There's been quite a buzz lately about the coming Day of Judgment spoken of in the Bible. This is something I've been fascinated with for most of my life, but I should state right up front anyone who claims to have all the answers on this topic is probably trying to sell you a book or trying to get you to sign up for their newsletter. There are only a few literal descriptions of the Judgment Day in the Bible, leaving a lot open for debate. It's not an easy subject and what I am writing here are just my observations. Hopefully it will provide some discussion and food for thought.
What Should We Fear?
In my short 42 year lifetime I think I've seen quite a bit. I've lived through dire predictions of the planets lining up and causing the Earth to spin out of orbit in 1984. I've read through my copy of "88 Reasons Why Jesus Will Return on September 8th, 1988". I watched people around me stockpile food and weapons for the advent of the year 2000. (I didn't have enough money to stockpile anything myself!) Currently it seems the predictions of the end of the World are predicated on the fact that America is undergoing cataclysmic economic woes, or the fact that America has just elected a president who appears different than past Presidents. Neither of which really amounts to a hill of blue beans in Bible prophecy, from what I can tell.
Now I'm not mocking anyone caught up in these past movements. As a Christian I believe that we are living in the last days and indeed Jesus is returning for His Bride. But in the midst of these movements, I've witnessed Christianity at its' worst and I'm afraid of the worst of Christianity reappearing again in 2009.
The problem that I see is that these "last days" movements result in fear, and not much else. We know that Jesus and the Apostle Paul both said that we can judge a person or situation by the resulting fruit, so if these movements did not result in obedience and holiness, then I would have to guess that these movements were not of God in the first place.
How Should Christians Prepare for the Day of Judgment?
I believe the clearest and most complete portrayal of the Judgment Day found in the Bible comes from Jesus, and can be found recorded in Matthew 15:31-46. Here it is in the NIV courtesy of BibleGateway.com and Zondervan:
The Sheep and the Goats
31. "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34. "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36. I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37. "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38. When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39. When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40. "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41. "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43. I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
44. "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
45. "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
46. "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
The goats go to eternal punishment, and the sheep go to eternal life. As Keith Green said in his song The Sheep and the Goats, "The difference between the sheep and the goats is what they did, and didn't, do." In other words, these examples seem to have to do with actions rather than just faith. I guess that's fodder for another article.
What I'd like to point out here is that the sheep were prepared for the Judgment Day because they were feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, inviting in the strangers, helping the sick, visiting the prisoners, and clothing those who needed clothing.
To the contrary, the goats were not prepared for the Judgment Day because they were not doing the above. My guess is that many of the goats would have done these things if they had known they were doing it to Jesus, but since they didn't see Jesus in "the least of these" they didn't do it.
I would like to leave you with this thought: When you hear man speak about the coming Day of Judgment, does it leave you fearful, or full of compassion for those who are less fortunate than you? Does it make you want to be tight-fisted with what you have, or does it make you more willing to share with those around you? Does it allow you to look down your nose at others, or does it make you feel like we all live in a fallen World so we need to help others to the best of our abilities? I submit for your consideration that if it is the former and not the latter, we should be questioning if it really is of God.
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