“The Christian leader of the future is called to be completely irrelevant and to stand in this world with nothing to offer but his or her own vulnerable self.” – Henri Nouwen
“The world is heading for another major crisis that is being called, even by the secular world, ‘Armageddon.’” – Billy Graham
I think my great mistrust of Christian beliefs on the future stem from my deep-rooted optimism.
In a survey completed in October of 2016, 85% of Christians are worried about the moral decline of the United States. To be fair this is only slightly higher than the general public regardless of religious beliefs, but the rate is still staggering.
I recently had a discussion with a Christian who told me that she’s hopeful that she won’t be here in 20 years because the world is getting so morally horrible. Gay marriage, abortion and declining religious (read: Christian) freedoms usually top the list of those bemoaning the state of our country’s moral state. With the recent victories of Hobby Lobby and Masterpiece Cake Shop in the Supreme Court, we’ve proven that Christians will fight against this supposed decline, but the fear of our waning moral influence (rightly) remains.
And yet, as I listen to many Evangelicals speak about this, there is a near Jonah-esque anticipation of America’s coming judgement. For as I have been told for most of my life, in order for Jesus to return, the world must get worse. This resignation that we can do nothing against the injustices around the world go directly against the Kingdom that Jesus was building.
And what are we to expect? If our ultimate hope lies in the return of Jesus in the clouds to catch up his faithful and give us front row seats to the coming tribulation then why would we fight against the oppression of those beyond our tribe? The internal logic is sound. One could argue, that by allowing the continued degradation of our world, we are simply hastening the return of our God. It leads to the type of rally against minorities, women and LGBT+ that is exemplified in the recent Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel spearheaded by Evangelical hero John MacArthur.
With the resigned, and perhaps happy, acceptance that we can only delay the inevitable slide into moral oblivion, Christians abandon the idea that the gates of Hell will not advance against God’s true Kingdom. More important than this abstraction, we literally abandon those who truly need our support and influence.
Quite simply, this is an abdication of our call to love.
Our future cannot be one of abandonment any longer. We must forsake the spirit of Jonah, for that does bring the inevitability of death which we so fear, although in a different manor than we expect.
Our future is to stand with those who cannot stand, to speak with those who have no voice and to speak truth to those who need it, namely ourselves.