Panmillenialists: Pretending to not Understand

“The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly.” 

    ― Søren Kierkegaard, from Provocations

This passage from Kierkegaard caused me to specifically think of those folks who want to remain "neutral" on the Word's position of the future, and think a shrug of the shoulders is a solid act of faith (or the, oh! so funny! "panmillenialists"...).   These Christians often take a flippant approach to the culmination of all things failing to see that they actually have taken a position ("neutral" or aka "lukewarm"), and that their understanding of eschatology colors and directs how they live out their lives for Jesus NOW.  Or, put another way: Ideas have consequences both presently and eternally.

Here below is a thoughtful answer by Sam Storms to this type of thinking.  (Please note that I do not agree with his this man's view of the culmination of all things -- he has an amillennial eschatology -- but I do agree with this answer of his below.)

Question: Why is our eschatology important? Can't we just be "panmillenialists"—you know, those who believe everything will pan out in the end?”

Answer:  I’m tempted to say, "Yes" we can all just be “panmillennialists”, on the assumption that we all affirm the reality of the personal and physical return of Jesus Christ to consummate his kingdom on earth. Far too much time and energy are spent hashing out minute and ultimately unimportant details regarding events surrounding the second coming of Christ when our hearts should unite in the expectation of his return.

       However, eschatology is about more than the end of history and the appearance of Jesus. It’s also about fundamental principles of interpreting Scripture, the nature and aim of our Lord’s first coming, the kingdom of God now and not yet, as well as the identity of God’s covenant people and how we should be living and with what expectations as we await our Lord’s return. Failing to grasp what Scripture says on this and other related topics has led many in church history into either fanaticism or fatalism. They become either aggressive activists who frighten Christians with end-time scenarios that have no basis in the biblical text or passive nay-sayers who miss out on the life-changing and sanctifying influence of genuine hope.

     I should also mention that eschatology is so deeply and inextricably interwoven into all of Scripture that it is virtually impossible to trace the storyline of God’s redemptive purposes without understanding something of its meaning and direction. Eschatology enables us to see the unified purpose of God in summing up all things in Christ. There is something profoundly edifying and spiritually exhilarating in tracing God’s work from Genesis to Revelation and seeing how the various pieces, people, events, and books of the Bible tie together. And that’s a tall order in the absence of a basic understanding of eschatology."  

From an Interview with Sam Storms on his book Kingdom Come