Because It's True

Perhaps you are already familiar with "Cold Case Christianity" and the work of J. Warner Wallace.  If not, an introduction is definitely in order.  Wallace was a homicide detective of distinction in Los Angeles, along with being a fairly hard core atheist.  He was challenged to apply his investigative skills to the gospel narratives and he accepted the challenge.  Today, as a believer and skilled apologist, he is focused on training Christians to be able to present and defend the claims of the gospel.

Of interest is the "gospel presentations" he was exposed to when still an unbeliever; presentations he found to be unconvincing.  Maybe you have used similar approaches with family or friends.  They generally flow along the lines of testimony or personal experience: "I was crushed by guilt until Jesus set me free" or "I felt lost and was living a life without purpose, but Jesus changed my life," or even "if you say this prayer and invite Jesus into your heart, you will find peace and joy.  It worked for me."

There are two problems with personal experience:  they are personal, and they are experience.  Both of these criteria are subjective.  That is not proof.  It's not good enough for a courtroom, it wasn't good enough for Wallace, and it should not be good enough for us.  The question is not "how did it make me feel?" or "how did it affect my life?"  The only significant question is:  Is it TRUE?

For our purposes, however, there is a second question:  Is it relevant?  And I suspect that's the higher hurdle that must be cleared.  After all, there are LOTS of things that are true - things that can be proven in court and things that may be scientifically significant.  Laws of physics and chemistry are true, discoverable, and as far as we can tell, immutable.  But so what?  We use our cell phones because they work (experience) and care not about what makes them work.  The underlying physics and chemistry are both incomprehensible and irrelevant to nearly all of us.  

When sharing the gospel, we need to be trained to clearly explain why it is true.  But we also need to deal with why it matters, and I'd suggest that is one reason we need to be more than superficially conversant with Bible prophecy.   Contrary to the strident claims of atheists and evolutionists, this world is not meaningless, purposeless, or ultimately subjective.  We are experiencing a TEMPORARY world and a TEMPORARY life.  All who are here share in God's common grace.  All can enjoy the beauty of a sunset.  All can be refreshed by cold, pure water on a hot summer day.  Every good thing in this world has its source in a benevolent Creator.  No one is entitled to God's grace.  But the time we all have to enjoy it is both temporary and short.

At some time in the near future, this temporary period of common grace will end, and Biblical prophecy sheds necessary light on this expectation.  Those who are reconciled to God will be preserved and the rest will be destroyed.  Our message is both highly relevant and TIME-CRITICAL   The fact that Jesus Christ is LORD is central and critical to both the gospel message and the prophetic certainties of the future.

We should have some urgency, and especially in our prayer lives, regarding our commission and function as ambassadors for Christ.   This does NOT mean an over-excited presentation to the lost or indifferent, but it DOES mean a change in our priorities.  We are the ones who should "see the Day approaching" (Hebrews 10:25) and live accordingly.  We should see prophecy, NOT as an arcane abstraction, but as a present reality.  

There are some things about the distant past that we can't know.  They are buried by the sands of time, but they are no less true for being unknown.  Similarly, there are some things about the future that we can't know; very probably a design feature of apocalyptic writing.  Nevertheless, there are things that we CAN know and SHOULD know, and those things are both true and relevant.  Most Christians I know shrug off prophecy and the study of it because it's confusing, divisive, or not relevant to their day-to-day life.  Even though a significant amount of scripture deals with prophecy, many brush off the topic by quoting (without context) Matthew 24:36.

Jesus told us to WATCH!  (Mark 13:37).  He said that those who do not know the signs of the times are HYPOCRITES! (Matthew 16:3)   I would not want to be surprised, find myself suddenly standing before Christ, and hear Him rebuke me for not watching and for being a hypocrite.  (And by the way, the excuse for not going to church because "the church is full of hypocrites" is true for this reason.)

I'm not here to criticize, but just to encourage whoever reads this to re-prioritize before it's eternally too late.  Turn off the TV.  Be reconciled and make restitution with those you have offended, defrauded, or sinned against.  Live the rest of your life in the light of unfolding prophetic reality.  It's later than you think.