Posted by john on October 30, 2002 at 06:52:25:
In Reply to: Re: Hopeful mortal posted by jonvon on October 29, 2002 at 12:15:02:
: this is good stuff. i've personally found tremendous value in considering the moment of my death. i've found almost no value at all in considering the moment of the rapture beyond, wow, wouldn't that be something... its not that i don't believe or do believe it will happen, i just don't really care much. all the wrong stuff has been made of it. it seems to just degenerate constantly into some sort of science fiction tale used to impinge upon our sense that everything is ok. like no one is satisfied unless we are all running around saying weird things and acting real strange. its like the freak show at the end of the carnival that is christian subculture.
I think many people, often myself included, desire to be in a place that is not so numb. They want a world in which their faith acts out in as real a way as our mundane life. They read the Bible and see how God was physically active in the lives of people, or at least it is portrayed in a way that no one could deny His involvement. These days work is real, playing tennis is real, even watching TV becomes more real than God. We acknowledge his presence and we see it in obscure movings that we credit to Him, or not according to our tenedency. But I think many of us want to see the fire from heaven, rise and walk kind of faith. The speculation on the rapture is a convenient medium for such thought. It boils down to escapism. But this escapism touches on the real and the possible for an American Christian.
But for me, rapture speculation is still hollow because it is just that, speculation. But I still long for that connection to real life. I remember reading a book about this very thing. Not in so many words, but it consisted of several actual accounts of current events where American Christians were involved in situations as epic as anything in the Bible. I mean major world shaping events that we all watched on the news. To me this really solidified the fact that God is as active shaping our world and caring for his people as he was in Exodus. We just don't see it.
Ultimately I think the choice is ours to decide how real we want God to be in our lives. We may not see it as so simple a choice. But it really is. I think we, and me especially, wait for something to come fall in our lap when what we need to do is spring out and grasp the possibilities when they pass by, we never know if we will get another chance at them. Of course sometimes we may spring at things that don't pan out, but the springing is the key. That is where we find God most real- in the motion. I remember Steve preaching once that God was a God of possibilities (this was when he decided to go on tour with Scaterd Few). Of course it turned out badly, but I remember it really set him on fire in the beginning.
not that anyone really cares... I guess I'm kind of publicly thinking out loud.