I pray to the Father
The Father answers
May your kingdom come and your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven
How important is this to you?
You know that I pray for it.
Well then, you are going to have to participate.
Is it going to be hard?
Yes, it will. Very hard. You have no idea.
I thought you would do it.
Sorry bud.
I have to confess. I’m not very consistent. It is true that I’ve prayed the Lord’s prayer many times over the years, and can easily recite it from memory. Rarely though, do I think much about the words. Sometimes I go months without giving it a second thought. They might as well just be random blurts. It makes me ask: “Do I really want God’s kingdom and will to permeate the Earth?” Maybe, not so much.
On the other hand, most of us who identify as Christian think a lot about end-time prophecies. How can we not? It is all over the Internet. Today, I did a Google search on the word rapture. It returned 43 million hits. A search for Lord’s Prayer only slightly beat it out (53 million). But when I searched for End Times, the results were staggering (10.48 billion). I think this presents a sobering look at the Western Church. It provides one explanation as to why so many in our generation are walking away. How many bogus prophecies does it take for millions to view Christianity as a false hope?
So, which more accurately describes the desire of the modern Church? “God’s kingdom and will come quickly.” Or: “Rapture, come quickly.” As I think more about this, I ask myself: “Will there even be a rapture?” The principle supporting Bible verses come from 2 Thess. 4:16-17
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
These verses feature many apocalyptic pictures. It contains the voice of an archangel, a trumpet sound, and being caught up in the clouds as Jesus descends. Left Behind movies portray our clothes remaining on Earth. Does this mean we’ll be naked as we float about? That would be embarrassing! How long will we be in the air? Will we have bodies or will we be disembodied spirits? None of this is clear. It is probably a good idea not to get carried away in imaginative scenarios. It is well enough to know that Jesus will return at the end of time to gather together the living and the dead. That is about as far as the early Christian church fathers took it. Any more is speculation.
Popular books and movies promote an entire theology centered around the rapture? I use the term theology, because modern-day prophets posit far more than what we might extract from a few verses of scripture. Rapture theology is a comprehensive collection of doctrines which were carefully crafted by Darby, Scofield, and others during the 19th century. There are many good articles that critique its veracity, so that will not be my focus in this post. Jesus teaches us that a good tree produces good fruit and a bad tree produces bad fruit. What kind of fruit does rapture theology produce? Let’s consider this.
Pastor Bill Barnwell of Royal Oak Church documents an email he received:
When the RAPTURE of the CHURCH takes place, and mark my words it will, then maybe then you will see the light! After you have been left behind you are going to look back on all the people that you deceived, who will probably be in your face at that time, and hopefully repent of the false gospel that you are teaching! It’s not too late to be saved during the 7-year tribulation period but it will be harder when you hear the Christians, who became Christians after the Rapture of the Church, are being beheaded for the witness of Jesus! Hopefully you and those who partake of your beliefs will see the light before Christ comes for the Church! (Troubling-Worldview-of-Rapture-Ready-Christians.pdf)
Wow! God forgive me if I ever come across like that. It illustrates the danger of carrying one’s end time beliefs to the extreme. In any case, I’m going to assume that posts like this are exceptions and move on.
Christianity has Jewish roots. Despite this, we all know that the two traditions have diverged significantly over the centuries. One major difference relates to how we look at the world and our place in it. Our Jewish friends tend to focus on what we do in this life, whereas Christians are apt to focus on the next. According to Jewish theology, God created the world good, but left room for improvement. Essentially, he gave us the dignity to bring his good work to its intended perfection. It is our job to improve, and repair when necessary. The Jewish term for this is Tikkun Olam.
As I consider the Jewish approach, I don’t see why there should be a conflict between our two belief systems. Yet there is. Perhaps, we can learn from our Jewish brothers and sisters. Christians often focus too much on the future at the expense of the present. Have you heard expressions like: “I’m a just passing through?” Or: “This is not my home.” We might do well to remember one of Jesus’ warnings:
Therefore, you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. (Mat. 24:44-46)
He warns again when he exhorts: “Will I find faith when I return?”
Nevertheless, one might say: “We see the signs. They are all around us. Christ is coming back soon, probably in this generation. What difference will it make to focus on this life? It is too late to do any world repairing? Everything is falling apart.” These are interesting questions.
