Baby Steps

The events at Virginia Tech are chilling. If you are not struggling, at least a little bit, with God’s role in all of this, you are probably in denial. However, it is impossible to function in today’s world without coming to grips with the existence of evil and its relationship to the sovereignty of God. To understand this issue you must understand that we cannot truly enjoy freewill in a world without sin. In order to be truly free, you must be free to do wrong, and when others choose sin, the innocent may suffer. The only alternative is a world without choice, a prison of obedience. This struggle is played out in concrete terms as Virginia Tech law enforcement personnel look to the future. Is it possible to protect 26,000 students from every homicidal maniac without turning the campus into a prison of obedience? Probably not.

Just days ago, I heard that Peoria racked up its sixth homicide for 2007. Peoria residents were fed up and much hand-wringing ensued. “More gun control,” some said. “More money for schools,” said others. Then they turned off the cameras and everyone went home. Those of us watching from our couches most likely retreated to the relative safety of our beds and, after a few moments of anxiety for inner-city Peoria and perhaps a quick prayer, got a good night’s sleep. However, hundreds of inner-city youth were lying awake wondering if they were next. How many of them started considering whether it might be safer to join a gang than try to avoid them? How many will carry a weapon to school tomorrow just to avoid feeling like a victim?

These events are also chilling and they are right in our backyard. But what can we do? What is our responsibility? Do we wait until we can elect politicians who pay better lip-service to better crime prevention? Do we lobby for bigger prisons and more police officers? Do we curse the rich? Do we blame the poor? Do we grumble? Do we scream? Do we pray? Do we weep? We can do these things, or we could do something real.

Big talk, I know. We talk about this a lot. “We need to be Jesus to the world.” “We need to get out of our comfort zone.” “We need to step out on faith.” “We need to put our money where our mouth is.” More talk is not an option. After painting a pretty clear picture of the church’s mission, Jesus suggests that all we have built will meet with destruction if all we do is talk. “Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6).

Fortunately, Washington Christian Church is already doing something. Through our BTG (Bridge The Gap) initiative, we took a big step in the right direction at our Easter evening service. We, a suburban, white, independent Christian church, invited an inner-city, black, non-instrumental Church of Christ to worship with us Easter evening. Our worship teams joined forces and we played with a full band. Their minister preached a rousing sermon and ours offered a time of reconciliation around the Lord's table. It was a HUGE blessing and God was there. We bridged several gaps that night – cultural, racial, and fellowship gaps – with unprecedented success.

Also, many of our men have been regularly helping a young Peoria pastor with his vision to create new, healthy opportunities for young men in inner-city Peoria through the Cornerstone Vocational Center (CVC). At present, we are just helping get the facilities up to snuff, but by summer's end, CVC should be offering several hard-skill training opportunities, some tutoring, and assistance in earning a GED.

Jesus told the rich young ruler first to sell everything he had and give it to the poor. Only then could he truly follow Christ. (Luke 18:22). Are we clinging to our safety and comfort so tightly that it is preventing us from truly following Jesus? We need to find a way to bridge these artificial gaps we've created - to step across the divide we've set between cultures, races, doctrinal beliefs, denominations - and embrace our commonality in Christ. Sure, it might be dangerous; we might have to tread some unfamiliar territory, do some things we've never done before, and maybe even make ourselves uncomfortable. But, like the rich young ruler, only then can we truly follow Christ.

Will joint worship services mend hundred-year-old church divisions or end age-old racial prejudices? Probably not. Will a skills-training center on the south side stop all the senseless killing? Probably not. But it's worth a try.

repent! the end is near!

You’ve seen them. You know, the tee-shirts depicting the empty sneakers left behind by the raptured teenager or the bumper sticker that reads, “WARNING: In case of rapture, this car will be unmanned!” Perhaps, like me, you have lamented the utter lack of non-rapture-related Christian fiction (unless you like stories about pioneer school marms, that is); in fact Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins have struck exploitation gold with the number one selling book series of all time, Left Behind. Clearly, there is one dominant paradigm in contemporary, evangelical, end times doctrine: Pre-trib rapture. It seems like the only game in town, but is it?

Actually, there are four different, vastly divergent theories about biblical eschatology (from the Greek eschaton, meaning the end of something) – the study of the “end times.” I’m not going to go into detail about them here (click here for a short description of all four theories), but I do want to dispel a couple of myths. The first is that biblical prophecy, especially “end times” prophecy, is virtually impossible to understand – nobody really knows what it means; we are all just guessing. This is patently false. Why would God place so much emphasis on prophecy and leave no clue to unlock it?

The second myth is that the only way to interpret the inerrant and infallible Word of God is to interpret it literally. This is a perplexing position. Even though all scripture is inspired and God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16), it was still written for and by human beings. When was the last time you spoke to another human for more than five minutes without utilizing hyperbole, metaphor, or some other linguistic device to make your point?

Sometimes, I think God placed eschatological prophecy in the Word as a "key." Once we figure out the key to unlocking prophecy then we will understand that all of the other "divisive" issues in Scripture (like “predestination” or “preservation of the saints”) are similarly uncomplicated. The "key" that we learn from studying biblical prophecy is simple - rely God's on understanding, not our own (Proverbs 3:5-6). We want to "literalize" everything, but Jesus never did; Jesus taught almost exclusively from parables – little stories that exploded with meaning because of Jesus’ artful use of literary imagery and culturally significant metaphor. Find the lines between the literal and the figurative – the physical and the spiritual – and you can unlock all of Scripture. Spiritual growth in our lives comes, in part, from the conversation about the location of those lines.

The big problem I see in the church's handling of this issue is that if we, as a body, are too scared to touch this issue, if we are intimidated by it, we leave it to the mass media and sensational novelists to characterize us as superstitious nut-jobs. We need to get some perspective. End times prophecy was meant primarily as a warning to the unbeliever and an encouragement for the believer to reach them before it is too late.

Most people I talk to about this subject agree that specific eschatological doctrine is not that critical as long as we live with some urgency and strive to do God's will while we are here. However, many in our churches agree in principle but not in practice. What I mean is, many live like this is practically the most important thing! Look at how often radio preachers are casting their dark visions about armor-plated scorpion-locusts and unmanned cars smashing into oncoming traffic! These prophecies were never meant to inspire fear, but HOPE! Perhaps I am preaching to the choir, but how did we, as a culture, become so bamboozled by fear mongers? Does anyone really think Jesus will come back with a literal sword poking out of His mouth? That would be somewhat like suggesting that all Republicans are literally elephants.