Why I was disappointed in the movie, "Heaven is for Real."
Heaven is real. God loves you.
Are those statements true? Yes, most definitely! But, they do not represent the full truth, and if those are the only two truths you embrace, you may be headed down a very dangerous path. That is why I was incredibly disappointed by the movie, "Heaven is for Real."
Let me back up a bit.
I read the book, “Heaven is for Real,” a few years ago, and I loved it. It was in-line with scripture, and it was wonderfully inspiring and left me encouraged and uplifted. The real-life account is amazing, and I was thrilled to learn that there would be a movie. But, just a few days ago, I bought the movie and came away feeling incredibly let down, because not only does the movie not match the account in the book in some critical ways, more importantly, it’s not in-line with the Gospel.
The problems with the movie begin early on. Not counting the Lord’s prayer (which is repeated like a mantra a few times), scripture is almost entirely absent in the movie. Even when Todd Burpo’s character is supposedly preaching during a church service, he never uses scripture, and he mentions Jesus only once. Instead, he tells a story about a lion, a bear, and a unicorn that has nothing at all to do with scripture.
This continues when Todd Burpo’s character is summoned to the bedside of a dying man. To comfort the man, he says simply that, “I believe God forgives. And if he forgives anything than he’ll forgive everything.” Is God forgiving? Yes, but only through the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross.
Overall, viewers of the movie are left with the sense that Christians don’t actually believe what they say they believe. In the movie, Todd Burpo’s character even says this word for word: “We ask these kids to believe this stuff and I don’t even know if I believe it myself.”
Repeatedly, the idea that Colton could have gone to Heaven is met with skepticism, not only from people outside of the church, but from INSIDE the church. The most vocal critic is a woman on the church board. Here are her comments:
“Colton’s trip to heaven disturbs a lot of people. It disturbs me…I don’t like that it feels like some fairy tale, just a simple, easy explanation of life…Okay, I don’t like how it makes our church a magnet for everyone who wants to take the brain out of their head and beat it to death with the Bible and then seem to want to show off how much they believe. Heaven and Hell have always been concepts that have been used to control and frighten people.”
Please know, I’m not objecting to that sort of opposition being in the movie. Is it possible that someone could feel that way? Yes. Maybe someone is even thinking that same thing reading this post now. But what actually bothers me is the way her story plays out. Some of her bitterness is explained as the movie continues. Her son was a Marine who was killed in action, and she’s angry at God. She does eventually come to find some measure of peace, but her conflict is resolved this way:
“Do you think my son went to heaven?”
“Do you love your son still? Do you think I love mine? Do you think I love my son more than you love yours? Do you think God loves my son more than yours?”
That leaves viewers with the impression that, since God loves us all equally, we’re all going to be in Heaven. But God’s love is only half the equation. On the other side is judgment.
In contrast to the movie, in the book, Todd Burpo has a conversation with a woman who wants to ask him about a baby she lost. She wants to know whether or not Colton would know if her baby is in Heaven. The Holy Spirit inspired Todd to say, “…if you believe God loves you as much as he loves me, and you believe he loves your living son as much as he loves my living son, don’t you believe that he loves your unborn child as much as he loves mine?” (p. 146). The answer that God gave Todd Burpo in reality works perfectly for that woman who lost an innocent child. But it does not work in the case of an adult old enough to be held accountable for their sins.
As adults, God loves us, yes, but without Christ, we cannot be saved. Moreover, it is Christ that gives us assurance IN our salvation. “I hope I go to heaven,” isn’t much different from what most people will say if you ask them where they think they will go when they die. But Christians can KNOW where they will go when they die because Jesus has paid the price for our sins:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” -John 3:16-18 (Last verse bolded for emphasis).
That is the Gospel message. That is the Good News.
But this is never mentioned in the movie. Never. Jesus is mentioned a few times, but mostly as someone who was kind to Colton when he was in Heaven.
