By Tabitha Ong
I have to honestly say that I haven’t looked forward to going to heaven for a long time until a couple of years back.. If u were to ask me back then, I would tell u that the only reason why I would choose heaven is because it sounds better than hell.. And I’ve realized that many others felt the same way I did..
From teachings over the pulpit and beliefs that have been ingrained in from young, heaven has been made to sound like a really gaudy place, with gates of pearl, and streets of gold, strange precious stones around.. If u did well in ur life on earth, u will have more jewels in ur crown, and I remember asking myself, why would I want a crown? The whole picture that most of us get isn’t something that would’ve caught my fancy..
And what doesn’t help would also be what is said we would be doing in heaven.. When pastors say that “What u’re doing now in worship is only a rehearsal for what u will do in heaven!!” And, my reaction is one of slight horror.. Boring would be the word I would’ve used for heavenly activities..
Maybe it’s the way, or the general teachings that have been taught over the years.. Where maybe gold and crowns and such were considered items of great value, and though they are still symbols of wealth and power, it no longer has that sort of attractive power on people anymore.. Though, the alternative to heaven which is hell is quite a bit more unwelcoming..
But if u ask people these days, the answer we get is, “I don’t really care”, “It doesn’t really matter”, “Why would I want to go to heaven? Sounds like a boring place.”.. We used to use the Evangelism Explosion method for evangelism at one point of time, where the questions asked were “Let’s say if u were to die, and God asks u why u should be let in, what would u say?”.. And the answers that I got, mirrored the way I felt when I was younger.. “It really doesn’t matter”..
The “now” has become the focus of people’s attention, the “now” that u can see and plan for or work towards.. Afterlife is such an abstract thing, and since we don’t see it, we don’t really care too much about it..
What changed for me was my perception of life after death.. Instead of all the “things” that we’ve been told about it, the different descriptions from people or books.. A sudden revelation that hit me was during a worship session, one of those times that u “feel” God, His love and His presence.. And for that moment, everything felt like it was gonna be okay.. And that, that was the best place to be.. U felt safe, secure, at home.. And the thought came to my mind about spending eternity with God then, that whatever I felt for those moments would be multiplied by a million times, and that, that would be a permanent “state of being”.. And, imagine feeling at ease and at home ALL the time, safe, comforted, 24/7.. And I thought to myself, nothing could be better than that..
But to those who have yet to come into an encounter with God, how would they know then, that there is more than just golden streets and pearly gates.. And I think maybe we also do need to look into how we talk about heaven, so that it doesn’t become just a better alternative to hell..