A Place to Be, or a Way to Be?

Growing up as a Baptist in Virginia, I knew for certain of two places that existed even though they would never appear on any map. One of those places I very much wanted to get to, while the other one I hoped to avoid with every fiber of my being. One was a place called Heaven, and the other was a place called Hell.

These destinations were not ones you could get to by car, boat, plane, or train. "Accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord" assured your arrival in heaven, regardless of what bad things you may have done. Failure to accept Him absolutely guaranteed your arrival in hell no matter how good you may have been. The tradition in which I grew up placed primary emphasis on getting this point right. After all, that was what Jesus was all about: getting us into heaven and keeping us from going to hell.

The issue is that whichever of these two places where we were to arrive, it would only happen following our death.

What if Jesus was trying to get us to see that heaven and hell were places we create with our moment-by-moment actions and attitudes in the here and now?

What if this is not what Jesus was trying to teach us about heaven and hell? What if He was not talking about somewhere out there? What if the heaven or hell of which Jesus spoke were not post-mortem places of residence? What if He was trying to get us to see that heaven and hell were places we create with our moment-by-moment actions and attitudes in the here and now? What if focusing on removing the log from our own eye (while choosing not to focus so much on the speck in someone else's eye) was to make this earth a bit more of a heavenly place to live? What if being the good neighbor - the one to forgive 70 times 7, the one willing to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, comfort the sick, or reach out to the one in prison - are also actions that make heaven a daily earthly reality?

Conversely, what if our failure to follow the example of Jesus brings hellish suffering to us and those around us in the present moment.

I do not know what reality awaits me in that moment that follows my passing from this plane of existence. More and more, I have come to believe that Jesus was not nearly as concerned about our destination in the hereafter as He was about trying to guide us into making the here-and-now a more heavenly place for everyone.

Think about it.