In the movie, Jesus is not called Savior or Lord, and his death on the cross is only vaguely alluded to. Perhaps the reason for that is that SIN is never mentioned either. And without sin, without hell, there is no reason for Christ to have died. If everyone goes to heaven automatically after death, then God sent his Son to suffer and die in vain. In other words, there has to be something that Christ needed to save us FROM. The movie never touches on that at all. It’s cut out completely. In fact, it’s implied that hell may not even exist. When the woman mentions heaven and hell as concepts used to “control and frighten people,” Todd Burpo’s character says, “…all Colton’s ever talked about is heaven and how it’s a beautiful place.” That isn’t in line with the book. In the book, Colton tells his dad at one point that there is going to be a war in the future, where God and his angels and good people fight Satan and his monsters and bad people (p. 136). He then says, “Yeah, Dad, but it’s okay…Jesus wins. He throws Satan into Hell. I saw it” (p. 138).
And, with all due respect to the real Colton Burpo, regardless of what he says, he isn’t the one we put our faith in. Jesus is. And that means listening to Jesus’ words, not Colton’s. And Jesus DOES talk about Hell:
“If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” - Matthew 5:29-31
“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” -Matthew 10:28
“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?” -Matthew 23:33.
Heaven is real. God loves you. But Hell is also real, and God is a Holy God who cannot accept and condone sin. The Good News is that God loves us so much that he sent his own Son to die on the cross for our sins. He suffered the punishment that WE deserve. Then he rose again on the third day, and after 40 days teaching the apostles, ascended to the right hand of the Father. Someday, he will return to take his place as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Salvation means accepting Christ’s death on the cross, and making him the Lord of your life. Then, and only then, can we be assured of a place in Heaven. It’s not what we have done, but what Christ did for us.
I will say it again because it bears repeating: we cannot enter Heaven unless we have accepted Jesus and his atonement for our sins.
“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” -John 14:6
I’ll end with something that is in the novel, but which is sadly left out of the movie.
At one point, little Colton Burpo went to a funeral with his father, and Todd Burpo relates the following story:
Colton pointed to the casket. “What’s that, Daddy?”
I tried to keep it simple. “That’s the casket. The man who died is inside it.”
Suddenly, Colton…slammed his fists on his thighs, then pointed one finger at the casket and said in a near shout, “Did that man have Jesus?!”[…]”He had to! He had to!” Colton went on. “He can’t get into Heaven if he didn’t have Jesus in his heart!”
What about you? Do you have Jesus in your heart?
That is the most important question you will ever answer.
Are those statements true? Yes, most definitely! But, they do not represent the full truth, and if those are the only two truths you embrace, you may be headed down a very dangerous path. That is why I was incredibly disappointed by the movie, "Heaven is for Real."
Let me back up a bit.
I read the book, “Heaven is for Real,” a few years ago, and I loved it. It was in-line with scripture, and it was wonderfully inspiring and left me encouraged and uplifted. The real-life account is amazing, and I was thrilled to learn that there would be a movie. But, just a few days ago, I bought the movie and came away feeling incredibly let down, because not only does the movie not match the account in the book in some critical ways, more importantly, it’s not in-line with the Gospel.
The problems with the movie begin early on. Not counting the Lord’s prayer (which is repeated like a mantra a few times), scripture is almost entirely absent in the movie. Even when Todd Burpo’s character is supposedly preaching during a church service, he never uses scripture, and he mentions Jesus only once. Instead, he tells a story about a lion, a bear, and a unicorn that has nothing at all to do with scripture.
This continues when Todd Burpo’s character is summoned to the bedside of a dying man. To comfort the man, he says simply that, “I believe God forgives. And if he forgives anything than he’ll forgive everything.” Is God forgiving? Yes, but only through the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross.
Overall, viewers of the movie are left with the sense that Christians don’t actually believe what they say they believe. In the movie, Todd Burpo’s character even says this word for word: “We ask these kids to believe this stuff and I don’t even know if I believe it myself.”
Repeatedly, the idea that Colton could have gone to Heaven is met with skepticism, not only from people outside of the church, but from INSIDE the church. The most vocal critic is a woman on the church board. Here are her comments:
“Colton’s trip to heaven disturbs a lot of people. It disturbs me…I don’t like that it feels like some fairy tale, just a simple, easy explanation of life…Okay, I don’t like how it makes our church a magnet for everyone who wants to take the brain out of their head and beat it to death with the Bible and then seem to want to show off how much they believe. Heaven and Hell have always been concepts that have been used to control and frighten people.”
