On one hand... as I told the students last night at Awake... I would have been okay with being wrong about Jesus' return. It would have been great to have worshiped on Sunday around the heavenly throne.
But on the other hand, we still have work to do here.
So...
I guess I find myself asking what we've learned here:
First, God's Word and his Truth supersedes math problems. Mr. Camping thought that he could figure out what Jesus couldn't figure out using some complex mathematical equations. Unfortunately, God's Word spells out pretty plainly that we can't and won't know the hour or the day (Matthew 24). It would have been better if Camping (& crew) would have used the millions and millions of dollars that they used to plaster billboards and bus sides to spread the Good News of Jesus rather than fear of the end. Jesus promised that he will return and I believe with all my heart that he will. Unfortunately for us, we can't put it on our schedules. It will be a surprise. Which won't be all bad.
Second, while Mr. Camping circulated a great deal of false theology and prophecy, he also opened the door for interesting conversations with total strangers about spiritual things (I had a couple of phone calls... a random conversation with someone at the Chinese buffet and a couple of folks at Starbucks about this topic... totally out of the blue). If you notice the graphic connected to this post, 140 folks hit my blog on Friday. While that may not sound like a lot compared to some of my more noteworthy blogging friends, that's quite a bit for my blog. Additionally, those that hit my blog got a big, full, heavy dose of the Gospel and God's Word. Many of you who visited here on Friday, visited from around the world (North, Central and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia... see the little blue stars for locations of where folks visited from). So God's Word and his Truth went around the world on Friday and Saturday.
Finally, there is still work to be done here. Jesus told us in Matthew 24: "14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." (Matthew 24:14) On one hand, Mr. Camping may have hurt the image of the church... many think we're all crazy like he is. But on another hand, he opened the door for conversations. Many of those conversations may actually hasten the end.
We have work to do here. There are still folks here who need to hear God's Truth. They need to hear about the love and forgiveness that only Jesus can provide. Jesus is the only one who has defeated death, sin and separation from God. That is a message worthy of a few billboards and buses.
Jim
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