I took about a week off posting so I could reflect on the things that God keeps speaking into my heart. You know what most of them are–I’ve shared them here and here. It’s been an interesting journey, that’s for sure.
Tonight the small group that I attend with girls from work got into a discussion that ended up being pretty relevant, I think. I left contemplating the difference between being heaven-minded and being eternally-minded. I think the difference is pretty big, and I think Shane Claiborne gets to the heart of the matter when he says:
“While the voices of blockbuster movies and pop culture cry out for a life outside the matrix of numb efficiency, Christianity often has offered little to the world, other than the hope that things will be better in heaven.”
That, to me, is being heaven-minded. You know who I’m talking about. The folks out there who are constantly moaning about how bad this world is and how they can’t wait to get to heaven to be with Jesus. They spend all of their time thinking about how much better life will be in the afterlife that they forget to live this one to the fullest.
But then you come across verses like these in the Bible:
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor. Yet I do not know what I shall choose. For I am pressed together by the two: having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. (Phi 1:21-24)
My problem is that I’m not like Paul. I’m not torn between wanting to be here and wanting to be in heaven. I long for Jesus to be with me; not the other way around. When I brought this up in Bible study tonight, I immediately felt…alone. I guess that’s the right word. I was the only one in the room who holds this position. To begin with, they tried to tell me that I must not have been through any major trials or else I would understand what they meant. Eventually, after I elaborated a bit more, they began to somewhat see what I meant.
God has a purpose for my life. I know that. I also know that He’s not going to take me to heaven until that purpose has been fulfilled. So why should I long for something that I can’t have right now? My effort should be placed in fulfilling that purpose in life.
Read Shane’s quote again:
“While the voices of blockbuster movies and pop culture cry out for a life outside the matrix of numb efficiency, Christianity often has offered little to the world, other than the hope that things will be better in heaven.”
To me, that’s the result of heaven-minded people. And it’s sad! We need to be more concerned with this world than the next. This is the world full of sad, lonely, and hurting people. This is the world in which we can offer the hope that we have found.
Being eternally minded, to me, is what is talked about here:
Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. (Mat 28:19-20)
I want to be on the earth because this is what I’m supposed to do. Jesus is with me, I know that. And I know that eventually, I’ll be with him. That’s good enough for me. My focus isn’t on getting there as soon as possible. My focus is on working to make this world a better place–isn’t that what God has asked us to do? We’re supposed to offer hope to the world.
And may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Rom 15:13)
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“To begin with, they tried to tell me that I must not have been through any major trials or else I would understand what they meant.”
Were they thinking that, if you had been through some ‘major trials’ that you would have felt more like Paul, that is, torn? I’m surprised you were alone in that group.
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They felt that if I had been through “major trials” then I would understand the feeling of longing to be in heaven and not in this world.
It seemed to me that they were not necessarily “torn” either. They wanted to be in heaven where it’s better.
Perhaps my perspective is skewed though.
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