Please Stop the Newspaper Eschatology!
This is a subject that has really grieved me at times because it has, on occasion, seemed to be a focus of theology that can turn our eyes away from the ultimate purpose of worship which I discussed in the last post. While eschatology is very important, it seems that it has been made the main focus, or even the only area of theological study for many Christians.
I know many Christians that can tell you extensive information about eschatology, they can take you to the verses and argue for the pre-trib rapture, the seven year great tribulation, the war of Gog and Magog etc. But sadly many of these same people would be hard pressed to expound their knowledge of the attributes of God: His goodness, righteousness and wrath, knowledge, power, etc. And I know very few Christians that have had any contact with the more abstract things found from studying the doctrine of God such as His transcendence and immanence, necessity, aseity, Trinity, etc., and yet some of these doctrines are foundational to the Christian faith. We need a far more balanced theological diet.
An over leveraged diet of eschatology (especially of the newspaper headline variety) can cause us to get disillusioned with the here and now, yet the hear and now is exactly what God has saved us for in the first place. In his epistle to the Philippians Paul said that while it was better to die and be with the Lord, as long as the Lord had him here he had a job to do. Two chapters later Paul said that more than anything else he wanted to know Christ and the power of His resurrection, but Paul didn't stop there. He continued saying, "that I ... may share his sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead."
Paul longed to be with the Lord (we should too!) but he wanted to be drawn so close to the Lord, he wanted to love and know the Lord so deeply that he even wanted to share in His sufferings. Today one of the main reasons I hear that people desire the Lord's return is to finally be done with this broken world. But Jesus was very clear in Acts 1:8 that He has us here in this broken world for a purpose, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth."
Has an overemphasis on eschatology causes us to lose sight of our calling to be witnesses?
I believe that even more grieving is that this is an issue that has caused splits in the church. There is horrible name calling and finger pointing that is going on in churches across the country on issues of eschatology. There is an attitude of caricaturing and demonizing the other positions though they have very little, if any, understanding of the other persons true position. Jesus called us to unity, yet many call those that don't hold to their view of eschatology heretics, or make comments that "they have left the faith" if they hear of someone that no longer holds the same view as them.
To illustrate this point, I am going to bring up one of these hot button issues, and that is the issue of Israel being back in the land and the volatility of the Middle East region. Please do not read more into what I am about to say than what I am really saying. I firmly hold that Romans 11 teaches that God, in His wisdom and providence, used the nation of Israel to be the line through which the Messiah came, but they have been partially hardened because they have rejected their Messiah, and there remains a great future salvation for many Jews.
With that said and using this topic as an example, there are three cautions that I want to throw out there for the study of Eschatology. If we are looking to news paper headlines for our Eschatology updates we are making a very foolish mistake. Again, please do not misunderstand me, we must be living ready lives as Jesus taught in the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25. But, if we are spending more time reading and pondering the endless Israel and Middle East updates than we are being amazed with the story of our Creator come to be our Savior or being busy with fulfilling the Great Commission that He called us to, then not only have we missed the heart of why we have been given revelation in the first place, but we might not be as ready as we think we are.
Secondarily, Eschatology is wonderful, but it is only one VERY small piece of Theology as a whole and we have been called to be disciples, learners, and we should be much more familiar with many other theological issues than we are. Should the fact that Jesus is coming back to make all things new be a great cause for worship and rejoicing? ABSOLUTELY!! But that is only the end of the story!! The whole story is just as much a cause for worship, if not more so because we know so much more concretely what has happened versus the shadowy picture that we have of what will happen.
The various end time views continue to change because things have not been fulfilled just as people once thought. A perfect example of this is the issue of Israel being back in the land. Throughout the late 60's and 70's many people were riveted by Israel being back in the land and it led even excellent Bible teachers to say when the Lord would be coming back. Many of you reading this are probably appalled by the 'date setters' like Hal Lindsay and Harold Camping, but even Chuck Smith was so caught up with Israel being back in the land that in three different books he made specific statements as to the year it would probably happen. (Here is a link to an article for more information on this http://americanvision.org/4545/before-harold-camping-there-was-chuck-smith/#.UDeK6daPWhE)
Please understand that my reason for writing this is not to belittle Chuck as he was a precious man of God, was a faithful servant for many years, and the Lord used him mightily. I love and appreciate many aspects of his ministry and legacy since I spiritually grew up in it. We all make mistakes and get caught up in things, that's why we are saved by grace alone! I hope you can all say amen to that.
