“HE’S IN A BETTER PLACE:” FACTORS CHRISTIANS NEED TO THINK ABOUT BEFORE SPEAKING

Immediately after he passed away, a nurse came in and made an empty attempt at comfort, “He’s in a better place” she said. As soon as the words were uttered they seemed to bounce around the room with nowhere to comfortably land. For the sake of context, this was spoken to a dear woman, only nanoseconds removed from the loss of her husband and best friend of forty-eight years. Better place? Really? Is it wise to tell a woman who has just lost the closest of human relationships that your husband is better off because he’s no longer here with you? Regardless of intentions and whatever this might mean, I’m convinced that Christians can do better.

Now this is not to open a discussion on the nature of heaven. I believe that “heaven is for real,” not because some four year old has an out of body experience and lives to tell about it. Heaven, like hell, is real because the Bible assumes the veracity of both. Christians are often easily duped into throwing out the Bible and taking up second-hand experiences as proof of this and that. We should remember that the Bible is sufficient reason enough to believe that after our earthly existence, our souls will be immediately present with Christ and will await a future resurrection of our bodies in which the ultimate destination (i.e., place) becomes a new heaven a new earth. This I know because the Bible tells me so.

Could this be what that poor nurse was getting at? Was she attempting to emphasize that, “he’s in a better place”? If so, it would seem that the weight of scripture would be on her side. The great Apostle surely indicates as much, stating that to be absent from the body is “to be at home with the Lord” (emphasis mine, 2 Cor 5:8). Also, we believe in the immortality of the soul so if it’s not here then it has to be somewhere. So if this were her intention she would be theologically correct on a number of points. However, I don’t think this is what she was aiming for.

The Irrelevance of Hell

In our postmodern culture that plays by the "tolerance rules" of modern times, we have been taught to be “nice” and to pursue happiness at all costs. After all, if we can’t say anything nice, we shouldn’t say anything at all. For the majority of people within our urbane culture, hell is the sort of topic that is not discussed in the local coffee shop nor is it the center of attention in Sunday sermons. Let’s face it—hell is not relevant to a sophisticated culture. But, why has hell become irrelevant?  Consider the following three reasons why next to no one is talking or thinking about hell anymore:

Our Culture Loves Itself To Death

It is not excuse that our culture is filled with self-love. We enjoy making much of our amusements and entertainment is almost viewed as a basic human right in our culture. We have trivia shows, all sorts of game shows, and even shows that spotlight other people’s funny videos designed to keep us laughing. Neil Postman, in his classic work, Amusing Ourselves To Death, observes the following:

Everything in our background has prepared us to know and resist a prison when the gates begin to close around us . . . But what if there are no cries of anguish to be heard? Who is prepared to take arms against a sea of amusements? To whom do we complain, and when, and in what tone of voice, when serious discourse dissolves into giggles? What is the antidote to a culture’s being drained by laughter? [1]

Just fifty years ago, funeral directors anticipated lengthy mourning periods for family gatherings at the funeral home. Today, the typical funeral is over from start to finish within a couple of hours. Historically speaking, after the death of a loved one, families would mourn for days or weeks, but today’s culture is quick to acknowledge the death—but families are quick to jump right back into the typical fast-paced ruts of life immediately afterwards. Nothing can stop entertainment—not even death!

Within a culture of entertainment, not very much is going to be said about hell. In fact, even when people die who weren’t religious and didn’t have a life committed to Christ—it’s common to hear their close friends and family reassuring everyone that their loved one is in a better place now. Heaven is real, but hell has been relegated to a mythological land fit for the story books. The culture that loves entertainment hates hell and such a culture supports the idea of universalism—where everyone dies and goes to the great Disney World in the sky. For that reason, hell has become irrelevant within our entertainment saturated culture.

Preachers Today Fear Man

The Sights and Sounds of Heaven (Revelation 21:1-4)

 Revelation 21:1-4

The Sights and Sounds of Heaven

(pt. 1)

In 1952 off Catalina Island, young Florence Chadwick stepped into the waters off the Pacific Ocean, determined to swim all the way to the mainland of California.   Florence Chadwick was no rookie. In fact, she was the first woman to swim the English Channel both ways.

On the day she attempted this amazing feat the weather was foggy and cold; so foggy that she could hardly see the rescue boats that were accompanying her.  Still she set out and she swam and she swam and she swam…for fifteen hours straight she swam!   When she begged to be taken out of the water, her mother, in a boat nearby, told her she was close and that she could do it.

Finally, physically and emotionally exhausted Florence stopped swimming and was pulled out of the water.  It was not until she was on the boat that she discovered the shore was less than half a mile away. At a news conference the next day she made this memorable statement, “All I could see was the fog….I think if I could have seen the shore, I would have made it!” 

The shoreline of heaven is set before us in Hi-Definition clarity in the final two chapters of Revelation.  May God grant us eyes to see and ears to hear the glories of heaven.

“And I Saw”   -Revelation 21:1-2

“And I Heard” -Revelation 21:3-4

The Sights and Sounds of Heaven- The first thing John sees is:

     1) A WHOLE NEW WORLD (TO COME) 

Revelation 21:1-  Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.

Revelation 21:7- He who overcomes shall inherit these things-  How do the sights and sounds of heaven encourage believers to persevere until the end? (Colossians 3:1-2; Philippians 3:12-14; Matthew 6:19-21).