Pictures Of Heaven

James 2:12-13

Whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free. (James 2:12)

IN HIS ACCOUNT OF THE destruction of the newly discovered Indies, Bartolomé de las Casas told of Hatuey, a chief who was tied to a stake by the Spaniards for resisting colonial advances. A Franciscan friar who questioned Hatuey explained the way of salvation so the chief could be saved before his execution and avoid eternal torment. Hatuey asked if all Christians went to heaven, and when told that they did, he said he would prefer to go to hell. De las Casas lamented, “Such is the fame and honor that God and our faith have earned through the Christians who have gone out to the Indies.”^a

Even today, this rationale is not uncommon. A popular song in the seventies suggested it would be better to laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints, and a prominent activist said he would prefer hell because that’s where his people are. If Christians are any reflection of what heaven is like and it isn’t an appealing picture to outsiders, we have a problem. That’s why it’s so important for us to be an embodiment of eternal truth—to reflect our Father and his Kingdom well. Some people will hold their impressions of Christians tightly because they want to, and there’s nothing we can do to change their minds. But some simply have a false impression that is based on cultural or nominal Christianity and not on Jesus as he really is. We can change that.

How? By representing Jesus as he really is. It is often said that we are the only Bible many people will ever read, and there’s a lot of truth in that statement. Few people go searching for truth in the pages of Scripture without first being prompted by an encounter, a conversation, a crisis, or an example. Much more than giving a gospel presentation, we are called to be a gospel demonstration. Live the character of Jesus, and hearts will long for the promise he gives.

{Jesus, you must be grieved by every false testimony of your true nature and by the souls who turned away because of it. May I have the opposite effect by revealing the depths of your grace and mercy. Amen.