The Rapture: How Dubious Exegesis Leads to Shoddy Theology and Bad Living (Engl 410)

Let me be clear that this is not a personal attack on anyone that I know, any church group I've been a part of, or any sect of Christianity for that matter. It is simply an analysis of a particular eschatological belief, and it is very critical. For that I am unapologetic. Even if one's personal studies lead one to Rapture theology, hopefully the point of this paper is fully realized by those reading it.

Once again, this paper is largely unedited and hasn't been touched since June 4th of last year.

Written in English 410, Summer 2009.

-------------------------------------


The Rapture: How Dubious Exegesis Leads to Shoddy Theology and Bad Living


When Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins released the first book in the Left Behind series back in 1995, they might not have realized the possible impact it would have on Christianity in America or how the presentation and possible interpretation could lead to carelessness concerning creation. Alliteration aside, the Left Behind series as a whole is based on one eschatological, or end-of-the-world related, event. The Rapture. For those of you who have been isolated in a bubble for the past 14 or so years, the Rapture is an event that some Christians believe will happen before, during, or after the time when God's wrath is poured out on the earth as described in the book of Revelation. This wrath is described as seven years of hardship for mankind and is called the Tribulation. The Rapture is when all of the Christians in the world at the time ascend into heaven to live there “forever”. The view that LaHaye and Jenkins espouse is called the Pre-Tribulation Rapture ( Pre-Trib for short) and it supposes that the Christians on earth will ascend into heaven before God's wrath is poured out on the Earth. This view was practically underheard of prior to the 19th century and didn't gain a real following until the late 20th century.

Pre-Trib folks like to exegete (interpret) one verse to support their eschatological ideals. That verse, 1st Thessalonians 4:17, says, “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (KJV). This interpretation has led many, like LaHaye and Jenkins, to believe in the Pre-Tribulation Rapture even though this verse doesn't say anything specific to support that exegesis. While Pre-Trib, Mid-Trib, Prewrath, and Post-Trib believers all have their own reasons for believing what they believe that is not what I am writing to you about. Biblical Scholarship and firmly-grounded doctrine are certainly important things when it comes to religious belief but rather than using belief in a Pre-Trib rapture to live in a more Godly way, the conservative Christian culture has used this as an excuse to live how they want to live. This is a problem that I do not believe is Biblically supported and affects more than just the believer's theology.

As always, I think it's important to maintain a bird's eye view when having any type of discourse about issues that tend to affect not only our religious views but also political policy and legislation. I believe that this focus on one event has led many Christians to neglect to take care of the earth. According to a poll by Dominion Post, 44% of American Christians believe Jesus Christ will return within the next 50 years. I don't believe there is a thing wrong with that view. But because of books like those of LaHaye and Jenkins and the challenge that the modern church has not put forth concerning Pre-Trib theology, the “imminent return” has led some Christians to unbiblical habits – neglecting ecological care as well as making purchases that are not environmentally friendly. As far as recent political trends are concerned, it should not come as a surprise to anyone that the Republican party and Christians in America have been commonly associated with one another recently. I sympathize with many views of the Republican party, and my faith often informs my political decisions but the two should be mutually exclusive and the decisions of the Republican party should never reflect the views of the church and especially church policy.

When global warming started becoming a bigger hot topic issue and “going green” became the trend for all the hipsters and Starbucks-goers, the Republican party resisted because in their view, global warming was just “part of the earth's climate cycle.” I'm not here to debate whether or not global warming is a real situation, but when this view became the unofficial view of the Republican party, it seemed like it was just a matter of time before the church followed suit. With the church often turning a skeptical eye to global warning and with 2 out of 5 Christians expecting Jesus' imminent return, much of the church began to neglect to take care of the earth in simple ways. I have seen more fellow churchgoers litter than any other group of people and that worries me. Church cookouts being only partially cleaned up, people throwing paper plates on the ground at VBS functions, students throwing coke cans out of car windows. The church often doesn't encourage the importance of taking care of what God has given us. Even if a student doesn't think about how Jesus is coming back soon when littering, maybe WWJD can become a “going green” trend as well. The interconnectedness goes much deeper than even that though.

