This Memorial Day...

Is Harold Camping Causing More Harm Than Good?

I was asked today if I thought the Harold Camping publicity was doing more harm than good. I guess in response I'd have to ask, "Harm to what?"

Harm to Christ? No. This certainly does nothing to affect his character.

Harm to the Church? Well, if the goal is to be considered "Normal" by the standards of people that don't walk in The Way. Maybe.

But primarily these were the thoughts I've had:

Men will always hate us because of Him. I think situations like this gives haters ammunition, but it's not hurting the cause of Christ. I don't know if you've been around your friends that don't follow Christ, but at my office's lunch table we got to talk about quite a bit of stuff related to Christ. There were a lot of jokes, but I came away from it with three thoughts:

1. People that I know aren't going to see Christ in Harold Camping. They're going to see Him in me. Am I living in a way that allows Jesus to draw men unto Himself?

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2. Faith really is a mystery. The hype around Camping's prediction really does make the return of Christ sound ridiculous. Do we believe He is coming again? Do we live like it? Can we hold onto our belief even when others ridicule it?

3. I re-read Matthew 24:42 "Therefore keep watch because you do not know on what day your Lord will come." Do followers of Christ really know what the Bible says about His return? There are a multitude of beliefs by Christ-followers have that are as off-base as Harold Camping's, but they have far less publicity. The real problem is they just don't know the Word well enough.

--Ben
Oh how I wish He would come. I look forward to His coming. Even so, the Spirit and the Bride say, "Come".