The Worldview: War, End Times, and Viral Christianity [Eschatology Matters]

Coming up on this episode of The World View, what the current war in the Middle East has to do with the biblical order of love,

why current events may not actually tell us as much about eschatology as some think, and two very different public expressions of Christianity,

one from James Talleriko and the other from Shia LaBuff, all that and more on The World View.

But first, when was the last time your church didn't just have a mission Sunday, but actually set aside time to intentionally focus and pray and ask the Lord of the harvest,

Lord, who would you send out from our midst? Well, whether you're a leader in your church or just an engaged layperson, we want to tell you about Send Sunday.

ABWE has built a mission Sunday in a box, but not just another opportunity to celebrate and pray for missionaries, a specific biblical chance to seek the Lord's will and see if maybe someone from your congregation is not only called but also qualified.

We'd encourage you to check it out, go to ABWE.org slash Sunday.

Now, story one, Iran, Israel, and the Order of Love. The question of the hour right now is one of national interest.

If you follow the news long enough, you begin to hear certain slogans like America first or Israel first, or perhaps even Iran first.

But behind each of these slogans is a deeper question, what does a nation actually owe its own people and what does it owe the rest of the world?

Well, Christians have long had a framework for thinking about this. The older theologians called it Ordo Amoris or the Order of Love.

Scripture calls us to love many things, God, family, neighbor, nation, and the nations of the world to whom we're called.

But those loves must be properly ordered and when they're not, confusion follows. A government, for example, has a clear responsibility.

Its first duty is to seek the good of its people, not its own enrichment. That's part of the creational structure of political authority.

A ruler who neglects his own people in the name of abstract global ideals or his own personal enrichment is not acting virtuous.

He's actually failing the basic responsibility of his office.

At the same time, Scripture also challenges believers to care about the whole world, the nations.

The Great Commission is not limited to our tribe or to our borders. Christ commands the Church to disciple all nations.

But these two truths are not in conflict. When the gospel spreads, it doesn't erase nations, it reforms them and produces magistrates who love their people and who govern not as tyrants but as servants.

Jesus himself said that the rulers of the Gentiles lured it over their subjects, but it's not to be so among his people, see Matthew 20 verses 25 through 28.

Christian leadership is meant to be service-oriented. Christ himself reigns as our king, but he reigns for the good of his people.

And when the gospel transforms a society, it tends to produce leaders who imitate that pattern, not perfectly but recognizably.

Which leads us to number two. What the Middle East means for eschatology. Speaking of the spread of the gospel, whenever conflict breaks out in the Middle East, another conversation immediately follows.

People begin to ask whether or not this is a sign of the end. Prophecy charts start circulating, speculation ramps up.

And every development is treated as a potential fulfillment of prophecy of some sort.

Well, historically, this type of speculation has rarely aged well.

The truth is that most geopolitical events have far less bearing on biblical prophecy than many assume.

But Scripture does give us at least one clear indicator that history is moving towards its conclusion.

That indicator is the progress of the Great Commission. Jesus said that he would be with his people to the end of the world.

But he said so in the context of issuing marching orders to his apostles to disciple all the nations in Matthew 28.

That means that the most trustworthy marker of eschatological progress is not the latest military development or diplomatic crisis.

It is the spread of the gospel, where churches are being planted, where disciples are being made, and where Christ's lordship is being acknowledged among new peoples.

If someone truly wants to hasten the return of Christ, the most meaningful thing that they can do is not strictly political.

It's spiritual. It's to participate in the mission Christ gave the church to preach the gospel, plant churches, make disciples, and bring the lordship of Christ to bear over every area of life and culture.

That's how the kingdom grows, which leads us to our third topic, viral Christianity.

Speaking of speculation, a clip from a recent New York Times interview with Texas State Representative James Tallarico has been circulating online.

Take a look.

Christianity points to the truth.

I also think other religions of love point to the same truth.

I think of different religious traditions as different languages.

So you and I could sit here and debate what to call this cup.

And you could call it a cup in English. You'd call something else in Spanish and French.

But we are all talking about the same reality. I believe Jesus Christ reveals that reality to us.

But I also think that other traditions reveal that reality in their own ways with their own symbol structures.

And I've learned more about my tradition by learning more about Buddhism and Hinduism and Islam and Judaism.

And so I see these beautiful faith traditions as circling the same truth about the universe, about the cosmos.

And that truth is inherently a mystery.

Well, those statements may sound well-meaning or generous or meant to be inclusive at first glance.

But it's fundamentally incompatible with the claims of Christianity itself.

Jesus did not present himself as one guide among many.

He said plainly, I am the way, the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me, John 146.

And the apostles echoed the same message. There is salvation in no one else, Acts 4-12.

If those claims are true, then Christianity cannot be reduced to one helpful spiritual tradition among many.

And that raises an important point about cultural Christianity.

Many believers, myself included, tend to take a glass half full view of nominal Christian influence in public life.

