This is a repost from one year ago today. Heaven doesn’t often come up in conversations I have with non-Christians and it aggravates me when people so obviously steer the conversation around to a topic they can proselytize on – if you do that, STOP! Honestly, you drive people away because they think they’re going to suddenly become that socially awkward. Just pray and let God provide opportunities; no need to force the situation. But on the rare occasions when it does come up, I tend to just hear them out, and then ask, “On what do you base that belief?” Not in a snarky way; I really want to know. And they generally haven’t a clue. It’s what their mom said. Half remembered concepts from Sunday School 30 years ago. Wishful thinking. Their idea of how a “just” God should reward them – after all, they’re “good” people! And you know what – on several occasions the conversation has just ended there, because I don’t want to argue with anyone. I just want them to think about what they believe and why.
As for me, the blogging break’s over, and it’s back on my head!
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For what is your life? For it is a vapor, which appears for a little time, and then disappears. (James 4:14)
Most people believe in God and most people think heaven exists. Almost everyone polled, even people who are not religious, thinks they’re going to heaven when they die.
[Note: of those who have no religion, over 50% profess a belief in heaven, but according to the poll analysis there was not enough of a sampling for data on how many of those believe they are going there.]
Eighty-nine percent in this ABC News poll believe in heaven, which is consistent with data going back 30 years. Among believers, 85 percent think they’ll personally go there — mainly in spirit, since 78 percent say it’s a place where people exist only spiritually.
Who gets in is another matter. Among people who believe in heaven, one in four thinks access is limited to Christians. More than a third of Protestants feel that way, and this view peaks at 55 percent among Protestants who describe themselves as very religious.
About 40% of Protestants overall think access to heaven is limited to Christians. Let’s examine that for a moment. The whole Protestant movement was based on a return to a stricter belief in the bible, as opposed to man made traditions. That was the entire point of the Reformation. Of all faiths, Protestant denominations are most likely to believe in the accuracy of the bible – yet only 15% of non-evangelical Protestants, 50% of evangelical Protestants, and 55% of very religious Protestants think that only Christians will go to heaven.
A lot of people will read the previous paragraph and think, “You intolerant jerks! Who are you to say that heaven is only for Christians!?” My question for those folks is, on what do you base the belief that heaven is for anybody but Christians? What’s your source for that? Where is it written in the bible? And if you’ve found it written somewhere else, what is the basis for that belief?
The bible has been proved accurate historically, archaeologically, and prophetically. There are any number of books which analyze and vouch for its authenticity, and my belief in it is not blind faith any more than my belief in the histories of Josephus or my belief in ancient Pompeii is blind. In addition to that, God has used the bible to reveal Himself to me personally, so add “experientially” to the list. Do you have a source that states that heaven is an equal opportunity resort-after-death that meets those standards? Or is your belief based on wishful thinking about your personal goodness and warm fuzzy thoughts about a bearded old man in the sky?
The question we need to ask ourselves about heaven is on what are our beliefs based? Because if there is a God, and if there is a heaven, and if life is eternal, as most Americans believe, then you’d better be sure that what you believe is based on the truth. You can be as sincere in the belief that a red traffic signal is an indication to go and a green to stop, but that sincerity won’t prevent you from getting t-boned in an intersection.
What does the bible actually say about heaven? Randy Alcorn has done a great deal of research in that area, and has written a book about it: Heaven
This is a great resource. He first addresses the problem that deep inside, many Christians don’t actually want to go to heaven. Oh, they say they do, but deep inside there’s some dread there because they don’t know what to expect, and they fear change. Americans in particular are mighty comfy down here, and it’s painful to leave what we (wrongly) think of as a ‘definitely good’ situation for a ‘probably better’ one. Part I addresses theological questions like will the earth be destroyed or renewed, will we actually rule with Christ and what does that mean in practical terms? Part II is what I flipped to first – it answers questions like will our old pets be in heaven, what will it be like between you and your spouse if you were married, will there be arts, entertainment and sports? Will we work and travel? Will we be able to body fly? It may sound awful, but for a long time I avoided thinking about Heaven because I didn’t want to think about being without my husband.
With each question, Alcorn provides the scripture references and other resources (including the writing of Jonathan Edwards, John Calvin, C.S. Lewis, and John Piper) that led him to his conclusions, and invites us to test those conclusions against scripture. The whole book led to a paradigm shift for me that is continually changing me the more I think of it. My earlier, childish fears are relieved as I learn more about God and His plan. I think of the years I wasted here trying to build my home on the sand because I couldn’t imagine a viable alternative. Now, I can imagine what Jesus is preparing for us. And the more I think on these incredible gifts – eternal life with the most talented, creative Being ever, plus whatever else He wants to include – and he gave us some pretty good clues in the bible what to expect – the more I am overwhelmed with gratitude and love.
Most people, including most Christians, are woefully ignorant on the topic of heaven. Although it’s not a salvation issue, it’s still critically important because it gives us hope for the future, and that hope is something that people notice. It draws them to Christ.
But have reverence for Christ in your hearts, and honor him as Lord. Be ready at all times to answer anyone who asks you to explain the hope you have in you, but do it with gentleness and respect. (1 Peter 3:15-16)
It is that hope that alleviates grief after a death. When we know that a parting is temporary, we’re sad, but we have something to cling to – the expectation that we will see that person again. Jesus wept at the death of Lazarus, so we should not expect to be free from grief. Christian funerals are an odd mix of sorrow and joy – the pain is real, but so is the worship and the thanks to the God who gives us hope. The contrast between the funeral of a saved person and that of a lost one is striking.
More often than not, the funeral of an unsaved person is very impersonal, especially if conducted by a minister/priest whom they never met in life. It’s so sad to hear them relaying stories told to them by the family, frequently with comments like, “I wish I had met her,” or “It must have been so funny when,” interspersed throughout. It’s so sad. On the other hand, the funeral of a saved person is so completely different. We don’t grieve as ones who have no hope. The speaker knew the person well, and is sharing the loss, not just presiding over the ceremony. It makes a world of difference.
I have seen people hear the gospel and reject it because to accept that Jesus is the only mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5) meant accepting the idea that someone they love will not be there with them in heaven. So unconsciously or not, they choose not to go either. There is nothing sadder to a Christian than the death of a person they care about when that person wasn’t a believer. It’s hard to explain the magnitude of that to someone who doesn’t believe. But still, we have hope, and that hope is biblically based as well. As the thief on the cross came to salvation in the last moments of his life, so might anyone else. We can’t possibly know what mercy God shows someone at that last moment. We can’t rule out the idea that God may have granted them repentance. So we cling to hope, and to faith in a God who is both holy and merciful.
As an atheist myself it had never occurred to me that atheists might believe in heaven. I guess technically they couldn’t be atheists in that case, but that’s a linguistic quibble. Thanks for posting this.
I’ll have to re-read the source document, but I wouldn’t necessarily equate “have no religion” with atheist. It might just mean, not affiliated with a religion; the “cafeteria” types who sort of invent their own.
Ah, that might be slightly different – from my point of view everyone who believes in heaven makes it up, so there’s no reason why anyone who chooses shouldn’t believe they’re going to their own version.