Maintaining The 144k Perspective
With regard to the 144K vision (of remaining single for Christ); there is a need to do something to help people who are struggling with it.
The truth is, however, that we do not really need to have more written on the subject, but we do probably need to do more sharing about it with others. The reason for this is because what probably happens when people start to lose the vision is just that the devil has gotten in and clouded our thinking about how simple the vision really is. He makes us think that the 144K vision is something that it is not... that it is, in fact, a bit unreasonable.
Most people with a vision for the 144K army are smart enough and informed enough that if they just sat down themselves and tried to write something on the topic, or if they started to share with others about exactly what the 144K vision is, they would find their vision getting stronger almost automatically.
In other words, it isn't so much a matter of a commitment to the vision that is fading as it is an understanding of the vision that is fading.
One problem is that we can talk about the issues in a simplified way, without thinking things through clearly, sometimes we can be confident about our resolve to stay single without recognising our limitations; but we can also be too cautious about our resolve because we are not recognising how easy it is to maintain the vision.
If we allow ourselves to get into the system mindset, which is that everyone is more or less entitled to a lifetime of sexual activity with one or more sexual partners, then the idea of a lifetime without sexual activity sounds like an almost impossible sacrifice.
On the other hand, the true 144K vision does not eliminate all sexual activity (i.e. it does not eliminate masturbation.) but it does take a very long, hard, cold look at exactly what sexual activity with a partner involves. Obviously, someone who is masturbating could easily think that it would be great to have the real thing. If that was the only concern, then the answer would, of course, be "yes". If you can find a sexual partner, then do so. It's more fun.
But from the Christian perspective, even if we did have the "real thing", it would involve some overwhelming sacrifices and disciplines that do not often enter our heads when we are just thinking about all of the "cuddlies" that we are missing. That is the deceptive power of the cuddlies. That is the real Jezebel spirit.
Maybe there needs to be an article, like this, on the "pricklies" (no pun intended!) or something like that, which reminds us of all the discomforts that come with a married commitment. There is the lack of freedom because you are tied to someone else ("for better or for worse") for the rest of your life. There is the pain that comes when the other person does not live up to your expectations. There is the heartbreak that comes if the other person backslides (in which case you lose your freedom to ever consider marriage again). And, of course, there are the restrictions on your usefulness for God, possibly even meaning disqualification from the Virgin Army (although it is not certain what that means exactly).
Of course, knowing that marriage is not forbidden should actually make it easier to maintain the 144K vision too. (Think how much harder it must be for a divorcee, for whom remarriage IS forbidden!) At least while you remain single, your options stay open. Once you are married, there is no turning back.
It does seem like any sincere Christian, with any understanding of what the Bible (and what Jesus in particular) says about the advisability of remaining single, who then says that they are totally indifferent to whether they stay married or single, or who is actively seeking to get married, must not have really thought the issues through. It's almost like saying that you are indifferent to using drugs, or that you are actively looking for opportunities to use drugs. The drugs are not immoral in themselves; but why on earth should we be indifferent to something that we know is not going to be good for us?
Likewise, it is concerning when marrieds choose to ignore the scripture about it being time for those who are married to be as though they were not. (I Corinthians 7:29) We may not all come to the same conclusion about how to apply that passage, but to ignore it altogether seems strange for anyone who is sincere.
A similar problem happens with regard to Bible prophecy in general. Anyone who looks into prophecy will almost certainly be wrong in some of their expectations with regard to how it is all going to be fulfilled. But the answer is not to ignore Bible prophecy altogether, as so many have done. And yet if we allow serious doubts to creep in with regard to our thinking about Bible prophecy and the 144K vision, before long, we will be completely turned off to anything that has to do with Bible prophecy and the 144K vision.
The thinking can be that, because someone doesn’t know everything about those two subjects, then we are entitled to ignore them altogether. Wrong!
There is room for opinions with regard to some of the details, but there is not room for tossing either issue (celibacy or Bible prophecy) out. Yet it is so easy to start thinking that way when we let the devil come in and cloud the issues. It is one of the easiest areas of deception that he has, where he lures you into a more "respectable" approach to marriage and the second coming, and then leads you, step by step, away from any discipline at all that you find irritating or inconvenient.
Hopefully people will not just read this and forget it. Hopefully it will spark discussion and thought about what the 144K vision really is... not discussion about anything new or complicated or bizarre, but discussion about how simple the vision is, i.e. that, of the two choices, married or single, the preferred option is to remain single.
