It’s the most basic question in the entire Bible, isn’t it? I know I’ve both asked and been asked the question hundreds of times in my young life.  I can remember speakers in my conservative background trying to answer the question by getting up and yelling at the tops of their lungs, “You could die in a car accident on the way home today and you’d go to hell!” Those thoughts were usually followed by about 100 verses of “Just As I Am”.  It’s interesting that the Bible doesn’t ask the question hundreds of times, as a matter of fact, the Bible rarely asks the question at all. Please don’t misunderstand me; I’m not saying it’s the wrong question, or that it’s a bad question. On the contrary, sometimes this question needs to be asked with boldness, clarity, and passion. My reason for writing today is not to destroy the question, but to simply refocus our thinking a little bit.

The question is found in Matthew 19:16 and is asked by the Rich Young Ruler when he approaches Jesus. “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”  It’s Jesus’ answer that blows me away in verse 18, “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother and love your neighbor as yourself.” He doesn’t mention all the commands (i.e. any of the commands pertaining to God); ironically he mentions the commands that have to do with our relationship with other people. In essence, a man comes to Jesus and wants to learn how to go to heaven when he dies and Jesus says, “play nicely with others.”  This idea reaches its peak when Jesus instructs the man to sell all he has and to give the money to the poor.

The traditional teaching on this passage has been that Jesus continues to raise the bar for this man until he either trusts Jesus or walks away sad.  This teaching makes so much sense because Jesus ultimately wants to frustrate and confuse his disciples (insert sarcasm)?  I don’t believe Jesus was trying to raise the bar to an impossible level, but I do believe that he was redefining the questions we should be asking.

We have become, like this man, so preoccupied with heaven in our teaching and preaching! The dominant question in 20^th century Christianity has been, “What should I believe so that I can get into heaven when I die?”  The dominant question of Jesus is, “What kind of a people are you becoming today? Do you desire to have me in your life today, or do you simply want to go to heaven when you die.”   Jesus wants to work in us to transform our lives today, not just someday. So, a man comes to Him and Jesus radically redefines the mission and purpose of His followers. He moves Christians everywhere from a worldview focused on the after life to Christians with a worldview focused on this life.

Churches all over the country come to Jesus on Sunday and plead with him, “Lord what must we do to spend eternity with you.” In a still small whisper you can hear Him speak, “Become my people today!” Become my people by controlling your anger, by remaining sexually pure, by treating everyone fairly, by showing honor to everyone, and by reaching out to and helping the poor. 

Belief is important and what we believe is important. However,  when our focus becomes believing the right things to get into heaven we have missed the mark. Jesus wants to see our belief translate into something much bigger…he wants to see our belief influence and change the people we are becoming.