The End of All Things Is Near
No. 49: March 12, 2021
Dear Friends,
I know what you’re thinking. Someone must have hacked into my computer. Is this newsletter really from Brian Mattson, the guy who has been a broken record for nearly a year about resisting apocalyptic, end-of-the-world, hysterical narratives?
Yes, it is really me. And the title of today’s missive was not written by me. I did not write “The end of all things is near.”
That was Peter, the Apostle of Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 4:7: “The end of all things is near”—or, alternatively, “at hand.”
That is a dramatic thing to say. I want to reflect a bit on what Peter may have meant by that and, more importantly, what kind of reaction Peter was trying to elicit from his audience.
But first—yes—I need to reiterate my broken record. We do live in apocalyptic times when everything is always at stake, our very civilization hangs in the balance, and we are all obliged to engage in the great political and culture war with one hundred percent of our time and energy—“silence” is “violence;” not being a racist isn’t enough because one must be actively (anti)racist; if you don’t campaign for and support this political candidate you’re the enemy of all good things, and so forth. At least, that is what people, Left and Right, want you and me to believe. The dystopian, hellish end of the world is right around the next bend, but if we collectively rise up and join the fight we might avoid that fate and instead turn history toward our imagined utopia.
Stoking fears about the end of the world is supposed to motivate you.
The other day a good friend texted me a video clip of a Tucker Carlson monologue. Tucker was outraged, of course (is it me or is that massive “worry” line in the middle of his forehead becoming permanent?), and he happened to be outraged for a good reason. I’m perfectly happy to agree that he’s often right. Nevertheless, I texted my friend back and said, “Tucker wants and needs you to be angry. Don’t let him. Keep your powder dry and keep your eyes on things you can control.” If you want things to be angry about, and if you seek them out by tuning in to Tucker or any of the other media personalities every night, you will get your wish. You will also likely get coronary artery disease from elevated blood pressure.
I happen to aware of certain conservative subcultures who are in the habit of describing average American people as “Sheeple.” It’s a really derogatory term for people who just follow along with the crowd, are easily corralled and manipulated, who don’t think for themselves. But there isn’t much self-awareness among those hurling this epithet. Often they themselves are in mind-numbed, lockstep agreement with all sorts of populist, demagogic charlatans exploiting their fear (very “sheep-like”) and abusing their emotional lives for clicks, eyeballs, and advertising dollars.
There’s someone standing on every digital street corner holding a sign that reads: “The End Is Near.” And your reaction is supposed to be—and all too often is—fear and anxiety.
Ahem. Anyway, Peter declares that “The end of all things is near.” In theological circles we call that an eschatological statement. That means it’s a statement of finality. And it’s final for all things. Time’s up. Curtain falls. It’s Judgment Day—the medievals used a word I like even better: Doomsday. The world-system, the space and time—the “age”—in which we live is coming to a decisive close.
Why does Peter say this? How does he know? Is he just guessing? Is he just trying to manipulate people into better behavior? He does have some exhortations that flow from this, which I’ll get to later, but first we should notice that he knows all this because the “age to come,” the age of “resurrection from the dead,” the “eternal inheritance,” has already arrived!
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. —1 Peter 1:3-5
Time is kind of a big deal for Peter. I italicized some key words. Peter is saying that Christ himself, having risen from the dead, has already brought all the benefits of the “age to come” into the present time and given it to believers through faith. Note that well. Not by sight. It doesn’t look like we’ve been raised and have received our inheritance. But it is true, a reality (that’s why it’s a living hope) “kept in heaven” and waiting to “be revealed in the last time.” Not “become true” in the last time, but be revealed as true in the last time.
Since the “End Time” has broken into our time at Christ’s resurrection, this begins what we might call the “Final Countdown” (cue the music) for the present age. Peter is certain that Judgment Day is coming, “at hand,” “near,” because it has already begun—it began with the judgment of sin at the cross, and Christ’s vindication at his resurrection:
For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit… — 1 Peter 3:18
Let me put it this way. If Jesus has dealt the death blow to sin at the cross, and dealt the death blow to death itself in his resurrection, then the final judgment and final resurrection is inevitable and guaranteed. The countdown has started. That’s why the New Testament calls (with apologies to Left Behind fans) the entire period between Christ’s first and second comings (2000 years and counting) the “last days” (Heb. 1:2). These are the last days of this present age, of world history as we know it. What follows is Christ’s return, the “new heavens and new earth,” and eternity.
I used a fancy word earlier and, trust me, I’m going to hear about it from my family because they generally forbid me from using those words in public. The word was “eschatological,” from the Greek word “eschatos,” meaning “end.” It’s an important word and concept because what Peter has in mind here, as I said before, is finality. And I mean, FINAL. The end of “all things.” That is what is “at hand,” or “near.” That is the shadow—or I should say, hope—under which you and I live. Let me say a few things about what I think that should mean for us.
