Heaven: Place of Cream Puffs or Warp Drives?

When I was a child Heaven didn’t sound very interesting to me. This was true even after I became a Christian at 9 years old. This is mostly because the image I had of Heaven was a place where you sat around on white fluffy clouds strumming golden harps “worshipping” for eons. A little later I thought of Heaven as a place filled with every sensual delight you could ask for: a place of cream puffs with chocolate frosting and cinnamon rolls and basketball games where everyone could slam dunk. Is that what Heaven will be? How similar will Heaven be to this world? How different? What will we do for the first 10,000 years? And after that?

The Bible clearly shows that there will be great differences between this world and Heaven

^ESV Revelation 21:4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.")

But there will also be continuities between the experiences of Christians now and then as well. Revelation 21:1 describes the next age this way:

^ESV Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”

The vision that the Apostle John has is of Heaven coming TO us. John was not teleported from earth to a distant fluffy place. John remained on earth and earth BECAME “Heaven” – or more precisely “a new heaven and a new earth”. When I was childish in my thinking about Heaven I ignored the phrase “and a new earth”.

God still cares for this place – despite all the graffiti and mess we’ve made of it. How does this place become “the new earth”? Until recently I thought of God destroying earth by fire & creating a new earth from scratch. This annihilation by fire idea came from 2 Peter 3:7-10 which says:

“But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. … 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies¹ will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.”

The earth has fire in its future. But is this fire one of destruction and annihilation or a fire of purification and refinement? Is God detonating the universe’s largest nuclear bomb on earth to vaporize everything or is God placing the earth in a furnace? At least with respect to those creatures made in God’s image (human beings) and our works the fire is one of refinement not annihilation. The Apostle Paul writes,

^ESV 1 Corinthians 3:13 each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. ¹⁴ If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.

Could it be that the refining fire that tests the quality of each person and their work is a refining fire that will sweep this planet as a whole? I’m not sure. But I do notice this: those who trust in Christ survive. And that person’s work also survives if it was built on the foundation of Christ (1 Cor 3:11) and with precious materials (1 Cor 3:12).

Three provocative implications:

1) Our Savior is not a “Star Trek Jesus”. Jesus doesn’t beam us off this dying world and out of danger. We’re not removed from danger rather Jesus comes to us through the Holy Spirit and walks with us in the midst of danger.

2) Don’t abandon ship! Paul Marshall describes one approach to faith as “lifeboat theology”. The idea is that the earth has hit the iceberg of sin and is doomed to destruction. So the only meaningful thing left to do is to abandon ship and get as many people as possible into the lifeboats. Instead of abandoning ship we should be rebuilding it with gold and precious stones. Christians are living stones (1 Peter 2:5) being built into a spiritual house for the Living God (2 Cor 6:16). To some degree we bring salvation and Heaven into the world right now. I find it interesting that enduring work is done with gold and precious stones (1 Cor 3:12) and the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:2) is also made of gold and precious stones. What if WE were actually building Heaven right now? Or more precisely, what if God was building Heaven in us and through us as we put ourselves as a tool in His hand?

3) Our work matters now and it matters for the future. If everything was going to be annihilated we should just do the bare minimum required to survive & simply get by. But if our work is not annihilated, but refined by fire, then we should do our absolute best work now – for only this type of work will endure. Our current work is more than simply “rearranging the deck chairs” on the Titanic. (more on this in my next blog)

I’m indebted to chapter 4 of Dr. Tom Nelson’s book Work Matters: Connecting Sunday Worship to Monday Work for this blog.

Words ARE Necessary

There is a popular notion making the rounds in pulpits and in devotionals these days. “Preach the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.” Have you heard this idea? It is attributed to St. Francis of Assisi who founded the Franciscan order in the early 1200s. The trouble is, St. Francis never said it. If you fact check the quote (something I obviously don’t do often enough since I just discovered 5 minutes ago that St. Francis didn’t actually say this!) you will learn that no published source of this quote prior to the 1990s has yet been discovered. Even more troubling than putting words in someone’s mouth, I think if you actually investigated St. Francis himself you would discover that he was quite a preacher of the gospel and the misquote matches neither his ethos nor his actual deeds.