I think it's a good thing when high school football games are opening with prayer.

I think it's a good thing that American leaders still feel the pressure to identify as Christian in some way, even if they're not.

Some Christian presence in the culture is better than none.

But not all Christian public presence is equally helpful by presenting a deluded version of Christianity they inoculate people against the real thing.

Once someone believes they already understand Christianity and that it simply teaches that all religions are basically the same, well then they feel no need to examine the gospel seriously.

The result is not conversion, it's actually immunity against the gospel.

Christians should not accept such substitutes. Our engagement with the culture needs to be clearly and unapologetically Christian.

That brings us to a very different clip that's been circulating recently, an interview with actor Shia LaBuff.

Now, LaBuff is still very much a work in progress, that's clear. His testimony contains rough edges.

He speaks very openly about struggles and sin and brokenness and crime.

And as a Catholic convert, he frames his experience in ways that we Protestants should probably dispute.

But in the middle of this recent interview about an hour into it comes this striking exchange.

Christ first, first, only.

What would you say to Jesus if you could meet him? I wouldn't say it.

Really? No.

Brought kisses.

Got kisses, not kisses, not kisses of me.

And I wouldn't say nothing.

Scripture is full of moments where people encounter the holiness of Christ and respond not with polished theology, but humility.

Think of the woman who washed Jesus' feet with her tears in Luke 7.

Well, none of this is meant to present LaBuff as a model Christian or to endorse every public profession of faith made by an actor.

But humility before Christ is always more promising than theological relativism dressed up as sophistication of the sort that Talarico sells.

Jesus himself told a parable about a Pharisee and a publican or a tax collector praying in the temple.

The Pharisee boasted about his righteousness while the tax collector simply prayed, God be merciful to me a sinner as he beat his chest and refused to look up to heaven.

And Jesus said that it was the second man that went home justified in Luke 18.

It's important for us to remember the true nature of saving faith isn't what makes a person puffed up or even sound smarter intelligent.

But what induces a person to humility and to love of Christ himself.

Finally, let's return to the global news cycle.

Again, I'm sorry to have to do that, but fifthly, let's talk about the illusion of control.

When we follow international events closely, Iran, Israel, China, India and everything in between, it can create a strange psychological effect.

We can start to feel somewhat like that Pharisee, like we're participants in a great and important story, not like the publican who realized he didn't matter that much.

We feel like players on the global stage, like these massive geopolitical dramas are all about us simply because we're informed about them.

An information can tend to create the illusion of control.

But my friend Sam recently put it this way, you were not made for the world, you were made for your world.

A Christ alone has dominion over all the nations. He sent the church to disciple the nations, but he sent each individual believer to a much smaller sphere.

For most Christians, that sphere is a family, a church, a neighborhood, a workplace, and so on and so forth.

Scripture even warrants about the temptation to obsess over distant events. Proverbs says that there's a sense in which the eyes of a fool can be on the ends of the earth.

That doesn't mean that we ignore global affairs. Of course, we pray for the nations. We should care about them.

But our obedience begins right here at home. Love the nations, pray for the world, but also pay attention to the people that God has placed directly in front of you.

And if you want to bless the nations, whether you want to bless the Middle East or Israel specifically or anywhere else, the most meaningful thing that you can do to bless any people group is proclaim the gospel to them.

Because in the end, that is what transforms the world. And besides, if it makes you feel any better, Leslie, we'll all be dead in 20 minutes.

It does make me feel better. Thank you, Herb.

Hi, my name is Alex Cochman. I serve in Christian missions and I've spent years working with churches, missionaries, and families who are trying to figure out how to live faithfully in a disordered age.

I've just released a book called Ordered to Love, restoring the biblical order of affections from the household to the ends of the earth.

Because right now, Christians are being told that we must feel equal obligation to everything, everywhere, all at once.

The family, the church, our nation, and all the nations, every issue is framed as urgent. Every cause is a cause for moral outrage.

And that pressure, while it hasn't produced more faithfulness, it's led to more guilt and confusion and instability.

But the good news is, Scripture does not treat love that way. In Scripture, God orders our obligations. He orders us to love, and then he shows us the right way to go about that.

Love begins with him, and then it's practiced in the household, strengthened in the local church, exercised tangibly in one's own community, and finally carried outward to all the nations.

But when that order is ignored, well, discipleship at home collapses and missions abroad loses all credibility.

So in order to love, I make a case for recovering that biblical order. Not as an excuse to withdraw from society or stop loving people that are hard to love, but as the only way to sustain faithful obedience to the great commission over time.

This book is written for pastors, parents, missionaries, and ordinary Christians who simply want clarity instead of slogans and marketing.

There's also a companion workbook for individuals, families, and church groups that want to apply these truths to real life.

So you can find all that at orderedtolove.com. You can get the book from Founders Press, visit the link in the show notes, or go to orderedtolove.com.

Orders are being fulfilled right now. Again, go to orderedtolove.com.