Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; so we will be with the Lord forever.
–I Thess. 4:17

"Are United Methodists pre-trib, mid-trib or post-trib and are they pre- or post-millennialists?” asked a woman in my new members class several years ago. The other people in the class stared quizzically at the speaker as though she were speaking a rare dialect of Cantonese.

I responded, "United Methodists are not dispensational millennialists.
While we affirm the second coming of Christ with all other Christian communions, officially we don’t believe in the rapture. I say ‘officially,’ as a way of referring to our stated theological stance and acknowledging the diversity of belief you’ll find among individual members."

The woman, who had been raised in the Seventh Day Adventist Church, seemed a little surprised but overall satisfied with my answer. The other people were now staring at me quizzically, amazed that I, too, could speak this rare dialect. Though it had been awhile since I left the Christian tradition of my childhood which held a dispensationalist view of scripture and God’s relationship with creation (Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth was our second Bible), I could still speak the language!

If you have no idea what I mean by "dispensationalist," and "millennialism," don’t worry; you are not alone. Dispensationalist premillennialsm is a rather recent development and a rare theological view in the larger Christian community. It has been popularized in the Left Behind series written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. The novels are fiction, of course, but present a scheme of future events that the authors believe to be biblically based.

In the late 1990’s, after I heard some church members say that they were enjoying the books, I tried reading the first book and only got through the first few chapters. I found the book unappealing so I gave up and didn’t think much more about it.

However, the Left Behind series struck a chord with the American public way beyond a Christian audience. The publishers printed 150,000 to 200,000 copies of the early books in the first run. By the time the eighth novel was published, the initial run was 2.5 million copies, most of which were pre-sold eight weeks before the volume’s release. The seventh book, The Indwelling, was the number one seller on four major best-seller lists in fiction. In 2001, the tenth volume, Desecration, was the best selling fiction title in the United States, unseating John Grisham for the first time since 1995. What’s most remarkable about these sales achievements is that these sales numbers do not include Christian bookstores!

I read an essay Bruce David Forbes on the series who categorized three Christian responses to the series. First there is the group of devoted fans. Second, there is the group of conservative Christians who read the books but disagree about the apocalyptic details. And third, there is striking silence
from the mainline Christian community (which would include United Methodists).

I’ve also read that because of the popularity of Tim LaHaye’s series, his view of the end times is becoming the dominant view of the Christian community in our country. So, I’ve decided to end my silence on the topic. Beginning on March 30, we will spend five weeks in worship focusing on
Revelation, Rapture and the End Times. We will cover topics such as:

• What is the rapture? Where do we find it in the Bible?
• How is the Rapture different from the Second Coming of Christ?
• What does the Bible Say about the end times?
• What happens when we die?
• How do we interpret the book of Revelation?
• What will heaven be like?

Bring a pen and be prepared to take notes. I’ll also provide a resource list for further reading for the scholars in the pews.

Walking with you as we follow Jesus,

Debra