I’ll provide an illustration. There was a recent TV series called Extreme Makeover. The producers, each week, select a deserving family needing help. Their home is falling apart and the family doesn’t have the resources to make the necessary repairs. In a week’s time, with the help of neighbors and volunteers, the house is completely revamped and remade. During the renovation, the network provides a hotel as a temporary residence for the owners. One might say that this residence corresponds to heaven while we await all things to be made new.
Upon the project’s completion, the owners return and are escorted through their newly created residence. Each room contains important memorabilia from the original. The good from the old was transferred to the new. This often is the most inspiring part of the show. In the same way, the good we do in this life is not wasted. Its impacts will be transferred to the new earth. What we do now is important; it all matters. If we spend most of our energy focusing on the next life, I wonder. How much will we have to show for our time during this one? It is something to consider.
To summarize, I hope I’ve shown several examples of rapture fruit that is less than good. These are:
The potential of coming across as rude and judgmental when taken to the extreme.
Losing concern for the now, and too much focus on the then.
Embarrassing false prophecies that give Christianity a bad name.
I have to ask. Why is rapture theology so popular, especially in Western Christianity? As I think about this question, here are some possibilities:
Life can be hard. Rapture theology’s popularity suddenly surges in difficult times. This was demonstrated by its initial swell which occurred during the lead up to the American civil war.
The thought of having to endure unspeakable tribulation is scary. Movies featuring the Antichrist, microchips, and torture are designed to invoke fear. Who wants those things? If that is what is in store, “Rapture come quickly.” This leads to a circular cycle. Movies increase rapture belief and rapture belief triggers more movies.
We don’t control the future, and that is not something we like to admit. If we think the culture is falling apart, the rapture offers a convenient exit. It provides an illusory feeling of security.
We don’t want to die. Who does? Previous generations were more likely to accept the inevitable than we seem to in the West. The rapture provides an artificial escape hatch. We fly right into the arms of Jesus without that painful in between step.
There are secret prophecy clubs that seem so knowledgeable as they convincingly throw Bible proof texts here and there. It is only natural for the vulnerable among us to want to be counted among these enlightened pseudo-communities of insiders. Eloquent speakers are happy to take advantage of this tendency, and they become wealthy in the process.
These reasons can be quite compulsive if we get drawn in. The hard task of living a good Christian life is not nearly as alluring. According to the apostle Paul, the end won’t come till there first comes a great falling away. A good question to ask is: “Whose fault is that?” Is it not the Church’s? When the body of Christ stops doing its job, then perhaps the end is close? Perhaps “Lord come quickly” is not the best prayer. A better one is: “Lord, give us more time. There is so much more that needs to be done. Have mercy on us and on the whole world.”
Thanks for listening,secondlooknow.com
yes… i’ve grown up with this “escapist theory”…it really became an obstacle to my own belief system…
it didn’t make sense except to enlarge my desire to escape this “evil” world….I heard some old Christians say most earnestly, at one small fundie church in ORegon that was “supporting” our needy missionary family ( with a few dollars here or there) I recall asking Dad how we would get home if we didn’t have enough gas in the tank… and didn’t they even give us money for gas?… and what would we do if we didn’t get home that night??
Well, we did…get home.. but just barely..no wonder I accepted The Rapture as truth… missionary life and supplies were just AWFUL… and yet it also had and has a vacant emptiness… because who knew when? When would we be air born and taken from the lack and suffering and pain of Mk life..
We Mk’s lost more than funds…we lost our family core group, every year of every 4 year term, which for us, my twin and I, approximately 16 years. in total…….living 9 1/2 months each year of every 4 year term…. with “boarding school people who took the responsibility of raising us.. so our folks could fulfill their missionary calling…on the African continent… in La Cote D’Ivoire ( the boarding school , Mamou Alliance Academy was in a different country on this continent… in Guinee.)we were 1000 miles away from Ivory Coast..but we did have 2 1/2 months at “home” .. so that… was at least something.
In other words, we kids were the obstacle to their life call….Go figure THAT one out!
So yes…
I ached for the Rapture….
..someone said very earnestly.. “the natural world is
Ha!
You caught me, Dan.
When you started to quote Jesus’ warning: “Therefore, you also must be ready,”
I was thinking for the rapture. Instead he said, “doing.”