We Were Made for Jesus, Not Heaven

Hello there friends!

I have had a thought, which I would like to share with you. Please feel free to join the discussion in the comments either here or on Facebook.

I'm sure everyone who reads this blog would agree with me if I said that our culture has bought into a lie, the lie that says, "Everything is about me."

But may I suggest that even many professing Christians have bought into that lie on a different level.

When you think about sharing the gospel with someone, what is your hope for them? That they accept Jesus, right? Why?

I think most people would answer, "So that they can go to heaven," or, "Because I don't want them to go to hell."

When a Christian is on their deathbed, we find comfort in telling each other, "They know where they're going."

Or the opposite, if a nonbeliever is dying, we pray furiously, and send a pastor over to share the gospel with them, hoping that in their last few minutes they accept Jesus so they can be saved from hell.

Nonbelievers, at least from knowing how I thought when I was one, think that Christianity is all about going to heaven. Christians want to convert them so they won't go to hell.

But as a Christian, I can tell you honestly that the reason hell is scary to me, is not because of fire. It's not the thought of burning forever and never dying. It's the thought of complete separation from God, the only one who has ever been unfailingly faithful, and unconditionally loving enough to die for me.

God made me for Him, and Jesus' death was a way to restore a broken relationship, not a way for me to have a nice home.

I get a little bit sad when I hear Christians share the gospel with people as a way to get to heaven, but, (and this is where I would like a little bit of feedback) with the general public not being interested in relationship with God... I don't know how we would do it any other way. It may be that they just have to wait until they are a Christian, or until the moment that God shows them their need for Him, to be able to see that. I don't know.

Anyway, I love Jesus. :) I can't tell you how grateful I am that Christianity is not about getting to heaven, because I can be with Him here and now, and day by day He shows me how valuable that is.

I am looking forward to heaven, but again, I'm not looking forward to streets of gold and angels, I'm looking forward to a time when sin will no longer be in the picture of my relationship with Jesus.

Deaf Ears

I have begun to realize over the past while that I, along with many others, are deaf.

We hear what is going on around us, the surface things, but there is so much underneath, and above our world that seems silent to us.

I am pro life. I have siblings, and friends, who feel very strongly how much abortion needs to be ended. I agree with them 100%, but I have never had the same passion that they have, the same love for preborn children that they have been given.

Because of that, and a few Psalms, I began to realize a while ago that I don't hate evil very much. I don't like it, but there are things in our culture that are just sort of "normal," and so I tend to downplay it.

God put it on my heart upon that realization to pray that He would help me love what He loves, and HATE what He hates.

In no way am I there yet. I still have times when I have downplayed sin so much, that it doesn't bother me that much. But I have begun to hear a noise that stings at me.

I read Psalm 83 today, and the first two verses caught my eye.

Do not keep silent, O God! Do not hold Your peace, And do not be still, O God! For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; And those who hate You have lifted up their head. (Psalms 83:1, 2)

Your enemies make a tumult.

It struck me that God is omnipresent, He is everwhere at once, hearing every sound all at once.

Every silent cry of a preborn baby as it's chance to live is taken away, every shout of abusive words, every scream of a child unjustly taken away from their parents, every political speech announcing some new law of rebellion against God, they all collide in one great catastrophic tumult. And He hears it all.

No wonder He loves to hear His children sing praises.

The past few times that I have been aware of this noise, the evil too great for me to conquer, I begin to feel a distress and helplessness that is so painful.

I see an entire planet full of people who were made in the image of God, each one having such great potential. And yet, most of them are drawn into the crowd of people making the tumult.

But each time God has sent me peace in a thought of, "He has it under control. This noise is ugly, He doesn't like it either, this is why He died. But unlike me, God is not too weak to conquer it."

I think we need to hear the noise sometimes, it is what is really going on, we need to be aware of the darkness of the evil all around us. That is why I still pray, "Open my ears. Help me to hate what You hate."

But at the same time, I think we all need to hear the other side, we need to hear the sound of horses and chariots of fire around us on all sides. That is why I also pray, "Open my ears. Help me to love what You love."

And Elisha prayed, and said, “ Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. (II Kings 6:17)