Eschatology on Mission

Pre-Trib/Pre-Mill: The church will be raptured at any time. There will follow the Great Tribulation, which will be ended by the Second Coming of Christ and the beginning of his Millennial reign. At the end of the Millennium Satan will be released on the Earth again for a short time, but crushed, and then everyone goes to Heaven. People generally split over what to do in light of imminent rapture. Most think you should live good lives and keep to your faith–a sort of a bunker mentality–because you could be raptured at any moment. All sorts of conspiracy theories arise which consume time and energy. Others, who are generally mission-minded to begin with, think that the Rapture will not occur until after world evangelization is complete (Matthew 24, a modified version of #2 below). Again, in my experience, most people who have a Rapture viewpoint believe the world will be evangelized by the 144,000 mentioned in Revelation.

Post-Trib/Pre-Mill: No rapture. The world is evangelized, then comes the rise of the Antichrist and the Great Tribulation, followed by the Second Coming and the Millennial Reign. Generally this viewpoint is identical to #1 with the exception that we don’t have a Rapture. (This hinges on your interpretation of the Scriptures having to do with the Second Coming.) In my experience, people who hold this viewpiont tend to be more interested in missions than those in Pre-Trib. They generally hold a somewhat more literal/apocalyptic view of Matthew 24, interpreting it to mean that the “end” (of the world) will not come until “the Gospel is preached in all the world.” Some people in this viewpoint think “The White Horse” is world evangelization, not the Antichrist. In other words, first there is world evangelization, then the other horsemen (wars, plague, economic disaster), and that gives rise to the Antichrist.

Post-Trib/Pre-Mill, but the Tribulation and the Antichrist rises before world evangelization is complete. This is a rare viewpoint, in my experience. World evangelization is completed through the work of Christians on the planet, the 144,000, and the angels. People who hold this view generally, in my experience, aren’t so interested in missions.

Post-Trib/Post-Mill: A triumphalist view where the Church is successively more “triumphant” in mission, contesting any “Anti-Christ” that arises, and the Millennial Reign is the period of time where all the world is evangelized, Christianized, and under the reign of Christ. At the end of this period Christ returns. This is a slightly more common opinion than 2b. I find that quite a few people in mainline denominations who are mission-minded hold this view. Usually they think that the AntiChrist was Nero or some other similar Caesar, that the church will in the end triumph over the forces of evil, and that we must be in mission because that’s the only way to accomplish it.

Post-Trib/Post-Mill/No Return: This is a very rare view, usually held by people who are somewhat in the New Age camp (e.g. playing with it). They generally think Christ has already returned in the form of the Holy Spirit, that Revelation was about the persecution under the Romans, and that eventually we will spread throughout the galaxy, all the suns will blow up, we’ll all die and go to heaven. I’ve run into exactly one guy who believed this.