Years ago, a friend of mine was so burdened over the predicament of the lost—meaning those who didn’t know the Lord—that he fabricated a life-sized cross and dragged it along a road to demonstrate what Jesus had done for us when He was crucified. As strange as that may seem, it was necessary, meaning it was and continues to be necessary for everyone to grasp the significance of what Jesus did for us through His death and resurrection. Familiarity with just about anything tends to undermine its significance. We become used to seeing or hearing or knowing things, and over time their importance and their impact can be diminished. When I was five years old I remember an incident at my babysitter’s house in which I inadvertently said a “bad” word. I had been rhyming words and non-words that sounded alike by changing the first letter. I started out with sucker, changed it to lucker and so on. When I changed the first letter to an “f” the room erupted! I didn’t know what I had done wrong! My parents didn’t use that word so I had never heard it, but everybody else knew it, and it wasn’t to be spoken. Nowadays the word is so common that it’s printed on shirts, spoken in movies, and used in “polite” conversation regularly to the point that even those who don’t use such language aren’t “shocked” when they hear it. It’s familiar to the point that its original impact has been diminished or lost altogether. My friend was trying, through his cross-bearing, to counteract the impact of familiarity with regard to the crucifixion—a horrendous way to be executed. Why was this necessary? Perhaps wearing the cross as jewelry or using it as décor in a sanctuary, had obscured the dreadful nature of crucifixion, contributing to a diminished appreciation for the Christ’s willing and intentional sacrifice on our behalf.

Nowadays we’re in danger of being desensitized to the notion that the world as we know it could be coming to an end. Current scientific thinking insists that the earth is four or five billion years old which amounts to saying that it’s eternal. For the Christian, the central figure in human history, Jesus of Nazareth, was executed over two thousand years ago and the Church keeps plugging along. Both assessments prompt the modern world, whether sacred or scientific, to discount the temporary nature of our existence. It seems as though things will always go on as they always have, and the reason for that assumption is based on either the abilities of science and human ingenuity, or the lack of historical precision within the Bible.

Actually I think there’s probably more than one thing contributing to this malaise, depending on who’s exhibiting it. People who don’t know the Lord and don’t invest in the supernatural may be indifferent because such a catastrophic event due to “natural” causes is so unlikely. The odds are against such a spectacular event taking place. We’d have to collide with something large enough to cause such global destruction; probably not going to happen. An alteration of the “natural” course of things on a smaller scale is more likely, and, in fact happening all around us. Exceptional flooding events, enhanced fire hazards, significant and destructive earth quakes, as well as episodes of extreme temperatures have been manifesting with increasing frequency. However the cause of these events is attributed to forces of nature brought on by human activity—global warming. The assessment of these circumstances is based on science and the solutions suggested are based on science as well. And the increasing frequency of these events is gradually rendering them as “normal” rather than unusual; a current term that applies is the “new normal.” And this process of regularization is not just the result of enhanced global communication prompting greater access to news from around the world; there really are an increasing number of such events taking place. And, as I’ve been suggesting, familiarity undermines the perception of the exceptional. Unbelievers are convinced that collectively answers to these circumstances can be found through human effort. The current thought is that science and cooperation can and will prevail! It has to, there’s no other option!

Those of us who affirm the supernatural, informed by our faith, aren’t immune to this desensitization. Before there was a global culture, when modern scientific knowledge hadn’t gained the prestige that it has today, catastrophic events were often attributed to unknown forces; the hand of God—or the gods—presided over the forces at work in the world. Nowadays modernity with its investment in science, informs world culture to varying degrees. And the very establishment of a world culture works to reinforce this investment in the natural over and against the supernatural. Christians—including evangelicals—are subject to the desensitizing impact of this globalization. We see what’s taking place throughout the world, and we’re inundated with the explanations and concerns informed by a natural and secular understanding of human existence. In the process the tendency is to become desensitized to a supernatural assessment of these current events. It would be too extreme to specifically attribute what’s happening in the world today to the hand of the one true God!

Or would it? The question reminds me of the caricature of a man who walked around with a message of impending doom on a sandwich board. He was emaciated and bearded, and he had long unkempt hair; and everybody thought he was crazy. And his sign read: “The End is Near.” Crazy isn’t it? The problem that we have as believers is that the Bible does in fact affirm the end of the world as we know it. I know that there are different takes on how that might happen, and the apocalyptic writings of John and Daniel are difficult to pinpoint. Nevertheless, the Bible does affirm a day when things will cease to be as they are and God—the One and True—will preside over an alteration of human existence. The “day of the Lord” is referred to in both the Old and New Testaments, indicating a day of reckoning when the Lord would bring to account those who had forsaken Him and gone after other gods. Often the Old Testament prophets were focused on the northern Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah, predicting their downfall at the hands of Assyria and later Babylon. But a farther reaching reference can also be detected that pertains to the whole earth. And this is picked up and affirmed in the New Testament writings as well.

For the Lord of hosts will have a day of reckoning against everyone who is proud and lofty and against everyone who is lifted up, that he may be abased. And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are lofty and lifted up, against all the oaks of Bashan, against all the lofty mountains, against all the hills that are lifted up, against every high tower, against every fortified wall, against all the ships of Tarshish and against all the beautiful craft. The pride of man will be humbled and the loftiness of men will be abased; and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day, but all the idols will completely vanish. (Isaiah 2:12-18)

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all of these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:10-13)

I know that there are a lot of questions concerning the how and the when of these declarations, but I’m not going to unpack those specifics here. However, what I do want to say is that, given these warnings, the question is: How you gonna act? Are you going to act as if it were true? Are you going to deny it? Are you going to ignore it? How you gonna act? We see the destruction taking place around the globe. We hear the assessments of what’s taken place. We hear the pleas for help. And we listen to the recommendations for addressing the problems. But are we willing to accept the fact that the world will come to an end, and live our lives informed by that reality? I’m not talking about sitting on a mountain waiting for it to happen. We all have to fulfill our responsibilities, and engage our circumstances. But are we going to recognize the signs of the times and maintain our focus on the Lord and His agenda, or are we going to give all our energies to doing what everyone else is doing: thinking that we can solve the problems facing us, or hoping that it will all turn out alright in the end, meanwhile taking advantage of what’s available to distract, entertain, and fulfill us in this life?

For Christians I think these episodes of turmoil provide an impetus for us to know the Lord in a renewed and earnest fashion. Dig in to the scriptures, not to determine where we are on the timeline to eternity; that’s the pitfall of millennialism; conviction regarding the when and how of our Lord’s return can produce a false sense of security regarding our investment in the here and now. It’s a precarious investment that can and will be challenged if we’re willing to listen. And the result is that no one can be absolutely sure how and when the world will end. All we can be assured of is that it will end, and the Lord will establish His kingdom once and for all. Therefore our focus should not be on how and when, but, rather to “know Him and the power of His resurrection and fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that [we] may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:10-11) It’s an opportunity for an attitude adjustment where we assess our lives from a proper perspective that acknowledges the precariousness of life in general and the overwhelming provision that Jesus has provided in which we can recognize what’s important and focus on what the Lord has presented to us.