A Better Way to Live

In my revivalist tradition, we spent a lot of time talking about heaven. I can’t count the number of sermons I heard about the pearly gates and streets of gold. I heard about how it was going to be when we gathered with all of our loved ones who had gone on before us in the Lord. What was it going to be like to see your mother or father, your brother or sister, your husband or wife – or even your child (assuming they had all accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior) – and to never be separated from them again? Wasn’t heaven going to be something! All of our pain and suffering will be gone forever! No more injustice! No more heartache! Don’t you want to join us?

Yes, I heard a lot of sermons on hell. The fire was described in detail and the suffering of those who had turned their backs on God was shown to us in graphic stories. Each sermon had to end with a person deciding not to give their hearts to Jesus and then they would walk out of the church into the parking lot and then be hit by a meteor to then be cast into an eternity without God.

As I began to work with people as a pastor, I noticed something in their conversations with me. Most of them weren’t that concerned about what would happen in the afterlife. They were trying to figure out a way to deal with their – pick one – job crisis, marriage crisis, financial crisis, parenting crisis, addiction crisis – if they could get through this battle, then, if they had time, they’d worry about what would happen to them when they died. Deciding between heaven and hell wasn’t their problem today. Most of my friends were just trying to make it till the end of the week. They figured they would handle the heaven/hell question when they got there.

A lot of people were eager to point out that the over emphasis on the afterlife left a lot of things undone and unaddressed in this life. Yes, heaven was great, but there was a lot of suffering and injustice in our world right here, right now. Did Jesus have anything to say about living here and now? That was the same question my friends were asking me. Can Jesus help me now? Can He help me be a better parent? A better spouse? Can Jesus help me with my real problems in the real world? Can Jesus help me make sense of my life right now? Today?

The answer, of course, is yes. Yes, Jesus can help us and He can help us right here, right now. I know that’s a big statement, but I really believe Jesus is the answer to how we live our best lives, right here and now.

The gospel begins with the outrageous news that God loves us. We don’t have to do anything to earn His love or accomplish anything to keep it. He created us to be in relationship with Him and His love for us overrides anything anyone else says about us. We are loved. We belong. That’s our starting place.

Because of that, we live in joy. Notice I didn’t say happiness. Happiness comes and goes, but joy stays. Joy is knowing how the story ends and because we know how the story ends, we aren’t thrown off by being tossed about by the waves of circumstances and the foibles of human kind. We’re confident Jesus will complete all that He has started – in us and in all of creation. Yes, things may look bad from time to time, but because we’re confident in the character and promises of Jesus, we can smile in the darkest nights.

Because Jesus is always at work in His world our relationship with Christ satisfies our need for purpose and meaning in our lives. We are created and called to join Christ in His redemptive work of restoring His broken creation. Whether it is working in a local school, serving in a neighborhood or somewhere around the world, we’re called to bring the light of Christ to every dark corner of our world. Some of us do this in big ways. Others of us do it in small ways, but all of us are called to share the light in whatever way we can. No follower of Christ should ever wonder if their life matters. It does – in this life and the next.

Christ allows us to live in generosity. Think about it. Because we are loved and restored in Christ, because our lives have meaning and purpose, we don’t need validation from the world around us. Once Christ has loved us, what more can the world add? Because of this, we can be generous with our resources, time, and energy. We can love freely, not expecting or needing anything in return. Christ has filled our lives to overflowing. Like Paul, we’re learning to be content in every circumstance.

In Christ, we can forgive those who have wounded us and live in the freedom of living without grudges. Christ has forgiven us. We, in turn, forgive those who hurt us. We aren’t trapped in cycles of revenge and anger. We can release those who wound us from the expectation they can fix what they did. Our healing comes from Christ, the very source of Life.

Lastly, we live in hope. Our hope is more than wishful thinking. Our God isn’t limited by time/space. He is with us in our present, still in our past and waiting for us in our future. We are confident the future is how Jesus said it will be because He is already in our future waiting on us. Every day, we live in anticipation of seeing everything complete and finished in Christ.

Jesus Christ is the smartest man to have ever lived in our world. He understands and knows things about life we can only begin to comprehend. The best and only way we have of figuring out the best way to live is stay very close to Jesus. He lived the best life ever lived. He’s the only one that can show us how to live a life that matters – in this life and the next.

Jesus, Himself, is the best way to live.

This essay was first posted in Scot McKnight’s newsletter.