In my 47 years as a Christian I have watched Christendom in America spend, what I call a preoccupation, with End Times Theology. During the seventies the book The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey fueled it. Countless crusades were given with end times as the subject. The radio blazed with hours and hours spent unraveling the mysteries of Revelations; Bible studies formed to study the theme; countless sermons spent expounding the topic; some prophecies were made predicting the end. It seemed every Christian in America was focusing on Gog and Magog. This continues today.

  When I look at the last 47 years I ask myself, to what end has this obsession with End Times resulted in. Has God used it as a great tool to bring in the lost? Have the poor, the addicted, the abused, the orphans and widows, the hungry and oppressed benefited from it? Has the esteem of Christ been elevated? Has church attendance swelled because of it? Has Christian giving increased? In every case I would say sadly, but resoundingly, no.

Church growth in America has decreased; Church giving has gone down; converts are fewer; drug addiction has become epidemic; immorality has exploded to near Sodom and Gomorrah levels; and the doomsday doctrine is used to mock Christ and His followers.

The exhortation to feed the poor, comfort the downcast, release the captives, visit the prisoners, make disciples, visit the widows and orphans and care for the stranger has been replaced, in large part, with interpreting the last book of the Bible.

In my opinion this has been, in some small way, part of the reasons for the downfall of the Church of Christ.