God&Neighbor

My wife and I are still great friends with the first kid on my block to find Jesus. It was the Spring of 1998, the first nice day since we moved into the neighborhood, when I met this girl in the middle of the street that separated our houses. I was crossing the street to get to our mailbox and I passed her and her friend, who were both headed across the street toward my driveway (we have a basketball hoop). Before I could say hello, her first words were, “Where are you going?” I told her I was getting my mail, and I replied, “Where are YOU going?

Long story short, after several years of outreach to her, mainly through our church’s camp and youth group, that girl came to Christ at age 15. A decade later, she is a passionate and faithful believer, married to a passionate and faithful husband. She is usually one Christian I want others to meet when I talk about how Christ can change us and make us new. How does a person come to a decision to follow Jesus? They have their eye on the prize: Love, forgiveness, in heaven, with God, forever. This is the destination of the redeemed in Christ.

There’s this popular adage—the joy is in the journey—that doesn’t quite do it for Christians. We can have joy in the journey for sure, but THE joy is the destination of our journey, the future reality where our present hope is. In 1 Corinthians 13:12 Paul explains the difference between present and future revelation: “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.” The greatest thing for Christians is still ahead of us.

Why have our head in the clouds while we are here on earth? Some perspective: We are here on earth for a brief 100 years, give or take a decade or two, unless a doctor or icy step informs us that we have much less. But what we do in this little life—specifically whether we accept or reject what Christ has already done for us—determines our destination. And our destintion, whether it is heaven or hell, is eternal. We can do the math: Infinity minus 100 years is still infinity. After these years are gone, they will become virtually nothing. Why would we NOT be about the destination? We should absolutely make the most of this life, but if our head is here instead of wrapped around our final destination, then this world is the cloud that enshrouds our heads.

For Christians, the journey is first and infinitely foremost about the destination. That’s why it’s always good to ask a neighbor, “Where are you going?”