10 Challenges Christians Face Before The Return of the Lord

10 Challenges Christians Face Before The Return of the Lord

 

1. Regularly gather with believers (Hebrews 10:25). Ever since Covid, the church has never quite bounced back to where it was in 2019 as far as attendance goes. Nominal Christians were affirmed in their lazy approach to the faith. Every church was divided into 3 groups - those that kept giving and serving, those that eventually came back, and those who left never to return. A popular counter argument is that the church can gather spiritually or online instead of in person. Even though technology helps the church a lot, it does not replace personal interaction. This is evident in the rise of mental illness since the shut in orders.

2. Observe the Lord’s Supper mindful of his return (1 Corinthians 11:26). We often observe the Lord’s table with a focus on what Jesus came to do. Even though the Last Supper is historically rooted, the emphasis is not on Jesus’ entrance into history, but his return. Jesus died to establish his kingdom and there is a day coming when Jesus will be back to fully inaugurate the kingdom and remove everything and everyone who stands against him. Some people would judge God for this, but if God is the creator of the world, he has all the rights to do whatever he wants and those that judge him ironically prove why they are not fit for eternal life. Though God extends the offer of salvation to all those who hear the gospel, some will reject the invite, discounting themselves from eternal life.

3. Love believers and unbelievers (1 Thessalonians 3:12-13). Jesus warned us that people’s capacity for loving other people will severely diminish (Matthew 24:13). Several factors play into this situation, as there is a rise in violence, famines, death, lies, and moral corruption. It is easier than ever to assume someone is an idiot, especially after hearing them share their beliefs. We need to get really good at separating people from their beliefs. Ideas promote life or death, and people are vehicles for those ideas to be enacted. Many ideas need to be destroyed, while the people who ascribe to those ideas need to change their mind. People aren’t the problem, the destructive ideas they hold are. If Christians don’t make this distinction, they will fall into the trap of hating the people they are supposed to be loving and preaching the gospel to.

4. Practice patience (James 5:8). As we race forward toward the end of the world, there will be ample opportunities for God’s people to lose their cool over the evil in the world. We need to be aware of what is happening, but we shouldn’t be living on the news. Our meditation, our contemplation, the majority of our thoughts should be focused on God’s Word, not fear-mongering news and politics. We need to pace ourselves and continue to follow God faithfully. This is what it means to be patient. Fear makes it difficult to practice patience.

5. Live a different life from the world (1 John 2:28; 3:2-3). God has called us to be holy, or different from our unbelieving acquaintances. The life we live now will give us reason to be confident when we meet Jesus, or ashamed. We may claim that we know Jesus, but will Jesus say that he knows us? We don’t want to shrink from him in shame. Are we living a life that is purifying us now? Are the spiritual disciplines in your life fueled by your hope in God’s promises about the end of the world? The world is quick to ridicule holy people, but that’s because holy lives show the stark contrast against everyone else’s lives that are commonly marked by evil. Be different. Even if you never open your mouth about Jesus (and you should), your life shames people by comparison. Light exposes darkness. It’s always been that way.

6. Refrain from judging others (1 Corinthians 4:5). As I’ve already mentioned, evil will increase, and so it is easier than ever to judge whether or not people will be going to heaven or hell. We need to judge ideas, not people. When we judge people (Paul did in 1 Corinthians 5:12), we shouldn’t be making eternal judgments over people, because that’s reserved for God. Only God knows the heart and how people will end up. Some people start really well but will not continue living faithfully before God. Other people may seem to be beyond hope, but will be saved later. We need to play the long game and leave those eternal judgments to God.

7. Preach the Word (2 Timothy 4:1, 2). We are always supposed to speak on God’s behalf as a prophetic voice to our culture and to the nations. Sometimes the season is favorable and people are friendly to the message. Most of time, preaching about sin and the need for Jesus is not popular and out of season. However the culture feels at any given moment, the church doesn’t change what she believes or declares. We are an anchor at stormy seas, a constant presence in the midst of a culture that is always changing its mind, disagreeing with itself, while progressively getting worse and worse.

8. Comfort the hurting (1 Thessalonians 4:16, 18). In the last days, Christians will lose loved ones, either to natural death or to martyrdom. These circumstances cause immense emotional pain, making it easier than ever to get selfish, as you focus on your own pain. The challenge here is to reach out and comfort someone else who is hurting. Idealistically, we should be comforting each other so that nobody should have to suffer alone.

9. Win souls (Jude 21-23). In the midst of a world that hates Christians more than ever, we need to remember to be a compelling group that is marked by love, mercy, and truth. We are to continue to be a group that continues to engage with those who doubt. All this must be done without compromising into the conduct of the world. Honestly, one of the biggest critiques on the church today is that we look just like the world. No wonder we are not compelling. The world doesn’t want what it already has. Back to point 5, we need to be holy so that we can please God and offer the world something different.

10. Be concerned with heaven (Colossians 3:1-4). The life of our minds and the course of our lives are conditioned by if we are truly saved. If you are saved (“with Christ” as Paul would say), you cannot be a nominal, name-only Christian. Christ is life, not a piece of it, not even the highest priority. The point of our lives and everything in our lives is Jesus. If this is our mindset, we will be heavenly-minded. We will think about Christ’s coming kingdom and that gives us our marching orders for life on earth. This is the answer to Jesus’ prayer (Matthew 6:10).