It's the end of the world as we know it....?

I have a t-shirt I like very much, I got it for when I taught a class on eschatology (end times) last year, it shows an explosion and the caption, 'It's the end of the world as we know it.' A few weeks ago I was shopping and as I went through the checkout the lady asked me about my t-shirt and expressed her concern that the Incas might be right and 2012 will see the end of the world. I made some flip comment about them just getting to the end of their calendar and probably figuring they'd continue it when they got there.


The lady serving me was horrified! Didn't I think they were right? How could I be so nonchalant about the end of the world? Since I didn't think the checkout at a supermarket was the right time and place for an exposition of Christian eschatology I simply replied that as long as my son got his birthday in on the 20th of December the Incas could work it out from there....and left...quickly.....


So here, on the last day of 2011 is probably a good time to suggest that I really do hope that 2012 is the end of the world as we know it. Let me explain.


I don't mean in a 'second coming' kind of way, although if Jesus wants to come back next year that's ok with me. I mean in the I'd-like-to-see-things-change-for-the-better-and-followers-of-Jesus-represent-the-presence-of-the-kingdom-of-God-more-effectively kind of way. I don't want this post to be a criticism of the way we do things (although there's a part of me that would like to, but hey, I'm the first to put up my hand when it comes to falling short of whom I could be), I just want to express my hope and desire that we, the body of Christ, could do better in living up to the call and example of our glorious Lord to show there is a new way of being human and it's the way of Jesus.


Just a couple of things to clear up before I present my wish list for the 'end of the world.' I don't think Jesus is coming back to take us all away from this horrid world to live forever in heaven. I don't believe that kind of gnostic dualism is representative of the biblical narrative and certainly doesn't look anything like what Paul describes in Romans 8 or John saw in Revelation 21. Neither do I believe that the world is going to get better and become 'christianised' before the second coming. That certainly doesn't look anything like how Jesus depicted the time before his return (and no, I don't think Matthew 24 has anything to do with the second coming or else Jesus was being particularly deceptive in answering the questions his disciples asked and we haven't done our homework on Israel in the first century). I think that there will be injustice, suffering, hurt, violence, poverty, sin, unrighteousness, and all the other ills that creation is subjected to and has been since Adam's fall. But I also think, and this is the point of my post, that the church has the mandate to shine brighter and express expansively the truth that Jesus is the Lord of the world and is in the process of making things right, a process that will see its culmination at his return.


So I'd like to see the end of the world as I know it and see a few things change. I'd like to see us love more - be more accepting and welcoming and gracious in a way that truly reflects the community of a loving God. I'd like to see us less concerned with our buildings and technology and 'profile' and more concerned with the poor and marginalised who really need good news. I'd like to see us embrace the entire gospel - where good news isn't a personal relationship with Jesus (or, at least, isn't just that), but is a more biblical announcement that Jesus is king of this world and calls all people to join him in demonstrating what it looks like when God is in charge. I'd like to see us reject a mythical 'health and wealth and Jesus has a wonderful plan for your life' message (and if that was what Jesus was teaching why was everyone so upset?) and embrace a truly authentic message that life can be difficult and messy but Jesus offers strength and hope and healing no matter what we might encounter. A message that has less to with what we have and he can give us, and more to do with who we are becoming and who he is to us. I'd like to see a church that encounters all the various challenges that were the subjects of the epistles, but learns from them to be a community of love and equality and grace and generosity and justice. The kingdom Jesus offers is virally subversive to all the other stories of power and success that culture offers and shakes and threatens the powers that control this world. At the same time it offers a new life and hope to all who change allegiance (repent) and trust in Jesus and forms a community that welcomes everyone to be a part living differently.


I'd like to see a church that isn't concerned with size and wealth and marketing and assets and all the other things that culture defines as success and re-discovers the sacrificial call of Christ to faithfully represent him where we live, work and play. I'd like to see a world where Christian service isn't something we do for the church but for our community, and Christian leadership isn't defined by privilege but by being a servant.


I'd like to see church, a body of Christ, a representation of the kingdom of God that takes seriously 'love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and soul and strength and love your neighbour as yourself' and 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you.' If I saw all, most, some of these things (and a whole bunch more, but this is already too long and preachy), then we would see the end of the world as we know it and the possibility of a world as it one day will be.


And yet, to see any of these things, I must wrestle with the sinfulness and selfishness of my own heart. There's a log in my eye much bigger than the splinter in yours. So perhaps, what I need to see in order to bring about the end of the world as I know it, is more of Jesus and less of me.


How about you?