Brian Jones

The Message of Left Behind

Although LaHaye and Jenkins’ novel Left Behind

contains a very specific fulfillment of Biblical prophecy,

the overall message of the book is universal to Christians

of many backgrounds and denominations. It is obvious that

the purpose of the book was not to say how the prophecies

of the end times would be fulfilled. Details such as the

Antichrist being of Western European descent; two divinely

protected witnesses preaching Christianity in Jerusalem;

seven years of trials following the Rapture; and even the

Rapture itself; are all highly interpretive and up for

debate. A message this specific simply would not grab the

attention of so many readers. A book this popular must have

a more general point, at least for Christians. The novel’s

message is that many people – including Christians – are

currently not living true Christian lives, and therefore

are not saved.

This idea is brought forth through the protagonists of

the novel; who, before the Rapture, are obviously not

worthy of being saved. The story of the Rapture and the

years following merely serves as an important backdrop for

the characters. In this novel, the Rapture is a tool that

removes all true Christians from the story. It should be

noted that the author merely gives brief mention to

characters that were taken in the Rapture, except for one

or two short flashbacks; the reader never actually sees any

of those characters in the ongoing plot. The plot, after

all, begins with the Rapture, so immediately the reader is

stuck with the unsaved. This is done so that the readers do

not have a chance to relate to the saved Christians, and

therefore might begin to feel uncomfortable with their own

Christian lives.

The only characters to which the reader may relate are

those who have been left behind – those who did not live up

to the ideals of a Christian life. These ideals are shown

in the mention of the Christians who were saved in the

Rapture, such as Rayford’s wife, Irene. In fact, she is

mentioned as often as she is to illustrate the ideal

Christian: she is always excited about her faith, actively

trying to share her faith with others, and is a vigorous

Bible student. Again, she is presented at a distance, but

is still mentioned as an example of a true Christian for

the reader and characters like Rayford and Chloe.

In contrast, the four protagonists of the novel, who

at the end form the Tribulation Force, represent three

general kinds of unsaved Christians. Bruce Barnes

represents the category of Christians who do not live true

Christian lives; despite his love of being in the church,

he cuts corners when it comes to truly living a Christian

life. No doubt an incredibly large portion of the readers

belong in the same category, and are trying to improve

their spirituality. Rayford and Chloe Steele represent

people who were once Christian – although they were most

likely untrue in the same manner as Bruce Barnes – and then

pushed the church out of their lives. It is very possible

that at least some of the readers are in the same group,

and might be reading this novel to find their way back into

Christianity. Buck Williams represents a third group:

people who believe in God, but haven’t made a commitment to

Christianity. Some readers might be like this as well, and

may be using this book as a means of exploring Christianity.

Whichever group the reader is a part of, by relating

to at least one of these protagonists, the reader may feel

the failure of not being saved; from this sense of failure,

then, comes the sense of urgency to become saved. In the

novel, the matter is urgent because they have already

missed the Rapture, and might die at any time in the coming

trials and tribulations. For the reader, the novel shows

that the Rapture might come at any time; for this reason,

finding salvation should not be delayed. Feeling a sense of

urgency helps the reader understand and appreciate the

meaning of the novel. Again, this sense of urgency comes

from feeling like one is unsaved.

If the readers felt like they were legitimately saved,

then the point of the book would be personally irrelevant.

On the other hand, if a reader actually is saved, then the

book was not designed for that kind of person. The target

audience is not saved Christians. It is an interesting

point, therefore, that the target audience is Christians

who do not feel saved – and that the book’s audience has

been so many millions of people in America alone.