Everybody wanna go to heaven.....

I was running an errand a few weeks ago and when I turned the radio up it was playing Kenny Chesney's new song. I'm not sure of the title, but the main line in the chorus is "Everybody wanna go to heaven, but nobody wanna go right now." The chorus then continues with lines about getting a drink, a girl (or guy), and having a good time. I couldn't listen any more. I'm sure the tune makes you want to tap your foot and sing along, but it's complete blasphemy! It's not blasphemy because of getting a drink. From my study of Scripture I see nothing that condemns having a drink. I do however see verses that condemn drinking to the point of intoxication. It's also not blasphemous because of getting a girl. God proclaimed even before the fall that "it's not good for man to be alone." There are definitely commands to follow in how we go about seeking and finding a spouse, but that's another post for another time. The reason that this song is a direct slap in the face of God is that it encourages it's listeners to think that there are things here on earth that are better than seeing the face of our Creator and Savior in heaven.

This view is very wrong in several ways. One way is kinda like the buffet at your local Chinese restaurant. It says that we can pick and choose what we like about Jesus and Christianity. We can take the salvation and not the lordship, the good gifts and not the struggles, the justification but not the sanctification. This way of seeing Jesus and His gospel is "no gospel at all." We cannot take one part of the gospel and leave another part alone because it asks us to do things we dislike or things that we think will make us unhappy. By doing this we are not taking any of the gospel. The other way that this view is wrong is that it assumes that Earth is our home and the place where we find our full and ultimate happiness. That it's where we are fulfilled and where we find our purpose. This is simply not the case. We are created beings. We have been made in the image of a trinitarian God, with a specific purpose. This purpose is to bring glory to our creator. So, the only way for us to be truly fulfilled is to live out our created purpose. This will not happen in the pursuits of this world. It can only be found in a gospel relationship with our creator, in where He transforms our heart of sin into a heart that seeks His face. In abiding in this relationship we bring Him glory and us ultimate joy, peace, fulfillment, purpose, etc.

"Let us not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds." For His glory and our good.