I don’t look at every war, earthquake, election, or new technology and connect the dots to the end times.
If it’s the end, it’s the end.
Which is probably why I struggle with passages like 2 Thessalonians 2. There’s a “lawless one,” Satan, deception, signs and wonders, all the stuff that can send some of us to the Mystery Machine to start looking for clues.
But there is one part of the imagery I love. Paul says Jesus will destroy the lawless one “with the breath of his mouth.”
Isaiah 11 tells of a promised ruler who beats wickedness with the breath of his lips. In 2 Thessalonians, after a whole buildup of the rebellion to come, Jesus breathes.
Evil tries to put on a show. Jesus barely has to exhale.
Then there's the part that really steers me away from worrying about end times. The writer describes people who perish because they “refused to love the truth.”
Not people who refused to know the truth.
Knowing the truth means I can tell you what I believe. Loving the truth means I want what is true even when it challenges what I believe.
For a people so sure of ourselves, that's a tough pill.
There's even a warning in this passage about deceptive “signs and wonders.” Which makes me wonder if we've spent too much time trying to become sign readers when God is calling us to become truth lovers.
Yes, you can be both. But people seem more interested in predictions. We like connecting dots. We like being the ones who saw it coming. We like being right.
There's a sign for you!
Loving truth requires the humility to say, Maybe I was wrong. Loving truth means I don't have to defend every opinion I've ever had or force every new thing I learn to fit inside something I've already decided. Maybe that's one way we know we're learning to love truth. Are you more interested in being changed by truth or being proven right by it?
Stay blessed...john
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