The traditional Christian view of life is get right with God by saying a sinner’s prayer, then wait for him to rapture you away from this awful, sinful world, or die and go to heaven. Sound familiar? This story has captivated the church and is the story that many, many Christians live in.

There is another story and it is well articulated by Tom Wright in his article from Time Magazine. Go ahead, take a look, which story do you want to live in? It’s your choice.

I echo Tom Wright’s view in my book God’s EPIC Adventure:

If you went to the streets today or within the corridors of the church and asked what Jesus meant by “repent and believe,” you would most likely hear that he meant “Give up your private sins (most likely sexual, alcohol, and drug abuse) by accepting Jesus and gain some “inner peace” by believing a body of dogma and joining the local church at the corner of walk and don’t walk so you can go to heaven when you die.” God’s EPIC Adventure, 187.

AND

With the resurrection of Jesus, God created a new world and sent Jesus’ followers off to announce it to the world. If you go to the resurrection chapters in Luke 24, or in Matthew, or Mark, or John, and say, “What do the evangelists think this stuff means; why are we telling this story?” The answer is not, “Jesus is risen again, therefore, we can go to heaven when we die and be with him.” It’s interesting they never say that, those resurrection chapters. Rather, they say, “Jesus is risen from the dead. Therefore, God’s new creation has begun, and you are commissioned to go off and make it happen.” That’s the emphasis. And it’s a new world of justice and freedom; it’s the exodus world, the return-from-exile world, the world where Jesus already reigns as Lord, it’s the world with good news for all, especially, as in the New Testament, for the poor, 213.

Also see Tom Wright’s Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church

Here’s a short video clip of Brian McLaren asking me a question about God’s EPIC Adventure. Enjoy.

Rose, my pastor, made a comment on my online Bible Study called Decoding the Apocalypse in response to a question: What is a clear witness? Below was my response to her comment.

As with most things, the Enlightenment Project produced a rash of reductionism. Witness was reduced to things like the “Four Spiritual Laws” and “door-to-door” evangelism with the sole intent of putting an argument to people demonstrating that they were sinners and needed salvation so they could go to heaven when they died. If they surrendered they prayed the “sinners prayer” and got their barcode, so they could be successfully identified upon entry into eternity. Sound familiar?

Living openly, lovingly, and for others with Kingdom of God attributes such as the “fruit of the Spirit” was not prioritized as “witness.” If it was, it was more like “sissy” witness where “speech and argument” was seen as “real” witness. Of course, Paul introduced what he calls the “fruit of the Spirit” which is love, out of which come all kinds of lifestyle corrections. I believe for him, the “fruit” was a tangible demonstration of the “age to come” entering into “this present evil age.” It was the lifestyle of the future being brought into the lifestyle of the present. It was living the future now as though it was then. Living in this way surely would produce abundant conversations about why one is living differently than others in our physical communities. Telling one’s story in lifestyle would surely allow for opportunity to tell one’s story in words where one can give and honest, resounding, answer that she/he loves God. There is little or no argument that can be given for a life change. When the blind man in Scripture told his story, “I once was blind, but now I see,” having known the life of the blind man who was now a seeing man, who would argue.

Yes, to live well and to talk well we need to be empowered by the Spirit. His presence and power is not just for healing the sick and casting out demons. His presence and power are needed to help us live a Kingdom present life in the midst of an age gone amuck. When was the last time that when faced with a choice of a decision to be Kingdom people or “amuck people” we stopped and even briefly asked for the power of the Holy Spirit to decide in favor of being a Kingdom person? I better stop now, I’m “talkin’ too much here.

What if John when he was writing his Gospel was saying by his opening words, “In the beginning,” that his book was a Genesis 1 sorta thing, a rewriting of the story of Genesis 1 with a new Adam (although he doesn’t use the term). What if we read John in that way? Of course, Genesis 1 is about creation given to us in an account of “days” not necessarily twenty-four hour days. On the sixth day, God created humankind in his image. In John’s Gospel on the sixth day, Jesus appears before Pilate and Pilate says, “Behold the man.” Could we understand that as John’s way of saying here is the true human being giving his life for the world God created. Remember, at the conclusion of the sixth day in Genesis, God finished all the work of creation. On the cross Jesus says, “It is finished!” On the seventh day God rested. In the tomb on the sixth day Jesus rested from all the work of recreation.

