The End of the World, as We Know It

"There was a terrible ghastly silence.  There was a terrible ghastly noise.  There was a terrible ghastly silence." -Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Much has happened since my last post on this site.  I ended up taking more time off than I originally intended to, because I was much more exhausted than I expected.  That being said, I am now well-rested and excited about the year ahead.

This post comes as a response to the feverish attention some people gave to the impending doom allegedly predicted by the Mayan civilization.  While I think very few people were surprised by the lack of apocalypse, the amount of coverage garnered by this doomsday threat on many highly-regarded national television stations reveals a strange trait about humans-we are fascinated by the end of the world.

Our Best Guess

One of my favorite depictions of the End occurs in Douglas Adams' The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (part of his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series).  This book depicts a restaurant where the patrons are taken, via the latest time-travel technology, to a moment in time which is comfortably close to the end of the universe.  As the meal progresses, the cosmos begin to spin out of control, and the whole thing is on the verge of collapsing, when the restaurant is taken back in time to the "present" and the well-fed customers are deposited to continue on with their lives.  Of course, during Arthur Dent's only visit to the restaurant, something goes terribly wrong (I will not ruin the plot for you, but I would highly recommend reading this series).

Unlike the comical characters in Adams' stories, we do not have the luxury of time travel, and we certainly do not know when the final day of the universe will be.  Nevertheless, we have managed to generate a multitude of predictions over the past several centuries about when and how it will occur.  Of course, many of us realize that it is foolhardy to proclaim that one knows when the End will happen and that any doomsday prediction must necessarily be based on a substantial amount of conjecture.  But that has not stopped us from trying.  It seems like at least once a year one group or another releases a new statement that the apocalypse is upon us and that the End is near at hand.

Yet Earth still continues in its mild-mannered pirouette around the sun, and for all appearances it would seem that the universe intends to remain stable for at least the foreseeable future.  So why is humanity so obsessed with the end of the world?  Why does this ghost of a thought continue to haunt us?  Even some of the more secular members of society have become fascinated with the End.  A striking example of this is the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which since 1947 has printed each of its issues with an imposing Doomsday Clock emblazoned on the cover showing just how close the world is to falling apart.  Clearly the notion of the end of the world is not completely derived from religion and culture.  Rather, it seems that each of us is born with a notion that the world around us could end at any moment.  And we might be right.

Permanence and Transience

The simple truth of the matter is that most of the things we encounter on a daily basis are transient.  The very way by which we understand time passing is by analyzing how things change.  And one of the ways things change is that they cease to be.  Buildings are torn down, food goes bad, and people die, all contributing to the notion that almost nothing in our experience is permanent.  To think that Earth will one day end as well does not seem that strange of a notion.  It is certainly easy enough for us to imagine all the many ways in which the world could end.  Modern science fiction is often little more than a collection of potential global catastrophes, many of which seem far too plausible.

I am not here to say that this notion is misguided.  This world will not be here forever.  However it happens, there will be a final day of Earth, and a beginning of a post-earth era.  "For this world in its present form is passing away." (1 Cor. 7:31b)  As a Christian, I embrace the idea of the apocalypse.  But I do not allow it to consume me.

You see, as with many other subjects, I believe Christianity has the correct posture with regard to the End.  The Bible acknowledges that this world is transient, but it does not place an undue importance on the End or spend time describing what it will be like in literal terms.  This attitude accomplishes two important goals.  First, it tells me that it is foolish to become attached to the things of this world. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matt. 6:21)  But by keeping details of the End mysterious and vague, the Bible also gives me the notion that the present world cannot be overlooked.  Jesus and His disciples taught with an urgency that told of an impending Doom, but they always made sure the focus was on the Here and Now.  Christianity allows me to give up my present possessions without disdaining them or mistreating the world around me.  Very few other worldviews are capable of this, and atheism surely is not.  To the atheist, Doomsday represents the end of everything of value, and it is the ultimate misery.  To the Christian, the End is really the Beginning, when we are finally awoken to see the splendor for which we have yearned in this life.

A Long-Awaited Surprise

As I have indicated above, very little is said in Scripture about specifics of the End Times.  In fact, Jesus is singularly vague about this issue.  Here is the most direct passage we have from Him about the End:

"But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.... Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.  But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.  So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." -Matthew 24:36,42-44

Did you catch that?  Even Jesus did not know when the end was going to be!  Aside from being somewhat theologically confusing, this passage has a very straight-forward message: Even though you do not know when, you know the End is coming, so be ready.  This is the importance of almost every biblical passage about the End.  Jesus did not need to know when the apocalypse was scheduled, and neither do we.  We must simply act on the knowledge that it is coming, and that we (and those around us) need to be ready when the time comes.  All eternity hinges upon it.

So instead of latching onto these sensationalist predictions about when the world will end (which themselves will pass away at some point), I suggest we use the time we have to cling to one of the few things we experience in the world which will not pass away.  That is, Christ and His Kingdom.  God and His word are made of different stuff than the many ephemeral concepts and objects with which we are accustomed to interacting.  God is "from everlasting to everlasting" (Psalm 41:13), "the Rock eternal" (Isaiah 26:4), the One whose "love endures forever." (1 Chron. 16:34)  God is eternal, which means that time does not touch Him.  On the day that Jesus comes back and this world ends, God will remain unshaken.  And until that time, it is the job of Christians to prepare the Earth for His glorious return.

I leave you today with the words of Jesus which occur just above the passage at the beginning of this final section.  May the Grace and Peace of God rest upon you this week as we head toward Jesus' triumphant return.

"Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.  Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.  Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." -Matthew 24:32-35 (italics mine)