Christianity is Eschatology

When I heard that phrase this morning, it took me a second to remember what Eschatology meant. It’s basically a branch of Theology that focuses on the end of the world. For a more complete definition check out Wikipedia’s page on Eschatology. I love Wikipedia.

Dr Phil Eaton (The president of my university) quoted this phrase this morning from an author whose name I can’t remember. “Christianity is Eschatology.” He expanded this thought saying that Christianity is constantly hoping, constantly looking forward to the time when God will say, “Look, I am making everything new!” He went on to say that this vision towards our future hope guides and transforms the present. I really like that.

But what does that look like? How does our hope influence our current actions?

When I think about this, my mind jumps to the idea of the Kingdom. When saying the Lord’s Prayer, we say, “Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” When we say this, we are stating our hope that God’s Kingdom will reign on earth. While it is our hope, it is also the reality we are striving for. This is where our hope transforms the present. In every action we can ask ourselves, “Is this advancing God’s kingdom on earth?”

This has huge implications. We can look at everything and ask, “Is this how things would look in God’s kingdom?” I think we would pretty much always say no to that question, but then we ask, “So what can I do to make it closer to how God would want it?” This can apply to relationships, injustice, physical places, individual struggles, habits, communities… anything and everything.

So here’s my question- What ideas do you have to advance God’s kingdom? It can be as small as planting a garden or as big as starting a non-profit. Let’s hear some ideas!

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