If there was no heaven, would you still follow Jesus?

From the beginning of time, people have been waiting for evil to be crushed and the world to finally work in the way we all know it’s supposed to. For many, heaven is the final realization of this desire. Somewhere along the way, the Christian movement saw its message evolve into the bite-sized message “believe in Jesus so you can go to heaven some day.” In this transition, the good news that Jesus preached lost its distinction and became nothing more than another religion offering its adherents the chance to go to “the good place” if they will only behave, worship, or believe in a certain way.

Although we say, “Christianity is a relationship, not a religion,” how many of us actually know that to be true in the way that we live? If there was no heaven, if there was only this life, how may of us would still want a relationship with God? Does our relationship go beyond that of cause and effect (e.g. I ask Jesus into my heart, He gives me what I want [heaven, happiness, etc…])? How many of us would be fine with going to the heaven we hear about in Church even if God wasn’t there?

Perhaps part of the reason Christians today find their message lacking appeal is the gap of time between acceptance of the gospel and the final reward of heaven. Apart from fear, any intelligent person would wait until his very last minute to “trust in Jesus” because it involves the greatest amount of reward for the least amount of input.

As with any scenario, the solution is more difficult to describe than the problem.  However, I believe it requires a shift in the focus of Christianity from “believing” to “walking.” In the garden, one aspect of life differed consistently from the modern lifestyle: when man and woman had slept, worked and eaten, they spent time walking in the garden talking with God. This is the one aspect of their life that is completely obliterated by the fall into sin. When God came to talk with His friends, they were scared of Him and tried to hide. Though God in His perfect nature should have destroyed that which was now contrary to His image, He immediately began to offer promises of reassurance that He still wanted a relationship. The Biblical narrative continues from this point to show God constantly seeking a restoration of this relationship while maintaining the holiness of His character. Jesus death was required in order for God to justify His actions and stay true to His purity. At great personal cost, the Trinity made it possible for mankind to walk with God like in the first days of innocence.

This is both the blessing and the promise into which every person is called. Heaven is not the promise but a fuller realization of that promise. Walking with God is that missing piece of life that everything in a person longs to find. It is that hole in our hearts that simply ‘believing in Jesus’ is never going to fill.

If not for the joy of this ongoing relationship, what reason is there for a person to be a Christian? If we do not enjoy spending time with God right now, what makes us think we would like it any better in the place we know of as heaven?