(Unsplash/Billy Huynh)
Many Christians on social media are convinced that the world will end tomorrow.
In a niche corner of TikTok, which many have nicknamed "Rapturetok," Christians of all denominations are resolutely proclaiming that our hours are numbered. Rapture fever has spread to Facebook, Instagram, and was even covered by the New York Post.
As TikTok users deliberated the details of their alleged impending ascension into heaven, one user offered up some practical advice. "When you finally start moving up into the air, I recommend that you don't hold onto anything. I definitely don't recommend looking down. I think we learned that lesson from Lot's wife."
Others are forewarning those who will be left behind on how to survive in the days that will follow.
One user named Melissa said, "What are we doing to warn and prepare the ones who are left behind that this is real, this is what happened?"
She continued, "I have a stockpile of food intended for the people that are left behind."
One user cried to the camera, lamenting that if the rapture really is happening tomorrow, she's running out of time with her children.
Why this sudden revelation that Christians are checking out early this week? According to many Christians, this rapture will occur tomorrow, on the Feast of Trumpets, as people of the Jewish faith celebrate the new year, also known as Rosh Hashana.
For some people, perhaps this rapture serves as a convenient escape from the past few weeks — an "I told you so" moment to explain away the chaos in our world. This latest rapture prediction could also point to a self-serving nature.
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What's the point, some argue, of trying to make a difference right now? We're already headed for the exit sign, so let's not try to clean up any messes. It won't be our problem soon enough, and these catastrophes only point to the coming anyway.
On a Facebook group called "RAPTURE WARNING GROUP," one user shared an image of a globe split in two, one side engulfed in flame and ash, and the other side covered in ethereal clouds and stars.
"The earth is preparing for destruction and Heaven preparing for the wedding," the user wrote.
Predictions that the world would end have been made dozens of times since I was born. Yet each day passed relatively inconsequentially. On that fateful day in 2012, instead of escaping the planet while it devolved into chaos, I went for a walk with my dad.
Whether it's Y2K, 2012 or 2025, is it easier to predict doom than to mitigate the problems around us?
So why can't we pencil the rapture into our calendars? Jesus himself says in Matthew 24, "But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only."
What if, instead of counting ourselves among the saints in heaven, we instead count ourselves among the messy flesh and bone with work to do here on earth?
We can try to stop children being killed by gun violence. We can stand against the censorship of journalists. We can warn our neighbors when ICE lurks on our streets. We can call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
I'm not saying that the world won't necessarily end anytime soon, but I doubt it is happening tomorrow. We can't schedule a midweek rapture and cash in on an easy escape. We still have work to do.
