Society and the Future

In taking a class on the History of the western church, I have discovered something groundbreaking. The way a Christian views the past and the future effects the way in which they live their lives. Let me explain.
In looking at the North African theologian Augustine, the class got into a spirited brawl about Christian views of the end times. After the blood has cleaned up, and the chairs were righted, Professor Spencer asked the class an interesting question.
"How does your view of the end times effect the way you live your life?" At first, this struck me as an odd question. What does the eschaton have to do with every day life? As I began to think about it, I came to some Conclusions.

Pre-millennialists believe that Jesus will return and then his thousand year reign on earth will happen. A pre-millennialist will traditionally see our culture as a sinking ship, that will continually get worse until Christ comes back. This view often results in a present life of apathy. They will think of it as, "why polish the ship's bell, if its going down"? This apathy to our society causes many traditional premillenialists to simply disregard the downward decline of morality and ethics in our society and huddle in there little white churches.

Conversely, Post-millennialists believe that we are currently living in the millennial reign of Christ, having started at the Cross. They hold that until the kingdom of God is fully established on earth, Christ will not return. This view demands that we actively work in our societies to bring about the kingdom of God on earth. While this view is helpful in getting Christians active in their communities and societies it seems to predict a society that is progressively getting better. This view of the future directly effects the way we as Christians interact with the fallen world around us.

Unfortunately, neither view satisfies the revolutionary call of the gospel to love our neighbors. The premill view neglects the kingdom of God, while the postmill view requires the formation of the kingdom of God in order for Christ to return.
While the Post-Millennial view seems more biblical in construct, it fails to satisfy a basic requirement of faith. It would seem that we must consider a third alternative.
The kingdom of God is mention over 30 times by Jesus in the gospels, yet it doesn't seem to be important to many pre-millenialists. This is a sad and unfortunate reality. As someone who would agree with a premillenial view of the end-times, I must still work in my society to see God's Kingdom realized. This is not because Jesus is waiting for the Kingdom of God, but because we seek to see the salvation of the lost. Think of it this way.
In the sinking ship that is our society are many souls heading toward hell. We as Christians have been given a way off of the sinking ship into another boat. Why should we not present the hell-bound souls with the opportunity to get off the boat? We are seeking to slow the boats descent so that God can save as many as possible before the boat sinks and Christ returns.
So then let us remember that Christ our mediator will return, and whatever your view, we must actively do the work of God in our societies.