21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. ² And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

³ I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. ⁴ He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

Revelation 21:1-4

Dear God, I just doublechecked this to see, but I rarely do any prayer journals on Revelation. Here’s my confession that you already know: I don’t care. And I realize I could be wrong to feel this way. There are several things regarding parts of modern Christendom that I don’t care about. I don’t care about going to modern Israel and the Holy Land. I don’t have an interest in watching The Chosen. And I don’t care about end-times prophecies. Jesus told us several times to not worry about tomorrow, but keep our focus on today. And I believe it. I mean, I’m glad to know that there will be a time when you will come and live among us. There is great hope in this passage. I’m very glad to know it. But I feel zero need to understand it and completely comprehend what it will mean or when it will happen.

I was talking yesterday morning with a friend, and he mentioned that his pastor is doing a series on Revelation. From the sound of it, his pastor and I would disagree about how it will play out. He believes in a pre-tribulation rapture while I don’t. But here’s the secret (in my opinion): It doesn’t matter! I can be completely wrong and he can be 100% right (which I don’t believe any of us are 100% right), but it won’t change the outcome. When I die, it’s all going to play out the way it’s going to play out. Jesus was pretty clear that there will be a sorting, but the cut-line is a little vague. Well, that’s yours to answer, not mine. He said that there will be people who think they are one side of the cut-line or the other, only to be surprised to find themselves on the other side of it. I hope that’s not me. I hope I’m on your side of that line.

I think one thing that has helped me to turn loose of needing to be right is the fact that I’ve attended Catholic Church with my wife for the last 13 years. There are many things about Catholic doctrine with which I disagree. But I’ve realized over that time how little it matters because the Catholics I know there, for the most part love you as much as any group of Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and non-denominational Christians I’ve known. Should a priest have to be male and celibate? Should I have to confess my sins to a priest for absolution? Does the bread and wine actually transubstantiate into the body and blood? I don’t think so, but what do I know? At the end of the day, they believe in Jesus’s fully human, fully divine life; death; and resurrection, and the fact that it reconciled us to you. Everything else is opinion that I’m comfortable living with them in disagreement.

Father, I just don’t have to be right about things like I used to be. And that’s good because I’m probably wrong about an awful lot. I can find example after example in the New Testament of people who were wrong but thought they were right. The apostles in Acts 11 when they were mad at Peter for baptizing Cornelius. Paul and Barnabas in Acts when they fought over John Mark’s inclusion on their journey. The Jewish leaders when they persecuted Jesus and the apostles. James and John when they wanted to call down fire on the Samaritans. So please forgive me of my foolishness and hubris. Also forgive me for holding others to a standard that none of us can reach. I know there is a new church starting in our community tomorrow solely because it is splitting from a mainline denomination that started to allow LGTBQ+ people to be ordained. In this situation, both sides feel strongly about what it means to be Christlike. At least one side is wrong (perhaps both are). So I pray your blessing over the original church, that they will follow you and bring your kingdom into this earth and let your will be done here as it is in heaven. And I pray for this new church, that you will use this to be a blessing to this community, regardless of the reasons they started it. Use the pain. Don’t let it be wasted.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen