Jennifer made a comment that with the drought here and July 4th, she hoped no one’s fireworks set a field on fire, and I had a flashback to my childhood.
When I left Evangelical Christianity 30+ years ago, it was due in part to religious sentiments like those in this song, which cheerily sings, “And rejoice with Him, as the sun grows dim, and He sets this world on fire!”
Too often I’ve heard the book of Revelations used as an excuse for environmental irresponsibility. “God’s going to burn up the world anyway, very soon, and in the meantime He gave us all that oil and coal!”
Pair this with teachings of the “Rapture” (a capitalized term found nowhere in the Bible), and you have a happy tale of prostrate worshippers being carried to Heaven while everyone else is left to suffer the depredations of the Antichrist on earth and then burn in Hell for eternity. I’m of the opinion that the Book of Revelations was tacked onto the end of the New Testament pretty much because the Book of Jude isn’t much of a climax. Every story needs a dramatic ending, right?
In my experience, Evangelical Christianity flips the message of Jesus on its head. He instead spoke little of a hell, and pointed it specifically at those who fail to help the needy. Mostly he spoke of love and not casting the first stone. To my ear, it’s increasingly difficult to tell a difference between hellfire Evangelicals and the ravings of the Taliban.
Anyway, listen to this cheery tune of the apocalypse, and imagine little Lester singing it at twelve years old. It’ll explain why I left as an adult, and why I keep telling Evangelicals, “RTFM.”
I think Evangelicals love the Rapture and the Book of Revelation was written centuries after most of the NT because they can’t handle the fact…Jesus was a Communist!