Up until quite recently, I would have given a resounding NO!! However, more recently, I have drifted into the PROBABLY NOT, BUT MAYBE response.
My reason for the resounding NO in the past was that there were two common arguments that I heard.
Argument #1. Matthew 24:14 is used by some in the Missions community to say that we can “speed up” Christ’s return by sharing the Gospel of the Kingdom to all the people groups of the world faster. This has several problems. The biggest one is that this is not what the passage says. There is a termporal relationship (the spreading of the gospel happens first) but there is not clear causative relationship (the causes the second as well as when it happens). Second, the term in Greek that is interpreted by some as people groups (a modern formulation) seems to be used in the Bible (Septuagint and Greek New Testament) to mean “the Gentiles). Third, the following verses seem to double down on the idea that we must work and live without control over the return of Christ.
Argument #2. Some pull a certain specific interpretation of the Book of Revelation and attempt to see links between it and today’s geopolitical situation. Is that wrong? Probably, since the interpretation seems to be drawn from an apocalyptic tradition in some faith traditions rather than actually drawing from Scripture. But even if their interpretation is correct, there is a huge leap between that and believing that one can speed things up by creating some of the toxic situations that are described in Revelation. That seems not only unlikely (and without basis), but also morally dubious.
In the past I would stop there. But another point was brought to my attention that I had thought about before, but perhaps not enough. II Peter 3:12. Looking at verses 11-13:
Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. (II Peter 3:11-13)
The passage says that we are to live Godly lives, and look forward to the “Day of God.” These seem perfectly reasonable, but in the middle of the passage it says that we “look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.”
What does that mean? It sounds like we may the return of Christ occur earlier. There is a translation “out” on this one. The sentence can be translated “to eagerly await the Day of God to come.” That sounds passive and takes away human agency in the timing of Christ. However, it does seem like the scholarly consensus is that the term is active. We hasten the return of Christ rather than desire the hastening of Christ’s return.
An obvious problem is that there is no clear guidance on how that hastening is done. The passage seems to be about desire Christ’s return and righteous living. Does this cause Christ to return sooner. I would much rather say this is about desiring Christ’s return. The passage seems to make a lot more sense that way. Nevertheless, I don’t want to be too presumptive, especially since Bible scholars seem to disagree with that interpretation.
Another verse that possibly speaks of hastening the return of Christ is much more well-known. This is in the Lord’s Prayer. The second sentence starts out “Thy Kingdom Come” or “Let Your Kingdom Come…” This invocation certainly does not require God to change His timing. But Jesus did describe this prayer as a model for us in our prayers. That does suggest that praying for the soon return of Christ is right an appropriate for Chrsitians to do.
I was raised up in a Calvinistic church and as such, we tended to believe that prayer changes us, but does not change God. God is sovereign and somehow that sovereignty does not allow Him to empower anyone else with agency. But I am no longer Calvinistic in my theology, so I am at least open to the possibilty that God could empower us to have a role in the timing of Christ’s return.
So, we have a passage that suggests, perhaps, that we can hasten the return of Christ, but does not tell us how. There is another passage that says that we should keep praying for His soon return.
So if there is a way to speed the return of Christ (and I am not sure we can), then we can:
-Desire Christ’s soon return
-Pray for Christ’s soon return
-Live a godly life
Sharing the gospel with all people is good, and even commanded. But I don’t think that speeds up the return of Christ. Starting wars in the Middle East, thinking it will trigger the Tribulation, won’t speed things up either… and is pretty evil.
