BEH pt V

Inaugurated Eschatology
The Vineyard, in keeping with Jesus’ own teaching, sees the Kingdom as a present reality with a future fruition in its fullness (or a future reality with a proleptic invasion!). This leads to an expectation of God’s action in the present held in tension with an awareness that evil will persist until the Return of Christ. Along with this comes an explicit value for redemptive suffering held in tension with the expectation for healing and deliverance: 1) One of the primary needs of impoverished communities is for Hope. The “Now, but Not Yet” orientation of the Vineyard offers hope for the present and the future. 2) Impoverished communities are in desperate need of the power of God to break into their lives. Vineyard people expects this and experiences this. 3) Vineyard eschatology offers a framework for those who suffer to gain perspective on their suffering, and to understand its significance in light of ‘living in the time between the times.’ 4) Ministry leaders in impoverished communities are confronted with deeply broken lives; generational and systemic poverty are powerful forces subverting the very humanity of those who suffer under them. Vineyard eschatology provides those leaders with a framework for continued hope in the midst of such experiences.