Will Heaven be boring?
Nobody really knows! Those qualified by Christ are invited, in the end, to ‘enter into your rest!’ The secular world likes to depict Heaven as a region of white fluffy clouds, with chubby winged babies providing a harp soundtrack. There is a lot of confusion (or wishful thinking) out there about whether, like a cat turning into a dog, we ourselves turn into angels. We know we will be comforted and in the presence of the Lord, with a perfected spirit and with a new iteration of the human body. In a sea of muddled eschatologies, it’s very hard to separate out which things apply to Heaven as the current abode of God, and which apply to the New Jerusalem as the future abode of God, with us.
What doesn’t often get discussed is what we will DO in Heaven. Yes, we will worship the Lord forevermore; and if you’ve ever been caught up in the pinnacle of a truly powerful worship experience with the Lord, you’ll know that it’s better than literally everything. We will never get to the end of the fascinations within His eternal being.
But after the marriage supper of the Lamb comes the Lamb’s actual marriage. And it can’t all be nothing but honeymoon worship … can it?
Maybe we’ll colonise new galaxies in the new heavens. Maybe we will invent new technologies – even new systems of physics. Or metaphysics, for that matter! Aside from a well-earned rest, I imagine it as – well, fun and games forever, with the Source of all creativity. And the incredible people He’s created. In the most beautiful place imaginable – a place where the lines between metaphor and reality are organically blurred and no one thinks twice about it.
What’s really got me thinking is that here, now, this life – this is the arena where what we do, in terms of activity, matters. This is our big opportunity, where purpose plays a part. It is here and now that we build the Kingdom and get to help the Holy Spirit add souls to it.
There are no guarantees that purpose will play a part in Heaven. And so for those of us who are doers, addicted to purpose and unable to function without it … Heaven looks less like a reward and more like a snoozefest. The only function we can imagine having in Heaven – the only positional significance, if we are honest with ourselves – is that we may perhaps be allowed to pray for the earthbound. Certainly we’ll get to cheer them on – but from the sidelines.
And so it’s worth asking ourselves, while we are still on Earth, if perhaps we are giving too much focus to the Purpose Driven Life, and not quite enough to simple adoration of Jesus. When purpose is removed from us – and it could happen to any one of us at any given moment – what is left? The hope is: a soul addicted to the presence of God, fully directable, flavoured, and inspired by Him. We live in the hope of an enjoyable Heaven; we have faith in the salvation worked for us by Jesus; but our love for and with Him – that follows us into eternity, and never dies.
So … let us do what He’s commanded and called us to do – but never lose sight of the fact that the greatest commandment was to love Him. That itself is our true purpose, and doing things is only one part of it – the ‘all your strength’ part. Heart, mind and soul need to love Him, too: all our loyalty, intelligence and emotion.
How do you manage the balance of works and worship in your own ministry? Give us your best tips!
Beck | www.beckoncreative.biz/publishing
Well said, Rebekah. The challenge is in how to find the right balance. It can be easy to fall into the trap of prideful ‘doing’ in our own strength, especially in a world that seems to value and reward productivity over people and relationships. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Thank you for your kind words. I so often conflate ‘God’ with ‘the things of God’ that it’s an easy trap to fall into!