It appears as if the message of the Gospel
is irrelevant to modern society. Jesus dying on a cross and supposedly
resurrecting from the grave happened more than two thousand years ago. The
Christian faith, at best, is belief in a historical event with little relevance
to modern society. Religious people practice an odd habit of meeting together
once a week in a building. If faith in the cross is merely acceptance of a
historical event, it is possible to believe (mentally accept the validity) yet
have zero motivation to live worthy of the Gospel of Christ.
Too often, the focus of the Church's message
is that God has great plans for your life and no matter the obstacles, He will
help you achieve great things in this life. I think that this message is
totally irrelevant to this wicked generation. There is no need for God because
surely I can achieve great things on my own. I can make a positive difference
on society. I find that my generation does genuinely care about the world and
its communities. People are concerned about important issues like politics,
healthcare, poverty, etc. But the idea of God is irrelevant. Why is this the
case? Why are more and more people rejecting God and walking away from their
faith?
Faith is the substance of things unseen and
the evidence of things hoped for. We hope for things that we do not see. I
believe that the Gospel message in the Church lacks a forward vision. It lacks
hope. Much of the focus is on this age and the issues that plague us now, or
our victories and triumphs in this life. The message lacks a forward anchor of
hope. Why is there never discussion and exhortation on the hope of eternal life
and the resurrection? The return of Jesus? Without the hope of His return, we
lack direction and purpose. The Church must take hold of biblical prophecy and
eschatological concepts.
The focus on biblical prophecy demands
faith. Peter told us that in the days of the end of the age, there would be
mockers and scoffers who would ridicule the Lord's return. The implication is
that believers at the time would be proclaiming that the Lord is returning soon
and that men should repent and believe. However, people would reject this
message and scoff. Surely, the world has revolved for thousands of years and it
will continue doing so. But as in the days of Noah, the flood came and most
were caught off guard. We must preach and exhort one another to believe in the
return of Jesus' and to live righteously as the Day of the Lord approaches.
Many times, I ask myself, isn't it crazy to
believe that a man is going to descend out of the heavens? Isn't it crazy to
hope that one day I will be resurrected out of the ground? Isn't it crazy to
believe that I will see the fathers of the faith? All of these things take
faith to believe and to many, it is absolutely foolish. But we must
meditate on the things that are to come. We must take time to embrace the
prophecies that surround the end of the age. We must not shy away from
discussing the end of the age and we must return to an apocalyptic message. A
forward message.