I watched a great documentary tonight—it was about the book of Revelation.  Now, let me just say right now that I do not hold a literal view of the Bible.  That’s not say that I don’t think there are elements that can and should be taken literally, but most of it I take as narrative and metaphor that applied to the time and culture in which it was written.  Many scholars hold this view as well.  However, many Christian fundamentalists do not—they especially read Revelation with an excitement of things to come.  The success of the ridiculous (my opinion—doesn’t have to be yours too) Left Behind series is evidence enough.  In any case, the documentary presented both views, with much scholarship and great visuals.  But one quote in particular proved to be very memorable for me (and the actual subject of this blog).  A pastor was talking about Revelation and life in general. He said that if one lives with the expectation that Christ will return at any moment, then that will have a direct impact on how that person lives.  He finished by saying that he would not want to be caught “off guard” when Christ came.  Wow.  What a huge example of missing the point of being in fellowship with Christ.  Having a relationship with Christ is not about being on guard for screw-ups—it’s about loving Christ enough to live the way that he wants us to.  It’s not about being scared of God; it’s about wanting to be with God.  Notice I said wanting to be with him–not trying to escape “hell”.And this brings me to another thought I had about the documentary.  The literal interpretation of Revelation almost hints at a delight in the horrors described in John’s vision.  Now, Old Testament stories aside (and I’d argue that even then God did not delight in punishing the world), I have a hard time believing that God would want to heap such atrocities upon his creation.  It seems inconsistent with the God who entered humanity, lived among his handiwork, died to reconcile his creation to him, and laid the groundwork for a new kind of kingdom.  Jesus hints at this during his Sermon on the Mount—a little tid bit about how God cares for those who love him and those who don’t:“He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”  God sends what we need, including himself, in the process of fulfilling the greatest revelation of all—reconciling with his creation.One final note about the documentary—some scholars believe John was actually writing about the Roman Empire, not some distant era to come.  They even suggest that the Beast was the emperor Nero.By the way, I saw another annoying church sign today; it read: “If you can read this, then you can still be forgiven.” Bet you can guess what I thought of that…

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