I Can't Stand Left Behind Either, But Please Stop Bashing the Rapture: An Eschatological Co-op

This article is the final part of a three-part series on the pre-trib rapture. Be sure to check out part 1 and part 2 if you missed them.

One of the more gracious articles written on Left Behind's coattails over the last few days had this golden nugget in it: “We need to go out of our way, as Christians, to make sure we don’t explicitly or implicitly demonize the views of other believers on doctrines that are secondary to the faith.” The warning was written to those who believe in a pre-trib rapture and we would do well to heed it. Of course, it applies equally to those who disagree with the pre-trib position. But in this final article in the series, I want to encourage us to go beyond simply not demonizing other positions. I believe we ought to learn to appreciate them—to learn from one another in a sort of eschatological co-op.

Our views on eschatology ultimately come down to how we interpret various passages of Scripture. Again, we ought to each do the hard exegetical work necessary to arrive at the position we believe best lines up with scriptural evidence. We also ought to have enough humility to not only acknowledge problem passages, but also to learn from one another. I personally have friends who represent every eschatological flavor under the sun. Despite our disagreements, our conversations and gracious debates have been of great benefit to me.  Each eschatological position has its potential weak points as well as strengths. We need to learn to see both.

What We Can Learn

Disregarding questions of textual interpretation for a moment, let's focus on the emphases and strengths of each position to see what we can learn from one another. 

Classic premillennialism (post-trib) offers an emphasis on courage and patience through suffering. Of course, Christians are called to the fellowship of Christ's sufferings in general. But there is a particular boldness in the eschatology that invites Christians to suffer under the severe trials described in the book of Revelation—and says that Christ is worth it. While one might not agree on the chronology, we can certainly learn from their readiness to suffer with Christ. This strength is something often missing from the western church. 

I believe amillennialism's greatest strength is in promoting a healthy balance in our relation to the world. This position sees both the millennium and tribulation period as figuratively taking place over the whole course of church history. Nowadays, one often hears in churches of God’s kingdom being both “already” and “not yet”. It is no coincidence that this understanding was largely pioneered by an amillennial theologian, Geerhardus Vos. Again, we may not agree with their interpretations of various passages. But we should emulate amillenialism's balanced approach towards the church’s existence in the world—falling into neither isolating pessimism, nor naive optimism.

Postmillennialism sees the establishment of Christ’s “millennial” kingdom as oсcuring through the church prior to His return. Hence, they believe the return of Christ is after (post-) the millennium. Postmillennialism's hopefulness for the power of God’s work in the world through the church is inspiring. One may disagree with their statements about the consummation of God’s kingdom work through the church. Yet their vision to see God’s kingdom manifest in every sphere of life is certainly one of the strong points of this position. We would do well to learn from this holistic approach to the church’s kingdom work in the world.    

It would only be fair along side these other views to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the pre-trib position as well. One strength is the emphasis on God’s mercy and faithfulness in delivering His church from wrath. Another is the sense of urgency and expectancy that an immanent return conjures in our hearts. Besides this, the pre-trib position has a clear and strong understanding of the fallenness of the world and sets the church forth as a counterculture. Of course, there are potential weak points. If we apply the truth in a selfish way, it can lead to isolationism from the world, or an overly pessimistic expectation regarding God’s work in the world.

I personally hold to the teaching of a pre-trib rapture, believing that it best explains various, sometimes difficult, biblical texts. You may or may not agree. And yet, we all ought to remain humble towards those with differing eschatological views. Humility also means we will remain teachable and allow other views to challenge and correct us. We tend to major in our own strengths and neglect our weakness. An approach that is willing to appreciate and learn from other eschatological positions will lead to greater maturity of faith for all of us. Let's remember that reflecting Christ's character of humility and grace to one another is more important than the timing of when we meet Him. After all, they will know we are His disciples not by our eschatology, but by the love we have for one another.