Comments on: Eschatology Matters to Mission http://stephenmurray.co.za/2009/04/eschatology-matters-to-mission/ light conversations of a church planter... Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:40:18 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Steve Hayes http://stephenmurray.co.za/2009/04/eschatology-matters-to-mission/comment-page-1/#comment-1680 Steve Hayes Sun, 10 May 2009 21:33:19 +0000 http://stephenmurray.co.za/?p=1071#comment-1680 That sounds about right to me. We talk "as if" the streets of our cities were the streets of the new Jerusalem. Our life is hid with Christ, but we try to make it visible in this age. That sounds about right to me. We talk “as if” the streets of our cities were the streets of the new Jerusalem. Our life is hid with Christ, but we try to make it visible in this age.

]]> By: Jake Belder http://stephenmurray.co.za/2009/04/eschatology-matters-to-mission/comment-page-1/#comment-1667 Jake Belder Sat, 25 Apr 2009 17:40:25 +0000 http://stephenmurray.co.za/?p=1071#comment-1667 For what it's worth, I think you're right on target. Those who hold to an under-realized eschatology not only have a deficient understanding of the Kingdom, but in my view, also a distorted picture of the sovereignty of God. The biggest problem I have with those who claim that "everything is going to pot so we save souls and get out as soon as we can" is that God then is not sovereign over everything; if there is something that He has created which must be destroyed, then evil has victory over that. This dualistic "creation is bad" perspective is also a major problem here in American evangelicalism. Of course, that makes the Church's task on earth a whole lot easier as well, and I know even from my own experience that humans have a tendency to want to take the easier route. And it explains one of the reasons why general evangelical churches can be so large and popular. For what it’s worth, I think you’re right on target. Those who hold to an under-realized eschatology not only have a deficient understanding of the Kingdom, but in my view, also a distorted picture of the sovereignty of God. The biggest problem I have with those who claim that “everything is going to pot so we save souls and get out as soon as we can” is that God then is not sovereign over everything; if there is something that He has created which must be destroyed, then evil has victory over that. This dualistic “creation is bad” perspective is also a major problem here in American evangelicalism.

Of course, that makes the Church’s task on earth a whole lot easier as well, and I know even from my own experience that humans have a tendency to want to take the easier route. And it explains one of the reasons why general evangelical churches can be so large and popular.

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