Prophetic Pandering

What are we to do with the recent public statements about pending calamities by prominent religious leaders?

Let me say this right up front so you know where I am coming from: I am not a doomsday seeker nor believer. I grew up in a dooms-day religious culture. But as I have read my Bible, and researched the foundation of most of today's "prophetic doomsday" utterances, I have totally rejected them. I am not concerned about, nor even expecting, a soon-coming "rapture." These are not "the end times"...but that's gist for another column. These fearful pronouncements have, for decades, emasculated the church and caused believers to live in fear. We need to be people of hope, of delight, of joyful worship and living, a people to be envied by our world. Instead, this kind of twisted theology has made us the laughing stock of the world. It's time for a change.

Then along comes David Wilkerson with another dire pronouncement of calamity. I like David Wilkerson. He has done a tremendous job in New York. His "Teen Challenge" has been one of our nations' most successful drug programs, and he has been at the forefront of social service partnerships between church and government. His Times Square Church reportedly draws 8,000 weekly.

So when the Drudge Report featured Wilkerson's prediction of "imminent catastrophe," I inwardly groaned. Here we go again. Ok...we need to be prudent and keep some food stocks in case of emergency. I live in a city full of trees, so what happens when we have a severe wind storm...we're on our own for a few days or a week. So being prepared is wisdom in action.

However, what I am hearing is much like the clarion calls of Y2K, of societal collapse and impending doom. Perhaps, for all his credibility, or lack of it, he is like those of whom Paul says, "for we know in part and we prophecy in part...and we see in a mirror dimly." (1 Cor. 13:9-12). Ok, I'll give him that much.

Everything has its cycles, including society and the economic world. We are not facing an "Armageddom," whatever in the world that is. A downturn? Of course. Nothing stays the same, nothing. We are entering a "season of the rollercoaster," when the ups and downs will be dramatic...but we are not going to collapse. This is a time for believers to cling to, and test, the depth of their dependence on the Lord

I am not so much concerned about Christ's "coming" as I am about you "going." I've conducted too many funerals, of literally all ages, to know that life has no guarantees. So...instead of worrying about someone's prophetic disaster, or how high or low this ride we are on can go, how about taking stock of your own life. Are you ready should "your number" be up? That's what concerns me. If not, are you prepared to ride it out, with grace and a knowledge of your security in Him. If not...why not?? The good news is that you can!