Will There Be a Starbucks in Heaven?
As anyone who starts their day with a cup of Starbucks will know, the cups are sometimes graced with a random thought from a random person, under the general banner "The Way I See It."
The Way I See It #230 reads as follows:
"Heaven is totally overrated. It seems boring. Clouds, listening to people play the harp. It should be somewhere you can’t wait to go, like a luxury hotel. Maybe blue skies and soft music were enough to keep people in line in the 17th century, but Heaven has to step it up a bit. They’re basically getting by because they only have to be better than Hell."
Pretty interesting challenge to anyone who takes this whole Christianity thing seriously, on quite a few levels.
What are you and I doing to perpetuate this man-on-the-street perception of the ultimate Christian hope? What are we doing to challenge it? Is it worth the effort?
I was speaking to a Christian friend about the ultimate Christian hope, the confusion about heaven versus the promise of new creation. She asked me what the difference was: its either eternal life there or eternal life here. The key point is eternal life, she said; the location of that life shouldn't really matter, should it?
Well, yes, it does matter. And it matters in a fundamental, nuanced way, not necessarily for the short-term discipleship decisions of a believer (though it can easily effect that as well), but to the message as a whole, to all humanity and for all the ages to come. The guy who came up with the quote on the Starbucks cup did so because of that minor distinction about the locale of eternal life, a distinction that began to veer slightly in a certain direction some 400-500 years ago, growing imperceptibly from generation to generation, until it bore the fruit of The Way I See It #230...
Like a mustard seed.
Grace and Peace,
Raffi
What are you and I doing to perpetuate this man-on-the-street perception of the ultimate Christian hope? What are we doing to challenge it? Is it worth the effort?
Blogging on Biblical and theological issues, when done properly, can reach some persons. We all can do a little for the Kingdom at least.
I am a theologian and Christian blogger always looking for readers, commenters and links. I also comment on many blogs.
Russ:) (re BlogRush)
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