Bloggin' the 28: Escape or energiser

Continuing our summer Bloggin' the 28 project, Signs of the Times Australia / New Zealand editor Nathan Brown applies the Seventh-day Adventist doctrine of The Second Coming to contemporary life.

“Lianne struggled with the idea of God,” Don DeLillo’s narrator says of one of the characters in his recent novel, Falling Man. “She was taught to believe that religion makes people compliant. This is the purpose of religion, to return people to a childlike state. . . . We want to transcend, we want to pass beyond the limits of safe understanding, and what better way to do it than through make-believe.”

It’s a contemporary restatement of an oft-repeated criticism of religion—and perhaps of Christianity in particular. There is a perceived tendency for this kind of faith to draw believers away from life here and now toward a longing for some better life in the hereafter, however that may be defined. The criticism is that the focus on another realm of life becomes a form of sanctified escapism and renders the believer of less benefit to the world and society in which they now live. In this line of thinking, the promise of the “sweet bye and bye”—to borrow from the traditional hymn—tends to dull the believer’s sensibilities to the joys and sorrows of living now, perhaps most famously critiqued by Karl Marx in his religion-as-“the opium of the people” comment.

Often believers have left themselves open to such criticism, even at times cultivating, preaching and practising these kinds of attitudes. There are many stories of sincere believers, who have been overwhelmed by the quest for holiness or the imminent end or the world and withdrawn themselves from all active life to ensure their perfection or readiness.

Perhaps Christianity is most open to such disparagement because of the Bible’s strong focus on and articulation of the promise of the second coming of Jesus and the hope of eternity in a perfectly recreated world. And, it must be said, there is an important element of escape in these formulations.

In this worldview, our world is a fallen, broken and tragic place—and it would be absurd not to have some longing for a world made new. As one Bible writer put it, “All creation anticipates the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. . . . And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering” (Romans 8:21, 23). So an element of what might be described as escapism seems appropriate for those who embrace these promises. There is nothing wrong or misplaced in longing for the time when God will set the world right, will bring an end to injustice, pain and sorrow, and will replace the current fear-filled disorder with His glorious and righteous kingdom.

In His sermon on the end of the world, Jesus spent the first half of his discourse—as we have it recorded in Matthew 24 and 25—detailing the need for escape, even getting to the point of saying that “unless that time of calamity is shortened, the entire human race will be destroyed” (Matthew 24:22). But this is more in the nature of an introduction to His explanation of the significance of these promises of God. To focus solely—or even primarily—on the “escape” aspect of the Christian hope for the future is incomplete for both the Christian and the critic.

Even in Matthew 24, Jesus repeats the injunction to live alertly in light of the promise of His return and He expands this in the second half of the sermon in Matthew 25, with three stories focused on how the believer should live while “waiting” for Jesus. It quickly becomes clear that this waiting is not passive or escapist; rather it demands active engagement with life, others and the world around us.

The first story is that of the ten bridesmaids or the wise and foolish virgins (see Matthew 25:1-13). This parable focuses on the need to build spiritual resources and resilience in our lives today, fitting us for life now and ultimately to be ready to celebrate and live with God when the world is recreated. But the focus is on the present duty in light of the potential delay of the return of the “bridegroom.”

Jesus’ second story is the parable of the three servants, otherwise known as the parable of the talents (see Matthew 25:14-30). Three men are given different sums of money—representing the material resources and opportunities we are all given in different measures—and left to work with those on behalf of their master until he returns. Upon his return, they are to account for the use they have made of what they were given. Two of the servants do well, but the other is too afraid to make use of his gift, leaving him open to the rebuke of his master and his being cast out of the household. Again the focus of the story is the time between the master leaving and his return, making the best use of the resources and opportunities we have.

The third story is commonly referred to as the parable of the sheep and the goats but has nothing to do with sorting or counting livestock (see Matthew 25:31-46). In short, this parable urges that how we live now, how we treat each other and how we treat the less fortunate among us is important. This is the climax of Jesus’ sermon. At the beginning of Matthew 24, Jesus’ followers asked Him, “How will we know when the world is about to end and that You will return as promised?”—to which Jesus ultimately replies, “What matters most is how you live and how you treat people in the meantime.”

Rather than being tempted to self-centred escapism, the promise of the Second Coming and a recreated world must be a call to a different way of living, serving and relating to those around us. One Australian Christian leader put it this way—Jesus’ promises “fill the present with hope and this with energy. Because the future fills the present with meaning and purpose, we give ourselves to the needs of others, even to the reshaping of society. The Christian hope has vast social consequences. . . . We look back to see what the promises were; we look forward to see them fulfilled; we act now in the light of what is yet to be” (Dr Peter Jensen, The Future of Jesus).

The reality is that what we believe about the future has important implications for how we live now. Belying the caricature of the otherworldly believer focused only on a vague eternal bliss to come, a healthy reliance on the promises of God about His future for our world should be the catalyst for energetic engagement, the spark for a life that is rich and deep and makes a difference to others.

