I do and don't believe in Heaven.
I could really end my article there, but obviously, I need to explain myself.
There is a glaring issue I find when discussing my life as a Jesus follower, especially when I'm discussing it with other Christians: we fundamentally disagree on what Heaven is. That, to me, is not OK. It's not about "people are allowed to have different opinions" or "we should respect all of Christians' different views of Heaven."
Nah. Nope. Not gonna happen.
Obviously, I have grace and need to work towards having patience when discussing these ideas with fellow Christians, but I think that what we think about Heaven has extreme ramifications for how we live as followers of Jesus.
It really comes as a shock to non-Christians when I explain what "Heaven" truly is, and I don't blame them! Non-Christians learn about what Heaven is from Christians, whether those Christians know how to read their Bible or not! Obviously, I can't give an entire theological essay on the idea of Heaven in one article, so I'll keep things bite-sized and blunt:
Heaven is not somewhere we go after we die. The best way to reframe Heaven is by thinking of it as "God's Space," which sometimes overlaps with our space (Earth). The hope is that one day, Jesus will return. Heaven and Earth will be fully reunited.
I think the entire story of the Bible is clear about this. For the well-articulated and accurate SparkNotes explanation behind why I have this view of Heaven, check out this video by "The Bible Project."
Ultimately, the entire story of the Bible depicts Heaven to be God's "space," wherever His authority reigns fully, and where His Presence fully dwells. This is the idea behind the Garden of Eden, a literary image steeped in Ancient Near East cultural touchstones and references that depicts God's Presence and rule fully united with our (human space), Earth. Through disobedience and sin, God obviously drives us away from His Presence, and thus you have the plot-conflict of the Bible: how will God reconcile earth (human space with a natural tendency to drive itself away from God's Goodness) with His personal Space and Authority?
This is why it is important to understand that Heaven is not somewhere we go: it is where God's Authority and Presence Is. Earth was meant to co-exist unified with Heaven, and the authors of the Bible are stoked to share how God is working throughout human history to make sure Heaven and Earth co-exist once again.
This hope is perfectly summarized in Jesus' own words. While He is teaching His disciples, He cites to them a prayer as an example of how to pray and communicate with God. He prays that "[God's] Kingdom come, [His] Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven" (Matthew 6:10, NIV).
This prayer would make absolutely zero sense if Heaven was some fairy tale land above the clouds where God and all the dead people chilled out and played harps and ate grapes. In this instance (and every day, as a Jesus follower), Jesus is inviting us to recognize that the unity of Heaven and Earth is what the Bible is all about. To pray for God's will to be done on Earth as it is in Heaven means that we are praying for opportunities to show and spread God's love and peace and mercy with others.
And that is why I take the idea of Heaven so seriously: if we are not living lives that act as if we want to see our space unified and reconciled with God's Presence and Authority, we're going to be living lackluster, lazy, poor-excuse-for-a-Christian lives.
It sounds blunt, but it's the truth. God wants Heaven and Earth to be unified, just as it was always meant to be, for Him to live among His people fully, as all of the creation trusts in His authority and guidance towards a peaceful, loving humanity.
I would invite all of us to reflect on that specific prayer from Matthew 6:9-13, and ask ourselves how we, as God's people and representatives of His Space and Presence to the world, can mediate and express His love and compassion towards others.
Ultimately, that is much more of a compelling image to strive towards, one that truly reflects what Scripture is saying about the idea of "Heaven."