Categories: uncategorized
Date: 01 August 2006 21:09:26
Tonight, in a shock turn of events, I am going to write about something Vaguely Christian.
Hebrews 11.13: "... And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth."
There was some discussion of this verse at homegroup a few weeks ago, and once again I feel I totally failed to articulate what it was I thought. (Surely Not! I hear you cry). The discussion was about what our attitude to this life and this world should be, and how our perspective on that should affect the way we live. The core of this was the idea that this world is not where we will spend eternity, and so our focus should be more on the 'eternal perspective' (a phrase much beloved of some people I know) than on this life.
Now, put briefly like that, I don't disagree. But then this sort of spills over into a 'oh isn't this life awful, let's get it over and get to heaven' attitude which I just don't understand. Doesn't sound very abundant to me. I couldn't express strongly enough my feeling that this life can be good, very good, and we're supposed to relish it, and live it to the full.
Note I said 'can be' there. I know many people who really struggle with depression, or health issues, or just life generally, and for them a focus on the 'eternal perspective' can be very helpful. But I don't think that's the ideal - to find life so difficult that the only thing that gets you through is the thought that one day it will be over and you'll be in heaven. There was one person at homegroup who said that some days the thought of heaven is all that gets them through - and they were talking about when they're having a hard day generally, not major life problems. I mean on one level, fair enough: whatever gets you through, gets you through. But I honestly feel that, even if I was having a really bad day, if God said to me, 'right, you can come to heaven tonight, if you want to' I would probably say 'well, tomorrow might be a better day than today has been, and I have stuff to do. ask me again sometime.' (In between all the falling prostrate on the floor, choirs of angels, etc.). Once again, my suspicion is that this means I am Not Very Holy.
I also think that at its most extreme, this attitude can lead to a dismissal of people's problems. "Your entire family has abandoned you, you've lost your job, and you're homeless and hungry? Never mind dear, you'll be in heaven one day and then it will all be all right." As I recall, Jesus was fairly firm about meeting people's physical, earthly needs as well as their spiritual ones. He fed people, and expected his followers to give to the poor.
When I was at college, someone I lived with (can't remember who, it was in halls in the first year) had a poster with a poem on it. I can only remember the first few lines:
"This world is not my home
Although it seems to be
My home is with my God
In the place he's made for me"
I'm really uncomfortable with it. Actually, this world is my home. It's where I was designed to live. Most of us have many homes in our lifetimes, the fact that we move from one to another doesn't make any of them less 'home', although we feel at home in some places more than others. But I believe that this earth is the place God made for us all to live, and it's where he's put us - for now. It may not be what it should be, what it was intended to be, but it is where we are. Heaven isn't sitting on a cloud twanging a harp is it? There will be a new heaven and a new earth! Like this one, but better! And this one is pretty fantastic in my opinion, so I am quite excited about that.
You know, I think what it comes down to (or at least in the discussion at homegroup) was whether we feel at home or not. I feel perfectly at home on earth, thank you. Particularly when I can feel grass under my bare feet or sand between my toes. I am excited about the idea that there will be a new earth, even better, but for now I am very happy with this one. I'm not saying I particularly feel at home in the culture or society I'm living in, I find some of it baffling. But the only place I feel really uncomfortably Not At Home sometimes is church.
What's that noise? Oh, sorry, the Not Very Holy alarm is going off again.