Several years ago, I asked an older believer in the Lord who was between churches what he was looking for in a church. Without batting an eye, he retorted, “Right eschatology.” His stern reply caught me off guard and left me perplexed. Of all the things he could have said, why was the doctrine of last things at the top of his list when it came to choosing a church?

I learned the answer to that question sometime later.

This same man was once again church-less. How come? He alleged that the pastor of his previous church was teaching false doctrine. I quickly learned that this pastor’s timeline of how the end plays out varied from his. He was a pre-tribulationist. The pastor was either mid- or post-. I was dumbfounded by the minutia upon which he was fixated and thought to myself, “Really? You left the church because of that!”

While I do not share my friend’s interest with the details and hidden meanings of beasts, dragons, numbers, and the identity of the antichrist, and though our interpretation of how human history ends is markedly different, we do agree on one thing: Eschatology matters. The choices we make today are shaped by the future we see.

I grew up in a church which championed the “Big Bang” theory of existence—not at the front end but, rather, the back end of human existence. Hal Lindsey’s book, The Late Great Planet Earth, highly influenced our strange fascination with and dark outlook of the End Times. In our evangelistic outreaches, movies like A Thief in the Night and A Distant Thunder were shown to literally scare the hell out of unbelievers lest they get, in the sobering lines of Larry Norman’s hit song, “left behind.”

The story went something like this. As time ticks, the days will get increasingly worse. Perversion, violence, and wickedness of all kinds will abound and reach a point of no return. God will then pull the trigger, and the final countdown will commence. Those who are Christians will be abruptly taken out of this abominable mess and all hell will break out on the planet for a short (but agonizing) period of time, giving one last chance for the unrepentant to call out to God. The grand finale,… the battle of Armageddon. The earth blows up, and a mushroom cloud fills the air.

This declension narrative generated great anxiety. The future was something to be dreaded. We were on the Titanic. The ship was going down . . . and soon (definitely in our lifetime). So, the goal of our Christianity was to get as many in the life rafts as quickly as possible. As a boy, I prayed the “Sinner’s Prayer” at least a hundred times to be sure I didn’t miss the heavenly bus and get stuck living in a Gotham-like world with little hope of escape. I became zealous in sharing my faith to keep poor souls from experiencing the perdition that was looming (anyone remember Chick tracts?). Getting people saved so that they could go to heaven when either the rapture occurred or they died was the main business of evangelism.

While there are many variations of dispensational eschatology, this was the brand in which I was reared. It was not the kind of story that inspired much investment in this world. After all, it is going to all burn up. The goal is to get out and go up and take as many with you as possible. Fear was the primary motivator. God was going to destroy everything and everyone except those whose names were written in the Lamb’s book of life. What the redeemed could look forward to was in the next life and next world.

How I see the end now is nearly opposite.

My belief that Jesus is the one mediator between God and humans—that his perfect life, death on a cross, and resurrection from the dead—is the sure and only basis for the forgiveness of our sins and glorious life with God has not changed one iota. What has changed is my eschatology. Rather than living under the shadow of future cosmic dissolution, I look forward to a bright tomorrow of creation’s renewal. Restoration—not incineration—has the last word. (If you are concerned that I have become apostate and turned universalist, I can assure you that I still believe in a final judgment and hell.)

The story of the Bible articulates a beautiful conclusion—salvation for all nations, healing of all brokenness, reconciliation of all which is alienated, the redemption of all things. Righteousness. Justice. Love. Goodness. Peace. Harmony. A kingdom of flourishing. God does not obliterate the world he has made. No. God is committed to bringing all creation to himself, to reconciling to himself all things and bringing all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ (Colossians 1:20; Ephesians 1:10). No amount of evil can thwart or subvert God’s good intentions. The kingdom of this world will one day become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ (Revelation 11:15). God is making everything new! (Revelation 21:5) (Note: This does not mean God is making all new things but rather, but all things new.)

Why does this matter? What difference does this make in how we live? What are the implications for spiritual formation and addiction-recovery?

Theologian Jurgen Moltmann argues persuasively that it is only by having a confidence and hope for the world that Christian mission will be truly faithful and transformative. In light of where history is heading—somewhere GOOD here!—our question becomes, How are we to join with God in his healing ministry right here, right now? When we get the end right, our eschatology, we get Christian discipleship and recovery right. Jesus does not save us to rescue us out of this world but to work with him in redeeming this world by bearing witness of his rule as his people in every area of human culture and society—making better movies and homes, creating better medicines and music, constructing better roads and sanitation services, improving educational and health care systems, protecting the environment and animals (including trees and whales), etc.

To bring more of heaven on earth.

The good news is that the new age has already begun. Operation Rescue was launched in Christ’s first coming. We live in the last days . . . now! The future has already invaded the present. Christ Jesus is Lord! As we look forward to Christ’s second coming, we are to partner with God towards the liberation of all creation, patiently yet expectantly waiting for his lordship to be fully and finally realized.

“God does not make junk and does not junk what he has made.”
(Al Wolters)