In 17+ years of ministry I’ve had the pleasure of accompanying people of different ages, stages, cultures, and socioeconomic status on their journeys of faith. It is an honor to walk alongside others as together we seek to discern what God is up to in our individual lives and in our world. One question that often pops up in conversation with people, whether old or young, from familiar cultures or foreign ones, is the question, “Who goes to heaven when they die and what do people need to do to get there?” It’s an age, old spiritual question, and I think we ask it for a few reasons. First, we hope to be on the right side of this question. We want to think, believe, and live in such a way that we’re assured of our place in eternity alongside our Savior. Second, we ask this question for the sake of our loved ones. We want those we love to be alongside us in eternity too. And third, I think we’re a bit afraid. We all secretly wonder in the dark of night if we (or those we love) have done enough and believed enough to merit heaven in the afterlife.
There’s a problem with this question though, however. If a focus on heaven and who goes there takes up too much spiritual real estate in our hearts and minds, it could mean the true center of our faith is heaven, not Jesus Christ.
What do I mean?
The center of the Christian faith is supposed to be Jesus, not heaven.
One thing scripture is very clear about is that Jesus Christ isn’t a means to an end in our lives of faith. He is the end. Jesus is the fulfillment of where our faith lives are headed. Jesus says in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” And the word for life he uses in this verse is the Greek word “zoe” which means “life in this world and the next.” This means that in scripture, eternal life isn’t identified as a place or as a spiritual state of being, it’s identified as a person—specifically, an eternal relationship with a person—Jesus Christ. Anybody who reads the Gospels knows that the Bible doesn’t center us on a love for heaven, the Bible centers us on love for Christ. C.S. Lewis once said, “Aim at heaven and you’ll get earth thrown in.” He should have said, “Aim at Christ, and you’ll get heaven thrown in.” The center of the Christian faith is Christ, not heaven. Think of heaven as a nice addition to our lives with Christ, not the main course. The main course is Jesus.
Why is this an important distinction? The question “Who goes to heaven & how do I get there?” can, if we let it, pull us away from Christ rather than toward Him. A preoccupation with heaven may make us categorize people and judge their spiritual state of being rather than focus on simply loving whoever God puts in our path (Jesus loved whoever God put in His path). A preoccupation with heaven may cause us to look inward at ourselves too much rather than outward at God’s activity in the world (Jesus Christ cared deeply about what happens to people in this life, not only the afterlife). A preoccupation with heaven may cause us to nurture a “self-centered” faith that focuses solely on our spiritual destination, but cares little for others around us. A preoccupation with heaven may cause us to objectify our neighbors, valuing them only as future objects of conversion or as stepping stones to our place in eternity (it’s hard to love our neighbors authentically if “loving them” means we're using them to secure eternal life through good deeds done to them). A preoccupation with heaven may cause us to ignore Christ’s work in the world here and now, feeding the hungry, befriending the lonely, bringing peace and justice to our communities. If we’re always looking up to heaven, how can we be part Christ’s life being lived out at our feet?
At best, a faith centered on heaven is misguided. At worst, it’s good, old-fashioned idolatry. Christ is our center. Heaven may be thrown in, but heaven is not our center.
And please don’t hear me downplaying heaven. From what I read in the Bible, heaven sounds amazing, and I’m excited to get there. But not yet. For now, I need to engage with what Christ is doing at my feet much more than I need to engage the afterlife. I have trouble loving my family and neighbors as myself now. But if Christ is at the center of my relationships, I find I’m able to love family and neighbors a lot better. I often want to look after my own needs and neglect the needs of others. But if Christ at the center of my community, I’m pulled out of myself into that community where Jesus is always at work. I often want to divide the world into “people I like” and “people I don’t like.” I need Christ to blow up my categories every day and teach me to how love whoever God puts in my path.
And in the end, I don’t want to love Jesus just for what He can give me. That’s not real love. That’s how I treat Santa Clause. I want to love Jesus for what God made Him to be for our word: love incarnate, alive, active, and at the center of everything, NOW.
And part of me wonders, if I focus on walking with Christ now, am I getting a little taste of heaven thrown in? That would be ironic. If we focus on Christ now, maybe we don’t have to wait so long to experience heaven?
