Thoughts on Heaven
So I was sitting in church this morning, thinking about Heaven. Yes, I go to church. Most of you already know my views on it; I still live with my parents though, and until I move out, I follow their rules. Anyway, Heaven. I've actually been thinking about this for awhile now, years, but I realized a few things today.
RELIGIOUS TALK STARTS NOW. DO NOT CLICK THE CUT IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED. IF YOU DO, AND YOU'RE OFFENDED, AND YOU LEAVE A COMMENT, I WILL NOT HOLD BACK WITH YOU. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Anyway. So, this Heaven place, it's paradise, right? Perfection? Or at least, that's what I've always been told. It's supposed to be a place where we're all equals under God, where there won't be any pain or suffering, any physical ailments will be healed, etc. Sounds perfect, right?
Except - we won't be equals. Seriously. I'm sitting there in church today, and the pastor says something about how some of us will be called great, and some will be there only by the skin of our teeth basically. (Not a direct quote, I'm summarizing here.) And it gets me thinking, what's so wonderful about that? I've already thought about how we're going to 'fall down at His feet in reverence and worship Him for all eternity', and I've decided I don't like it. If Heaven's supposed to be perfect, why are we all being made slaves? Really, it's perfect by whose definition?
My idea of perfect and someone else's idea of perfect aren't going to be the same; we're human, we have different opinions. But I can pretty much guarantee that nobody want to become a mindless slave. So, is God going to take away our free will? Our brain? Our heart? Will we all become robots, thinking and acting only as He would have us act? I know I don't want that. Who would?
Also, Heaven is made out to be this beautiful place with streets of pure gold, gates made of precious gems, yadda yadda. We'll all be given mansions based on our earthly deeds. Is this sounding more and more like a competition to anyone else? I mean, isn't it our human instinct to want the biggest, most extravagant possessions? To be greater than the next person?
God loves us. If I'm going to believe in God, I'm going to believe that. Otherwise, we wouldn't be here, right? He'd have destroyed us by now. (According to the book of Genesis, He did that once alreay, pretty much.) Anyway, so He loves us despite our imperfections, despite our differences, despite the fact that we all have our own views and no two people are exactly alike. So, if He loves us so much, why would he want us to all be His mindless slaves? I don't understand that.
I'm not trying to pick a fight here or start an argument, and I'm definitely not out to offend anyone. I just want to understand why everyone thinks this sounds so great. I'll be honest, I'm analytical. Probably overly-so. I based all my decisions and values and morals in logic. Logically speaking, Heaven, or at least, the Baptist version of Heaven (I won't pretend to know any other kind), doesn't make sense.
END OF RELIGIOUS TALK.
Thoughts, anyone?
RELIGIOUS TALK STARTS NOW. DO NOT CLICK THE CUT IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED. IF YOU DO, AND YOU'RE OFFENDED, AND YOU LEAVE A COMMENT, I WILL NOT HOLD BACK WITH YOU. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Anyway. So, this Heaven place, it's paradise, right? Perfection? Or at least, that's what I've always been told. It's supposed to be a place where we're all equals under God, where there won't be any pain or suffering, any physical ailments will be healed, etc. Sounds perfect, right?
Except - we won't be equals. Seriously. I'm sitting there in church today, and the pastor says something about how some of us will be called great, and some will be there only by the skin of our teeth basically. (Not a direct quote, I'm summarizing here.) And it gets me thinking, what's so wonderful about that? I've already thought about how we're going to 'fall down at His feet in reverence and worship Him for all eternity', and I've decided I don't like it. If Heaven's supposed to be perfect, why are we all being made slaves? Really, it's perfect by whose definition?
My idea of perfect and someone else's idea of perfect aren't going to be the same; we're human, we have different opinions. But I can pretty much guarantee that nobody want to become a mindless slave. So, is God going to take away our free will? Our brain? Our heart? Will we all become robots, thinking and acting only as He would have us act? I know I don't want that. Who would?
Also, Heaven is made out to be this beautiful place with streets of pure gold, gates made of precious gems, yadda yadda. We'll all be given mansions based on our earthly deeds. Is this sounding more and more like a competition to anyone else? I mean, isn't it our human instinct to want the biggest, most extravagant possessions? To be greater than the next person?
God loves us. If I'm going to believe in God, I'm going to believe that. Otherwise, we wouldn't be here, right? He'd have destroyed us by now. (According to the book of Genesis, He did that once alreay, pretty much.) Anyway, so He loves us despite our imperfections, despite our differences, despite the fact that we all have our own views and no two people are exactly alike. So, if He loves us so much, why would he want us to all be His mindless slaves? I don't understand that.
I'm not trying to pick a fight here or start an argument, and I'm definitely not out to offend anyone. I just want to understand why everyone thinks this sounds so great. I'll be honest, I'm analytical. Probably overly-so. I based all my decisions and values and morals in logic. Logically speaking, Heaven, or at least, the Baptist version of Heaven (I won't pretend to know any other kind), doesn't make sense.
END OF RELIGIOUS TALK.
Thoughts, anyone?