Announcing the Coming King - Majesty Project's Message to a Lukewarm Culture

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8mXMQFQsQ8

Several days ago, I listened to a fascinating conversation between Texas pastor Josh Howerton and eschatology expert John Bevere. I have attached it here and recommend a listen, not because I can assign absolute truth to any particular ‘eschatological view’ of the last days, nor because I ascribe to any particular ‘timeline of events,’ but because of something that he said that made me stop and think:

Eschatology, when taught well, should spur us on to an ‘eager anticipation.’

This kind of breathless excitement is spoken of often in the New Testament. Christians ought to be eagerly awaiting the second coming of Christ, whether that is tomorrow, in our lifetime, or a thousand years from now.

Since listening to the discussion, I have been evaluating whether my lifestyle would change if I lived in this kind of eager anticipation. I have concluded that it would. And in that light, I believe I must strive to “run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

I believe, in many ways, Majesty Project is called to help announce the ‘coming of the King.’ And in the back of my mind, I believed that it would be a well-received message.

I am beginning to understand that I was wrong.

“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.’ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.” Matthew 2:1-3

This verse is interesting for one particular reason: it says that ‘all Jerusalem’ was troubled about the news of the coming Christ. But why? Weren't the Jews slaving away beneath Herod's reign? Wasn’t Jerusalem awaiting a Jewish King? Shouldn’t there have been an ‘eager anticipation’ when He was announced?

Why were they troubled?

Because when a King is coming, everything is going to change.

The Jews in the days of Christ’s birth had grown accustomed to the status quo. Just like the Israelites after they were delivered from Egypt, they were so used to their slavery that they were terrified of change. This led the first-century Jews to one of the most dangerous traps we can encounter: apathy. In Revelation, God tells the church of Laodicea that they grew ‘lukewarm.’ Because of this, He was going to spit them out – a polite interpretation of intense vomiting. He goes so far as to say that He would rather they be either hot or cold; either love Him or hate Him.

Jerusalem was lukewarm when Christ came the first time. I would be so bold as to claim that in many regards, the church is lukewarm once again.

Another example to look to when announcing the coming of the King is John the Baptist. In Matthew 3, it tells us that John was declaring the coming of Christ, and ‘all Jerusalem’ was coming out to be baptized by him. Remember, this is only thirty years after ‘all Jerusalem’ was troubled at the birth of the very man John proclaimed.

Why the discrepancy? Obviously, the Jews must have been seeking a Messiah of some fashion, if they were listening to John. But they didn’t believe it to be Jesus. Why?

Apathy leads to missed signs.

I have always loved C.S. Lewis’s book, The Silver Chair. In it, Eustace and Jill are sent on a quest to find a missing prince, and Aslan, the God-figure, gives them a list of signs to watch for; signs that would tell them they were in the right place at the right time. But due to apathy – sometimes their own faults, sometimes intended distractions or traps sent by the villain – they continually missed the signs.

This is a masterful allegory regarding the coming of Christ, both the first time as the Son of Man and the second time as the Risen Lord. The Bible has given us a series of signs; not so that we could bicker about them, or try to discern the day or the hour, but so we could recognize the approach of the second coming. Even the early church, in the first centuries after Christ’s resurrection, were ‘eagerly awaiting.’ Many of them were eagerly awaiting even to their gruesome deaths as martyrs. Now, two thousand years later, have we grown apathetic? Are we lukewarm? Are we asleep, here at the very end of the race?

God forbid.

When Majesty Project began, I naively expected a mostly welcoming world: a culture open to change, to beauty, to the power and magnificence of God. Open to the 'eager anticipation.' Some resistance was inevitable, of course, but overall, positive. How could they not embrace that, right?

But that is not the response I see in the pages of history.

And now I am wrestling with a question that must be answered by all of us: will I announce the coming King anyway? When both the secular culture and the religious powers despise the message, will I speak anyway? Am I willing to sacrifice my life – both figuratively and, if it were asked of me, literally – in pursuit of spreading the good news?

One thing we do know about the Day of the Lord: it will come as a thief in the night (1 Thes 5:2), and on that day, we had best know where we stand. I pray God gives us the conviction to stand right here, as “A voice of one calling: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Isaiah 40:3