I was talking to a guy last week and when he discovered that I was a pastor he quickly shared that he doesn't do the "church thing" anymore because its so boring. He connects with his god on hikes and by just being out by himself. I asked him if he was going to heaven and he laughed claiming of course because he's a good person and besides there's no such thing as hell anyway.
We had a great conversation and it got me thinking, "What is heaven going to be like?"
The Bible is full of details about heaven and I've read many books on heaven, but does anyone ever think about heaven?
Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 3:11 that God has set eternity in our hearts. This tells me that it's normal for us to wonder about heaven and not dark or foreboding. I find most unchurched people wondering if heaven will be boring. Maybe because all of their religious encounters have been boring, so they're afraid heaven will be a never-ending Sunday service. But heaven should be somewhere we can't wait to go to.
Most of us don't think about heaven and do a poor job of sharing about heaven. The only thing I knew about heaven when I grew up was I was going to stand in front of this big throne and give an account for everything I did. Who wants to do that? We spend our time telling people how to get to heaven and that's good to keep doing that, but we never talk about what heaven will be like.
Extremists get people to strap bombs around themselves and blow people up because they tell these martyrs that 70 virgins are waiting for them. Heaven motivates people; it motivates me.
Heaven is a thrilling place and it's not boring. There's going to be incredibly delicious food in heaven, in fact, Jesus said he's going to eat with us. I like to think of the marriage supper of the lamb as the kick-off banquet.
Have you ever been around a bride before a wedding with the excitement and anxious jitters she has? Can you imagine how exciting it's going to be when millions and millions of people are getting ready to marry Jesus? There's no doubt it will be the greatest wedding of all time and we're the bride. The groom will step out in all of his splendor and glory and the shout will go out from us. It's going to be a noisy, loud and exciting time.
John tries to describe this in Revelation 19:6 when he said it sounded like the shout of a large crowd. No wait, it sounded more like the roar of great big waves. No, it was like loud thunder. This is one noisy wedding. Heaven is not going to be quiet and boring.
Paul describes the sounds of heaven in 2 Corinthians 2:1-4. The sounds were so astounding that it took Paul 14 years before he even brought it up again.
Have you ever been to a concert that was so amazing, when it was over you just sat there and didn't want to leave? Someone asks you the next day how the concert was and the only word you used to describe it was "awesome."
As you say it your thinking to yourself that word is so inadequate. Paul didn't talk about heaven for 14 years, it was so amazing, so astounding, and so spectacular. He just kept it between him and God.
Share about Jesus and share about heaven, the place where the King of Glory will be through all eternity.
Ron Mogab is pastor of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship and is a member of the Carson Valley Ministers' Association.
