Once a week, I meet with a friend, Bob, at Starbucks to discuss 25 pages or so of the "Institutes of the Christian Religion" by John Calvin. Before Bob arrived I read the following quote on my cup of piping-hot Columbian:
The Way I See It #230
Heaven is totally overrated. It seems boring. Clouds, listening to people play the harp. It should be somewhere you can't wait to go, like a luxury hotel. Maybe blue skies and soft music were enough to keep people in line in the 17th Century, but Heaven has to step it up a bit. They're basically getting by because they only have to be better than Hell.
—Joel Stein, columnist for the Los Angeles Times.
Now, it isn't worth getting too out of joint about Mr. Stein's thoughts on celestial matters. It's a catchy blurb on a coffee cup and is surely not meant to be a serious reflection on Christian teaching. It's short and provocative, perfect reading material for the caffeine-addled.
Maybe Mr. Stein has reflected on the Scriptures' teaching on heaven and hell, has carefully studied Christian theology, and has arrived at this mature view point after much thought and consideration. That could be the case. Or, it could be that he has just accepted the cartoon versions of heaven and hell without seeing much need to investigate matters further since no thinking person really takes such notions seriously. It seems like this is more likely the case.
To be honest, I have to agree with him. That is, if heaven is just lounging around on the clouds, listening to harps, and pruning one's wings from time to time, I'm definitely not interested! That does sound boring.
Leaving alone the unfair suggestion that the 17th-century was populated entirely by dolts, Mr. Stein's understanding of what heaven is all about is seriously mistaken. The Bible's focus on the life to come is not an ethereal existence in the clouds, but resurrection life in a renewed creation. It is a place where God brings to complete fulfillment all that life on earth was meant to be, and more - joy, peace, love, laughter, and the eternal enjoyment of the company of other people and God's creation. In contrast to the cartoon version of heaven and hell, the real living - the real partying! - is going to be in the former, not the latter.
Most of all, heaven is the place where Christ will be present in the midst of his people. For anyone who has come to know him, and the eternal life he freely gives, there is no other place he'd rather be than in his presence and worshipping him. For the believer, heaven, whatever it is, is where Christ is present.
I suppose staying in a luxury hotel for all eternity wouldn't be so bad. Especially if there is cable. But I'm afraid that if that is one's notion of heaven, the real thing would be a big disappointment.
"You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Psalm 16:11).
Maybe Mr. Stein has reflected on the Scriptures' teaching on heaven and hell, has carefully studied Christian theology, and has arrived at this mature view point after much thought and consideration. That could be the case. Or, it could be that he has just accepted the cartoon versions of heaven and hell without seeing much need to investigate matters further since no thinking person really takes such notions seriously. It seems like this is more likely the case.
To be honest, I have to agree with him. That is, if heaven is just lounging around on the clouds, listening to harps, and pruning one's wings from time to time, I'm definitely not interested! That does sound boring.
Leaving alone the unfair suggestion that the 17th-century was populated entirely by dolts, Mr. Stein's understanding of what heaven is all about is seriously mistaken. The Bible's focus on the life to come is not an ethereal existence in the clouds, but resurrection life in a renewed creation. It is a place where God brings to complete fulfillment all that life on earth was meant to be, and more - joy, peace, love, laughter, and the eternal enjoyment of the company of other people and God's creation. In contrast to the cartoon version of heaven and hell, the real living - the real partying! - is going to be in the former, not the latter.
Most of all, heaven is the place where Christ will be present in the midst of his people. For anyone who has come to know him, and the eternal life he freely gives, there is no other place he'd rather be than in his presence and worshipping him. For the believer, heaven, whatever it is, is where Christ is present.
I suppose staying in a luxury hotel for all eternity wouldn't be so bad. Especially if there is cable. But I'm afraid that if that is one's notion of heaven, the real thing would be a big disappointment.
"You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Psalm 16:11).
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