Church is Messy

Trying to figure out exactly when Jesus will return can be fascinating—but it can also distract us from the kind of people Jesus is calling us to become right now.

In this episode of Church Is Messy, Rick and Svea continue the conversation from Autumn Ridge’s series on the end times. They reflect on church cultures that emphasized decoding prophecy, predicting the rapture, and connecting current events to biblical timelines—and contrast that approach with a simpler question: What does it look like to live faithfully if we really believe Jesus is coming back?

Rick and Svea discuss why people are drawn to certainty and secret knowledge, the recurring biblical pattern of self-rule, power, and control, and the danger of combining faith with pursuits of military, economic, cultural, national, or ethnic dominance.

Instead, followers of Jesus are called to a very different way of life: motivated by the love of Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and lived out within the local church.

They also explore how Christian community helps us face fear, suffering, and uncertainty. When life becomes difficult—or even when our worst-case scenario happens—we need people who can remind us what is true, encourage us, and sometimes even “loan” us their courage and faith.

Ultimately, the church most prepared for Jesus’ return isn’t the church that has the timeline figured out. It’s the church that looks most like Jesus before he returns.