So Much Controversy, So Little Time

The Rapture of the church is generating so much controversy in the American church these days. It’s a topic mentioned in Revelation, the last book of the Bible, and if you follow Christian social media pages and scroll through the comments, it’s a topic that’s hotly debated and leading to some un-Christian behavior.

We’ll get to the controversy in a bit, but first, what is the Rapture? Gotquestion.org says the rapture of the church is an event in which God “snatches away” all believers to make way for his righteous judgment to be poured out on the Earth.

The Rapture is primarily described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-54. God will resurrect all believers who have died, give them glorified (perfect) bodies, and take them from the Earth, along with living believers who will also be given glorified bodies then. “For the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so be with Him forever.

The Rapture will involve the instant transformation of our bodies to fit us for eternity. “We know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” (1 John 3:2)

To clarify, we aren’t in different bodies. It’s your body without the aches, pains, sickness, and death that come with the current one. Remember, when Jesus appeared to the disciples in the upper room? They still recognized Him as Jesus. You’ll still be you, but your body is glorified, eternal, and perfect, just like Jesus's body.

The word “rapture” doesn’t occur in English translations of the Bible. Now, before you assume that means it doesn’t appear anywhere and couldn’t possibly be a Biblical concept, I said it doesn’t appear in the “English” translations.

Don't know for sure but the signs are adding up, aren't they?

(Quick aside: The words “Bible” and “Trinity” don’t appear in the Bible either.)

“Harpazo” is a word in the Greek translation that means “to seize upon, spoil, snatch away, or take oneself.” It’s translated as “caught up” or caught away” and appears no less than five times in the Bible in relation to the Rapture.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:17, the verb form “harpagesometha” is used, which means “we shall be caught up or taken away.”

The word “rapture” comes from the Latin word rapere, meaning “rapid,” and rapiemur, meaning “we shall be caught up.”

I share those words to show you that the rapture is in the Bible and has been since the original texts were written thousands of years ago. If it was true then, it’s still true today.

What makes this concept so controversial, especially given everything the Bible has been right about so far?

The argument over when the Rapture occurs is raging in Christian circles, and I do mean raging. Will it be before the Tribulation (pre-tribulation), in the middle of the seven-year Tribulation (mid-Tribulation), or after the tribulation (post-tribulation)?

The Tribulation is a time when God pours out His wrath upon sinful men and women and will be a time of devastation the likes of which the world has never seen. God’s wrath is not something you want to be here for.

I get the arguments for pre-, mid-, and post-tribulation discussions. I guess I would be quite surprised if Christians have to go through the Tribulation because Jesus rescued us from wrath. The Bible says the church is not appointed to wrath (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 and 5:9). But that’s where I stand, and you don’t have to agree. Here’s where my frustration really lies.

The never-ending argument over which interpretation is right is the wrong way to go about this. Why can’t we discuss this like adult Christian men and women? When did being right become more important than the church’s mission, which is to make new disciples?

In Second Timothy 2:14, Paul tells Timothy to “remind them of these things, charging them before God not to fight about words: this is in no way profitable and leads to the ruin of the hearers.”

Would new disciples look at this debate and think to themselves that Jesus has changed our lives? Not likely. We can do better. We have to do better. Arguing, name-calling, and swearing at each other do not live up to either of those commandments. And make no mistake, I’m just as guilty as everyone else.

How about we live out Mark 12:29-31? “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” These are words from Jesus Himself.

How about Isaiah 26:3? “You will keep him (or her) in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You because he trusts in You.” Let’s quit sweating the small stuff and concentrate on what’s important.

Look up. “Focus your mind on things above, not on things of this Earth. When the Messiah, who is your life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with Him in glory.” (Colossians 3:2).

That sounds good to me! I’m getting excited the Rapture and to be taken up to Heaven, and I’m working on being ready myself and helping others to be ready too. Let’s make that our new assignment. Blessings!

I Corinthians 15:52 (NKJV)

“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”