Pastoral Ponderings
Visions of Rapture
One of my ongoing struggles as a Pastor who plans worship on a weekly basis is that every hymn/song I pick for us to sing has within it theological claims and beliefs. I do not know how deeply individuals are thinking about what they are singing but the longer I am in ministry the more I am personally realizing that some of the most well known and beloved hymns express theology I find problematic.
Many of the old hymns express theological beliefs of the time and the reality is the church has changed quite drastically. However, I will also note that many modern-day Christian songs also have what I would consider problematic theology or shallow theology; saying very little beyond that we love our God. The truth is this will always be messy and so as a confession, there are times when I will purposefully skip verses of a hymn strictly because of the theology. There are also moments we sing hymns and verses that I do not prefer but ultimately still put before the congregation.
One such example of a verse I avoid is from a hymn we likely know, Blessed Assurance, number 332 in our blue hymnal. Fanny Crosby, the author, is a well-known hymn writer from the late 1800’s and she has an incredible story. Crosby was blind and was well known for her ministry caring for the poor and disabled. She also was alive during a period of Christianity known as the holiness movement and this was also when a new doctrine was being spread by John Nelson Darby known as dispensationalism.
This can all be a bit technical and difficult to explain but essentially, it’s important to know that the belief in the rapture and apocalyptic end times, like we see in such fiction as the Left Behind series, is largely because of Darby and his teachings in the 1800’s. The rapture is not in the bible despite what many would like to claim; it is Darby who spread the idea that the church would be “raptured” up into heaven before a final judgement.
Understanding what was going on when Fanny Crosby wrote Blessed Assurance helps explain some of her lyrics. Verse 2 is clearly influenced by the holiness movement, which emphasized living a perfect and purified life, and by Darby’s dispensationalist teachings which emphasized a coming rapture and end time. Verse 2 reads, “Perfect submission, perfect delight, visons of rapture now burst on my sight. Angels descending bring from above echoes of mercy, whispers of love.”
Another key feature of Darby’s teaching was that the promises made to the nation of Israel in the bible were binding and unchangeable. According to Darby, the land given to the Hebrew people belongs to them no matter what any person or nation tries to claim. Darby’s teaching would eventually give rise to Christian Zionism, a belief in the need for Christians to support the modern-day nation of Israel and their efforts to “retake” the land God had given them. This belief along with Darby’s teachings about a rapture and end times led to the idea that if the nation of Israel restored its boarders to the ancient boarders as found in scripture, that this would usher in the rapture, a second coming of Christ, and an apocalyptic end to this age.
I imagine to many of us this sounds foreign and perhaps even incredibly strange. The Church of the Brethren is not part of this theological world and so to hear such teachings in a Brethren congregation is going to be rare. However, it is important for us to have some awareness of this history simply because, whether we realize it or not, we are seeing these beliefs first introduced in the 1800’s being amplified during our current war in Iran.
Following the start of the current Iran war, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation was inundated with over 200 complaints from service members across all branches alleging that commanders and military leaders were framing this conflict as “God’s divine plan” or as a “messianic battle.” This is a sobering reminder that questionable or bad theology is not harmless. It should frighten us that we have leaders who believe they can usher in the second coming of Christ through acts of war and violence, even if it is a small minority.
A view of war and violence as God’s divine plane allows individuals to ignore the atrocities of war as necessary. It was the same logic used during the Crusades and perhaps even more uncomfortably, it is the same logic used today by other violent followers of other religions. Few theologies have been more damaging than the belief in the rapture. It causes us to view the world as a place to escape instead of a place to bless and build. I preach it often, but Christ came to proclaim a new kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven.” Christ did promise to return but the how and when are not information Jesus was willing to provide.
Christ’s final instructions are the great commission – to go into the world to build up disciples, followers of Jesus, to be a blessing. Our calling is not to escape this world, and it is certainly not to destroy the world either. We are to live as members of Christ’s new kingdom in the here and now, even though it has yet to fully arrive. This will always be messy and never easy; yet it is still our calling.
It is important that we spend time thinking about what we believe, our theology does matter. This is why I think carefully about the lyrics we sing. Many of our differing beliefs and styles as Christians are harmless; some however are dangerous and actively do harm to others and our world. We are called to be followers of Christ not conjurers of Christ – we cannot cause the coming of Christ because Jesus has already promised to be with us always. Those were his final words in the gospels, “surely I am with you always.” If we want to feel the presence of Christ the answer is before us; it is found in our loving, in our building up, in our care for others, in living a different way. May this be the theology we claim and proclaim.
Blessings,
Pastor Nathan