There are two attitudes toward the Second Coming of the Messiah, one is "Hallelujah!", the other is, "Get Ready!"
There is a place for the message of "be ready", because the Bible tells us so! But I really want to probe into the mentality of both proclamations.
To respond the message of the Second Coming with "Hallelujah", expresses our hope for this event, that we look forward to the return of our Saviour; we rejoice at the thought of it, and we would love to see the face of Jesus because we know that He love us, and we, in turn, love Him.
While the proclamation of "Be Ready!" denotes another emotion.
Those who spread the second message may well say that the Second Coming of Christ is a blessed hope, but their message sounds to entail more fear and terror than hope and love.
"Jesus is coming again, and by then, we may not even be holy enough to see Him yet, Oh, I dread this thought, what if I'm not ready by then, I will perish!" To them, the concept of the Second Coming is like we as the whole human race is running a marathon with God, and we want to run ahead of God, so we can reach the destination before Him, and so when He gets to the destination we are already there, so we will be ready, and He will have to let us into heaven even if He doesn't want to; we will have our merit to show Him "Look God, we're ready now, so you can't send us to hell now!"
There really are problems with this mentality, it views God as our competitor, and we have to outrun Him, and I just do not see any love for God reflected in this mindset.
The Bible says Jesus is the bridegroom, and we are His bride. When the bride is waiting for the groom, she should be glad and happy and looking forward to her beloved. If the bride only dreads the arrival of the bridegroom, but tells herself that she has to be ready because if she doesn't, there's going to be trouble! Then, there certainly is no love in her heart for the man she is going to marry; and this marriage would better not to take place.
But if the bride says, I want to see my beloved, but I will have to get everything ready, so when I see him, I will not embarrass myself; and she would say "my beloved is coming soon, and yes! What a blessing! Now, before he gets here, let me get everything in place, so when he gets here, everything will be set. He will be comfortable and I will not embarrass myself."
Now this is a different attitude.
Christianity has been twisted so much that we are so self-centred, our goal is self-preservation, so God will not find a reason to cast us into the fire; we care so little about how beautiful God is, and that it is n fact a pleasure to know Him and to spend time with Him. And naturally, how can we be expected to look forward to the return of the Messiah?
They do not feel like children of God, but merely servants, and always afraid of God. They have no perfect love; because perfect love casts out fear.
They will keep God's commandments and do His works, but not for their love for God, but for their own preservation; but then, that is not commandment keeping at all, because the first principle of the Ten Commandments is to love God with all our heart!
I read this on a blog of someone
"A reading from the book of Python
O Lord, please don't burn us.
Don't grill or toast Your flock.
Don't put us on the barbecue
Or simmer us in stock.
Don't braise or bake or boil us
Or stir-fry us in a wok.
Oh, please don't lightly poach us
Or baste us with hot fat.
Don't fricassee or roast us
Or boil us in a vat,
And please don't stick Thy servants, Lord,
In a Rotissomat.
Thanks be to God.
I still vividly remember the seemingly endless "hellfire and brimstone" sermons from my childhood and youth in a Southern Baptist church. I also recall, that when I was "saved" at the age of 12 or so, it was because I was filled with fear and dread of dying "lost" and going to hell.
What I do not recall is having a sense of loving or being loved by God... What I had instead developed was an image of God as a taskmaster who kept a list of my sins and shoved a lightning bolt up my ass every time I messed up.
This sort of fear-based faith did not hold for me, and I left the church, any church for many years."
And who can say that this is not exactly what a "gospel of fear" would do to anyone?
If people are scared to heaven, but without love for God, then, even geographically they are in heaven, they won't love being there, because they are going to spend eternity with someone who they don't love, but only afraid of.
Isaiah 40:9
"O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!"
