I usually try to have a really articulate thought put together before posting, but I’m honestly not quite there with this thought yet. However, it’s been something on my mind for a while and I just want to get it out there. Hopefully some of you track along with me.
I first had a conversation with a friend about this around a year ago. My initial statement was something like, “I don’t think God is that interested with us going to heaven.” Looking back, I can see why the statement was met with a little bit of confusion. That’s kind of a loaded statement, and without any further clarity it can seem kind of weird. Although it may come off a bit dramatic, and I’m sure there’s a better way to say it, I think I still stand by it. So, I better clarify.
When I say, “I don’t think God is that interested with us going to heaven,” what I really mean is that I don’t think God is as interested in getting us there as He is with bringing there here.
The incarnation is the picture of God bringing Heaven to Earth. Jesus depicted God’s desire to bring hope and healing to humanity here and now, not just there and later. When Jesus taught the disciples to pray, He even said, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
Jesus also teaches to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:30-31). What does that mean? He tells us that too. In Matthew 25, Jesus says that when we see somebody hungry and feed them, or when we see somebody thirsty and give them something to drink, or when we take in a stranger, or we clothe the naked, or we take care of the sick, or we visit the prisoner, it is in those moments that we are loving our neighbor. He goes so far as to say that when we do those things for the people around us, we are actually doing them for Him!
Loving your neighbor means making earth look a little more like heaven for them. There is no hunger in heaven. There is no thirst. There is no stranger, because we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. Nobody is lacking the things they need for protection. Nobody is sick. There is no prisoner. When we see these things on earth, these are part of our fallen reality, and they are exactly what Christ came to remedy. When we encounter these things, we are meant to do whatever is in our power to bring the reality of heaven to that situation.
What would the world look like if when we had food, we shared it, and when we had none, somebody else shared it with us? What would it look like if we were not afraid of the person we didn’t know, and when we were the outsider, we were met with welcome and accommodation? What would it look like if we took care of the sick when we were well, and the well took care of us when we were sick? What would it look like if we recognized that the prisoner is still a person, worthy of love and hope because they too were made in the image of Christ? What kind of world would it be if the prostitute and the addict, the abusive and the insecure, those in high places and those in low places all come in contact with Love and were changed?
Some people are living in Hell on Earth Right now. But if they encountered this, imagine the change!
When I say that God isn’t that interested in us getting to Heaven, what I mean is that God sent Jesus to show us Heaven on Earth. When we were saved, we were then called to bring Heaven on Earth to the people around us. I’m talking about the reality that God has us right here, right now, where we are, with the people around us. He has us here for a reason. He has me here for a reason. If I’m too busy trying to get there, maybe I’ll neglect what He has for me to do right here.
I look forward to sitting in the presence of God, where every tear has been wiped away, where death and mourning and pain are gone (Revelation 21:4). But until then, I want to live my life on earth in a way that the people around me see the reality of God and want to live in that reality.
The Endeavor 