For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17)

Some Christians drop straight off the deep end when prophetic subjects come up. They almost “go nuts” over the subject. When that happens, they seem to lose their practical equilibrium. Such fanatical intensity invariably drives others away as these well-meaning folks overreact to the teaching of prophecy.

Some of the telltale signs? They begin to read prophecy into most newspaper articles, current events, and certainly each major disaster or calamity. They are often surprised that you don’t see it as clearly as they do. What’s worse, their neurotic intensity creates within them a lack of interest in the here and now. Nothing—absolutely nothing—is more important to them than the then and there. Often, they tend to live rather sheltered and/or irresponsible lives. Some don’t mind increasing their indebtedness. After all, their soon departure from Planet Earth provides the perfect escape from financial responsibility! They don’t worry too much about today’s assignments, either, because they are so caught up in the tomorrow of God’s plan.

The ultimate extremists would be those who set specific dates, then quit their jobs and mooch off others as they wait for the Lord’s return.

Frankly, I call that sort of stuff “prophecy gone to seed.” Too much prophetic intensity gets dangerously close to personal insanity.

No matter how much we may love the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in His Word, we need to remember that there is still a life to be lived and responsibilities to be faced. And to cop out because Christ is coming is not only poor practicality, it’s abominable theology. Never once in Scripture is irresponsibility excused on the basis of one’s confidence in Christ’s return. Anticipation is one thing. Blind fanaticism is quite another.

There’s something about Christ’s soon return that stirs up our urgency and keeps us involved. God planned it that way. Anticipating the Saviour activates our involvement in today’s needs.

Taken from Growing Deep in the Christian Life by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 1986, 1995 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com