My point though is that Israel was back in the land in 1948 and recaptured Jerusalem in 1967 so we are well past the typical 40 year generation of Israel being back in the land, and yet the Lord hasn't returned. I have recently heard some say that a Jewish generation may have been 70 years but that puts us in a similar situation all over again as many will look to 2018 or 2037 for possible return times. Another area of changing interpretation is how some have argued about the views of the 10 nations that maybe it isn't Rome and the European Union but rather the 10 Islamic nations that surround Israel.
I would say that the real question is, "Are all these speculations helping us fulfill the Great Commission or hindering us from that goal?" This brings up my last point.
Finally, I also fear that the continuous looking for Israel updates can be very dangerous because it can lead us to a place of being so excited for God to bring an end to all sin and death (which is a very good thing to be excited about!), but by focusing so much on the healing He will bring, many have removed their hands from the plow and forgotten the fact that until that day comes we are called to be ambassadors and we have been commissioned to the task of reaching as many people as we can with the message of the gospel.
Sadly it seems that the old saying, "He is so heavenly minded that he is no earthly good" has come true, but in the worst possible way. Rather than being busy with the Great Commission we spend far more time worrying about what alliances are taking place in the middle east. I have been to far more prophecy conferences than evangelism and discipleship conferences, yet the Great Commission says almost nothing of prophecy and everything about taking the Good News to all the world.
Theology, and especially eschatology, were never meant to be an end in and of themselves. Rather they reveal to us more about the nature, character, and works of our indescribable God. The God who is assuredly coming again, but especially the God who already came, humbling Himself, being born of a virgin, lived a perfect life only to be nailed to a cross, became a curse for us that we might be rescued from ourselves, and who rose again conquering sin and death after taking the wrath of God for us.
In other words, don't spend all of your time only reading the last chapter of the book. From beginning to end, it is truly the greatest story ever told. Read it, study it, and be drawn into worship as you do.
I know many Christians that can tell you extensive information about eschatology, they can take you to the verses and argue for the pre-trib rapture, the seven year great tribulation, the war of Gog and Magog etc. But sadly many of these same people would be hard pressed to expound their knowledge of the attributes of God: His goodness, righteousness and wrath, knowledge, power, etc. And I know very few Christians that have had any contact with the more abstract things found from studying the doctrine of God such as His transcendence and immanence, necessity, aseity, Trinity, etc., and yet some of these doctrines are foundational to the Christian faith. We need a far more balanced theological diet.
An over leveraged diet of eschatology (especially of the newspaper headline variety) can cause us to get disillusioned with the here and now, yet the hear and now is exactly what God has saved us for in the first place. In his epistle to the Philippians Paul said that while it was better to die and be with the Lord, as long as the Lord had him here he had a job to do. Two chapters later Paul said that more than anything else he wanted to know Christ and the power of His resurrection, but Paul didn't stop there. He continued saying, "that I ... may share his sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead."
Paul longed to be with the Lord (we should too!) but he wanted to be drawn so close to the Lord, he wanted to love and know the Lord so deeply that he even wanted to share in His sufferings. Today one of the main reasons I hear that people desire the Lord's return is to finally be done with this broken world. But Jesus was very clear in Acts 1:8 that He has us here in this broken world for a purpose, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth."
Has an overemphasis on eschatology causes us to lose sight of our calling to be witnesses?
I believe that even more grieving is that this is an issue that has caused splits in the church. There is horrible name calling and finger pointing that is going on in churches across the country on issues of eschatology. There is an attitude of caricaturing and demonizing the other positions though they have very little, if any, understanding of the other persons true position. Jesus called us to unity, yet many call those that don't hold to their view of eschatology heretics, or make comments that "they have left the faith" if they hear of someone that no longer holds the same view as them.
To illustrate this point, I am going to bring up one of these hot button issues, and that is the issue of Israel being back in the land and the volatility of the Middle East region. Please do not read more into what I am about to say than what I am really saying. I firmly hold that Romans 11 teaches that God, in His wisdom and providence, used the nation of Israel to be the line through which the Messiah came, but they have been partially hardened because they have rejected their Messiah, and there remains a great future salvation for many Jews.
