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.