herefore strengthen the hands that hang down, and the feeble knees...(Hebrews 12:12).
A modern Christian has been watching the news on his nineteen-inch color TV set, in the living room of his comfortable home. He switches the set off and comments to his wife that the world is in horrible condition. He wonders how long it can go on he is very discouraged.
An ancient Puritan is tied to a stake, and is about to be burned alive for his faith. He lifts his head to heaven and rejoices that Christ is on the throne, and that He will be worshipped from the River to the ends of the earth.
What is the difference? Very simply, it is a simple matter of faith in the promise of God to save the world.
One sits in ease and is overwhelmed with troubles. The other is surrounded by troubles, and yet speaks the word that goes forth conquering, and to conquer. The first has won his life in what he thinks is a losing battle. The second is losing his life in what he knows to be a winning battle.
When the twelve spies went into the land of Canaan, ten of them were like our modern Christian, and fell into the sin of unbelief. They saw that the land was good, but in their sin they saw only the strength of the enemy. There were giants in the land, and they saw themselves as grasshoppers in comparison. But Joshua and Caleb troublemakers both saw the Word of God and the opportunity for obedient conquest.
Now unbelief is not necessarily simple; it can be complicated by many factors. We have our reasons, and our theologies, and our church traditions, for remaining in the sin of unbelief. But Christ told us that our job was to lead the nations to faith in Him; consequently, any theology that rejects our duty to do so is therefore an unbelieving and disobedient theology.
A man says that he has his dispensational charts and diagrams which prove we are living in the last generation. I say that if he would rather sit on the roof doing calculations than obey his Lord in subduing the earth to His glory, he had better hope that Christ doesn't come back right now.
Another man says that Satan is the god of this world. The task can't be done Satan is too strong. I say that the God of the Bible is stronger than any creature, including Satan, and God is the one who has given us the task. And if God has given the task, accompanied with a promise, then the task is not impossible.
Still another says that an optimistic eschatology is a point of view, certainly, but there are various schools of thought on all this. He just happens to belong to the more pessimistic school of thought. But who gave any of us permission to be an eschatological pessimist? Not Christ. He said that all authority in heaven and on earth was His, and that our job was to disciple the nations. He wasn't giving us something to shoot for; He was giving us something to do.
Yet another says there is not enough time. Christ is coming back any moment, and the task of evangelizing the world before then is hopeless. But it is not hopeless. We have enough time to do what He commanded, and He commanded us to bring the message of His salvation to the world effectually. We are to do more than tell the nations; we are to disciple them, baptizing and teaching obedience. The job is to be done, not attempted.
We do not have the authority to disobey Christ for the sake of an unbelieving systematic theology. A very popular systematic theology (dispensationalism) says that effective world evangelization is impossible, while Christ says that world evangelization is our duty. The one we follow is the real authority, and in this case, we can't follow both.
I know it is not fashionable to speak in this way. I know that we live in an age when it is considered rude to speak the plain truth but the plain ungarbled word is what we need. Christ is King, and our task is to proclaim His advancing and invincible kingdom throughout the world.
Mark it well: I am not saying that the details of eschatological chronologies are included in this question of obedience and disobedience. But this is not a question of chronological detail. It is a matter of attitude and submissive obedience. The Scripture promises a glorious future for the progress of the gospel in the world; consequently, pesssism about the church's future is sin. It is the sin of unbelief. As a corollary, any method of interpretation that results in such pessimism is also sin. Bad trees bear bad fruit. In this case an unbelieving theology bears unbelieving fruit.
What has Christ told us to do? He has told us to make Christianity the religion of the entire earth. Because it is His command, the issue is one of obedience or disobedience. We have no authority to transfer the responsibility for accomplishing this back to Him. That is, we have no right to say the world will be brought to Him after the Second Coming, but not before.
He tells us to refrain from adultery. Do we have the right to interpret Scripture in such a way as to make this only our responsibility after the Second Coming? Of course not. In a similar way, He has commanded us to subdue the earth through the preaching of the gospel. We do not have the authority to say the task is impossible until after He comes back. It is our assigned responsibility now.
The question is really a very simple one. We must ask ourselves this: Do we believe that the Great Commission will
be fulfilled by the church of Jesus Christ, with the nations discipled, baptized, and obedient as a result? Yes or no? If
yes, then the task of world evangelization awaits us. If
no, we must remember that duties do not disappear because of disobedience. Sin or no sin,
the same task awaits us. But there is sin to confess first.
