Endermen

By Ryan Phipps

This article first appeared in The Huffington Post on May 10, 2016.

I S T H I S T H E E N D ?

"Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever." —Ecclesiastes 1:4

It seems that some in every generation believe that we are living in The End of Days. And why wouldn’t we? With all that we see in the media one can begin to think that we may be the generation to finally witness it.

It’s easy to grow apathetic as we observe the state of our world. All that is bad seems to outweigh all that is good. Mass starvation, human trafficking, racism, sexism, elitism, unjust regimes, income inequality, and war... I’d imagine you could add more to the list.

Are we spiraling toward the end, or is there something we can do to stop it?

W H A T I L E A R N E D

In college, I took an eschatology course taught by a professor who believed in something called, “The Rapture.” In this global event, God would extract all the true believers from our world in "the blink of an eye." The event would be so cataclysmic that it would plunge the entire world into a “Great Tribulation.”

The Rapture is, but one of many macabre interpretations of scripture about the end of the world.

We write best-selling books about it.

We make movies about it.

We write music about it.

We make t-shirts, hats, and bumper stickers about it.

In many ways, this misguided view is the lifeblood of the Christian economy.

The sad truth is, what we’ve created is a self-fulfilling prophecy. And that prophecy determines how we live in the world.

W H A T I U N L E A R N E D

The brilliant Carl Sagan once wrote:

“In the long run, the aggressive civilizations destroy themselves, almost always. It’s their nature. They can’t help it. The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars.”

— From "Contact" (1985)

Sagan didn't believe the end of civilization would come about by the hand of God. No. He believed we were capable enough to end it ourselves. And it startles me to realize that Sagan's words are far more prophetic than our selective interpretations of scripture.

W H A T T O D O

Believing in a global “death clock” ticking down to zero only translates into human behavior that treats the world as if that were true— a world that is temporary, disposable, and unworthy. So why do anything to make it better?

What a contrast to the theology of Jesus, who taught us to pray for it to be, “…on Earth as it is in Heaven.”

Could the solution be to look “outward” instead of “upward?” Looking at our cities, our states, even our world and asking, “How can I bring a bit of Heaven to Earth?"

What kind of God do you believe in? One who wants a better world that lasts forever, or one who sees this all as a “disposable-testing-ground” where some make it out and some don't?

My heart breaks for the current state of our world. My heart breaks for those without access to shelter, food, and clean water. My heart breaks for the oppressed, the sick, the poor, and those who’ve given up on hope.

Yes. We may pray for God to fix our world.

But what if it’s not up to God?

Maybe it’s up to us?