It’s the end of the world…
This past week we inagurated a new President. As did many people in our world, I got wrapped up in the inaguration festivities and was glued to my tv/computer watching what could possibly be one of the most amazing events of my lifetime. What stuck out to me about the festivities was not the inauguration ceremony itself, nor was it the 10 balls, or grand parade. Instead it was the reaction of people to the event itself. Obama supporters are beside themselves with joy and conservatives are declaring that the world is now going to come to an end.
I don’t understand the hype. How is it that Obama is going to single-handedly bring an end to the world? I guess a better question would be, “why are people so preoccupied with the end?” Yes, I am a Christian who believes that there will be a time when Christ will return and right our wrongs (notice I didn’t say anything about a rapture here). However, this hope of Christ’s return does not instill in me a disposition of fear, but of hope – it makes me want to live my life better NOW and to its FULLEST (I seem to remember Jesus saying something about this).
Here’s my challenge to the world – let’s think about the life that we are leaving behind, that we are choosing not to live, each time we consume ourselves with this apocalyptic, “Obama’s the anti-Christ and is going to usher in Armageddon” and “oh by the way, we’re all communists” talk. I think, for some of us at least, the fear of a grand battle of Armageddon is less scary than living life with abandonment in the present.
Shalom,
Chris
you’ve got it right. We should be looking forward to the return of Christ, not living in fear.