Heaven at Home

"If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflicts or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?"

Such is the question that John Piper poses in his book 'God is the Gospel.' How does one respond to such a question? We know how we should respond, but that doesn't mean that we want to respond that way. Our society has been taught to look at Heaven as "the ultimate playground, created purely for our enjoyment" (A Travel Guide to Heaven). In fact we are prone to look at God, according to Adam Kirsch, as a "cruise-director God."Although it is true that Heaven will be a place of joy and that our tears will certainly be wiped dry I propose that we have lost sight of what Heaven is really all about.

The Bible teaches that Heaven will consist of worshipping of God. Some advocate that this worship is eternal, that we will worship God forever. In fact, C. S. Lewis writes, "It is along these lines that I find it easiest to understand the Christian doctrine that 'Heaven' is a state in which angels now, and men hereafter, are perpetually employed in praising God" (Reflections in the Psalms). Even though the Bible doesn't explicitly tell us that our worship is eternal one would be led to believe that such were the case.

Recently I was speaking with a friend and a stranger. From both I received very interesting insights into our varied perspectives of Heaven. My friend, a Christian, said that Heaven seemed almost boring because of the continual worship involved therein. On the other hand, the stranger while discussing Heaven said that it would consist of all earthly pleasures, and by this he meant primarily fleshly lusts. Heaven, for him, meant, to put it crudely, a lifelong orgy (he was much more graphic). Both perspectives are sadly mistaken.

Heaven will be an incredible place. It will consist of worship, but not just worship. The Bible tells us that there will be gates to pass in and out of, a gold road (not roads) to walk upon, and delicious meals to dine on. In fact it also tells us we will be reigning and having authority. In many ways it will be similar to Eden (though certainly better). Yet in all of this there is something we miss. We miss the big picture and that is that what we will have in Heaven is what we can have on earth. Not only that but also what we should strive after on earth. Some say that the Church is an outlet of Heaven. Perhaps. But I prefer to think of the Home, the Christian Home, as an outlet of Heaven.

You see although in Heaven we will have all of these wonderful things to do (like walking, eating, ruling, etc.) in it all, and through it all, we will be glorifying God. That is also what we should be doing on earth. The Bible teaches us that in whatever we do we must glorify God. The Bible says that whether we eat or drink we should glorify God. Lewis took it a step further and said that we must worship God in all things, in our work as well as our play.