Left Behind
Years ago there was a huge push in Christendom, that you didn’t want to be left behind when Jesus came, so you had better get your life right today. Basically all you heard was Jesus was coming, the rapture was going to happen and you were going to be sadly mistaken when you had been left here.
First before I go into all that is wrong with that type of theology, let me explain what the rapture is. In the book of Revelation, which is the last book of the Bible. John, the author of that book, is being shown what is going to happen. And for simplicity sake, there will be a time and place when Jesus’s followers, Christians, will be taken up to heaven and those who are not, will be left behind.
I have been thinking a lot about the end times recently. Not only is the world in a mess but even churches and church leaders look more like culture than who God says we are to be. But what made me want to write about it was a post in our local city Facebook page. There is a church that sits in the front of a neighborhood. They have been building and renovating. Well as luck would have it, the fire alarms have gone off a couple of times and for whatever reason, the very first time it couldn’t be shut off. Major malfunction. I did tell you this church sits in a neighborhood, right?
Well this started one neighbor going to social media asking for the church to shut off the “Rapture Alarm.”
The joke went on and on and as grateful as many were that there was laughter about the event, and the rapture alarm, something in my spirit was pricked.
First thing I feel should be mentioned, is that there will be no alarm calling people to the church so they can hitch a ride to meet Jesus in the air. It will be an instantaneous event, all around the world, in a blink of an eye, those who are children of the Most High, will be gone.
Years ago it was all that was talked about by pastors. Get right with Jesus or you will be left. Then unfortunately a few high profile pastors used their platforms to tell the world that God is love and Hell is not real.
Well these pastors did get one thing right, God is love (1 John 4:8 ESV), but they forgot to mention that He is also a JUST God (2 Thessalonians 1:6 NIV) and will not be mocked (Galatians6:7 KJV) And to make matters worse, those pastors left out the verses where Jesus Himself talks about being eternally separated from God. (Matthew 25:46 ESV) It also talks about being thrown into a blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:49-50 NIV).
So why do I think that “fear of being left behind” theology is a problem? I fear that most will be like I was. I didn’t know what it meant to follow Jesus, I just didn’t want to be left behind and spend eternity in hell. So I quickly made a confession but there was never a commitment to Christ. And there is no Good News in that. I learned to parrot the right answers when asked “Why would Jesus let me into heaven.” At the age of thirty, some 10 years into what I thought was my life as a Christian, my world was rocked. I was the perfect church member. Every time the doors were open, I was there. Anytime there was an event, I was involved and often in leadership. The more I did the more I felt that Jesus was going to love me, but somewhere along the way I started feeling I wasn’t going to ever be good enough. This is when I heard a youth leader talking on Matthew 7. Jesus says starting in verse 21 that not everyone who says “Lord, Lord… will enter the kingdom of heaven. Then those who Jesus is talking with said, (paraphrase) “but Lord did we not do this and that….” And Jesus said matter of factly, “depart from me, I never knew you.” It was during this event that I heard me telling Jesus my impressive church resume and Jesus saying “thank you, but I never knew you.”
I realized that all I was doing was to impress Jesus because I was still working under the assumption I didn’t want to be left behind.
I began a quest to help people understand the “now what” because it isn’t just about the confession but the life changing commitment to be in a relationship with Jesus. I am afraid that there will be many who think, just as I did, that saying a few words because I didn’t want to be left behind was going to be my get out of Hell free card.
Did you know that as a Christian you are also a disciple? A learner, a pupil, a follower? And our ultimate job is to glorify Him and make Him known?
1 Corinthians 10:31 says:
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
This adventure of finding out “now what” instead of living in fear of being left behind, has made me realize that it isn’t a legalistic requirement to love and obey Jesus, but an irresistible response to what He has done for me.
Scripture very clearly tells us that we don’t know the day or the hour of Jesus’s return, only God does. (Matthew 24:36 BSB)
Our job is to be prepared by living a life that glorifies God. And secondly to live out Jesus’ command from the end of Matthew.
“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:19-20 (NLT)
