THINKING ABOUT THE END TIMES? LEAN INTO IT!
Decades ago Time magazine, back when it was more of a thing, put a theologian on its cover for a feature story. When I was in college the movie Contact came out, starring Matthew McConaughey as a public theologian.
Were that movie to be made in the 2020s I imagine they’d have to change his character. I suspect most American Christians today can’t name a single living theologian, let alone there be one famous enough to be named by people who aren’t Christians.
When I was training to be a theologian I worked several different jobs, and before long I’d get to know my coworkers who would often get bemused that I was a theologian who was currently loading UPS trucks, telemarketing, fulfilling light bulb orders, processing worker’s comp claims, or doing other odd jobs.
Most people’s curiosity would only take them one step further: they’d ask me what I think about the “last times.” I never once was asked about the Trinity, Incarnation, Atonement, or even about baptism, which was the topic of my dissertation. Nope. It was either about being Left Behind or some mashup of zombie, sci-fi dystopian scenarios sprinkled with one-world governments. Some people even told me that they worried about Barack Obama turning out to be the Antichrist from the book of Revelation. Boy does that seem silly to type out in 2020.
My response to such queries would often disappoint my coworkers. I would politely tell them that I just didn’t care much about the end times. I listed the things most Christians agree on: Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead, both of which will eventually rise again to face either blessing or torment. Until that day Jesus asks his people to be ready for his return. I would say that just like many other Christians I have opinions about elements of the last days, but I’m as curious as everyone else is on what will really happen.
Beyond the occasional lecture or sermon on last times topics or texts I tend not to think about the end times at all. That is, until March 2020 brought news of a pandemic sweeping throughout the globe. And yet, before this month I’d heard maybe once or twice about the Spanish Flu epidemic of a hundred years ago, which means our children’s grandchildren will likely not know about COVID-19.
But just like my grandparents who grew up in the Great Depression, I won’t forget about this pandemic and neither will my children. I won’t forget seeing news each day of dozens of people dying. I won’t forget the anxiety of receiving messages from my embassy, saying we should return to America soon or be prepared to stay here “indefinitely.” I won’t forget my heartbreak in hugging my wife as she feels stuck a hemisphere away from her sick father who may or may not get better.
I also won’t forget hearing news of earthquakes, dire economic forecasts, and stories from overpopulated areas that simply won’t have the luxury to isolate, and thinking to myself perhaps this is just the beginning. The birth pangs. And so I too am thinking about the end times.
Over the years here are the three main things I’ve come to appreciate about what the Bible reveals regarding the last days:
We’re Always in the Last Days
Every generation in Christian history has been convinced they are in the last days, and that’s by design. In preaching we talk about the world behind the text we preach, the world of the Bible, but also the world “in front of the text,” the world of our audience today. And that world has never been stable. It’s never been easy. It’s never been perfect. Throughout history people have considered their world to be the last days.
Such grim realities push us to hope for what’s next. As C. S. Lewis says, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”
Christ Wins
As Marva Dawn says, the message of the last days in the Bible is that Satan thinks he is in charge, but he’s not. Christ will be victorious in the end. We can get distracted all we want about what’s happening in geo-politics, Jerusalem, marks of beasts, and what not, but the clear message through all the details is that Satan thinks he’s in charge, but he’s not. Jesus will win in the end.
Some people find comfort in an end times theology that removes them from further trouble before Jesus’ victory; others find it fitting that Jesus’ people will follow him in the last days both to the cross of suffering and later to the resurrection of new life. Either way, Jesus will win in the end. That’s our hope.
The sermon I’ve preached the most, because I used it often when fundraising to become a missionary, talked about how for many people reading the back of a book first and finding out how it ends enhances their experience of following the story from the beginning. While we follow along we try to see how the author gets from one point to the other, knowing the destination all along. God has revealed to us the “back of the book” of world history and no matter how dire things seem now we know he will be victorious in the end.
Be Prepared
When my wife was pregnant with our kids we’d pack a hospital bag for her in advance, so when the time came for delivery we could just grab it and go. We were prepared. The overwhelming message on how we are to respond to the Bible’s revelation of the last days is not to construct convluted charts, sell books based on predictable eclipses, or make low-budget movies with Nicolas Cage. Rather, it is for us to live our lives in such a way that they only make sense were Christ to return or were we to die.
Don’t believe me? Read Matthew or Luke and pay close attention to Jesus’ teaching. Little of it makes sense unless we are to live prepared for the end, whether that’s our death or his returning.
This changes how we view money and possessions. It changes how we view safety and security. It changes how we view citizenship and rights. It changes how we view justice and love.
I can’t wrap my mind around all the people who are dying right now. And yes I am well aware that people die every day for all sorts of reasons. But we can see this cause of death coming. We can track it. And, even with decent treatment, people typically have up to four weeks after infection either to survive or die. Talk about the last days.
Maybe you’ve been thinking about the last days too. Lean into it and may it lead you to a stronger place in your faith.