Questions that Miss the Mark
“If you were to die tonight, would you go to heaven or hell?”
These questions are a few that have been posed by numerous Christians in countless evangelistic efforts. They are certainly a clear attempt to broach the eschatological aspects of salvation as directly as possible. Questions like these lay out unambiguous stakes for the decision.
But I cannot help but wonder if questions like these actually accomplish their intended goals in our current cultural moment. Is the goodness of heaven clear to the unbeliever? Does the non-Christian agree upon the reality of hell? Is there more to be explored? Does the choice between heaven and hell encapsulate the entirety of the Gospel?
Why is Heaven Good?
Consider the question of the goodness of heaven for a moment. When we pose the question of “Are you going to heaven when you die?” is the reality of heaven clear to the hearer? In many ways, heaven has become synonymous with a generic, “choose your own adventure” idea of paradise. The goodness of heaven is not obvious.
This might seem like a strange claim. After all, surely everyone knows heaven is “the good place”? Yes, this is obviously true. But the reason for its goodness is obscured.
Heaven is good not because of a lush gardenscape or golden streets. The goodness of heaven lies in the unfiltered presence of God and final, full reconciliation to Him. Heaven is not good because it satisfies vain desires for pleasure but because we are finally in the presence of the One Who is Good. Consider the fruit of the Spirit described in Galatians 5: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These virtues flow out of His Spirit and are thus found in their purest form in His presence. We should expect to find such good in no other place.
The goodness of heaven is God Himself but this is not widely grasped or understood in our cultural moment. When we consider depictions of heaven or the ideal afterlife, they look more like a spa or resort than they do a temple or throne room. Heaven is often presented as a cosmic reunion spot with a little bit of individualistic recreation mixed in. Modern secular notions of one’s self-defined identity and self-expression bleed over into Western irreligious ideas regarding the afterlife.
What about Hell?
Moreover, these secular notions of self-defined identity also shape perceptions of hell. Few non-Christians today see themselves as deserving of divine justice and condemnation. Judgement is seen as reserved for the very worst of the worst—Genghis Khan, Mao, Stalin, and the like. The modern person sees themselves as essentially good. They might be willing to grant that they are flawed but certainly not wicked. Sin is redefined as societal harm rather than offense against God.
Beyond that, many have rejected the notion of hell wholesale. There is a subtle universalism that lies at the heart of Western irreligious beliefs. The vague deity of the “spiritual not religious” West would never judge anyone. There is no place of eternal separation in this view. There is either a good place or there is nothingness to experience after this life ends.
A third issue arises when we consider the unintended consequence of evangelizing with an emphasis on where one will spend eternity to a society where youth is worshipped, where life is prolonged by modern medicine, and where people focus on the near future rather than the distant future. This landscape creates an environment where the decision to follow Christ can be postponed indefinitely. The intended urgency dissipates because eternity seems incredibly distant.
Thus, the appeals to eternal destinations fail to land with the intended force. Both destinations require serious unpacking and explanation that the simple question and a two minute “You are a sinner in need of a Savior” fail to deliver. The issue is not that this presentation is untrue but rather it remains a shadow without revealing the full substance of the wonder of the Good News.
What's the Alternative?
The true wonder of the Cross is that it reconciles us to God both now and forevermore. Everything that the “Where are you going when you die?” conversation teaches is ultimately true but forgets that we are also made right with God now. There is no need to wait. Love, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit are available to all those who call on Christ Jesus.
Yes, sin will separate us from God for eternity. The stakes are eternal. But sin has separated us from God right now. The separation that will intensify and last for eternity begins in this life.
We chose to set up our own little kingdoms based on the promises of Sin. Little did we know that Sin was not going to give us freedom and autonomy but rather slavery to Sin and Death. These tyrants offered us our own domains but bound us instead.
Thus, the marvel of the Cross is this: while we were yet sinners enslaved to Sin, Christ died to free us from its reign, to clear our debt, and to reconcile us to a holy God. We have no need to fear eternal separation from God because Christ is faithful to bring us into His presence now and forevermore. As 1 John tells us, “He who has the Son has the life.” John does not tell us that “He who has the Son will have the life” but that we have it now.
If we preach the “now and not yet” aspects of Christ’s atoning sacrifice, we restore urgency to the call. It is no longer a possibility of the distant future—it is a reality of the present. If we start with what Christ does in the heart and life of the believer in the here-and-now, we proclaim both present transformation and future hope.
Instead of asking “Are you going to heaven or hell when you die?”, we would do better to ask “What if you could have peace with God?” Instead of asking “If you were to die tonight, where would you go?”, we could ask “What if you could have life the way God intended it to be?”
We have been granted a foretaste of the life that is to come. It is only right that we offer others a drink from the same well. Everyone who has experienced the transforming work of Christ knows that Christ offers us more than we can comprehend when we yield to Him.
Why Does This Matter?
Ultimately, shifting our presentation of the Gospel changes the discipleship trajectory of those who turn to Christ. When we move away from presenting the Gospel as a matter of destinations, we move it into the realm of relationship. The aspects of the Gospel that deal with our reconciliation to God are the aspect that call us to seek God’s face (Psalm 27:8). That should be our desire for others—not that they would have insurance against the fires of hell but that their hearts would be turned to the Father through the transforming work of the Spirit accomplished through the sacrifice of the Son. The greatest tragedy would be to win converts to heaven who never learned to love its King.
