Thrill Ride Operator or King?

A roller coaster is a thrilling experience. The excitement as you approach the ride. The urgency with which you fasten yourself into your seat. The anticipation of the voice coming over the speaker after the last person has been secured, "All clear? Dispatch!" Then off you go for a heart surging, blood pumping, adrenaline filled ride.

Over the years I've heard a particular prediction made by pastors in many different churches. It usually goes something like this:

"Jesus will return to rapture His church once all of His elect are saved. So somewhere out there is that last person who is going to become a Christian, and once they put their faith in Christ, hold on! because we're outta here in the blink of an eye."

You're on the ride. You're fastened into your seat and you're waiting with anticipation for that last person to get on and strap in. You think to yourself, "As soon as they're secure, we're outta here!"

Have you heard this before? If so, have you ever really thought about it? 

Is God really like that roller coaster dispatcher who's just waiting for that last person to get on and strap in so He can say "Dispatch!" and send His Son to rapture the church?

If you're not sure, think about this. Does the Bible say now that you are a follower of Christ God is done with you and you should just wait to be taken to heaven? Or does it say that you were saved 'unto good works', that you are to be an ambassador of His in the world, and that His plan is to transform you into the image of His Son?

Was the purpose of Christ building His church simply to rescue a group of people out of the world, or was the purpose to set a city on a hill?

Is there a 'last person' out there somewhere who will complete the bride of Christ? Sure. But should we think that God has no other plan for that individual beyond the act of putting their trust in Christ?

"That seems to have been the case with the thief on the cross," you might say. "He put his faith in Christ and that was it. He wasn't even baptized." True. And his witness continues today as a testimony to God's saving grace. But is that the norm, or the exception?

It seems to me as I read and reflect on the Bible, and as I continue as part of the church, that Christ established His church to be His ambassadors in this world (corporately and individually as members), and also to grow in our knowledge of God by using the gifts He has given us to edify each other. By these He is glorified. 

God is not like a roller coaster dispatcher. Instead, He is a King who has established a delegation, a group of ambassadors who have been given the authority and responsibility of carrying out the work of His kingdom.

The church will remain in the world until God's purposes for it are complete, and I believe those purposes will include the life, testimony, and actions of that 'last person' beyond their initial act of trusting Christ.