end times politics?

One area of concern I have with some who are labeled “Christian Right,” is those who are strongly caught up in dispensational theology. A popular version of this is in the Left Behind series.

Dispensationalism was born out of the Plymouth Brethern movement in Great Britain in the 1800’s. It is emphasized in much of modern American Evangelicalism today. Whenever you talk about end times there are a billion variations to the various theologies. A simplistic summary of my concern for dispensationalism is an almost “anything goes” theology about the state of Israel.

According to some dispesationalist teachings, Jesus will reign from Jerusalem someday and he has a special covenant with earthly Israel, separate (but largely undetermined) from the destiny of the Church, the Body of Christ. There are many different ways of formulating this thinking and using scripture texts to support it. There are a variety of arguments and scriptural support to show how this may not be correct. So, there you go.

If we are basing national policy on certain Christian’s in government’s theology of end times (I am not saying this is the case presently, though it is possible) that would be troublesome. It is an especially ironic position for me because I do support Israel from a geopolitical (and “never again” post-Holocaust) standpoint, and so find myself agreeing with much of what the dispensationalist folks are supporting.

Yet, I would personally be far from writing a blank check for those in government in Tel Aviv. When I hear Christians being hyper pro-Israel because of their theological framework, I would label that as “overestimation of self.” Overestimating the expertise of one’s biblical interpretation and considering areas where there are various textual possibilities, as absolutes.

When it comes to end times, no one knows, as Jesus said clearly, and I for one will tread with caution as to basing my life on specific interpretations. Matthew 25 is very persuasive to me personally in this regard. Much more so than Revelation 20, for example.