Warning: This is not a position paper on the End Times!!!!

So I am sitting down right now watching Air Force One about to get boarded by Barack Obama, thus proving the fact that he is the 44th president. All the hype can be a bit much and I really hope people don't expect Barack to be Jesus- because, like the rest of us, he is mortal and broken and will let us down. Regardless, I am excited to see Barack take office and captivated to hear him speak. 

I don't know how much the rest of you read various nut-jobs on the internet, but there are definitely people on the fine world wide web who are convinced Obama is the antichrist found especially discussed in the oft-abused book of Revelation. Let me say that is RIDICULOUS! Ok, now that that's out of the way, thinking about the antichrist reminds me of something I was reading last night. 

         In Revelation 13, John describes the "mark of the beast". What stood out to me is the fact that "no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the

 number of its name". Now, whatever your position on the end times (I could literally care less), what stood out to me was the fact that following the beast is placed in economic terms. This regime is best framed in the context of money. People following the beast are defined by their ability to buy and sell. 

        Singer-Songwriter Brett Dennen describes our current ideals with the following words: "People walk around pushing back their debts; wearing paychecks like necklaces and bracelets. Talkin bout nothin not thinking bout death; every little heartbeat, every little breath." Look around you, we are so often defined by what we do and how much money we make.

       In the very next chapter, the 144,000 following the Lamb are described. Look at how John describes them: 

"And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of the harpists playing on their harps, and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures an before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth."

      Look, those following the beast are defined by what they do- how much money they make- while those following the Lamb are defined by a song. For all the things you could say about the difference between followers of Jesus and followers of the beast, I think it is absolutely beautiful to think in terms of economics vs. harmonics. Our God engages us so that we react in worship. 

     All of us are worshipping all the time. Are you worshipping your ability to buy and sell or are you joining in the underground, growing and swelling song of the Lamb?