First, all other apocalyptic claims of the “end of the world” pale in comparison to this one. They might herald sober and serious political and cultural issues to which we must and should attend, but they are not…the end of the world. I am suggesting we ought to keep in mind the actual end of the world to help orient and contextualize ourselves in our less-than-end-of-the-world present circumstances. That’s precisely why Peter says it! Don’t live “the rest of your earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God” (4:2). You are living, really living (!), an “age to come” life in the “this present age.”
For you, you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they will heap abuse on you. —1 Peter 4:3-4
Christians have always been weird because we don’t belong to this passing, sinful age.
Second, we ought to reason from the greater to the lesser. If the actual end of the world Peter announces doesn’t cause fear and anxiety for God’s people, what sense does it make for lesser crises to cause fear and anxiety for God’s people? In the next section Peter goes on to talk about the great suffering the early Christians were experiencing—indeed, he says it should be “no surprise.” I must say that as a general matter the past few years have witnessed an awful lot of fear, anxiety, and surprise among many Christians with respect to current events and cultural and political conflicts that fall far, far short of that kind of persecution, much less The End of The World.
Please don’t misread me. I am not minimizing the challenges at all. I do not believe it is our duty (as some would have it) to court persecution, seek out or acquiesce to our own cultural and political marginalization, or shrug our shoulders in the name of Jesus. We have political tools and cultural institutions (many of them built on Christian ideals) and we ought to make use of them for the protection of the gospel and true religion and the general good and welfare of our neighbors. I am, after all, Senior Scholar of Public Theology for something called the Center For Cultural Leadership. I am not denying for a moment that the in-breaking of the “age to come” transforms the present age, starting with spiritually dead sinners and working its way out into communities and institutions and “every square inch” of human existence. The title of this newsletter stands secure.
No, I am making an “attitudinal” argument. Giving in to fear and anxiety makes no sense for Christians, if what Peter says is true. Oh, and newsflash: what Peter says is gospel truth.
Finally, way up there at the top of this (long) newsletter I said that people peddle “end of the world” narratives to motivate you. In light of the real—not peddled—“end of all things” looming ahead of us, what does Peter expect us to do? What’s the action plan?
Be clear-minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.
Love each other deeply.
Offer hospitality.
Use whatever gift you’ve received to serve others.
Faithfully administer God’s grace in its various forms.
Speak with authority in alignment with God’s word.
Serve in God’s strength.
Please just notice how ordinary all that is. In our fear and anxiety we are always looking for extraordinary things. You’ve heard it a million times in the past few years: “extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.” From Peter’s point of view, these are not extraordinary times, and they call for utterly ordinary measures. Pray? Love each other? Be hospitable? Serve others? Really?
I am convinced that many Christians need to recover the art and spiritual discipline of the ordinary. There’s been too much pressure to be “radical” and hyper-spiritual and engaged in whatever is the outrage of the day. Pray, love God, love each other deeply, use your gifts, serve others, give grace, speak truthfully, and rely on God’s strength.
You can do all of those things whether you are a CEO, politician, a mover-and-shaker, a stay-at-home mom, an artist, or a plumber and a thousand other things besides. They are the “foolish” things of this world that God uses to confound the wise.
Miscellany
Speaking of important cultural issues to which we ought to pay attention, I’ve mentioned before that Amazon deleted Ryan Anderson’s book When Harry Became Sally with no explanation. The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon has now explained: “We have chosen not to sell books that frame LGBTQ identity as mental illness.” Well, okay. Except Ryan didn’t say that in the book. And there’s the little problem that the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual, 5th Edition, actually classifies “gender dysphoria” as a mental disorder. That’s awkward because that link takes you to… Amazon.
Winston Marshall, banjo player for the hit band Mumford & Sons, read a book about Antifa by Andy Ngo. He then publicly said he liked the book. Now he’s “taking a break” from the band after issuing this apology. Read the self-abasement and weep:
Jordan Peterson, the Jungian Psychologist from Canada who’s become something of a rock star for a large segment of young men looking for purpose in life, did a podcast the other day that’s worth watching. Follow Justin Taylor’s link and Twitter thread to find the details. It’s like watching a Christian conversion happen in real time.
Pastor Tim Keller penned a beautiful and important article in The Atlantic entitled, “Growing My Faith in the Face of Death.” Click the link and read it. It caught enough attention that the Morning Joe had him on for an interview.
I can’t embed a Facebook video on here, so I’ll just post the link to my friend Dustin Messer’s interview with British pastor Andrew Wilson on his new book, God of All Things. The interview is short and utterly delightful, so CLICK HERE to watch.
Remember awhile back when the United States killed Iranian General Soleimani? Iran retaliated with ballistic missiles, and the general attitude was “no big deal.” This 60-Minutes report is gripping. We came a lot closer to war than we were led to believe.
I was kind of wistfully wishing the other day that I could be writing and performing music again. Life got in the way, and COVID shut down any opportunities for Ticker Tape Parade. So here’s a throwback to a fun night at the Pub Station, in hopes that maybe we can get things going again soon! This is “I’d Rather Remember.” Have a great weekend!