Christians are
sometimes accused of escapism, primarily with respect to the doctrine of the “rapture”
(or parousia) taught in the New Testament.
After all, why should
a bunch of Gentile believers expect to get a free pass on the judgment of the world?
Doesn’t that seem just a little unfair?
Not all those who dislike
the idea of Jesus Christ making a special trip to this planet specifically to
carry away his people to be forever with him object to the notion for exactly
the same reasons. Some feel believing in a parousia
is elitist. Others see it as baseless and wishful. Still others, like Kurt
Willems, are troubled by the idea that Christians with a psychological safety
net like the “rapture” will give up trying to make society a better place —
or worse, will mislead others about what Willems believes are God’s plans for
this world. He says, “Our world’s future is hopeful.
Let’s tell that story and not the escapist narratives that many of us grew up with.”
Nice idea. Tough to see where he gets that “hopeful”
bit from these days though.