Heaven on Earth

Sunday 5/11/2014 6:12 AM

Over the course of the past thirty or so years the right wing of the evangelical Christian community has entered the political arena.  It began with the Moral Majority of the 1980s and continues today with the Tea Party.  These groups, and others like them, are in favor of “family values,” restoring prayer to public schools, returning the Ten Commandments to the halls of justice and similar issues but are more prominently know for their stance against abortion, the “homosexual agenda,” entitlement programs and the intrusion of the federal government into our daily lives in the form of laws like The Affordable Care Act, denigratingly referred to by them as Obamacare.  They like to portray themselves as being persecuted by those in power and they fight back using whatever means necessary.  In recent years they are known for being against anything that the Democratic Party supports, which has resulted in complete dysfunction in Congress.

Some Christians view their salvation on a purely spiritual level.  God saved them from sin so they can live with God for eternity.  They see their lives here on earth as something that must be endured until they die and then they will get to go to heaven where everything will be made right and life will be wonderful.  I believe that God saved me from sin but I believe he also wants me to experience heaven in this life.  In order for that to happen I need to do what I can to make life in this world as much like heaven as I am able.  God has called me to be a math teacher.  I try to be the best math teacher possible, not so that I can get the Teacher of the Year award, but because I am teaching God’s people, who deserve the best.  If I paint someone’s house I do the best job possible because I am painting God’s house.  I treat people with dignity and respect regardless of their position in life, their gender, their ethnicity, their lifestyle, their political persuasion, or any other societally imposed difference, because they are image-bearers of God.

Part of my reading today includes Acts 2:44-47, “All the believers were together and had everything in common.  They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.  Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.  They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.  And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”  There is a widening gap between the haves and the have-nots in our world.  The rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer.  The religious right complains about wealth redistribution, taking from those who “work hard” and giving it to those who are “lazy” freeloaders.  If everyone who claims the name of Christ and who is concerned about abortion, the “homosexual agenda,” government entitlements, and so forth, began redistributing their individual wealth voluntarily, out of concern for the poor, and sought justice for those who are oppressed by unjust systems, then government intervention would not be necessary.  Then Christians would be viewed as people who are generous, loving, and righteous.  I think that if Christians behaved like this God would add to their number like he did in the early church and the current world would be a little more like heaven.