O Sabbath rest by Calvary,
     O calm of tomb below,
Where the grave-clothes and the spices
     cradle him we did not know!
Rest you well, beloved Jesus,
     Caesar’s Lord and Israel’s King,
In the brooding of the Spirit,
     in the darkness of the spring. (N. T. Wright)

On the first day of the new week, resurrection, a new creation.

What if we read John and understood John that way and became part of that story instead of the story that so many of us find ourselves living in.

What if…

Question
Do you feel the Tribulation has already happened or do you feel it is yet to come? I have been doing some deep research in the word and I feel that it is to come, but I am searching for the truth, and if you have proof I will believe any answer you give me. I am from a biblical church and my pastor feels that the Tribulation is yet to come. I also do because of the proof he has given me. But if you have proof to prove it the other way, then please write.

Answer
There are three varieties of belief about this topic of tribulation (Pretribulation, Midtribulation, and Posttribulation).

Pretribulation
Pretribulation has to do with the rapture of the church before a tribulation. Until the 19th century, believers thought in terms of the rapture and the Second Coming of Jesus as the same event. It occurred after the tribulation. In the 19th century a swing to Dispensational Theology appeared. Dispensational Theology had its roots in J.N. Darby, a Plymouth Brethren minister. He introduced into the church the idea of the coming of Jesus in two stages: one for his saints at the rapture and one with his saints at the Second Coming at the close of the tribulation. According to his interpretation of prophecy, there was a seven-year period of time that was the 70th week predicted by Daniel (9.24-27). With the church removed, God would resume his dealing with Israel.

Midtribulation
The midtribulation rapture of the church became popular in the mid-fifties. The modification, which this view brings to the pretribulation rapture, was the limitation of the wrath of God upon the world as described in Revelation 16-18 to the first three and a half years of the tribulation period.

Posttribulation
Posttribulation is the view that believes that the people of God who face persecution are the Church. They believe that there is no internal evidence in the Bible and Revelation to indicate that the seven churches equal seven time periods and that there is no indication that John’s rapture is the Church’s rapture.

I think that it is fair to say that “being dogmatic” about a tribulation is clearly not helpful. It also occurs to me that since Scripture does not make it a “banner topic,” so to speak, that it would be a much more enabling concept to figure out “how to live” now rather than trying to figure out “when the tribulation is going to happen.” Actually the former does not really do one much good in the scheme of things while the latter seems to be the emphasis of Scripture.

P.S. It is dangerous to believe anything that someone else tells you is correct. It may also not be valid to look at the Bible as a book that must “prove” something. The concept of “proof” may be wholly a concept of the Enlightenment Project.

Question
Do you feel the Tribulation has already happened or do you feel it is yet to come? I have been doing some deep research in the word and I feel that it is to come, but I am searching for the truth, and if you have proof I will believe any answer you give me. I am from a biblical church and my pastor feels that the Tribulation is yet to come. I also do because of the proof he has given me. But if you have proof to prove it the other way, then please write.

Answer
The idea of a tribulation is always a “hot” topic. Usually there is more “heat” than “light” on the subject. The following is a brief description that might be of help.

Reflecting apocalyptic language of the OT, especially Daniel, the book of Revelation (see Revelation, Book of, in present volume) is the most extended depiction of tribulation in the NT, even though the word thlipsis is used only a few times. Although the reference in Revelation 7:14 to the great tribulation (cf. Mt 24:21) has caused unnecessary theological debate in terms of establishing the precise time and character of this tribulation in some futuristic eschatological schemes, Revelation 6-19 clearly reflects a series of graphically depicted events of tribulation before the return of Christ (Rev 19:11-21; see Parousia in present volume). This period is described in terms of the imagery of seven seals (Rev 6:1-8:1), seven trumpets (Rev 8:2-11:19) and seven bowls (Rev 15:1-16:21), all containing various disastrous events culminating in judgment. There have been numerous interpretations of how the seals, trumpets and bowls relate to each other, some interpreters seeing them consecutively and others with various degrees of overlap, some more and some less literally, but in any event in the end Babylon is destroyed (Rev 17:1-18:24), making way for the return of Christ. (Martin, Ralph P.; Davids, Peter H., “Tribulation” Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments)

To Be Continued…