For those who don't know, Camping has been saying the world would end on May 21, 2011 for a good while now, and just recently it's been given a lot of attention by the media and Christian circles. He has been given much attention and he claimed that only those who believed in his own message of salvation would be raptured up into Heaven with him and his followers (rather than faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone). He uses familiar words that we use in church and twists them into his own meanings. Many people have sold all their possessions and paid their bills up to this date in expectation of the End of Days. Of course now these people are left with little options notwithstanding suicide or some other unfortunate fate.
Why did Mr. Camping's predictions fall flat? The answer can be found in Matthew 24:36:
Matthew 24:36 (NASB)
But of that day [concerning the Day of Judgment] and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
Camping claimed to have knowledge that only the Father had access to, and this made him out to be a false teacher and a liar. He is sure to reap what he has sown today and will get what he deserves from the Almighty, no doubt, but what's more concerning is that this man has received so much attention and gathered so many followers. Why have so many people placed themselves at the feet of Mr. Camping and his teachings? One significant reason is the lack of discipline within the Church. Ever since the baby boomer generation's lack of care for the Faith has increased and passed on to their children, more and more people grow up ignorant of what they profess to believe, and the numbers of ignorant Christians grow every day. The Church should take note of this and respond to the dwindling faith of society by informing their congregations of the importance of faith and giving people reason to believe instead of preaching an empty message of spiritual security without substance.
I pray (and I hope you'll join me) that the Church can get its act together and speak out against these heretical false teachings directed to the populace by using evidence from Scripture to substantiate their assertions, which includes every one of us, not just pastors and missionaries. If you witness somebody spreading lies about the Gospel, confront them and show from Scripture how they're wrong. But even more importantly, do not confront anyone on their antichrist positions if you do not have sufficient knowledge on a topic you're going to argue, or you will simply make the Church look bad. Take the time to study social issues and the Bible's position on them, and believe in what the Scriptures say in whole. If you cherry-pick what you believe, you set yourself on a path of excuses and give yourself a weak foundation to stand on, leaving you vulnerable to false teachings and heresies not unlike the ones promulgated by Harold Camping. Read your Bible every day, book by book instead of verses out of a bedside calendar, and show God some respect by learning what He wills us to do.
