Like You Want Them to Go to Heaven

Dear Friends,
This righteousness of God comes through faith in Jesus Christ for all those [Jew or Gentile] who believe [and trust in Him and acknowledge Him as God’s Son]. There is no distinction, since all have sinned and continually fall short of the glory of God, …
Romans 3:22-23 (AMP)

Have you ever heard a sermon that targeted one of your weaknesses so directly you almost wished you had stayed home that week? I’m thinking about the kind of sermon that identifies an area where your repentance is required, but where you may not yet be ready or willing to make necessary changes.

A couple weeks ago, Pastor Mike Johnson from Grace Hills Church in Laguna Niguel gave a sermon entitled “Living Right.” Mike used the first seven verses from the book of Titus to develop a list of guidelines for living a Christian lifestyle.

One of Pastor Mike’s sermon points became a scale
I can now use to measure just how far I still have to go:
“Don’t forget to treat everybody like you want them to go to heaven.”

Really? Who is everybody, anyway? We can get in the habit of caring about and praying only for those we approve of while those we disapprove of may be the ones most in need of our prayers. Imagine how our attitudes might change, how our Christian walk might get straighter if we adopt a “heaven for everyone” approach. Would we be more patient, kinder, more eager to share the gospel?

When I asked Bonnie what it would mean if she treated everyone like she wanted them to go to heaven, she said, “It would mean that my love for them would be greater than my self-righteous indignation.”

A few days later she had the opportunity to put this thought to the test. One of her friends made a comment that Bonnie found very insensitive.
(Friends who read this blog can relax! It was not you.)

Bonnie was hurt and ready to give her friend a sharp retort when she remembered the sermon. Instead of responding with a sarcastic or cutting remark, she simply walked away. “Sometimes silence can be a form of prayer.” She told me.

A few days later the friend called to thank her for the lunch they had shared and to tell her how much Bonnie’s prayers meant to her. Her friend then told her she would soon be going into the hospital for tests. A condition the doctors had told her was not serious now appeared to be a cancer.

Talking about the incident, Bonnie reflected, “Just think how devastated I would have been had I said something that damaged our friendship.”

Of course, there will be times when treating someone like we want them to go to heaven won’t be in the cards for us. We just don’t like some people — that’s human nature — so we may have to, as Pastor Mike’s wife suggested, treat them like we want them to go to heaven … just in a different mansion.

Just kidding. I’m sure the pastor’s wife had something better for them in mind.

With others, their offense may be so egregious, our pain so great, or our faith too small for us to love them enough to wish them well. We may not believe they deserve to go to heaven. Another point from Pastor Mike’s sermon helped me with this one:
“Don’t forget people haven’t always thought you were going to heaven.”

Verse for the Week: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8 (NIV)

Blessings,
Your Friends in Christ