and we can either give up and become a prisoner of the enemy, or we can claim the victory that has already been won on our behalf, and continue to fight.