Nearly five years after the Covid chaos, researchers are still uncovering the magnitude of emotional, physical, academic, and institutional devastation. Nearly once a week, I see articles devoted to the severe impacts on student learning and on the health effects of the Covid injection. Another victim of the chaos is the church. This impact is particularly acute in small, rural churches that, even pre-Covid, were already in decline. Less frequently mentioned is the uproar over an individual’s purpose, desire, and pursuit of dreams or goals. I’m not referring to one’s desire for work-life balance, but the relinquishment of pursuits as a result of panic or fear, perhaps unwittingly sparked by, “This is it; time is about up!”
I absolutely believe that born-again believers should have their oil lamps full and be ready for the trumpet. I pray that Jesus is coming soon, and I hope to be part of that generation, so I do not find fault with pastors preaching our blessed hope and the need to be personally ready. I believe the Rapture and End Times should be preached, if not at every church service, then at nearly every church service. What I am concerned about, however, is the extent to which some believers may have stopped doing what God has called them to because they have acquired a “Why bother” attitude brought about by a misunderstanding of how we should spend our time as we wait for Jesus’s call.
In his second letter to the Thessalonians, Paul specifically addresses this misunderstanding. He wrote, “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2, emphasis mine).
Shaken means to waver; that is, to be agitated, rocked, toppled. It implies a disturbance of the mind that can lead to destruction. To be troubled is to be frightened by wailing or clamoring. The Greek word for troubled implies that a person has been unsettled or thrown into confusion that occurs as a result of outward distresses, which have threatened one’s inward peace.
“Let no man deceive you by any means” (2 Thessalonians 2:3a), Paul admonished the Thessalonians. Yet, they were deceived, shaken, and troubled to such an extent that some of them had stopped working altogether, while others had become “disorderly,” abandoning restraint and personal discipline. As a result, they had become meddlesome and forsook their Christian duty to walk with purpose and direction.
Though we are even closer to Jesus’s return, today we are still to walk worthy of our vocation (Ephesians 4:1) and to redeem the time, for the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16)—in other words, full of distraction. Satan wants us ill-prepared, off-course, or idle. He will gladly take honest Scripture, pure Bible teaching, and twist the Word in our mind, so again, we will be ill-prepared, off-course, or idle. I, myself, fell victim to the deception that troubled the Thessalonians. During Covid, I became shaken and troubled, believing that the time had expired for me to continue pursuing work that I believed God had put in my heart. Five years later, I am still struggling to get on course.
In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus said that we are to watch, for no one, not even our Saviour, knows the day nor hour of the Rapture (24:42-43). In addition to watching, we must also be spiritually ready for the Lord’s return (24:44). If we are watching, then we will be spiritually ready. Part of being spiritually ready comes from living and walking in the Spirit. A man cannot be divided. If we are walking in the Spirit, then we cannot walk in the flesh. It follows then that if we are attuned to the Spirit, then we will be following the Spirit’s leading and doing the Lord’s work. Thus, we will be the “faithful and wise servant,” whom the Lord rewards:
“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods” (Matthew 24:45-46, emphasis mine).
The servant who is blessed is characterized by three actions: he is watching, he is ready, and he is doing the Lord’s work. (He is using the talents God gave him; see Matthew 25:14-30.) As a result of misunderstanding how to live and wait for the Lord’s return, the faithful and wise servant was not found among the Thessalonians because, instead of doing the Lord’s work, they had become idle.
This begs the question: What does God expect of me today? The same as He expected after His ascent to heaven. The same as when Paul corrected the Thessalonians. To watch, to be ready, and to be engaged in His work.
Perhaps you have thought that the work the Lord has asked of you could never be finished before His return. I can clean the house in one day, but next week, I will have to clean again. Cleaning may be an easy task to justify. Other work, I term progress work, because the completion date may be months or years off. Perhaps you have trouble justifying this work, or an expense, like a trade school, college, or seminary. Why spend the time or money when you might not finish? Why pursue a dream that may take 20 years? The hard truth is that you may never complete it, not because of the Rapture, but because the Lord may call you home first.
You see, we just don’t know the Lord’s plans. We have the mind of Christ to think rightly, but only One knows tomorrow. That is why James said, “Ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that” (4:14-15).
This is where the mind of Christ is crucial. We live in a “show me” society. Results get money and attention. But God’s attention and economy are entirely different. In God’s economy, talents are not equal, nor are they equally distributed. More troubling to some is that no matter the talent and degree of investment, the return is the same. Both wise servants would be rulers “over many things.” (See Matthew 25:14-28, especially vs. 21, 23.)
If the Lord has called you to do a work for Him, then do it. Don’t stop working. It takes greater faith to do and invest when the harvest is unsure, even bleak. In this world, we are not guaranteed a great harvest. Our harvest is not what pleases God. Instead, our faith to live and invest in doing His will pleases and honors God. We should do our best each day to live for God, never losing heart on our work for Him, or on His return for us!
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