theology matters

I was reading Brant’s blog the other day & he linked to this article in the current issue of First Things about the liberal fear of right-wing, religious conservatives trying to turn the US into a theocracy. In the midst of the article I found these quotes about the practical impact of premillenial dispensationalism that got me thinking.

• Balmer informs his readers that "the belief in dispensational premillennialism" explains the lousy church architecture of the last fifty years: "Why invest your resources in building or ornamentation when Jesus will return at any time?"
• "Why care about the earth when the droughts, floods, famine, and pestilence brought by ecological collapse are signs of the apocalypse foretold in the Bible? Why care about global climate change when you and yours will be rescued in the Rapture?"

I think there is more than a grain of truth to these ideas. Our theology, especially our eschatology, has a profound impact on how we live & act in this world. Buying into premillenialism with it’s escapist emphasis on the Rapture will naturally lead one down a path of apathy and fatalism towards the current events in the world and issues of significant global concern. It offers up a false hope and discredits the important role of suffering in the spiritual life.