Getting Ready for the Harvest
Stephen Terry
Commentary for the December 13, 2014
Sabbath School Lesson
“Then will appear the sign of the Son
of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they
see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.
And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his
elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”
“Now learn this lesson
from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you
know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that
it is near, right at the door.” Matthew 24:30-33, NIV
Perhaps as
at no other time in history, when something terrible happens in the world it
flies all over the globe at fantastic speed due to the internet. When
westerners are beheaded in the Levant by terrorists, we know within hours,
complete with gruesome videos of the incident. When thousands are dying in
Africa from a devastating and lethal virus, many elsewhere are quaking in fear
long before any incidence of the illness appears in their own countries. Comments
by celebrities and politicians, sometimes even innocuous ones, redound to the
originator, often greatly magnified in significance beyond any original intent.
It is this magnifying effect that can ensnare Christians, especially those who
have an apocalyptic bent. A current example can be drawn from the many tweets,
blogs, and social media posts focused on police brutality and racism.
According to
the United States Department of Justice, there are almost half a million
officers sworn to enforce the law throughout the country and working for local law
enforcement agencies.[i]
Recently the news and social media have highlighted several local police
officers for involvement in activities that many would consider brutal and
racist. Due to the magnifying effect, many now believe that all police
departments are riddled with brutal, racist police who live only to torment and
brutalize a defenseless populace. However, if we look at the actual figures we
discover that the handful of incidents, ugly as they are, represent an infinitesimal
percentage of those actually serving as police. Even if we were to greatly exaggerate
the current numbers and say that one such incident was occurring daily, that
would still amount to only 365 cases per year. That is only .08 %. Not even one
percent. Even if we multiply it by a factor of 10, it is still less than one percent.
However the magnifying effect of the internet has often resulted in us
perceiving that this small number means that the entire remaining 99% needs to
be painted with the same brush of racism and brutality. This is hardly fair,
and certainly not supported by the data.
So what does
this have to do with Christians? Simply that we as followers of Jesus need to
be aware of this magnifying effect and not let it cloud our judgment. Some look
at these same events I have just referred to and proclaim that the end is at
hand, especially if they can back it up with images of a few hundred rioters
and looters setting things afire and causing general mayhem. But are these
really the significant events that internet magnification makes them out to be?
Let’s say for example that ten thousand protesters riot and block freeways in
Los Angeles County, California. This is a county of over ten million people.[ii]
This represents only one tenth of one percent of the people. This is hardly a
sea change leading to social upheaval and revolution. Even if we look at such
things historically, they are nothing new. The Watts Riots of 1965 had over
thirty thousand rioters and left more than thirty dead in its wake,[iii]
yet because of the distortion provided by the internet, too many overlook this
much larger conflagration in the past in favor of a much smaller event in the
present and cite these events as being of apocalyptic significance. True the
technology the police are using is more advanced, and the use of Twitter to
gather protesters on short notice is something that did not exist in 1965, but
these technological advances are not harbingers of apocalypse any more than
telephones were when they were invented. These protests in the United States that
have been taking place as a result of several trigger events has not and
probably will not rise anywhere near the level of a Tahrir Square style event.
Perhaps there
are two major dangers when Christians let themselves get caught up in
apocalyptic fervor over the evening news. First is the “Chicken Little” effect.
The first few times we do it, we may get people excited and ready to hear what
we have to say, but as we continually beat the End Times Drum over each
succeeding event reported in the news, eventually the people will start turning
a deaf ear to what we are saying and simply see us as another tormented soul
constantly proclaiming “The sky is falling!” Perhaps this is why the turnout to
evangelism events focused on apocalyptic themes can often measure new attendees
only by the dozens in cities of several hundred thousand in population. Some
might see no problem in this because there surely will be an end to all things
so eventually those proclaiming it will be right. However, even a broken clock
is right twice a day, but it is still broken.
The second
problem that presents itself when we try to make every current event
apocalyptic is that we lose our focus on the actual ministry that is important
for our salvation and that of others. Maybe the Parable of the Sheep and the
Goats[iv]
presents a clue as to where our efforts might be better directed. We are
admonished to provide food, drink and clothing to those who need them, house
the homeless, and minister to the needs of the sick and those in prison. It can
be very easy to remain comfortably seated in a recliner before a big screen
television singing the praises of media ministries and the occasional
evangelist that rides into town like a traveling circus with awesome animal
acts (albeit only pictorial ones) to regale the locals. There is nothing wrong
with entertaining the people and perhaps conjuring a few baptisms from the
crowd, but one wonders how many more would be willing to give their hearts to a
Savior whose followers actually ministered to their daily needs, especially if
such ministry was not a self-interested fishing for converts that vanishes when
the expected return on such benevolence is less than expected.
When Christ
practiced such care for the people, they flocked to Him by the thousands. While
some might object to this comparison by saying that we cannot perform miracles
like Christ, others claim that those miracles still happen, but even if they do
not, modern medical technology and expertise are still miraculous in many
places on the globe. Many have the opportunity to be part of those miracles,
either by providing that miraculous intervention, or by providing the means to
afford such intervention.
Some years
ago, I had the opportunity to discuss mission work in South Sudan with someone who
had been there. They indicated that the infrastructure was so poor that often
the people would be naked because there was not enough transport available to
bring both food and clothing. While warehouses were full of clothing, it was felt
more important to feed the people than to clothe them, and even feeding them
was a challenge with such inadequate means to get the food where it was needed.
It was like trying to stream media without the bandwidth to do so. Now, we
could go to these people and warn them about the coming apocalypse, but what
benefit is that to them if they are already living in worse than apocalyptic
conditions? Perhaps we would do better by introducing them to a Jesus who cares
about their need for food, clothing, medical care, and housing and demonstrates
it by doing everything possible to make these things meaningfully a part of
their lives.
Jesus tells
a parable about a servant left in charge of other servants who beats those
servants and becomes a drunk and a glutton who will be severely punished when
his master returns.[v] Perhaps
as Christians we have become too enamored of beating others with our technologically
superior ability to project force to the impoverished around the world. What if
we were as committed to making sure they have their daily needs met? It is
perhaps damning that as “moral” or even “Christian” nations we find it easier logistically
to insert fifty to one hundred thousand military troops into a remote area with
all the food, shelter, medical care and clothing they will ever need while there
it is to provide food, clothing, housing and medical care to those already
living in those same areas. Perhaps we, too, are prone more to beat our fellow
servants across the globe than to care for them. Be sure, the Master will
return one day. Will we be ready?
