“We lose down here!”
“You’re just a bunch of Boomers with a pessimistic eschatology!”
It’s been going on for months on X (the artist formerly known as Twitter). The post-mil “We’re sick of the depravity in America. Let’s build a biblical society” Christian Nationalists against the pre/a-mil “Preaching the gospel is the only way you get a biblical society, and the signs of the time seem to indicate that that biblical society is not going to happen before Christ’s return” tribe.
Is it
“Change the structure and you’ll have an environment conducive to changing hearts.”
or is it
“The only way to truly change the structure is for people’s hearts to change first.”?
Yes. No. Both. And at this point, I’m tempted to add, “Who cares?”.
If you opened this article looking forward to finding out which side of this argument I take, I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed. I’m not on either side. I’m on the third side of the argument, which is to stop arguing about it regardless of which side you’re on.
I have friends and loved ones – good, solid, doctrinally sound brothers and sisters – on both sides of the argument. I’m sick of the tension. Sick of each side treating the other like the enemy, idiots, traitors, slanderers. Sick of feeling forced to choose sides. And I’m not going to do it. And I don’t think I’m alone in this “third way”. Not by a long shot.
I have to wonder, were there variegated incarnational theology streams in Israel prior to Christ’s first coming? Did they sit around in the city gate arguing about how much longer it would take for the Messiah to get here? His station in life? The exact timing, order, and nature of the way He would set His people free? Exactly how He would accomplish all of that?
Maybe there were, and maybe they did. And how many of them do you think got all of the details exactly right? My guess is zero. And even if there was some champ of an Israelite who managed to accurately predict exactly how, and in what order everything related to Jesus’ first coming would happen, what did he win? We certainly don’t see God giving him a trophy, or “I told you so” rights, or even mentioning his name and his amazing feat anywhere in Scripture.
Arguing over Christ’s second coming is no less folly.
Can you hold an eschatological position? Sure! Study the Word like there’s no tomorrow. Draw biblical conclusions. Knock yourself out. But at the end of the day, the most any of us can say is, “Based on my best good faith reading of Scripture, I think it’s going to happen like this…”. If God has veiled from our eyes something as simple as the day and hour of Christ’s return, is it not arrogance to think we’ve got all the more complex details figured out definitively?
Nobody knows with 100% certainty exactly how it’s going to happen, brothers and sisters. And we all need to humble ourselves, admit that, and stop beating each other over the head with our educated guesses.
How? There’s just one very simple, very biblical step.
Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Do not boast about tomorrow,
for you do not know what a day may bring.
And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you…’
This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
You can probably think of other verses and stories that fit this biblical motif of trusting and obeying God today and not fretting about the future.
The daily manna was actually a test of Israel’s obedience and trust in God on a daily basis. If they gathered more than they needed for that day, they failed the test and God disciplined their disobedience.
Only for the Sabbath were they allowed to look to the future and gather manna one day in advance.
It’s not an accident that “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven,” is immediately followed by “Give us this day our daily bread.”.
“Tomorrow will be anxious for itself.”
Want to stop arguing about Christian Nationalism? Get up every day, love the Lord, and walk in obedience to Him in whatever He gives you to do that day. God opens up an opportunity for you to run for office? Go for it. You have a chance to share the gospel with someone? Do it. Pray. Work. Worship. Study the Word. Love and serve your family and your church.
Stop trying to figure out the next five or five thousand years. Live faithfully today, and glorify God to the best of your ability.
And get up tomorrow and do it all over again.
Michelle Lesley 