It’s been over thirty
years since AC/DC first wrote their open declaration and celebration of their
projected eternal destination in their hit song ‘Highway to Hell’, and today
there are many who proudly call it the soundtrack of their spiritual journey. Such flagrant embracing of separation from
Christ is terribly tragic, but what is equally tragic are the lives of those going
to the same place, just taking the scenic route instead.
In the British Isles, the road system is quite different
in many ways from that of the Americas, and one of its interesting little
quirks is a type of road called a byway.
A byway is a small road, often in the countryside, that is still public
and used all the time, but is incredibly small (often barely wide enough for
even a single car) and sometimes forbids the use of automobiles
altogether. They’re great for wandering
around the country, enjoying scenery if one doesn’t have any particular place
to be or go, and it’s very easy to wind up in the wrong place if one is trying to get somewhere in
particular. This describes the vast
majority of people headed toward an eternity without God.
A lot of people are content to wander through life, with
no real plan to get to Heaven or Hell or to avoid either. But of course all spiritual journeys not
destined through salvation lead to the same place. There are also those who want to do and
believe they’re doing good things with their life and probably are, but without
the right map, they will never find where they want to go, and still end up
lost forever.
We may not be looking forward to finally hearing Hell’s
bells and nothing more thereafter, but are we earnestly plotting out our lives
toward the call of God’s voice? We must
remember the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, but the road to Heaven
is no simple stairway, but a life-long journey and commitment to follow after
Jesus and His example.
Indeed, that song by AC/DC (along with most of their offerings) seems to sum up their life philosophy and that of so many "happy pagans" and hedonists: "eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die!"
ReplyDeleteOne of the many problems with that line of thinking is that eating and drinking and merrymaking (in all varieties) are all merely temporary moments of happiness or respites from pain and problems. The problems and pains of life still remain long after they sober up, and indeed, much merrymaking is expensive and often exacerbates ones troubles. These can take the form of addictions, loss of job or income, possible incarcerations, venereal diseases, loss of health, trouble in relationships, etc. And then of course, we STILL die!
Jesus said, "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?" Instead of pursuing happiness, like a dog chasing its tail, and never catching it, Jesus invites us to accept His forgiveness from our sin, and to follow Him and walk with Him throughout our life on earth and into eternity. Only then will we be able to have an abundant life both on earth, and also in heaven. When we find Christ, we be like the dog, whose happily wagging tail follows him everywhere he goes! That is such a lasting Joy, and uses so much less energy!
Jesus said, "wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction (hell), and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it" (Matthew 7:13_14)
Doing good deeds, having good intentions, and avoiding sin (or at least the "really bad ones") will not gain one entrance into heaven. Only by accepting Jesus Christ who is the Only Way, and His work on the cross as payment for our sins, and thereby receiving His full pardon and forgiveness, may we enter heaven.
He invites all to "Come to me, all you are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest. take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)
Well said, my brothers, well said. It reminds me of a point C.S. Lewis made in Mere Christianity about a man who believed he could make it to Heaven without a drop of Scripture. Lewis likened this to trying to sail to America without a map: yes, you'll get somewhere, but probably not where you want to get to. And Pastor Ogre, that comment on the phrase "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die," being a temporary state of happiness is spot on. There's a group of Christian young adults on YouTube who made a similar point about the phrase, "You only live once" which is now abbreviated into "YOLO". They returned the favor by presenting the opposite phrase, "YODO", showing how temporary life is. If either of you would like to check them out for yourselves, go to blimeycow.com. They're hilarious and insightful. Again, great take Erik. I like that little fact about byways. It was interesting.
ReplyDeletein the sake of providing, I dunno, dialog or something here, I have to ask: Why does such a complicated god who makes such complicated things have such a simple spiritual outcome?
ReplyDeleteIf hell were never intended for man, then why is there not a third place for men who cannot enter heaven? Or if there cannot be a third place, why can't man have a final decision after a life of confusion and conflicting information?
I mean, pascal's wager is one thing, but what if I took pascal's wager and ended up living as ther was a god... but I acted as if that god was Odin as opposed to Yahweh.
I didn't accept his salvation in life, but why can't I accept salvation after having the record set straight by the man himself? I still have every option of denying the gift of salvation right then and there, so it's not as if free will had been subverted that way.
the point I'm trying to make is, why is the matter so binary when God is usually anything but binary.
I'm sorry I've taken so long to write back here; I don't always check my Blogger account between articles.
DeleteThe reason for the matter of Heaven and Hell being so binary is that they're more the outcome of the main binary issue: that is a person either has a relationship with God or they do not. Getting into heaven really is not about what you have or have not done in terms of a list of actions you did over your life. It's about did you have an actual relationship with God with two main aspects to it.
The first aspect would be accepting Him as Lord. Not just Lord of Creation, but also Lord of me. He is my King and if He tells me to do something, I must actually apply myself to doing it; and if He tells me to keep away from something, I am to learn to control myself to keep from it. This doesn't mean no mistakes are ever made, but it does mean true repentance and a desire to live as closely as possible to His calling of perfection.
The second aspect is Love. Living by a code of morals and abstaining from certain things is one thing, but since it is impossible for us as fallen humans to live up to this code to the point of perfection, there has to be an additional factor of grace and forgiveness. "To err is human; to forgive, divine" This is because true forgiveness can only come from someone who isn't fallen. He forgives us because He loves us, and we strive to live up to His calling because we love Him.
The reason why there is no third option regarding one's final destination after death and why there is no post-death revelation of the truth and final chance to accept that truth is because it boils down to Love, not did you believe in Him ("Even the demons believe that--and shudder." -James 2:19) or did you follow the rules (all religions, false or true, have standards of morality). Christianity is the only religion truly about Love in ever sense, and that is what it boils down to after we die. I hope that has helped clarify things, and if not, I can do my best to help further.
You will know me if you think about it. Jesus the Christ gave us 49 general commands and one of them was you must be born again. Another one was deny self and take up your cross and follow me. The Spirit taught me I am a sanctified, justified, righteous, holy son of God's. I said that to say religion did not teach me that, and only a relationship with God will teach that and more.
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