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NOTES
Is the only purpose of the Bible to teach people how to get to heaven? If that is why God gave it, then why is it so long? Is the Bible so long merely to prove God’s point about getting to heaven? Or, is God teaching us something more with the goal of doing something more in our lives?
Tell me if this situation sounds familiar. Bobby is 22. He’s disappointed with life. College has become boring. He’s in his last year and still doesn’t know what to do. But he has watched his friend Steve only grow more enthusiastic about life and life after college through these past few years. Steve is a Christian. His invitation to Bobby is always open to come to church. Finally, Bobby decides to join Steve one morning. People sing with joy about this Jesus who created them, loves, and saved them. Toward the end of the sermon, Bobby hears about sin. How sin is human rebellion against God. How sin is a rejection of God’s ways and God’s presence. How sin has caused a curse on the earth and one of the effects of this curse is a sense of boredom, purposelessness, apathy, aimlessness. Most of all, how sin has consigned all people under God’s judgment to hell forever. Bobby then hears how Jesus came to save us from this curse and our sin and hell by dying a cross, taking the place of the punishment we deserve, that we might be forgiven and welcomed by God into heaven when we die. Bobby wants that. The preacher at the end of the sermon invites those who want to be saved to come speak with him afterward. Bobby walked up to the preacher after the sermon and the preacher told him if he prayed a simple prayer confessing his sins and asking Jesus to forgive him, then Jesus would forgive him and give him the hope of heaven. Bobby prayed and left, already feeling a little better.
Now, from that moment of prayer, typically one of two things happens. And I’ve done them both. I want to address only one for now—the unfortunate path. Bobby continues to take an interest in church and singing and preaching and the Bible, but his enthusiasm for Christ saving him wanes. It wanes because he doesn’t understand how Christ saving him actually applies to his life today. He begins to assume Christ’s salvation is something relevant for him only after he dies—that he will go to heaven and avoid hell. Bobby started with the hope of finding purpose in the hear and now, but the only message he hears on Sunday mornings is that Jesus came to save us from the consequences of our sin and take us to heaven. Finding no sense of direction or purpose for life in the here and now, Bobby’s interest in Christ flickers out and he stops going to church and he begins to seek something else for help.
Unfortunately, this kind of story is all too common. People pray to Jesus with excitement and interest in his salvation and the prospects of following him and the newness of what he can do in a person’s life. But because it is emphasized to them that Christ came to take them to heaven and help them stay out of hell, their excitement fades away and they stop going to church and return to life as usual. Or perhaps to a different life than prior to Christ but one that goes on without the involvement of Christ. Why? Because they don’t learn about the relevance of Christ for today. It’s very sad. I hate stories like this. That story was my story from the time I was thirteen to the time I was seventeen. I thought the only purpose of praying to Jesus is to receive his forgiveness so you can get heaven and avoid hell in the future. I got bored with Christ because he seemed irrelevant right now.
That seeming irrelevance is due to a specific kind of Christianity that is sub-biblical in my opinion. I call it heaven-aimed Christianity. Heaven-aimed Christianity emphasizes that Christ came to save you from the consequences of your sin and take you to heaven to be with him there forever. But here’s the radical problem with that: by assuming Christianity is only about going to heaven, we assume the Bible is only about getting to heaven. One more time: by assuming Christianity is only about going to heaven, we assume the Bible is only about getting to heaven. So, once you hear a brief invitation about praying to Jesus to forgive your sins and asking him for the hope of heaven, you get the impression you’ve already learned all that the Bible has to offer. Then, once you think you have learned all that the Bible has to offer, then why even crack it open?
Do you see the logic. Thousands, if not millions, of people miss out on a real relationship with Jesus because they aren’t taught how to have a relationship with him right now. But Christianity is not only about the sweet by and by. Yes, it is about that. And that part is essential. And it is truly sweet. But Christianity is also about right now.
At the dawn of Jesus’ ministry, after he had been baptized by John the Baptist and after he overcame Satan’s temptation in the wilderness of Judea, he came preaching the same message as John: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). Jesus is saying turn to God because you can experience Him now. His rule, His presence, His guidance—you can have it all right now. God’s kingdom begins now. Of course, we still live in a battle zone and the full blessing of his reign and presence we won’t experience until we die, but we can experience it in part right now. That’s why I like to call biblical Christianity heaven-now Christianity. Heaven is at hand. Right now. Heaven starts with a transformed heart when you turn to Christ and begin living under his rule and with his presence. How does all that happen? Through his word.
That’s why I think heaven-aimed Christianity is so insidious. It encourages people to ignore Christ’s word. But it’s through the word that the life of heaven, the life of God, the life of Christ is channeled to you. Into your mind and into your heart. When Christ was tempted by Satan before he began his ministry, he was fasting as a way to train and test himself and cause himself to depend solely upon his father. Satan told him to use his own power, as the son of God, to make himself a warm loaf of bread for an empty stomach on a cold evening in a barren land. What did Jesus say? “But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4).
Heaven-now Christianity helps you to connect with Christ each day. The primary means of connecting with God is through his word. A relationship is built upon intentional time together and intentional communication both ways. Imagine your partner never talking to you. Imagine your partner never listening to you. And, sadly, some of you may not have to try real hard to imagine. And it’s miserable. Because what could be a thriving relationship is thwarted by bad communication. It’s no different with Christ. The Bible is a word from heaven. The point of the Bible is not necessarily to get us to heaven. Of course, that is a remarkable and essential outcome. Without that outcome, Christianity would not be worth understanding. But that outcome is a consequence of its purpose. The Bible’s purpose is to give us heaven. It’s to give us God right now. And that’s why I call biblical Christianity heaven-now Christianity. I hope this distinction is helpful to you.
Thanks for listening. I’m Aaron Massey. See you next time.