Church Life and Eschatology

It is interesting to ponder the connection between eschatology and church life.

For instance, it is sometimes alleged that standard amillennialists and premillennialists might not be so interested in cultural influence or "Christianization," simply because they don't expect it to happen this side of the Second Coming.  This would supposedly mean that "premills" and "amills" spend most of their time on evangelism, personal spirituality, inward fellowship and separation from the world.

Likewise, all kinds of postmillennialism may be alleged by their opponents to be so interested in the conquest of all the spheres of sovereignty in life that ministry focus is mainly oriented to cultural and personal achievement, and to reputation in the world, to the detriment or redefinition of evangelism, personal holiness, internal Christian fellowship, and "separation" from the world.

Regardless of the ambiguity in these facile characterizations, it remains clear, especially to someone like me who has experienced church life according to all three main eschatologies, that the eschatological persuasion that reigns in the church does make a difference in the nature of church life.  Part of our theological mandate, then, is to ponder this connection, with a view toward the well-being of the church.

Perhaps one way to seek out the correlation is to consider known deficiencies in church life, and then to ask whether the reigning eschatology or world-view may be may be contributory to these deficiencies.  This may not mean that the reigning eschatological persuasion is wrong, but it may mean that its understanding or application needs correction.

Continued:
http://christocentry.blogspot.com/2010/04/preterism-and-theology-of-glory.html