We've all heard the saying, "Home is where the heart is". Is it simply a nice saying that makes us feel tingly inside, that we embroider on cushions and hang on the walls of our homes? If you think about it, where you heart, your passion is, that is where your energy is centered. It is what you are always working for, the reason for which you slave away in the mire. Why? So that you can return to that happy place you love and where those you love are. But as Christians, where is our true home? Not the structures made of brick and mortar or sticks and mud, but our eternal home.
Oftentimes we refer to ourselves as pilgrims in the land, strangers on a journey to another place. It's true, we pilgrims journeying here on earth for a short while, but if you think about it, you could say that about all humankind. The difference is our destination, the places our hearts lie, our eternal home.
When life knocks us down, when we are overcome with struggles, when the troubles of the world weigh down on us, Christians look forward to heaven, that place of no tears and no pain. But to be honest, sometimes I think we idolize it too much, focous too much on heaven and not enough on our work that God has given on earth. We think of heaven as a place where we will have to work no longer, where will sit around on clouds all day, playing harps and singing praises to God. Now, singing praises to God is not wrong, but I don't think that's all we'll be doing all eternity. Think about the garden before the fall. Adam worked in the garden - yes, worked! He wasn't sitting around all day doing nothing. The difference is that after the fall, sin entered the picture and made everything much, much harder. I imagine that heaven will be much like the pre-fall Garden of Eden. We'll be glorifying Yahweh through the works of our hands. I think it was C.S. Lewis who painted the picture of heaven as something similar (I only wish I could remember which book it was in!). Imagine praising Yahweh for all eternity, working for him without the added toil of sin!
My admonition is for you to seek to have a biblical view of heaven. Yet while looking forward to that life without the struggle of sin, don't neglect the work you have here and now to accomplish for Christ and His Kingdom. May God speed you on your way as you toil for Him!
The only problem I have with the phrase "eternal home" is that I think it tends to become a more or less abstract phrase like "eternal life." We think of eternal life as an abstract term meaning salvation. However, eternal life really means being able to live (really live) forever, on this restored earth. Rightly understood eternal home is a good term, but I tend to shy away from it because of the misconceptions.
ReplyDeleteWhich—if I may follow Alice down a rabbit trail—is something Christians in general need to consider more than they do. Jesus was very sensitive to connotations of words and chose avoided certain words accordingly. Jesus avoided the term messiah (Christ) because of how people would have understood it. He didn't have the time or ability to redefine the word for everyone who heard it, so He just avoided it.
This is not necessarily a critique of you Jess, as I said, I'm just commenting on another one of my many pet peeves.
Thinking of heaven is helpful in times of distress and heartache because the only thing that really makes sense of it is that one day it will all be made right. If we think of heaven in terms of everything being made right we will go out and try bring that reality every way we can, following the example of Jesus. When Jesus came to earth the reason He went around healing people was because He was bringing in the kingdom of heaven. In the kingdom of God there is no sickness, so I'm going to show you that by taking your sickness away now. Jesus was not just demonstrating His power, but was actually bringing the kingdom into the world. Jesus calls us to do the same, in whatever way we can we are to bring kingdom (or heavenly) realities true in the earth now. As a foretaste of what will soon be the case of this earth when it is restored!
Hmm, never thought of it that way before. I tend to use terms because of what they mean to me, but you are right that we should avoid them if there are wrong connotations associated with them. Do you think those particular terms should be replaced or should we seek to redefine them? Very interesting input, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI don't know that there is an easy answer. I think Jesus did some of both Himself so I do think there's a place for seeking to redefine terms in a Christian way, but at the same time I think we should also be open to the possibility of avoiding terms simply because of their wrong connotations. I think it depends on the context also. I think we see Jesus seeking to redefine terms for His disciples, but simply avoiding them in regards to the general populace. For instance, when Peter declared that Jesus as the Christ, Jesus didn't rebuke Him, but He did seek to change His disciples' understanding of that term.
ReplyDeleteIt's easy for us to see that terms like "gay" etc. which now hold bad cultural connotations cannot be used very effectively in a wholesome many anymore. However, what's harder for some Christians is to take a second look at biblical terminology. Not only to make sure that they themselves are rightly understanding the biblical connotations and meaning of the word, but also to consider the connotations in the broader culture. We can't just ignore the connotations and say, "I'm just going to say what the Bible says no matter what other people think I mean, they just need to get over it." That is not a biblical understanding of language. Language is a fluid medium of communication and eventually words don't mean the same thing. It's about like saying the King James Version is the only version we can use even though many of the words no longer mean the same thing to us. That's ludicrous!
Well, perhaps somewhere in these ramblings lies a grain of truth. ; )
That's the longest "I don't know" I've ever seen! ;) You have some good points, Isaiah. Perhaps it is more of a case-by-case basis than something that can be generalized. Definitely something to think about further...
ReplyDeleteIt was a bit more than an "I don't know"—I'll have you know! ; )
ReplyDeleteMy preface was that there was more of a case by case basis. However, I'm pretty sure I came to the conclusion that in general it can be helpful to redefine terms in a small context and avoid terms in a larger context.
Haha! Whatever, Isaiah. ;)
ReplyDeleteYou're right. I didn't read your comments close enough before I replied. It can certainly be generalized as such. Thanks for clarifying.