Are Some Christians Setting Themselves Up for Disappointment on May 21, 2011?

I glanced down at my cell phone while stopped at a traffic light the other day and when I looked up a strange woman was standing next to my car.

I rolled down my window and asked, “May I help you?”

She smiled and handed me a pamphlet that said, “The end of the world is almost here! Holy God will bring judgment day on May 21, 2011.”

The light changed and I pulled off.  A few miles further down the road, I noticed a billboard with the same message.

Right or wrong, I usually disregard anything that attempts to give the exact day the world will end because I don’t believe anyone can really tell. I also think people should live every day as if it could be their last.

But the strange woman was so fearless and so polite I decided to give her track some consideration.

After reading it, I knew clearly we didn’t agree on spiritual matters.

Boiling it all down, Family Radio and a zealous group of its listeners believe God will hold Judgment Day on May 21. Furthermore, they believe God will “rescue about 200 million people” and they “will be caught up (raptured) into heaven because God had great mercy for them.”

I don’t agree with their theology. But I admire their commitment.

In an effort to remain true to their faith, those who believe in the judgment day movement are urging people to turn from their wicked ways. Whether you agree with these people or not, encouraging others to become better human beings is noble. And spending money on billboards and vehicle wraps to promote that message shows tremendous dedication.

Family Radio founder Harold Camping is behind the main movement. Smaller Camping-inspired movements have said there would be chaos on the earth after May 21 and the whole world would end in October.

“Sadly, the Holy Bible tells us that only a small percentage of today’s world will turn from their evil ways, and with humility and fear will cry to God for mercy,” the pamphlet states. “This is a matter only between you and Holy God. God knows every one of your thoughts, words, and actions. Turn away from your sins and humbly, beg, beseech, and implore God for forgiveness.”

My first question, though, is: What will the followers of the judgment day movement do if they give up their vices in anticipation of the rapture and they find themselves still here on May 22?

My second, and perhaps even more troubling question is: What will they say to their families and friends over Thanksgiving dinner, if they are still around for the 2011 holiday season?

If Christ does not return, as they expect, it wouldn’t be the first time a group of sincere, dedicated believers were disappointed.

On Oct. 22, 1844, believers who followed William Miller, a Baptist preacher, huddled together on farms in upstate New York waiting for the second coming of Christ. William Miller never set a specific date for the second coming but preached that he believed Christ's return would be soon.

Others who followed what came to be known as the Millerite movement, however, sold all their possessions and waited on the second coming of Christ with their heart's desire. But when Christ didn’t come as they anticipated, some were so disheartened that they left the faith. Others concluded that they had somehow miscalculated the date.

Many of Miller’s followers recommitted themselves to God and eventually established the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which reveres the date Oct. 22, 1844, as the day of the Great Disappointment.

In a book called The Midnight Cry, by Francis D. Nichol, a man named Hiram Edson recounted his feelings of despair this way.

"Our fondest hopes and expectations were blasted, and such a spirit of weeping  came over us as I never experienced before. It seemed that the loss of all earthly friends could have been no comparison. We wept, and wept, till the day dawn. ... Is there no God, no heaven, no golden paradise? Is all this but a cunningly devised fable?"

Whether Christ returns this year or not, I say to those who believe in this judgment day movement: Don’t be dismayed because the work you are doing is commendable. And I say to those, like myself, who don’t believe: Don’t scoff—it takes great courage and commitment to make such a bold declaration of faith.

Besides, May 21 hasn't gotten here yet!

 (The Monday Morning Quarterback is a column about the joys and complexities of life as seen through the eyes of Mark Tyler, the Local Editor of Aberdeen.Patch.com. Mark Tyler can be reached at Mark.Tyler@patch.com or 443-945-1882.)