A few hours ago I found a leaflet on our
doormat which had been pushed through our letter box; It
announced 'Christ is Coming!'. The leaflet was colourful
and attractive. It was printed by the Christadelphians religious
sect. And a thought quickly jumped into my mind:
WHY DO WE LEAVE IT TO THESE GROUPS TO ANNOUNCE THIS FACT?
Why do we allow groups such as 'Jehovah's Witnesses' and
'Christiadelphians' - and all the rest of them - to take the
initiative in proclaiming the possible imminent return of Jesus
Christ?
We know that the apostle Paul strived to appeal to people exactly
where they were; here is where people will be most
receptive!
Today thousands are concerned with the state of this world; they
are concerned about teenage crime; they are concerned about
raising their children in an environment in which - more and more
- anything goes!; they are concerned about their job security;
they are concerned too with having to maintain a lifestyle which
society expects of the 'successful' as it becomes increasingly
obvious that this - in the long term - has a detrimental affect
upon family life. They are concerned too about some issues which
the media especially loves such as 'climate change'; in short,
despite their undoubted affluence, increasing numbers of those
living in the West feel that this world could be heading for
major problems!
Just now when I saw this attractive leaflet on my doormat I asked
myself: 'What affect would this have upon me, if I was not
already a Christian?'
The answer was that I believe that I would have found it
intriguing! Yes, people love to find possible 'ways out' for
their problems. One can just imagine a few people thinking, 'Well
I know that some do believe in Jesus Christ...is it really
possible that these people have the answers? And I think if I
were in such a position, I would open the leaflet, especially in
view of the challenging assertion on its cover. Whats the harm in
looking inside?
To be frank, the cults and sects have been clever in recognising
that this approach is going to have some real appeal; why are we
evangelicals so slow here?
When a Jehovah's Witness knocks your door and asks about your
concerns regarding the way our modern societies are going, they
are being intelligent in their approach. They know that this is
an area which concerns thousands! They are also aware that the
whole area of the possibility of a supernatural God intervening
in this world's events is an intriguing and exciting prospect for
many people, even if these people have little concept of the
Christian God. Witness the popularity of various apocalyptic
movies over the last number of years. In short, they are being
'all things to all men that they might win some'. They dangle a
carrot which they know that people will find intriguing. Of
course, if those people 'bite', they may well be sucked into a
whole area in which various mind control tactics are shamelessly
employed. They will only find a version of 'biblical truth' which
is hopelessly perverted.
As a former member of such a group, I can still clearly recall
how I found this apocalyptic approach so exciting. I compared it
to the approach of 'the church on the corner' and I found
that approach uninteresting, uninspiring and, frankly,
dreary. It had nothing for me! There is no reason why us
Bible-believing Christians cannot occasionally take a 'leaf out
of the book' of these groups here by being more ready to interact
with people in their modern insecurities. We have the Gospel of
Jesus Christ which we can offer!
If we occasionally choose to approach people in these areas,
however, we must avoid all the unwise extremes of prophetic
particularism! Yes, we can indeed point out that there are
indications that Christ's return could be very close, but we
should resist all tendencies toward the exploitation of Bible
prophecy, including the unwise positive identification of such
figures as the 'Beast' and the 'False Prophet' with personalities
currently in the news. Such unwise practises have sometimes
turned Bible believers into 'laughing stocks' when events showed
them to be wildly in error. Some such unwise prognosticators -
having more enthusiasm than solid Bible knowledge - have even
occasionally been misguided enough to make statements such as,
"If - - is not the Beast, then we cannot count on the Bible; mark
my words: - - is the man to fulfil this prophecy!' In fact, only
too frequently, such people have then died and the misguided
biblical 'forecaster' has been left with egg on his or her face!
This would be bad enough for them as individuals,but they
have also brought the very Word of God into disrepute by the
foolishness of their approach of 'prophetic
particularism'.
So here is an area which everybody who calls themselves by the
name of Jesus Christ must avoid.
But with this proviso, there is absolutely no reason why we
should not be using a bit of spiritual acumen and common sense
and getting things into letter boxes explaining how our Lord is
the answer to the often terrible insecurities of modern life. It
is interesting to wonder why people are often just as insecure in
our day, as their great grandparents were in a day where those
without regular employment were in a position of 'stealing or
starving'.
Surely C.S. Lewis had the answer to this: People without God are
like a car (automobile) without the correct fuel in the tank; we
were made to 'run on' God! Put a different fuel in the tank and
the car is going to cough and splutter and - perhaps - jerkily
struggle along, though it might not go at all. We were
designed to have a relationship with God. Ultimately,
money and financial prosperity - which some in the past may have
thought were the answer - only bring another lot of problems and
insecurities! Why? Because God did not design us to 'run on'
money!
J. Paul Getty seemed to be genuinely surprised that his countless
millions still did not allow him to be a happy man; What a
tragedy! Well, we Christians have the answer to this!
"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone
loves the world, the love of the Father is not in Him. For all
that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the
eyes, and the pride of life - is not of the Father but is of the
world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he
who does the will of God abides forever"
(1 John 2:15-17)
So, in conclusion, Christ will indeed return and 'every eye shall
see Him' - this we are promised. Of course, exactly when
none of us know. But we should indeed warn people of this clear
fact and the fact that the Lord will bring terrible judgement
with Him! While it is mainly the cults and sects and a few
extremist 'prophecy buffs' who usually 'major' on this, HERE IS
AN AREA WHICH MANY OF US CAN SURELY USE MUCH MORE IN BRINGING THE
'WORD OF TRUTH' TO PEOPLE'S ATTENTION! While certainly not
advocating any extreme in which we only talk about this, I
am convinced that (as long as we avoid 'prophetic particularism')
here is an area we could, perhaps address a little more. It is
also an area which - as the sects have proved - people are often
going to be ready to listen. Who do I mean by 'We'? I am talking
about balanced but firmly Bible-believing Christians.
We should not leave this area just to extremist groups and
teachers!
"Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He
was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And
while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up,
behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said,
'Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This
same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come
in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven"
(Acts 1:9-11)
Museltof
2002