            St. Francis didn’t say “Preach the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.” But I didn’t set out in this blog to vindicate St. Francis. Actually I had planned to provide a biblical correction to St. Francis’s philosophy of evangelism. Now I see I shouldn’t drag St. Francis into it! Unfortunately, a quote doesn’t have to be based in fact for an idea to gain traction among people. The bottom line is the philosophy “it is more important to practice the gospel than to preach it” has gained traction within the church in our day.

Is this approach valid? Does it have biblical support? In one sense, yes. Jesus said, “you know a tree by its fruit.” (Matthew 12:33) And he rebuked the religious leaders of his day for being “white washed tombs - clean on the outside but full of filth on the inside.” (Matthew 23:27) And "they will know you are Christians by your love." (John 13:35) Obviously Christ condemned hypocrisy and promoted integrity. Our outward acts must match up with our words. Living a life of integrity is foundational to evangelism. I think one of the reasons that the “practice the gospel” approach has gained popularity today is because many are frustrated by “preachy” Christians whose lives don’t match what they preach. People are bombarded with hundreds of messages a day. Salesmen and advertizing abound in our generation. “Sales pitch” evangelism no longer works (if it ever did). People need to see fruit on the tree before they’re willing to buy in to something. So “Preach the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.” has a valid point in that our actions do reflect positively or negatively on our Savior and the gospel. To quote another adage – “What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.” (Emerson? - fact check anyone...)

However, in a fundamental way the “practice the gospel” approach to evangelism is flawed. Its failure lies not in the desire to “practice what you preach” before a watching world, but in replacing gospel proclamation with actions only. The bottom line is that faithful evangelism requires words. Testimony must be given. The good news must be spoken not only modeled. The Apostle Paul puts it this way:

^ESV Romans 10:13-15 For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." ¹⁴ But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?¹ And how are they to hear without someone preaching? ¹⁵ And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"

We must preach the good news. We must use words to tell others about Jesus. Ultimately “lifestyle evangelism” fails without word proclamation because the message sent is: “be a better person (like me), more loving and caring and thoughtful of others and you too can become right with God.” Is this not works righteousness? Basing our standing with God on our performance? We must use words to give interpretation to our lives so that people know it isn’t what we do that saves us but what God has done.

            So to correct a commonly misused quote, biblically we should say: “Preach the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary. And words will definitely be necessary!”

What are the Marks of a Faithful Disciple?

            There is a lot of talk about “discipleship” in the church world these days. Rarely, however, do folks actually come out and say what a disciple is. I suppose it should be a no-brainer, but it isn’t. A “disciple” is a follower. So a Christian is a disciple or follower of Jesus Christ. He or She strives to follow Jesus – to do, say, think and desire the things that Christ did. Being a disciple sounds pretty straightforward. But if you’ve been trying to follow Jesus for a while or if you’ve been trying to assist other people in their efforts to follow Christ (“discipleship”) you know how challenging this can be.

            We live in an age when it is difficult to identify with confidence the straight and narrow way. In our day many have “the appearance of godliness, but deny its power” (2 Timothy 3:5) Most people in my city say they are Christians but the lives of many deny its power. And false teachers abound in the world these days. Folks who oppose the truth, corrupt the simplicity of Christ and the gospel and sow seeds of uncertainty and confusion within the Church. One of the results of this sabotage is a loss of certainty in “the way” and confusion about what it means to be a disciple of Christ and how to help others follow Christ.

            Fortunately, the Apostle Paul cuts through all this fog & confusion with some practical advice for his young protégé Timothy, whom he had been training to follow Christ. Consider some of the last words that Paul penned:

^ESV 2 Timothy 3:10-12 You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, ¹¹ my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra - which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. ¹² Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

            Paul lists 8 marks of discipleship. Paul urges Timothy to follow him as he follows Christ. A disciple is a follower. A genuine Christian will follow Christ and His Apostles in these key 8 ways:

1)      Teaching

2)      Conduct

3)      Aim in Life

4)      Faith

5)      Patience

6)      Love

7)      Steadfastness

8)      Persecutions and Sufferings

Take a moment and rate yourself on these 8 aspects of discipleship. For example, is your "aim in life" the same as that as the Apostle Paul or Christ's? Do you have the marks of genuine disciple? Now consider the list again from the perspective of those you are training. Are you discipling your children, friends, loved ones in these 8 marks of discipleship? Which are weakest? Which are strongest?

