When times get difficult I have noticed that Christians begin to talk about heaven and our hope ahead more than usual. It seems that when all is going well we don't think about the future too much, but when times get hard then our focus changes. I've noticed this in the songs we sing. In the impoverished countries I have visited the worship songs are about heaven and our future hope, but in the prosperous countries heaven is hardly mentioned and hell is never discussed! (Although the photo confirms my suspicions that hell is somewhere in Ohio......ignore the purgatory sign, it doesn't exist). I just read a news story this morning about a Christian aid worker in Afghanistan who was killed because she was "sharing her faith". Muslim extremist took credit for the murder, but the aid organization who sponsored her said that all she wanted to do was help the disabled in this country. As the world turns away from the God who is we find our focus more and more on the unseen world ahead. We find ourselves thinking about eternity. Personally, I think this is a great change in focus for the church. We, here in this country, have become far too comfortable with "here". Our focus and hope should be on the unseen world ahead of us, but that focus also makes us quite aware of the fate of those who do not know Christ yet. Our own change in focus will make us more aware of their need for the savior and the future that awaits them if they don't trust Christ. A focus away from the comfort of this world to the hope of the next is a welcome change to me. It will dispel this false idea that God's interested in my happiness here. The bible has never talked about that....what God's interested in is my relationship with him. Sometimes my unhappiness with "here" is the very thing I need to drive me to him, and I do believe he uses our discontent to draw us to him. As I see more missionaries killed for sharing Christ I find myself less attached to "here" and more and more ready to board the bus to my hope ahead. A focus on eternity will clear up a lot of our priorities here.
1 comment:
Actually, Jesus did say that he came to give us life to the fullest (john 10:10), and that the kingdom of heaven is within us. (luke 17:20-21) Jesus emphasized God as a present reality in his life and in those who are in him. This doesnt mean being overly concerned with worldy affairs of course, but rather a genuine spirit filled life. Too many Christians are not appreciating the gift of this life becasue they only look towards a future heaven. This is called escapeism and is not spiritually healthy or prudent.
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