With regard to the 144K vision (of remaining single for Christ); there is a need to do something to help people who are struggling with it.
The truth is, however, that we do not really need to have more written on the subject, but we do probably need to do more sharing about it with others. The reason for this is because what probably happens when people start to lose the vision is just that the devil has gotten in and clouded our thinking about how simple the vision really is. He makes us think that the 144K vision is something that it is not... that it is, in fact, a bit unreasonable.
Most people with a vision for the 144K army are smart enough and informed enough that if they just sat down themselves and tried to write something on the topic, or if they started to share with others about exactly what the 144K vision is, they would find their vision getting stronger almost automatically.
In other words, it isn't so much a matter of a commitment to the vision that is fading as it is an understanding of the vision that is fading.
One problem is that we can talk about the issues in a simplified way, without thinking things through clearly, sometimes we can be confident about our resolve to stay single without recognising our limitations; but we can also be too cautious about our resolve because we are not recognising how easy it is to maintain the vision.
If we allow ourselves to get into the system mindset, which is that everyone is more or less entitled to a lifetime of sexual activity with one or more sexual partners, then the idea of a lifetime without sexual activity sounds like an almost impossible sacrifice.
On the other hand, the true 144K vision does not eliminate all sexual activity (i.e. it does not eliminate masturbation.) but it does take a very long, hard, cold look at exactly what sexual activity with a partner involves. Obviously, someone who is masturbating could easily think that it would be great to have the real thing. If that was the only concern, then the answer would, of course, be "yes". If you can find a sexual partner, then do so. It's more fun.
But from the Christian perspective, even if we did have the "real thing", it would involve some overwhelming sacrifices and disciplines that do not often enter our heads when we are just thinking about all of the "cuddlies" that we are missing. That is the deceptive power of the cuddlies. That is the real Jezebel spirit.
Maybe there needs to be an article, like this, on the "pricklies" (no pun intended!) or something like that, which reminds us of all the discomforts that come with a married commitment. There is the lack of freedom because you are tied to someone else ("for better or for worse") for the rest of your life. There is the pain that comes when the other person does not live up to your expectations. There is the heartbreak that comes if the other person backslides (in which case you lose your freedom to ever consider marriage again). And, of course, there are the restrictions on your usefulness for God, possibly even meaning disqualification from the Virgin Army (although it is not certain what that means exactly).
Of course, knowing that marriage is not forbidden should actually make it easier to maintain the 144K vision too. (Think how much harder it must be for a divorcee, for whom remarriage IS forbidden!) At least while you remain single, your options stay open. Once you are married, there is no turning back.
It does seem like any sincere Christian, with any understanding of what the Bible (and what Jesus in particular) says about the advisability of remaining single, who then says that they are totally indifferent to whether they stay married or single, or who is actively seeking to get married, must not have really thought the issues through. It's almost like saying that you are indifferent to using drugs, or that you are actively looking for opportunities to use drugs. The drugs are not immoral in themselves; but why on earth should we be indifferent to something that we know is not going to be good for us?
Likewise, it is concerning when marrieds choose to ignore the scripture about it being time for those who are married to be as though they were not. (I Corinthians 7:29) We may not all come to the same conclusion about how to apply that passage, but to ignore it altogether seems strange for anyone who is sincere.
A similar problem happens with regard to Bible prophecy in general. Anyone who looks into prophecy will almost certainly be wrong in some of their expectations with regard to how it is all going to be fulfilled. But the answer is not to ignore Bible prophecy altogether, as so many have done. And yet if we allow serious doubts to creep in with regard to our thinking about Bible prophecy and the 144K vision, before long, we will be completely turned off to anything that has to do with Bible prophecy and the 144K vision.
The thinking can be that, because someone doesn’t know everything about those two subjects, then we are entitled to ignore them altogether. Wrong!
There is room for opinions with regard to some of the details, but there is not room for tossing either issue (celibacy or Bible prophecy) out. Yet it is so easy to start thinking that way when we let the devil come in and cloud the issues. It is one of the easiest areas of deception that he has, where he lures you into a more "respectable" approach to marriage and the second coming, and then leads you, step by step, away from any discipline at all that you find irritating or inconvenient.
Hopefully people will not just read this and forget it. Hopefully it will spark discussion and thought about what the 144K vision really is... not discussion about anything new or complicated or bizarre, but discussion about how simple the vision is, i.e. that, of the two choices, married or single, the preferred option is to remain single.