Jan Markell has made popular the term “remnant church,” which refers to today’s minority of saints who maintain beliefs in the pre-Tribulation Rapture, a literal seven-year Tribulation, and the thousand-year reign of Jesus over the earth before the eternal state.
As many of you can attest, those of us in this group have been disenfranchised, or ostracized, by churches that claim to believe in the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture. Its leaders often scoff at our beliefs and forbid any teaching that goes against their covenant theology, which claims that the church is now God’s kingdom on the earth and designates the Millennium as either the church age or the eternal state.
How did we get to this place? Why are we regarded as outcasts in churches that claim to believe the Bible and in many cases faithfully proclaim the saving message of the cross?
I believe we can find some answers to these questions in 3 John, in a little-known pastor named Diotrophes who personifies many church leaders today, particularly those immersed in the aforementioned covenant theology.
When I wrote the chapter on Diotrophes for my book Cancel This!, I didn’t yet realize how closely his behavior aligns with today’s pastors and elder boards that effectively silence the voices those of us who long for Jesus’ appearing.
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