Rapture Rebel

Posted May 21 2011 by Spencer Burke with 13 Comments

    With the recent headlines, is it any wonder why the world may think that Christians seem to always want to run or hide or take the easy way out?

    When the “rapture” prediction, bill boards and post-apocalyptic-pet-care-businesses started popping up everywhere, I began to wonder, why am I so ready to escape rather than serve? It feels like placards, amendments and full page ads are arms-length solutions to hands-on problems.

    For some reason I can see Jesus fighting off the body snatching beam of light offering a “skip ahead 2 spaces while everyone else loses a turn” proposal. Why would I leave at the moment Jesus would show up? It is in times like these that I get to be love, light, salt, a sweet aroma (fill in your favorite biblical metaphor here _____________________ ).

    I watch my children and I see the gospel in action. If a kid is new, left out or forgotten – they are the ones to invite them in. If someone is lost or seems confused or is carrying a burden too heavy – they take the time to help. If a friend did not have a lunch or needed a place to stay that afternoon or could not pay for group activity – my kids would find a way to share. I forget that a dollar to a kid who has two…is still half of what they have.

    This childlike faith inspires me to see the opportunities right in front of me, no matter what the date.

    —-
    Spencer Burke is the creator of www.TheOOZE.com, host of ThinkFWD and the author of many books including: Making Sense of Church and A Heretic’s Guide to Eternity.


    Print Friendly

      About the Author

      Spencer BurkeSpencer is the Founder and Editor of TheOoze.com - a trusted source of information and experiences regarding evolving spirituality that was relaunched in new and fantastic fashion in December 2010. He is the author of three books: Making Sense of Church, Out of TheOOZE, and A Heretic’s Guide to Eternity. Spencer is married to Lisa, his wife of 24 years, and has a son Alden who is 12 and a daughter Grace who is eight. They have lived in the same “beachshack” in Newport Beach, CA for the past 20 years.View all posts by Spencer Burke →

      Popular Posts

      Related Posts

      • Sam

         The reason we want to “escape” is so that we can be face to face with Jesus.  Ask anyone who is deeply in love and you will catch just a glimpse of that all encompassing desire to be with the object of that affection.  Even the apostle Paul said he was in a conflict between wanting to leave and be with Christ, and wanting to stay and build up the church.  Of course the choice to stay and fulfill God’s purposes in us prevails but that does not diminish our desire to depart.  I would go as far as to say that someone without that desire to leave and be with Christ has not yet experienced or understood His love for them.
        I understand that your post is an effort to bring attention to the error of those who think only of getting out of here, and forsake their responsibility to carry on the work of Christ in the here and now. Thank you for that admonition. My effort is to show that “escape” is a legitimate longing that must be kept in the proper perspective. 

      • Revsimmy

        If we want to be face to face with Jesus, then we need to do what he says, roll our sleeves up and get involved with the poor, the vulnerable, the needy. “As you did it to the least of these, you did it to me”

        • Sam

          Nice thought, but face to face refers to an actual ontological event that occurs in the future. Can’t mangle scripture in an effort to promote your agenda. If you will read a little more carefully and perhaps a little slower, you will see that the point is to have both ideas functioning at the same time. A desire to depart AND a desire to stay and minister to people. That is exactly what Paul said under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. There are lots of people who emphasize helping people and have no concern for or understanding of God’s Word whatsoever. People united with Christ will emphasize helping people while at the same time emphasize the centrality of proper exegesis of scripture, which includes looking forward to spending eternity in the presence of God.  Anything less makes your good works idolatry. Of course the trend is to dismiss what the Holy Spirit says through Paul and magnify what the Holy Spirit says though Jesus. Of course it says that Jesus, “for the joy set before him endured the cross”.  It’s also popular to dismiss any traditional interpretations of scripture and replace them with a skewed theology that exalts taking care of physical needs above preaching the Kingdom of God. Fortunately there are many great ministries like the LA Dream Center, and Christine Caine’s battle against the sex slave trade, or James Robison’s Life feeding and water well programs that are doing both.  Without both you could gain the whole world and lose your soul… or help others to do the same.    

          • Dcloewen

            So, finding encouragement in the act of a child sharing lunch with another who has none comes to nothing less than, “…good works idolatry?” 

            Really?

            Unless lunch is offered with conscious regard for eternity – either for the one with lunch or the one without – all that is gained is this world?

            Really?

            Has the child who shares lunch truly only served to help the other to lose her soul…as well as her lunch?