Common Good

I’ve been thinking about the concept of “common good” recently. Protestants and evangelicals in particular haven’t given much thought to this. Or at least this protestant evangelical hasn’t. (Maybe that is because the terms “protestant” and “evangelical” have become watered down of late? A topic for another blog some day…) Roman Catholics have given more attention to the concept of common good. By common good I mean a ‘good’ that is shared by all (or most) residents of a community and that is beneficial for the flourishing of that community.

You might disagree with me but I do not think that most folks outside the Church perceive the Church as working for the common good. Many are suspicious of Christianity in general and the institutional Church in particular. I’ve never had an unbeliever say this to me, but I think many subconsciously suspect that the Church is really just self-serving. Many are thinking, “Churches undertake many good ministries, projects and works but they do so for their own sake. Really they’re just out to grow their own influence, to increase their numbers and income with an ulterior motive to impose their morality on everyone else.”

To be clear, as Christians we are trying to grow in influence. This is the natural inclination of a people who have met Jesus Christ and wish to share Him with others, hoping that they too will experience a similar profound love, peace and joy. The trouble comes when we equate growth in my or our influence with growth in Christ’s influence. When we combine these two we devise outreach and service projects in the name of Christ that mostly just serve ourselves.

In contrast to this, what would it look like if Christians and local churches were serving the “common good”? What would we do whether or not our influence grew, or people joined our church, or our reputation improved? What does our community need? Whatever issues our community faces Christians ought to be engaged in it, regardless of who gets the credit! I’m not a church history scholar, but when the early Christians rescued exposed infants and cared for the sick and dying I don’t believe they did so hoping to gain credit or grow their numbers. They did it simply because these things needed to be done. According to the Scriptures God had bestowed dignity on every human being for all were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Also “Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:3) The inherent dignity of human beings (even those who were castaways) and the grace of God in the gospel demanded such a “common good” response. Certain people needed to be cared for, no one was doing it so some early Christians stepped up and in their service the gospel went forward and the influence of Christ expanded.

What does that mean for Christians today? In our generation nearly everyone is active in social justice. But who is working to love and serve the gang of teenage hoodlums rampaging in our community this summer? Who is working to equip our youth to become valuable contributors to our community? Many are helping the poor in times of crisis, but who is helping them break out of poverty? Oh that the Church may again be characterized by love and service and not power brokers!

Why I am starting a Blog

            I am starting a blog today. I’ve passed on Twitter, MySpace, Pinterest & am only tacitly present on Facebook, but today I join the world of digital self publishing. Frankly, I do so reluctantly and hesitantly. The last thing our world needs is another person venting himself/herself into the digital cosmos. The very nature of the beast is unsettling to me. Blogging can become an idol, whereby one measures one’s value by the number of hits. Bloggers often write things in print that they would never say face to face to someone. Nonetheless, despite these dangers (and more) I am starting a blog today.

            This will be a different type of blog. This will not be a personal journal open for the world to voyeuristically to read. The goal of this blog is to equip the saints for the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:12-16). Actually, my personal ambitions are quite a bit lower even than that. I simply wish to equip the saints in Evansville to live faithful, fruitful, devoted Christian lives. Because I believe that as we bloom right where God has planted us (in the particular marriages, families, vocations, neighbors, etc.) we will transform our community.

            I have been called by God to leave mechanical engineering and pastor a local congregation in Evansville, WI. And by God’s grace in addition to a husband of 14 years and a father to 6 children, I’ve become a theologian, a teacher and a leader. I’ve been pastoring now 7 years in Evansville. One of the things I’ve struggled to do well is discipleship (training others to follow Jesus). The reality is that Sunday morning corporate worship – the high point in the life of the corporate body of Christ – just isn’t sufficient interaction and time to properly equip the saints. There is a gap between Sunday and Monday even among those who value the authority of Scripture and its relevance for all of life. This blog is an effort to close this gap.

            What America needs right now is Christians who have integrated their faith into their vocations, marriages, families, recreation and everything they do. If meat begins to rot you do not blame the meat, you blame the salt that it supposed to preserve it. Jesus said to His followers, “You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its saltiness what use is it?” (Matthew 5:13) We’re living in a time of decay when people work for a paycheck not as a calling, when marriage is unraveling, family is under attack and people “work at their play and play at their work”. It is the calling of Christians to be salt and light and it is the goal of this blog to equip you to be so. May Christ be glorified in all we do!

^ESV Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns."