Will something catastrophic happen? Most definitely. Will it happen in our lifetime? I have no idea. Should we prepare for it? I don't know how we can.
Some of these people are Christians. What is the Christian stance on all of this? How can a person go to church and talk about "Hope in Christ," and then go home and prepare for "Doom and Gloom?"
The connection is not hard to see. It was made after World War II in a term called "Christian Realism"
Christian Realism is a philosophical perspective developed by the theologian and public intellectual Reinhold Niebuhr in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Niebuhr argued that the Kingdom of God cannot be realized on earth because of the innately corrupt tendencies of society. Due to the injustices that arise on earth, a person is therefore forced to compromise the ideal of the kingdom of heaven on earth. Niebuhr argued that human perfectibility was an illusion, highlighting the sinfulness of humanity at a time when the world was confronted by the horrors of experiences such World War ll, the reigns of both Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, and the Holocaust. (This Definition is Directly Copied from This Wikipedia Article on Christian Realism)
By all visible intents and purposes, Christian Realism, appears to be the way that Christians should live. We live in a sinful world. There are evil people. Society is corrupt. Because of these "realities" (as defined by Reinhold Niebuhr), living exactly the way that God intends for us to live is impossible. We can live as closely to God's virtues as possible, but we must make concessions because of the sins of others...Or so the argument goes.
It is my argument, however, that if we buy into "Christian Realism," we deny the reality of the Gospel. If we live as people who live according to "Christian Realism," we are in essence saying that the Gospel is a "dream," or a "mere good idea," or an "unattainable utopia." "Christian Realism" and The Gospel hold two distinct manners of living for Christians in the world. Each defines how Christians engage the world. "Christian Realism" says that we should engage the world on the world's terms, but doing so in "as Christian of a manner as possible." The Gospel says that we should engage the world on Christ's terms.
First of all, let me be clear that Reinhold Niebuhr developed this Theology at the time when media could, for the first time, give great attention to the mass genocide of the Holocaust and the tragedies of World War II and the crimes of Hitler and Stalin. Niebuhr was not a bad person. In fact, Niebuhr contributed greatly to the Kingdom of God in his ministry. Niebuhr, to the best of my knowledge, was a faithful Christian and follower of Christ. My argument is not with him as a person, but with this one particular philosophy or theology.
It is true, we do live in a corrupt world filled with evil people. That is undeniable. We just have to turn on the news to see that for a fact. The Gospel is not a "fairy tale" that we look to in order to say that none of this is real and that we just have to wait to "get to heaven" for it all to get better. The Gospel IS about Heaven, but the Gospel is a message for the HERE and NOW as well. In Academic Theology, we often call this the "Already and the Not Yet" that has been been revealed and realized in Christ.
Christ has "Already" come to set up his reign and his Kingdom on earth. This was accomplished through his birth, life, teaching, death, resurrection, and ascension. He reigns as King "Already." But his reign is "Not Yet" fully realized. The entire earth does not yet fully accept or know Christ. Christ has "Not Yet" returned to reign in glory.
But the question comes - How do we reconcile Christ with the reality of evil in the world. It is true that there is war, murder, rape, abuse, fear, robbery, abuse, and the list goes on. Christian Realism says that we must deal with these powers on their terms. The Gospel says that we should deal with them on Christ's terms. Using logic, both can be true, neither can be true, one can be true, one can be more true than the other, or a different method of engaging the sinful powers must be true.
I entirely argue that the Gospel is the way that we are to engage the powers of sin and evil, and that "Christian Realism" is but a "cop-out" for those who need to grow the virtues of patience and faith. For those who use "Christian Realism" as their standard of engaging the powers of evil, they are saying, "I believe that Christ is Lord, but not entirely, so I have to finish the job myself." In essence, that makes the practitioner a "little Christ."
The Gospel, on the other hand, says, "Christ is Lord." There is no more to that statement. If the Gospel is true, then it is true. If we believe what we say we believe, then we don't save the world by the powers of the gun, the power of the fist or any power of violence. In fact, WE don't save the world at all. Christ saves the world. Our job is to spread Christ's message. That message cannot be spread by violence. The Prince of Peace cannot be taught by the power of the gun.So, what do we do with evil? Obviously, we don't ignore it. Christ never told us to stand idly by and let evil dominate. For some reason, those who believe "Christian Realism" is the way to engage the world, often believe that those who don't share their belief live in a fantasy world. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those who use The Gospel to engage the world live anything but a fantasy lifestyle. They take up their cross daily. Crosses are not pleasant - they are torture devices. Followers of the Gospel feel the pain of those who suffer, even if those people are on the other side of the world and they do not have any personal contact with them.
Christ told us to engage the powers. Christ engaged the powers. The "catch" is that Christ engaged them on his terms, not theirs.
Over the centuries, brutal regimes have risen and done mass damage. Niebuhr used Hitler as one of his reasons for developing "Christian Realism." I will use Hitler as well since most people are familiar with this example. Hitler rose to power because he was allowed to rise to power. Hitler did not meet opposition. Hitler stayed in power because he was allowed to stay in power. It would not have taken violence to remove him from power; it would have taken civil disobedience. The problem was that there was a lack of conviction and courage. Would people have died in disobeying and opposing Hitler? Absolutely! But, those who believe the Gospel know that death is not the end. Martyrdom is not a goal, but sometimes it happens.
As Hitler was rising to power, no one said, "No!" No unified groups in Germany stood their ground and said that his doctrines of "racial purity" were evil. Yes, there were small resisters here and there, but fear overtook the majority of the population, so they jumped aboard Hitler's bandwagon. Had people not allowed fear to overtake them and they unified by saying, "No," as Hitler was rising, Hitler never would have made it to power. Yes, violence would have been used against them, but if the Gospel is true, we don't need to fear the power of the sword. This hypothetical first resistance could have saved millions of lives.
Today we face many challenges. Genocides, financial meltdowns, massacres, murders, rapes, wars, crime, robberies, and the list goes on. "Christian Realism" tells us that we must engage these problems as they are. "Christian Realism" essentially denies that Christ is engaged already in these issues. "Christian Realism" says that Christ is the ultimate savior, but we are to be the "mini-Christs." That borders on Heresy. The Gospel also realizes that these are serious issues. But, the Gospel says that we must engage these issues on Christ's terms. We can't let fear rule. We can't let "what if" games run our lives. We need to confront these problems head on, but with the power given to us by Christ. We need to understand that confronting them will not be convenient. But we don't need convenient. We don't need better or more efficient weapons or systems. We have the best weapon and system, and that is Christ. We just have to remember that we must confront these powers on Christ's terms - not on their terms.
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