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In fact, a thriving, distinctively Christian, life of the mind necessitates a proper eschatological focus. This point deserves much greater treatment, and for the sake of space this will be reserved for a future blog posting.
What I mean by "a thriving, distinctively Christian, life of the mind necessitates a proper eschatological focus," is that we can accomplish productive ministry to the world around us only when our motivation focuses on the promise of the future coming kingdom of Christ. A distinctively Christian ministry has at its core not only the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Christ in His first coming, but also (and just as importantly) the return of Christ in glory. As we attempt to make vital connections to the world around us, thoroughly embracing a proper emphasis on the second coming of Christ will have a radical affect on a world that has no end in sight.
This world stands condemned through sin, yet despite its condemnation, the world operates as though it can save itself through progress. Constantly improving, growing, expanding, advancing. Progress used to be a means to an end, a necessity to solve a problem. While that remains partly true today, most progress is attempted simply for the sake of progress, means for the sake of means, with a nonexistent end point.
The Christian however knows the end the world works towards: the coming kingdom and rule of Jesus Christ. This offers Christians something unique from the world: an assessment by which to judge progress. In light of this glorious end point, and this alone, should we evaluate any attempts at advancing progress in a distinctly Christian manner. For example, should the church begin using contemporary music in the worship service because that is the style of music people listen to now, or because it furthers the name of Jesus of Christ and brings us closer to His return? Or should the church install a coffee bar because the church down the street installed one and we must remain competitive, or because it loves people in a way that reflects and points to the establishment of Christ's authority? Are we aiming for numbers in church attendance or numbers in kingdom attendance?
The answers to these questions may very well be "both." God can certainly use our false motivations to still further His name and His kingdom, but the point of this posting is not to question the resulting outcomes, but rather the motivation itself. With God in control of the results, undoubtedly they will be distinctly Christian. My hope is that our motivations for decision making, our analysis for problem solving, would align with the future results God operates towards and thereby be distinctively Christian.
Progressing simply for the sake of keeping up with the progress around us offers people nothing different from what they can find in the world. The gospel becomes commonplace, just another product trying to compete for attention, instead of something that can radically transform lives. We are in this world, but we are not of it. In order to have meaningful contact in ministry, the gospel has to be lived out in way revolutionary to the world’s standards.
Please hear what I am not saying. I am not saying that ministry should be accomplished by offering people the knowledge of the end as if it was something we could set a date for. Much detriment has been done to this concept of 'looking forward to the future in order to be properly involved in the present' by those who try to predict the ending of the world and motivate people through a false gospel of fear of dread.
"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone... For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will" (Matthew 24:36,44).
Though we cannot state with certainty the timing of Christ's return, we can state with certainty the nature of His return, and that should influence us to preach, teach, and live out in the present a hope both true and eternal.
For further reading on this matter I recommend The Presence of the Kingdom by Jacques Ellul. Many of the opinions I have expressed here were heavily influenced by this book.
Perhaps a fuller treatment of this work will be presented in a future posting.
For now, I hope that you have at least begun to question what motivates you to minister to a lost and broken world, and to consider how knowing the ultimate end that the world is working towards should influence the means by which we communicate the gospel.
"But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne" (Matthew 25:31).
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