The rapture isn't what we think.

When most Christians think about heaven, I believe they think about the end of suffering, and very little else. The idea that eternity will be spent worshipping the triune God is beyond what most of can conceive. The simplistic picture of playing harps on clouds is an unfortunate rut that endures without a more compelling thought to replace it. I think that’s one reason most people just don’t think about heaven or eternity much. It makes their heads hurt.

The belief that there will be a pre- or mid-tribulation rapture of believers has weak evidence in my view. I take Jesus’ words in Matt. 24:29-31 at face value: “AFTER the tribulation… he will send out his angels … and they will gather his elect…”

How might this unfold? I believe that the believers will be most focused on forming a welcoming party to receive the conquering king. Rather than focusing on the idea of being raptured out of the tribulation, the believers will be celebrating the arrival (the Advent in Latin, the Parousia in Greek). The rapture is a welcoming party rushing out to meet the physical arrival of a royal person.

It’s unfortunate that so much attention is placed on the escape rather than the welcome. Doesn’t it make sense that joyful anticipation of a long-awaited king would have a crowd rushing out to welcome him to our region or city as he approaches? And then what? He doesn’t take us away and drop us off in heaven on a cloud, he comes back to our hometown with us and stays with us. That childish vision of harps and clouds in heaven seems so wrong, so empty. What does our best friend do with us when he comes to visit? We embrace, we talk, we eat, we walk, we work(!), we plan, we play, we laugh, we sing… we do all these things together!

Non-scientific research conducted by the pastor who baptized me many years ago: He interviewed a dozen or so children between three and six years of age. His single question: “How do you know that a person loves you?” The answers boiled down to a single concept that was expressed several ways: “If they play with me, I know they love me.” We will be playing in heaven, I believe!

One thing I know about life: there must be stress (or challenge); and it must be in balance (or managed). Too much stress is not sustainable and explodes into chaos. Too little stress (challenge) leads to the other form of death—that of coasting to a stop, the loss of all momentum (energy). Heaven is eternal LIFE.

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