And this impulse is undeniably practical. Theologian Walter Brueggemann, using disproportion as shorthand for all kinds of injustice, oppression and inequality in the world, explains it this way: “Because God will rule, the disproportion in which we live will sooner or later come to an end, because this God will countenance no continuing disproportion. God’s intent for justice and peace in creation cannot finally be resisted. . . . God’s rule is endlessly destabilising for us” (Finally Comes the Poet).

Because we believe God’s righteous intention will eventually become the ultimate reality for humanity, it makes sense for us to practise this way of living now and order our lives in such a way as to try to give reality to it. It is also something God’s people will choose to do as those who desire to live in the ways of God now.

Knowing that what happens to “the least of these” (Matthew 25:40, 45) matters to God, means it matters to those who are His people. And because we know that the political, economic, cultural and social power structures that perpetuate injustice in all its forms will be overthrown, we are empowered to speak and act against the evil in our world. We know these forces—and our participation in and benefit from them—are only ever temporary and thus they are always destabilised.

Undeniably, there is an element of escape in Jesus’ promises to come again. In a world with so much pain and sadness, it is appropriate to look forward to a better place and a better way. According to the promises of God, that will come—but it is yet to come.

More importantly today, these promises change how we see today and energise how we respond. The promises of God call us to engagement with our world, doing what we can to confront the wrongs we see around us, heal the hurts in our human brothers and sisters, care for the world, celebrate the goodness we discover and share the hope that these promises give us.

As faltering and small as our efforts might be, we work with God to begin to recreate the world as—one day—He will ultimately and gloriously recreate it. When Jesus said, “I am going away, but I will come back to you again” (John 14:28), He was also saying to His followers, “Live like it is true today—and that will make a difference.”

“Nothing less than life in the steps of Christ is adequate to the humans soul or the needs of the world. Any other offer fails to do justice to the drama of human redemption, deprives the hearer of life’s greatest opportunity, and abandons this present life to the evil powers of the age” (Dallas Willard, The Great Omission).

“A spiritual leaning used to mean total inactivity in the world,” reflects Vandana Shiva, Indian activist and writer, “while activism tended to be associated with violence. But suddenly the only people who seem to have the courage to act are the deeply spiritual—because it’s only those who know there is another world, another dimension, who are not intimidated by the world of organised power.”

Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions. It is by our actions that we know we are living in the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before the Lord, even if our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. (1 John 3:18-20)

Comments

[Dr. Thomas J. Zwemer]

Religion is the study of the behavior of man based upon his belief system.

Theology is the study of God based upon Revelation, History, and the Cosmos. (The heavens declare the glory of God!)

Christianity is a belief/behavioral system based upon the Christ event and its impact on individual acceptance of that event as a personal validation and a personal calling.

Unfortunately, man insists on turning everything around: trying to make himself attractive to God. All the time God has been trying to reveal Himself to man as the Bridegroom wooing His bride.

God offers us an invitation before He issues a commission. Churches of every hue attempt to demand a performance prior to an acceptance. None more so than the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Christianity is a high privilege. Being properly churched is a burden in most instances: none more so that a “final generation” mind set. Tom

[Wondering]

I agree with this post.

C.S. Lewis made the same points.

One point though; have not those people who look to an afterlife most vehemently been the ones who have done the most good in this world? (I am speaking historically now).

[Dr. Thomas J. Zwemer]

Wondering:

Some have most haven't! I am not sure what to take of the word vehemently. The Church has more than its share of villians and only a bakers dozen of sainted heros. I'll take one thief on the cross to the entire line of Popes and potentates of any church. Tom

[Dadu]

I think that one reason our church community has been remiss regarding educating members about the protection of the environment, besides pure ignorance, is because of the belief that Jesus will come soon and the earth will be made new anyway. We are all a part of each other and the environment and loving each other means taking care of the whole.

[Wondering]

Dear Mr. Zwemer,
That would be something to look up. Even though Popes would have had lots of power--out of proportion to others--I think if we look at recorded history and the general body of Christians, we will find that it works out in their favor.

Think, too, about anti-slavery, hospitals, schools etc.

Dadu,
Our church--even subtly--is able to look at environmentalism and see it for what it is; a religion of its own and a distraction from The Great Commission; and don't call me a polluter.

I learned to take care of God's creation without the accompanying fanfare and noise and back-slapping; and I think many other Adventists are the same way as well.

[JeriAnne Berry]

I understand using religion as an escape!! And I took it to addiction preportions! I could certainly have done much worse in my quest for something to assuage the shame left me from my abuses, but healing meant confronting the addiction and recognizing it for what it was! Relationship with God is my quest now AND enjoying the "Rest that remaineth" for the people of God" (Hebrews 4:9)

[Dadu]

Wondering,
Your comment brought to my attention how scary it can be to make a comment and how secure and confident you must be to join the "comment community". After making my first comment ever, I have learned that "environment" can be an offensive word that may open up a page with people there waiting to attack. I refuse to be discouraged.
I am inspired by Nathan Brown's article as he sums up with "...The promises of God call us to engagement with our world, doing what we can to confront the wrongs we see around us, heal the hurts in our human brothers and sisters, care for the world, celebrate the goodness we discover and share the hope that these promises give us." Growing up in Adventist education I was unintentionally uneducated about how because of the effects, the care of the world is the same as caring for each other.