Fruition

Did you hear the news? The rapture date has been extended… again! I apologize; I do not mean to make light of earnest beliefs. To be clear, I do not explain the rapture so that you can act self-righteousness or impolite toward your Baptist neighbors or your non-denominational friends pretending they’re not Baptists. In truth, a love for God is all that matters and our interpretive differences of Scripture are not worthy of broken relationship.

With that said, let’s dive deeper. The rapture is an interpretive tool meant to serve as a deadline for people to become “believers.” Though it is effectively manipulative, it distorts Scripture to gain earthly power and control. It becomes a kind of spiritual terrorism that scares people into believing. For example, the “left behind” series is completely fictional, unbiblical, and did no favors for Christianity. To reiterate, sound theology is the responsibility of people who know better, not the fault of the misguided.

It is true that a lot of the ancient writers and prophets were apocalyptic, even Jesus. They seemed to think a lot about the End Times back then. And technically speaking, the Earth will come to an end at some point. However, this is not an event to be feared. When contemplating death, the last thing we ought to be creating is fear and insecurity. It is cruel to rob comfort from people. Friends, there is no hook. God already loves you, always has, always will. God’s relationship is with the world, not with a select few.

The New Testament does speak poetically about Christ’s second coming, but we can also interpret it as a day of celebration and joy. Because God does not exist on our space/time continuum, no one can know when or where this happens. It isn’t really a place, and it isn’t really a time. So, trying to guess when it will occur conveys a misunderstanding of what it is.

For lack of a better word, let’s call it heaven. When heaven happens, pain and suffering are no more. In heaven we are reunited with all people, every people. Here, we sing, dance, and love is all we know. Joy is all we feel. This place, though not a physical place, is the fullness of God. Heaven without “that” person or without “those” people would not be heaven. Why? Because it would be incomplete. Our earthly divisions are no longer divisive in heaven. God’s vision will come to fruition.

Our mission in this life is to simply receive what Christ provides. Nothing is required. However, if you ask me “what are we supposed to do?’ Then, I would say that we ought to reveal glimpses of heaven to the world. So… when I love you, and when you love me, we are revealing snapshots of God’s dwelling. It is a hopeful vision. We believe in it, its unity within diversity, because we believe in a loving God.

Striving to love as God loves,

Pastor Lucas

Photo by Kaushik Panchal