Please know, I’m not objecting to that sort of opposition being in the movie. Is it possible that someone could feel that way? Yes. Maybe someone is even thinking that same thing reading this post now. But what actually bothers me is the way her story plays out. Some of her bitterness is explained as the movie continues. Her son was a Marine who was killed in action, and she’s angry at God. She does eventually come to find some measure of peace, but her conflict is resolved this way:
“Do you think my son went to heaven?”
“Do you love your son still? Do you think I love mine? Do you think I love my son more than you love yours? Do you think God loves my son more than yours?”
That leaves viewers with the impression that, since God loves us all equally, we’re all going to be in Heaven. But God’s love is only half the equation. On the other side is judgment.
In contrast to the movie, in the book, Todd Burpo has a conversation with a woman who wants to ask him about a baby she lost. She wants to know whether or not Colton would know if her baby is in Heaven. The Holy Spirit inspired Todd to say, “…if you believe God loves you as much as he loves me, and you believe he loves your living son as much as he loves my living son, don’t you believe that he loves your unborn child as much as he loves mine?” (p. 146). The answer that God gave Todd Burpo in reality works perfectly for that woman who lost an innocent child. But it does not work in the case of an adult old enough to be held accountable for their sins.
As adults, God loves us, yes, but without Christ, we cannot be saved. Moreover, it is Christ that gives us assurance IN our salvation. “I hope I go to heaven,” isn’t much different from what most people will say if you ask them where they think they will go when they die. But Christians can KNOW where they will go when they die because Jesus has paid the price for our sins:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” -John 3:16-18 (Last verse bolded for emphasis).
That is the Gospel message. That is the Good News.
But this is never mentioned in the movie. Never. Jesus is mentioned a few times, but mostly as someone who was kind to Colton when he was in Heaven.
In the movie, Jesus is not called Savior or Lord, and his death on the cross is only vaguely alluded to. Perhaps the reason for that is that SIN is never mentioned either. And without sin, without hell, there is no reason for Christ to have died. If everyone goes to heaven automatically after death, then God sent his Son to suffer and die in vain. In other words, there has to be something that Christ needed to save us FROM. The movie never touches on that at all. It’s cut out completely. In fact, it’s implied that hell may not even exist. When the woman mentions heaven and hell as concepts used to “control and frighten people,” Todd Burpo’s character says, “…all Colton’s ever talked about is heaven and how it’s a beautiful place.” That isn’t in line with the book. In the book, Colton tells his dad at one point that there is going to be a war in the future, where God and his angels and good people fight Satan and his monsters and bad people (p. 136). He then says, “Yeah, Dad, but it’s okay…Jesus wins. He throws Satan into Hell. I saw it” (p. 138).
And, with all due respect to the real Colton Burpo, regardless of what he says, he isn’t the one we put our faith in. Jesus is. And that means listening to Jesus’ words, not Colton’s. And Jesus DOES talk about Hell:
“If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” - Matthew 5:29-31
“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” -Matthew 10:28
“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?” -Matthew 23:33.
Heaven is real. God loves you. But Hell is also real, and God is a Holy God who cannot accept and condone sin. The Good News is that God loves us so much that he sent his own Son to die on the cross for our sins. He suffered the punishment that WE deserve. Then he rose again on the third day, and after 40 days teaching the apostles, ascended to the right hand of the Father. Someday, he will return to take his place as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Salvation means accepting Christ’s death on the cross, and making him the Lord of your life. Then, and only then, can we be assured of a place in Heaven. It’s not what we have done, but what Christ did for us.
I will say it again because it bears repeating: we cannot enter Heaven unless we have accepted Jesus and his atonement for our sins.
“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” -John 14:6
I’ll end with something that is in the novel, but which is sadly left out of the movie.
At one point, little Colton Burpo went to a funeral with his father, and Todd Burpo relates the following story:
Colton pointed to the casket. “What’s that, Daddy?”
I tried to keep it simple. “That’s the casket. The man who died is inside it.”
Suddenly, Colton…slammed his fists on his thighs, then pointed one finger at the casket and said in a near shout, “Did that man have Jesus?!”[…]”He had to! He had to!” Colton went on. “He can’t get into Heaven if he didn’t have Jesus in his heart!”
What about you? Do you have Jesus in your heart?
That is the most important question you will ever answer.