“You stupid Christians, what you believe is pie-in-the-sky-by-and-by.”
C. S. Lewis said that the people who have made the biggest difference in this world have been those who believed most strongly in the next world – or something like that. And I don’t doubt he was right. But even if we could verify that assertion as a fact, it still wouldn’t satisfy some.
I think we should plead guilty to the charge. What we believe really is pie-in-the-sky. The gospel is eschatological. It is a promise. It tells us of things our eyes have never seen or our ears heard or our minds imagined, things only the Holy Spirit can assure us of (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). And that new awareness is not an option for a super-spiritual elite. It is Christianity. This life certainly isn’t the best God can do!
The good news broadens our definition of relevance, because eternity is the true measure of all things. We have a reason to say no to the self-gratifying opportunities of the moment. We stand to inherit future joys that will out-perform everything in this fifth-rate existence.
The promises of God, so grand they must be received by a wondering faith, are the gospel. So, yes, let’s live sacrificially to make people’s lives better here and now. God calls us to. But pie-in-the-sky-by-and-by is the reward the gospel offers and the only final reason to care about anything here and now.
