Re: This Temporary World
I was doing my old man work out earlier today, rocking out on an elliptical, when I noticed the message on the back of the shirt of the dude in front of me. It read, “This World is Temporary.” There was a time when I would agree with that sentiment, but anymore I see it as a product of poor theological reflection . . . of bad thinking about eternity. It can also be a real cop out on responsibility . . . and joy.
Yes, there are all kinds of passages we can point to that someone could slap under that statement on that shirt. We might add Jesus’s words about not storing up treasures where thieves steal, moths devour, and rust destroys. We might look to Paul’s encouragement about looking above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. But what about the over-arching expectation of Scripture that God is going to make all things new?
We can blame it all on southern Gospel quartets, if you ask me. I was once forced to endure a weekend at a quartet convention in Louisville, KY. I’ve never seen more purple suits in my life or heard more songs about heaven. And I’ve never felt closer to purgatory. In all seriousness though, I think an obsession with heaven can rob us of the joys and blind us to the responsibilities of earth.
Oh, and I don’t think any of us our going to heaven anyways.
My Old Testament professor in seminary used to say something like “we are earth critters.” His point was that our idea of heaven should focus more on new creation themes than some cloudy ethereal existence. The future state will look far more like Eden in Genesis one and two, than golden streets and pearly gates.
Bad theology makes for bad practice. Imagine if we wore shirts that said, “This body is temporary.” Is it? Well, yes. And no. Christians believe in the resurrection. The body will be made new. But if we live half-hazard lives as though our bodies don’t matter, think about all the ways we will make really poor decisions. The same goes for our view of creation.
I remember one Christian leader joking about not needing to care about how we treat the world because God is going to make a new one. He carelessly implied that the Cosmos is kind of like a paper plate. Use it up. Throw it out. But that doesn’t look like how God instructed Adam and Eve in Eden before the fall. There was nobility and care and beauty. Francis Schaeffer once said the Christian view of the natural world as a gift to be stewarded should lead to the highest form of creation care. Sadly, that’s often not the case. We tend to focus on how it’s only temporary. That makes for a good youth camp theme — or Christian tee shirt slogan. But is it good theology?
Let’s live as though the world matters. Because it does. And how we live in it matters too, doesn’t it? Is it temporary? In the same way your body is temporary. There will be a resurrection of the body. And all of creation will be made new.