reasons i'm not worried

Someone asked me last week if I thought the latest financial crisis was a sign of the second coming?

I gave him all the reasons I believe the Bible seems to speak more to the advancement of the gospel around the world as something to look for than it does to any particular socio-economic or political event when it comes to the coming Parousia.

The last few sands in the hour glass will not be shifted as much by these kinds of crises as they will by the darkest corners of the planet being reached by the light of Christ and every nation language and tongue having access to the message of Christ. I believe that is what we are to look for more than anything that happens on Wall Street or the White House or on some foreign battlefield or inner workings of an earthly kingdom.

So, in short, I didn't think what were experiencing last week was more than a blip on the radar screen in the total scope of human history. It feels unsettling and is definitely a troubling and dynamic financial crisis- but I certainly don't see it as having much escatological significance.

Of course, that was before Texas beat OU and OSU beat Missouri in the same weekend.

That aside, the current political and economic upheaval does raise some important theological questions I would like to briefly address. How do we as Christians respond when the foundations begin to shake?

We need to keep in mind these three key promises of scripture:

1. For the Christian, the worst things that happen to us in this life are used for good.

All things work together for the good of those who love Christ and are called according to HIS purpose (Romans 8:28).

Those of us who have been around more than three decades would attest to the truth that the bad things that happen to us in this life God has used effectively to grow and shape our character in Christ. It is helpful to remember that God is more interested in our character than He is interested in our circumstances.

2. For the Christian, the truly good things in this life can never be taken away.

Scripture teaches that there are really only certain things in our life that are truly good. By that I mean there are some things that are good to the core and many things that seem good but are only a mirage. There are only certain things for instance that will last forever and consequently will truly matter to you a hundred years from now.

Everything else is just chaff in the wind.

The Bible teaches that the truly good things you possess in this life- God's love, His joy, His peace, His salvation - can never be taken away.

When the Bible speaks of the "glory of Christ", it is using a very important and specific word in defining the lasting nature of what is truly good. The word "glory" means literally "weight". It is where we get the English word "matter". The only things in this life that really have weight, that really matter, are those things that last.

When you drop paper in a stream it floats with the current, but when you drop a stone in the current, it sustains it's position despite the water flowing over it.

In the same way, the truly substantive things in this life that are promised us by Christ can never be taken away.

It is important to remember in times of change and turmoil, that there are things in our life that have enough substance to withstand whatever is thrown our way.

That is what we mean by the glory of Christ.

3. For the Christian, the very best things in this life are yet to come.

Christianity is the only religion that is truly escatological and futuristic. Every other religion either looks backward to a law and tradition or spins the adherent in endless cycles or reincarnation and reinvention.

Only Christianity sets the future on a linear plane and points to a glorious conclusion.

Christianity teaches that our future will be so glorious and complete, in fact, that whatever we go through in this life cannot even be compared to is as far as it's value and importance.

We all know that when a person has lost only one of his senses, his life is changed dramatically. Imagine having thousands of senses! Imagine seeing millions of colors and having your taste sensation multiplied exponentially! The Bible seems to imply that this is what we will experience in our future.

I think of the words of C.S. Lewis as he reflects on what all of us will one day be:

Remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you may talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and corruption such as you now meet if at all only in a nightmare. (C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory).

Think of it like this- our future glory will be so overwhelming that comparing our present self to our future self is a little like comparing a tomato or squash to our present self.

The apostle Paul put it like this in Romans 8:18:

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

These are the important Biblical truths that every Christian has access to- the worst things in this life Christ will use for good- the truly good things can never be taken away- and the very best in this life is yet to come!