The world may or may not end this month. But in case you want an insider view with all the details, Faith Baptist Church in LaGrange, Ga., has quite a deal for you.
“Judgment Journey” will be shown numerous times throughout the month. For five dollars per person — cash only — one can experience a “45-minute journey through the end times of this world the way the Bible says it’s going to be.”
Promoters claim the video “will change the way you think about your future.” That’s what I’m afraid of.
Excuse the sarcasm in my fingertips, but I’ve heard enough dispensationalist eschatology to last a lifetime thanks to Hal Lindsey’s nonsense in the 1970s. He made a fortune selling books like “The Late, Great Planet Earth,” that assured us the end was near and made all kinds of crazy connections between biblical prophesy and modern-day events.
My beloved religion professor Dr. Jorge Gonzalez at Berry College finally put it in perspective for me. He told me to imagine that the young Christian Church is at risk of extinction due to severe persecution.
Then God intervenes and a special “Revelation” is given to the aging disciple John. The centerpiece of that message is not for the faithful few to hold on to their faith in the resurrected Christ, but rather: “Here’s what going to happen in about 2,000 years; just put this on a shelf for them.”
The idea that fulfillment of biblical prophesy is uniquely for us to know and experience is another example of how self-absorbed we have become. It’s always about us!
And how much more clearly did Jesus need to say that no one other than God knows this stuff?
So I think I’ll save my five dollars for something else this fall. And do something more helpful to the kingdom cause than trying to figure out how and when the world ends.
Of course, the good news is the church could have spent their time and energy presenting a more gruesome Judgment House this month instead.
