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.