Ten years. That's not much time, not when you consider the complexity
and depth of the problems facing humankind. In spite of politicians' promises,
there seems to be nothing we can do. Hope for the survival of humanity
appears tenuous at best. The author of the above quote felt the same desperation.
He concluded that there is only one solution. The best-selling book in
which this quote appeared boldly asserted that all of the problems humanity
faces are God's means of preparing the way for the return of His Son.
All of the pieces are falling into place. Christ is coming back. And soon.
Are you ready?
My generation grew up with this question ringing in our ears. The above
quote, attributed to U Thant, first appeared in Hal Lindsey's The Late
Great Planet Earth in 1970. Lindsey took the prophecies of the Bible,
compared them with current events, and concluded that Christ would indeed
return within our lifetime. Although he didn't name a specific date, he
set parameters in which this blessed event would surely take place. According
to Lindsey, the key date for the fulfillment of the Bible's promises surrounding
the return of Christ is May 14, 1948, the date Israel became an independent
nation after nearly 2,000 years of exile. That date marked the beginning
of the generation Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24, the generation that would
live to see "all these things" -- the events surrounding Christ's
return -- come to pass. Lindsey wrote, "If this is a correct deduction,
then within forty years or so of 1948, all these things could take place.
Many scholars who have studied Bible prophecy all their lives believe
that this is so."
In case you missed it, that generation did pass away. The events did not
come to pass. And what about the 10-year deadline the secretary general
of the United Nations gave the world in 1970? Thirty years later the human
race is still alive. The end may be near but it is not yet.
Lindsey's isn't the only voice in the wilderness crying out that the end
is near. Proclamations of Jesus' imminent return dominated American Christianity
throughout the 20th century. From Billy Graham's tent revivals of the
1940s to the Left Behind series hitting bookstores in the 1990s, tales
of the end times became a major part of our understanding of what it means
to be a Christian. Based on 23 million copies sold in the Left Behind
series, it seems American believers have an insatiable appetite for details
about what the end times will be like. And there is plenty to feed upon.
From books to movies to songs, details are everywhere. Most echo the voice
of contemporary Christian music pioneer Larry Norman:
A man and wife asleep in bed, she hears a noise and turns her head
he's gone,
I wish we'd all been ready.
Two men walking up a hill, one disappears and one's left standing still,
I wish we'd all been ready.
There's no time to change your mind, the Son has come and you've been
left behind.
"I Wish We'd All Been Ready," Larry Norman, 1969
Jesus may return at any moment, any moment! And that moment may well come
in your lifetime. Are you ready?
We know Christ will return someday. The Bible makes that clear. Paul
expected to see it in his day. The radical arm of the Reformation tried
to be the force God would use to bring about the apocalypse. American
history has been intertwined with belief in the imminent return of Christ
since Christopher Columbus saw his explorations as fulfilling biblical
prophecies and foreshadowing the end of the world.1
Every generation of believers has expected to see Christ's return, yet
every generation has gone to the grave disappointed. Why should our own
be any different? Jesus is coming back, but if history is any indication,
you and I probably will not live to see it. Will we be ready?
That sounds like the wrong question to ask. Be ready, for what? A lifetime
of waiting for an event we may never see? Yet that is exactly what every
generation of believers has endured since the time of the apostles. Each
has expected the Lord's return, but none has yet experienced it. And still,
every generation must be ready, not for the skies to split, but for Christ
to delay His appearing even longer. Listen to the words of Paul:
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all
be changed -- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and
we will be changed. ... Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing
move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because
you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52,
58)
In a moment, in a flash, at the moment Christ returns, the dead will
rise and we will all be changed. The perishable will become imperishable;
mortality will give way to immortality. As Christ returns to the earth
in victory, death will be swallowed up and we will be set free from the
power of sin and death once and for all. And what could we possibly do
to prepare for such a moment? According to Paul the best way to be ready
-- in fact the only way to be ready -- is to give ourselves fully to the
work of the Lord. Get busy. Do the work. Then you will be prepared.
Paul echoes the words of Christ found in Matthew 25. Matthew 24 chronicles
the signs that will surround Christ's return and the establishment of
His kingdom on earth. The first 12 verses of chapter 25 admonish us to
stay alert and be prepared: "Therefore keep watch, because you do
not know the day or the hour" (Matthew 25:13). And how are we to
keep watch? Jesus answers the question with two parables. The first warns
us to faithfully use everything that God entrusts to us for His glory
and His kingdom (Matthew 25:14-30, the parable of the talents). The second
admonishes us to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, show hospitality
to strangers, clothe the naked, care for the sick and visit those in prison
(Matthew 25:31-46, the parable of the sheep and the goats). Such acts
of righteousness will characterize Christ's followers while they wait
for His return.
I find it ironic that the generation that has supposedly witnessed the
fulfillment of the greatest signs in biblical prophecy accomplishes very
little for the sake of the kingdom. On average, churches throughout the
United States and Western Europe lose 7,600 members a day. That averages
out to a spiritual Vietnam every week.2
Pastors burn out and quit the ministry at an alarming rate. The Southern
Baptist Convention alone loses 500 pastors a month.3
The vast majority of those abandoning the ministry cite church members'
lack of commitment as the major source of their frustration. Somehow,
between tapping toes to the tunes of Larry Norman and staying up late
reading the latest from Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye, we managed to turn
apocalyptic prophecy into some sort of morbid fascination. We want details,
not to spur us on to greater faithfulness, but to satisfy our curiosity.
Through it all we've come to the mistaken conclusion that all we have
to do to be ready for His return is receive Christ as our Savior. The
moment of salvation is now viewed as the end of the journey, rather than
the beginning of a new life for Christ.
Christ's promise to return for those who love Him is the blessed hope
that carries us through the trials we face in this life. On that day the
Lord will repay those who spurned Him and mocked His followers. Justice
will finally prevail and righteousness will be established throughout
all creation. We long for this day, because we know that all of our work
in Christ is not in vain. However, our hope is not to see Christ return
in our lifetime, but to be reassured that our lives are not wasted because
He will return, whenever that may be. The details don't matter beyond
the promise. He is coming back. Whether you and I will live to see it
is totally irrelevant. Our sole responsibility is to "make it our
goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it"
(2 Corinthians 5:9).
__________________________________________________________
Mark Tabb, pastor and lifelong New York Yankees fan, serves the First
Baptist Church of Knightstown, IN. His books include Song of the Shepherd
(Moody).
1
Russell Chandler, Doomsday, The End of the World: A View Through Time,
Ann Arbor: Servant Publications, 1993, 69.
2
William Hendricks, Exit Interviews, Chicago: Moody Press, 1995, 252.
3
Herb Hollinger, "Evangelist Gage Designs Help for
'Wounded Pastors,'" Baptist Press, November 1997.
