As a Protestant, I don’t think we’re quite there yet. Let’s look at an often overlooked statement by Jesus Christ about the end of days:
Matthew 24:14And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
We still got a way to go. We shouldn’t be focused on wars, famines, and all the bad things that will certainly come to pass; rather we should be focused on spreading the Gospel to all the world, and all the nations. Not necessarily so that the end will come, but because we are commanded to and the end of days will not come until this has been accomplished.
This was a major point of focus behind the initial missionary efforts of Methodism. There was a strong, pervasive, top-down belief that Methodist missionaries going into all the world would help bring about the end. It was an issue of obedience and of fulfilling the Great Commission, but there was also a distinct sense that Methodists were taking an opportunity to play an instrumental role that had meaningful implications re:eschatology.
Methodism isn’t like that anymore. They are still missionally minded, they still have a tremendous heart for the least of these, and they have become real leaders in ecumenical efforts. But they no longer make that link or have that focus where their missionary efforts are related to the end times. In fact, as big a thing as it used to be and as much as the idea was driven by the founders and early leaders of Methodism, the idea has been pretty much buried in their history to the point where most people aren’t aware that it was ever a part of Methodist thought, much less a prominent one.
So the idea can seem all right in theory, and it’s easy to see why it can be a difference maker in a missionary movement. It’s very easy to see how it can jack up missionary zeal and really get the people going. But as many times as this comes around, that’s about how many times it sort of goes away. That’s a little harder to see and it takes a bit more work, especially when a prominent branch of Protestantism buries this part of their history and kind of forgets that it ever existed. It’s worth exploring why that happens, too.
There is one part of the world where this movement is in full force, and that is in China. (Among certain Chinese Christians, not all, most are not directly involved and there are some vocal detractors). At any rate, there is a movement called the Back to Jerusalem movement. The idea is that Chinese Christians focus on sending at least 100,000 missionaries apiece to about 51 countries on or around the Silk Road. If the country is sort of between China and Jerusalem, and if there aren’t really any Christians there, the goal is to spread the Gospel to all those countries and then the end will come. So it turns out, it’s not a Methodist offshoot from the Church of England that gets it done- it’s Chinese Charismatics who mostly operate out of house churches.
It will be interesting to see what happens to that way of thinking. Chinese Christians associated with Back to Jerusalem are seen by most other Chinese Christians as extreme and at times a bit dangerous, not to mention a little too high on their own importance. So that’s something else to keep an eye on, see how that plays out in China and wherever Chinese missionaries go to.
