As I write this, many Christian communities are packing their bags, ready for the Big Event. So much had been said about the fourth "blood moon" coming up tonight that it had almost become sickening.
Everybody is ready for the Rapture!
For those who somehow have been protected from all the ruckus, the Rapture is the alleged event that shall occur before, during, or after the Great Teibulation, depending on which interpretation you choose. (Yes, I know some interpretations don't even bring in the Rapture, and at least one variation puts end-times prophesy mostly at the Masada incident. Let's not get into that debate, please.) This event, popularized by a variety of works including the Left Behind series of books and movies, causes all "true" Christians to leave the Earth suddenly. Again, the details of the departure and who is a "true Christian" has been thrown about with disgusting arrogance.
Consider This: what if we're ALL wrong about the Rapture?
Wouldn't it be a shock to discover that the Rapture has already hapened, but only 144,000 or so people disappeared … a number so small that nobody even noticed?
What would that mean for those of us "left behind?" Would it mean we should never have watched that R-rated movie on the "Sabbath?" Would it mean we should've joined this or that church, even though they all got left behind as well?
Maybe, just maybe, we were so focused on blood moons and the alledgedly "correct" and "uncorrupted by Greek" name of the Son of God that we failed to help the least of those among us. Maybe, instead of looking for signs and wonders, we needed to look for those whose last days are today or tomorrow, about to die without hope. Maybe, instead of being on street corners pushing tracts and pithy sayings in the hands and faces of random people, we needed to tell them the simple Gospel, such as can be found in John 3:1-21? Nothing complex, no rituals or rites, just simple truth and hope. "Jesus Christ, and Him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2) instead of tongues and rosaries, church committees and home groups, accountability and "miracles."
