We are Obsessed with the End of the World

One of my best friends was in town last night, so we went out to eat and watched The Hobbit movie. Overall, the movie was great. I highly recommend it. Perhaps I will blog more about it at a later time. For now, I’d like to focus on the pre-movie trailers. Yep…

As my friend, my wife, and I sat there, we started noticing a glaring trend. There were a ton of sci-fi movies, which made sense. Although, they also had something else in common. Nearly every one had a plot associated with the end of the world. I honestly lost count, but I know it was at least five or six. One after another, we saw conceptualizations of how the world might end or people fighting against monsters, aliens, robots, or themselves to save themselves from an apocalypse.

Two thoughts went though my head. The first was that Hollywood really needs to get some original ideas. Not only that, but they need to start coordinating their release schedules. Spread these things out. Don’t release all the end-of-the-world movies all at one time.

Secondly, and probably more important, is the obsession with the apocalypse. I assume it has to do with the Mayan calendar and how people are saying the world will end on December 21. The funny thing was that all these movies will be out next spring or summer — way after December 21. Aside from that, though, it is known that part of the world thinks this is it. So, my mind instantly goes to the Christian response. Sure, the Bible says that no one knows the day or hour when the world will end. However, if we also read from the Bible that we should have a sense of urgency, because the end is near. So, whether the end of the world is on December 21, 2012, or some other random time (more likely), what are you doing to make sure as many people know about Jesus as possible?