Need to Know the End!

I woke up today and started reading my pile of Spawn comics again - I'm over a year behind in the story. Things are getting really good - the battle of Heaven and Hell is starting up (a quasi-Gnostic understanding is put forth by the writers), and Spawn is caught in the middle, and his power is running out, and everything has been leading up to this, AND-?!

The issue ends with a cliffhanger, to be expected, but I'm missing the next issue in my pile of comics! It's the one issue I'm missing, and it's the end of the story! I need to know the end!

I started thinking about this need to know the end. Beyond just the normal stuff - like sticking with a real groaner of a movie just because you either paid the money at the theater to see it, paid to rent it, you're in an hour already so might as well see it through, or more often than not, you need to see how it ends (or in the case of a lot of horror movies, how it doesn't end).

Many Christians take great comfort in the "fact" that they know the end of the story. They know that in the end, God will triumph, the Devil will be defeated, and all those who believe will spend eternity in Paradise. And thanks to the Book of Revelation, they know how it all is going to happen as well!

First off, Revelation barely made it into the Bible. It was considered a "disputed book" in the 4th Century, when the canonization process of the New Testament began, and even was disregarded by Martin Luther as "neither apostolic nor prophetic" 1200 years later.

Secondly, interpretations of Revelation have been used over the centuries to "predict" the end of the world. Christian movements have set dates for the end of the world based on Revelation - and of course they have been wrong, because we're all still here. Many believers believe that we are currently living in the "End Times" - which accounts for the popularity of the "Left Behind" series of "books" (I use the term loosely - if you've ever cracked one of them open, the writing is abysmal and the printing so large and spaced out to warrant each chapter being sold as a separate book - I might rant about the money-grab of the Left Behind series at a later date - what a scam - the Christian flock sure was fleeced on that one).

Third (and related to Secondly), some Christians are overly obsessed with Revelation, and because it foretells Jesus coming back, some work to see the events in Revelation happen. I suspect that working to resettle Jews in the Holy Land after the horrors of World War II was influenced, at least in part, by the idea that the End Times will not happen and Jesus will not come back until "God's Chosen People" are back home in Israel. Many churches support building efforts in Israel to see Christ come back in their lifetime. I personally support Israel because they are the only democracy in that backwards area of the world, but I don't know that foreign policy decisions and diplomacy in the Middle East should be swayed and influenced by a strange book written almost two thousand years ago - doesn't seem like the right course to take to me.

Lastly, and most importantly, I think a belief in the events of Revelation, a "knowing how it all ends" mentality, excuses inaction when action in the world is needed now more than ever before. Why bother fighting against real evil in the world, when we all know that God will triumph in the end? In fact, let's just let it happen, because then maybe Jesus will come back sooner! This mentality can be seen both globally and locally, in our own lives. It excuses inaction - excuses a belief that we won't make a difference anyway, the world is going to hell in a handbasket, and that it all is really in "God's Hands." Just "turn the other cheek" as the Savior taught, right?

Think of the heroes of history, and if they had this impotent understanding and outlook on the course of human events - a bunch of farmers wouldn't have rebelled against an Empire, ordinary people from across the ocean wouldn't have freed a continent and saved "God's Chosen People" from a ruthless dictator - I don't care to think about it, I choose to appreciate and honor the heroes of the past who stood against evil and said "no more."

What would the course of history look like if Revelation had never been written, or gained acceptance? I think the world would be a much better place - inaction would not be excused - we would not "know" how it all is going to end, and be able to relax in that comfort and allow it to happen. The Book of Revelation fulfills a basic human need - knowing how it all ends - and if it wasn't Revelation it would have been some other made up book.

I think I need to be blunt: Jesus is not coming back. We are not going to be whisked away in some wonderful "Rapture" and be spared the "Tribulation" and horrors of this world, watching from Heaven above as God kicks ass. If we let the "End Times" happen, we will be right in the middle of it, like those poor souls trapped in the World Trade Center towers when they came crumbling down. Goodness, and righteousness, and freedom, and peace, and love, is all up to us, inspired by our God-given Reason to work and fight for a better tomorrow.