Throughout his ministry, Jesus encouraged the Jews and Gentiles of the time to act in a way that I believe would be considered “overzealous” by the modern Christian culture in America. When a rich young man came to Jesus and told him he had kept the letter of the law and wanted to know what else he could do, Jesus told him to sell all his possessions and follow Him because Jesus knew the young man was wealthy. American religious climate says the exact opposite. There is an endless supply of proponents of the prosperity gospel here who preach that wealth is God's reward for good faith. Joel Osteen. Kenneth Copeland. Joyce Meyer. These are just a few of the people who say life is just about overcoming obstacles and reaping the reward for trusting in God during troublesome times. But this isn't a Biblical message at all! Jesus told his followers not to store up treasures where moth and rust could consume but to store up treasures in heaven. Is this really what we should be worried about teaching in the churches?

I'm sure you're wondering how in the world these preachers can be tied to Pre-Trib theology and how this focus on prosperity is related to it as well. This is where the message of the church and significance of the prosperity gospel comes into play. The message of the prosperity gospel has negatively impacted the church in three main ways that I believe has been ruinous to the ministry of the church in a postmodern society. I think that the first message that it has sent out is in blatant opposition to scripture and that is its strong emphasis on materialism. In my opinion, there is a difference between someone who enjoys having nice things or getting something nice from time to time and someone who puts all his money into extraneous things. Joyce Meyer has been criticized for owning multiple expensive homes as well as flying to the different places where she is speaking on a private jet. I believe that is extraneous. When faced with the criticism she defended herself and said there is nothing wrong with being blessed.

This leads me to my next point. The prosperity gospel is an unbiblical way of defining faithfulness. When Joyce Meyer says that God has blessed her with multiple homes and a private jet and Kenneth Copeland says that God wants us to be healthy and wealthy, what are they saying about people who aren't as affluent or are in deteriorating health in their 40s or 50s? Are these people the faithless? And what about the missionaries in Africa who only get $10 a month to live on? Are they the faithless, too? This isn't to say at all that God may not bless a family or individual's monetary situation(s), but to say that God wants us to be that way and that if we are faithful it will happen is unbiblical. Ravi Zacharias tells a story of a missionary friend of his who lived among the people of Thailand, ministering. After a while, some Thai Buddhist Monks were upset that Ravi's friend was converting many Buddhists to Christianity and he was shot in the head and killed instantly. Was he faithless because he didn't live a long full life?

What about Paul? Who was stoned and later martyred? Did he not have faith because he didn't get a chance to live out his life. Or Peter and his wife, who were both crucified? Peter was even crucified upside down because he did not believe he should be killed in the same manner as Jesus! It is not a Christian ideal in the LEAST to say that God simply wants us to be faithful and in turn live long healthy lives with a lot of money. There are numerous verses I could quote to support this position, but all I have to point the reader to is how Jesus said not to store up treasures on earth but to store up treasures in heaven again. Within the problem of “faithfulness based on possessions” lies another problem. If a Christian believes that making money means they are living in a Godly way, then to them it would follow that everything they buy with that money is a blessing! So when they see that $70,000 Hummer H1 at the local dealership and purchase it, it's almost like they believe that the hole in the o-zone that they own is a blessing from God!

Here is where all the connections come together and the point of this article can come to its fruition. While the megachurches in America are learning about health and wealth and not learning what Jesus of Nazareth said, the bad theology is spreading like wildfire. The prosperity gospel has put so much emphasis on the positive individual experience of each American Christian, that it has forgotten and/or neglected to teach Biblical theology where the Christian takes good care of the Earth because it is God's earth . The lethal combination of Pre-tribulation Rapture Theology, the imminent return of Jesus, and the Prosperity Gospel is toxic even if some of the ingredients are not harmful by themselves. The Prosperity Gospel leads Christians to believe that everything they get with the money they've made is a blessing from God, even if it harmful to our ecological systems. These people, who often believe in Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theology, often do not mind damaging the earth or inhabitants thereof with their massive SUVS because Jesus will be back within the next 50 years and they will be raptured before God does any damage to the Earth as it is now. The combination of those three things and the way the Christian Right has interpreted them has led massive inaction related to environmental conservationism.

Here's the thing, though, guys. Even if Pre-Tribulation Rapture theology is true and even if the prosperity gospel were biblically based and even if Jesus comes back in the next 50 years, it is still not even a Biblical way to live one's life despite the potential veracity of all three concepts. Christians have been mandated to take care of the Earth we have been given and to deny that is to mock the very one who has granted us that gift. The modern church must show that it cares about what God has given us or it will damn every chance of having any sort of witness to those outside the church.