Destinations

Some people want to go to far-flung destinations just to say they’ve been there. It’s not as though they have a keen interest in experiencing the culture, the food, the history, or the architecture; they just want to say they set foot in a place with a goofy name that they feel the need to pronounce the way the locals do. If you’re going to correct someone on how to pronounce Ibiza or Sao Paulo, you’re just pretentious. It’s the truth. Perhaps your friends didn’t tell you because they were trying to be nice or avoid conflict. I have no such reservations. That whole fake nice Americans seem to have mastered, with the half-smile somewhere between constipation and stabbing pain, that’s not for me. Neither is lying to people to protect their feelings.

The same goes for people who want to go to heaven just because they want to avoid the alternative. Granted, it’s a powerful motivator, but fear will not get you across the finish line. Fear will not give you the strength to endure to the end. When you ask people why they want to heaven, usually the answer is to avoid hell. When you ask them what they think heaven will be like, harps and cherubs are readily mentioned, as well as puffy clouds for some reason. Rafael really did a number on people’s impressions of what heaven will be like.

Perhaps it’s the mindset of hell avoidance that has caused us to accept a generalized notion of heaven without ever pressing and desiring to know more about this wondrous place that Jesus went to prepare. We know that there are many mansions in the Father’s house because Jesus told us it is so. We also know that some will shine brighter than others, and part of the reward the faithful will receive are different types of crowns. You have the crown of rejoicing, the crown of righteousness, the imperishable crown, the crown of life, and the crown of glory. Apparently, it’s not just harps, cherubs, and endless feasting.

It’s funny how people’s description of what heaven looks like, after claiming that they’ve been there and spent time playing ping-pong with the Almighty, is different than what the Bible says it will be like. Maybe God redecorated. Perhaps He decided to make it more family-friendly. Or, and I know it’s a stretch, but hear me out, the people claiming to have ridden pet dinosaurs in heaven just made it all up.

The Bible never says you are limited to just one of these crowns. It is never implied that you can’t have two, three, or all five. Likewise, it never implied that you got one for simply entering heaven as a participation trophy. Yes, there will be those in heaven with no crowns and those with five crowns. Based upon what you may ask? You already know the answer because Jesus said it: “I will give each one according to their work.”

It is inevitable that you will suffer loss for His name’s sake on this journey. Whether the loss of houses, lands, wives, husbands, or children, I cannot say, but that you will suffer loss is guaranteed. I am well aware that this goes against the grain of modern-day pabulum, but one is biblical, and the other isn’t.

If Jesus tells me to live with the expectation of suffering loss for His name’s sake, and the sweaty guy on television is telling me to expect abundance, prosperity, the best of everything, and more than I can handle at that, I’m going to play it safe and believe Jesus. If He tells me I will receive a hundredfold for anything loss I’ve suffered, I’ll believe that too.

Heaven is not just the place you go to avoid hell; it’s the place you go to receive your reward from the hand of the One who called you into His service. It’s the place you go to be among those who, in generations past, likewise answered the call and labored, sacrificed, suffered loss, and persevered.

When we get to heaven, it will be a day of rejoicing, but it will also be a day of reward. It will also be a day of reunion. It will be a day when every tear will be wiped from our eyes, and there will be no more pain, or sorrow, or crying.

That is what I’m longing for. It’s not puffy clouds and chubby cherubs; it’s to be in His presence, to stand before Him, and to receive my reward, whatever that may be.

The reality of heaven is assured because Jesus confirmed it. The reality of separation between the sheep and the goats, wheat, and chaff is assured because the Bible speaks of it. The reality of His return is a certainty because He promised it. That His reward coming with Him, likewise, is an unshakeable reality because Jesus would not lie to His beloved, to those for whom He bled and died, that they might have life.

He wore a crown of thorns so we might have a crown of glory—a crown here or a crown there. The difference is that the crown here is made of useless dross that withers and fades. The crown there is eternal.

With love in Christ, 

Michael Boldea, Jr.