By Eric Stogner – January 2024

Enough gloom and doom!

Are you often left wondering why a small handful of church people are always talking about gloom and doom topics? These folks seem stuck in the book of Revelation, or they find passages elsewhere in scripture that just cause alarm. They never tire of banging on and on about signs of the end times. Why can’t they see that most people don’t really want to be turned-off by that kind of scary talk? Can’t we just focus on the love and kindness of God, and push to the side all that other stuff? That would be a lot more seeker-friendly and encourage people to read the bible or go to church, as opposed to all that prophesy talk. Why dump more concerns on people who are already pretty stressed-out these days?

That IS how a lot of people feel – wouldn’t you agree? This includes many within the church, where there is little appetite for eschatology (the study of end times) perhaps because that might disturb the collective slumber in the pews. In the secular world, there is a term for these folks – conspiracy theorists. That phrase was designed to cast doubt on whoever it is referring to, and to also get people to ignore what they are saying. Within the church these people are sometimes called gloom and doom-ers, and the effect is much the same. It shuts down people’s minds to what they are saying. The question on the table remains, ‘Why should believers worry about eschatology? Doesn’t scripture say that ‘no man knows about that day or hour’?

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