            One more question.  Although I don’t know the LA Dream Center, Christine Caine or James Robison, am I to understand that their ministries help Jesus to redeem this world from children who share lunch?
            Not really?

            • Sam

              Need to pay attention Dclowen.  A child sharing his lunch is a beautiful thing. So is anyone helping anyone, anytime.  The point, again, is that as believers in Christ, there is an additional factor involved in our good works. We do what we do because: A) We love the God who first loved us
              B) We obey Christ’s commands andC) The love God has put in our hearts constrains us to reach out.The blog post placed a desire to serve against a desire to leave at Christ’s return as though they were mutually exclusive.  They are not in scripture. This is the context of the comments. Obviously the idolatry comment was not about children sharing lunch. Need to focus. If you, however, decide that following Christ according to scripture is not as important as feeding people, etc., then THAT is idolatry. It seems so strange that you would be against a regard for eternity.  No Christian could be. How you could be a serious student of scripture and think that the concept of spending eternity with God isn’t just as important to God as temporal good works.  It’s BOTH, man, Both.     

              • Dcloewen

                Right.  I get it.  Paying attention.

                My suggestion is that sharing lunch is not merely beautiful.  It is the eternally purposed, eternity envisioned example of participation in the Kingdom.  It is the eternal Kingdom manifest even now.  It is the face of Jesus, incarnate in the body of Christ.It is not diminished by its apparent lack of fundagelical eschatology.

                The lunch IS both, man.  It’s both. 

              • Sam

                Guess we can give up teaching God’s Word from here on. All that matters is lunch.

                Good luck with that

              • Dcloewen

                To check my I understanding…and then I’ll be silent:

                So, Burke muses about Camping’s followers’ (and our) desire to be face to face with Jesus…and suggests a Gospel-in-action, current, deontological, face-of-Jesus experience that testifies to the ontological event that Scripture promises (as you have said).  Then, Revsimmy adds encouragement for believers to come face to face with Jesus today by rolling up their sleeves, in reference to the Teacher’s parable on the threshold of that very ontological event.  (By now I’ve got hymn lyrics playing in my head, “Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow…”).

                And your response:  Scripture has been “mangled.”

                Do I have it right?

                Then I accept your wish for good luck.

              • Sam

                Yes.  You don’t actually come face to face with Jesus when you do the works that are “doing them unto me”, any more than the bread and the wine actually become the body and blood of Jesus. If language means anything then doing those works to the least of these, has the same value and worth to God “as if” you were actually doing them to him. It is that important to God that we minister to those in that way.  The face to face mentioned is a tricky concept to figure out in scripture. In the Greek it actually means, FACE TO FACE.  (That was a joke) The mangling would be saying that there is not a future face to face encounter with Jesus to look forward to with great anticipation, because the only real “face to face” encounter is the one where we see Jesus in the face of the one’s we minister to here on earth. I keep affirming that both of these events are separate yet equally essential to our Christian thinking and experience.  It seems to me that you are trying to invalidate or dismiss the anticipation of the former in lieu of the singular importance of the latter.

                Perhaps I have misunderstood your discourse.  The song you quoted seems to affirm both as unique and critical.  I am sorry if I have judged your words wrongly. Peace      

      • http://twitter.com/qotbpaul Paul Charles

         Not sure you’re explaining a great deal about the rapture, but I agree, kids seem to get the whole service thing far better than we do. Usually, the more we amass individually, the worse we are at sharing it.

      • Joan Hyde

         I just had the joy of adding my name to the list of those who “like” Tony Campolo.  My husband has been guiding me to listen to good Christian speakers, sermons, etc., and I love it.  It is joy because, as I sit here, dealing with MS and all that life can through at one,  I can enjoy the wonderful talks and stories Dr. Campolo shares with us.  I  agree completely that the words of Jesus are those which should lead us in all we do, and think.  In that spirit, I am grateful beyond words that Tony and his ministries are alive and well in the world to help us keep our eyes on the real prize.  You will see that the avatar/photo I chose to represent me in FB is Superwoman.  It is meant as a paradox or a joke.  The only super “anything” in the world is the acts we can do as followers of Jesus.  As He leads, we must follow in order to fulfill His commandments.  

        Regarding the second coming of Our Lord, it will happen in God’s time, not ours.  So, we must accept every day as the day of the Lord and rejoice in it.

      • Joan Hyde

         Whatever we do, we should do it to the glory of God.  Nothing else matters.

      • Pingback: opeh tars

      ×

      TRENDING: It Is Time for the American Christian Church to Surrender the Gay Marriage Fight, Apologize, and Share Love >>