With that said and using this topic as an example, there are three cautions that I want to throw out there for the study of Eschatology. If we are looking to news paper headlines for our Eschatology updates we are making a very foolish mistake. Again, please do not misunderstand me, we must be living ready lives as Jesus taught in the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25. But, if we are spending more time reading and pondering the endless Israel and Middle East updates than we are being amazed with the story of our Creator come to be our Savior or being busy with fulfilling the Great Commission that He called us to, then not only have we missed the heart of why we have been given revelation in the first place, but we might not be as ready as we think we are.
Secondarily, Eschatology is wonderful, but it is only one VERY small piece of Theology as a whole and we have been called to be disciples, learners, and we should be much more familiar with many other theological issues than we are. Should the fact that Jesus is coming back to make all things new be a great cause for worship and rejoicing? ABSOLUTELY!! But that is only the end of the story!! The whole story is just as much a cause for worship, if not more so because we know so much more concretely what has happened versus the shadowy picture that we have of what will happen.
The various end time views continue to change because things have not been fulfilled just as people once thought. A perfect example of this is the issue of Israel being back in the land. Throughout the late 60's and 70's many people were riveted by Israel being back in the land and it led even excellent Bible teachers to say when the Lord would be coming back. Many of you reading this are probably appalled by the 'date setters' like Hal Lindsay and Harold Camping, but even Chuck Smith was so caught up with Israel being back in the land that in three different books he made specific statements as to the year it would probably happen. (Here is a link to an article for more information on this http://americanvision.org/4545/before-harold-camping-there-was-chuck-smith/#.UDeK6daPWhE)
Please understand that my reason for writing this is not to belittle Chuck as he was a precious man of God, was a faithful servant for many years, and the Lord used him mightily. I love and appreciate many aspects of his ministry and legacy since I spiritually grew up in it. We all make mistakes and get caught up in things, that's why we are saved by grace alone! I hope you can all say amen to that.
My point though is that Israel was back in the land in 1948 and recaptured Jerusalem in 1967 so we are well past the typical 40 year generation of Israel being back in the land, and yet the Lord hasn't returned. I have recently heard some say that a Jewish generation may have been 70 years but that puts us in a similar situation all over again as many will look to 2018 or 2037 for possible return times. Another area of changing interpretation is how some have argued about the views of the 10 nations that maybe it isn't Rome and the European Union but rather the 10 Islamic nations that surround Israel.
I would say that the real question is, "Are all these speculations helping us fulfill the Great Commission or hindering us from that goal?" This brings up my last point.
Finally, I also fear that the continuous looking for Israel updates can be very dangerous because it can lead us to a place of being so excited for God to bring an end to all sin and death (which is a very good thing to be excited about!), but by focusing so much on the healing He will bring, many have removed their hands from the plow and forgotten the fact that until that day comes we are called to be ambassadors and we have been commissioned to the task of reaching as many people as we can with the message of the gospel.
Sadly it seems that the old saying, "He is so heavenly minded that he is no earthly good" has come true, but in the worst possible way. Rather than being busy with the Great Commission we spend far more time worrying about what alliances are taking place in the middle east. I have been to far more prophecy conferences than evangelism and discipleship conferences, yet the Great Commission says almost nothing of prophecy and everything about taking the Good News to all the world.
Theology, and especially eschatology, were never meant to be an end in and of themselves. Rather they reveal to us more about the nature, character, and works of our indescribable God. The God who is assuredly coming again, but especially the God who already came, humbling Himself, being born of a virgin, lived a perfect life only to be nailed to a cross, became a curse for us that we might be rescued from ourselves, and who rose again conquering sin and death after taking the wrath of God for us.
In other words, don't spend all of your time only reading the last chapter of the book. From beginning to end, it is truly the greatest story ever told. Read it, study it, and be drawn into worship as you do.
It's not all about being a Bible thumper. The title of your blog says it all...it's all about "Growing in Grace"...His grace. Getting to know Him as well as His Word.
ReplyDeleteJust checking back for any new posts you may have written.
I’ve been a follower on your blog for a while now and would like to invite you to visit and perhaps follow me back. Sorry I took so long for the invitation.