Theology

If you hadn’t heard of him before, you probably have since May 21, 2011 is now behind us. Harold Camping, the self-described Bible scholar and radio station mogul, proclaimed that was the day Christians were out of here (his understanding of “the rapture”—which is an entirely different matter, by the way) and the day the earthquakes would begin. And then, five months later (October 21, 2011), he said the world will end in judgment. How did he come up with all that? I wish I was kidding but here’s his “proof”—it’s actually a math equation:

Believing that 5 in the Bible equals “atonement”; that 10 equals “completeness”; and 17 is the number of “heaven”—his rapture equation was (5 x 10 x 17) x (5 x 10 x 17) = 722,500 days. Believing that Jesus went to the cross on April 1, 33AD, he got out his calendar and concluded: “Five times 10 times 17 is telling you a story. It’s the story from the time Christ made payment for your sins until you’re completely saved.” After computing his math, the story was supposed to end on the 722,500 day; declaring it to be May 21, 2011. And if none of this makes sense to you—don’t worry about it; because it doesn’t make sense.

But does he deserve the heretic label for that? Doesn’t he deserve a “mulligan”? The problem is that over the years he has said some other things that push him beyond the borders of orthodoxy. He predicted the Lord would return in 1994; he has said that no was “saved” between 1988 through 1994; and that because the Holy Spirit is no longer working in the church, everybody needs to leave it. That’s enough examples. The guy is a heretic.

And lots of fools have had a hey-day with him. I’m using the biblical definition: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14:1). The fools (atheists) really got a chuckle out of all this. A few of them got together and started a business called “Eternal Earth-Bound Pets: The next best thing to pet salvation in a Post Rapture World.” What these guys did was marketed themselves to Camping’s devotees who were worried about leaving Spot and Kitty behind. For $135 (non-refundable), they contracted to take care of your pet “after you’ve received your reward” and made the “step to Jesus.” I don’t know how much money they made, but their website says they are in 26 states and have employed “40 pet rescuers.”

Some more “fools” gathered at Dorky’s Arcade in downtown Tacoma the night of the 21^st. A spokesman for the atheist sponsored “Rapture Party” said in the paper: “If it [rapture] occurs, it’s a good thing for us. We get the real estate and cheap cars, and we won’t have to worry about separation of church and state.” He went on to say that if it didn’t happen, “it’s another egg in the face of those who say the end times will come” (The News Tribune, May 21, 2011, p. A18).

Thank you Mr. Camping; though the egg is on your face, the fools think it’s on Jesus’.

A few Friday’s ago, man celebrated the “41st Earth Day,” cleaning mother earth by picking up garbage, planting trees, and promoting composting. On that same day (Good Friday), the church celebrated the Father sending the Son to die on a cross to clean us.

The competing celebrations offered quite the contrast. One was man’s effort to clean up our temporary home; the other was God’s to give us an eternal one. Man’s effort will have to be done again next year—the “42nd Earth Day” is already on the calendar; whereas the Son had to die just once (1 Peter 3:18) to accomplish what He came to do. Man’s set aside day cleans the surface—that’s easy; God sent Jesus to clean our heart—something much filthier (Jeremiah 17:9).

When you want to know something about a movement, study their founder. “Earth Day” began in a Philadelphia park on April 22, 1970. On stage that day was a man named Ira Einhorn. He was a tie-dye wearing ecological hippie who funded his “flower-power” and environmental driven agenda as a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. But a man’s words and actions reveals his heart (Luke 6:45). Seven years after that day in the park, police raided Einhorn’s apartment and found the body of his ex-girlfriend (Holly Maddux) inside a trunk. Beyond sick and twisted, Maddux’s body had been decomposing in Einhorn’s closet for 18 months. “Earth Day” founder Ira Einhorn is spending the rest of his life in a Pennsylvania penitentiary.

The founder of Good Friday has a much different resume. His actions revealed His heart. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

It’s nice, I suppose, to set aside a day to clean up our mother; but the day to really celebrate was when the Father sent the Son. That is when the real cleaning took place. And even mother earth knows which was greater; she groans for the day the One Who cleaned us will return (Romans 8:22).