False Heaven

(Philippians 1:23) ...my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.

If you were to ask most Christians what their reward is for being a follower of Christ most would say heaven. And in a sense they would be right. Heaven is a place that the Bible speaks of as our eternal reward, a place where there are no tears or sin.

Even our old school evangelism encouraged this: "if you were to die today do you know if you would go to heaven or hell?". Which is a weird way to evangelize if you think about it. Knocking on someone's door, "if I were to kill you right now, would you go to heaven."

And then inevitably the question gets asked. What will we do in heaven? Is there golf in heaven? Baseball? Grassy fields to run through? Lolipops?

And because heaven is the eternal end in mind, our teaching and lives are shaped around it. We preach sermons on 5 Ways to a Better Marriage and 3 Steps to a More Fulfilling Life. As Christians we live our lives using the Bible as a guidebook to a better life here on earth because we are practicing for the perfect life in heaven.

Now as you are reading this you might think, "but all that is true!". Yes, it is true, but it is incomplete.

Heaven is not the end. And the Bible shouldn't be used like a self-help book. Paul's desire is to depart and be with Christ - not to depart and go to heaven because they have baseball and lolipops.

In John 17:3 Jesus tells us what eternal life (heaven) is: "and this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."

Heaven is about knowing God. Knowing Him fully as you are fully known. God is our reward! We get Jesus. We are so skewed by sin that the thought of God being our reward doesn't seem to move us or excite us. But with the goal of seeking the face of God in place, all the other things - a good marriage, a fulfilling life - will happen. Sin is the ultimate enemy, not unhappiness or unfulfillment. And Jesus is the ultimate answer, not happiness or fulfillment.

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.

Complacent and Impotent

When you read the Book of Acts you see the church as a small group of people making a huge impact on their culture. Its a movement. The church in America, specifically in DFW, seems to be a huge group of people not really doing much. It seems impotent. Powerless.

If you were to ask people who attend church they probably couldn't see the difference. But when you look deeper you see complacency and comfort. Churches are very neat and pretty. Its kind of a social club. Jesus is part of the pie - an equal slice with family, work, and play.

What if Jesus was central? What if the way we did family, the way we did work, the way we played, centered around the Gospel and a bloody cross and empty tomb?

Fort Worth is growing like crazy. New developments are going up, droves of people, young and old, are moving from the suburbs back into the city. What kind of culture are they going to fall prey to? Comfort, affluence, and cool, urban life? Or, perhaps, through the transforming power of the Gospel, Christ would be worshipped AS THE WHOLE PIE, the hungry would be fed, the abused cared for, and lives would be changed.