Heaven is like... a Big Barbeque?

Today, I’m taking a brief break from my ‘Letters to my Students’ series to tell you how Heaven – not that other place! – is like a barbeque… 

A Beautiful Saturday

Many Saturdays ago, I woke up and decided to have an impromptu barbeque at my house simply because the weather was spectacular.  I sent out the following email:

What’s up everyone,

In keeping with my M.O., I’m having a last minute BBQ at my place today and then watching Avengers after.  I have chicken marinating and ribs, and will prolly pick up dogs and burgers if enough ppl want to come out.  Or, you can just BYOM (bring your own meat) and I’ll toss it on the grill for ya.

Hit me up via text if you’re in (555-555-5555) so I know how many ppl to prep for.  I know a few of ya already expressed interest in either the movie or the BBQ so just confirm if you’re in.  Anyone I left off this email, feel free to send this invite along – everyone is welcome.

Unlike many of my spur-of-the-moment ideas, this one happened to be rather successful – over 30 people showed up, despite the fact that I emailed out an invite only a few hours beforehand!  I was so excited by the success that I gushed over it with a few friends at work the following Monday:

Friend 1: “Do anything cool this weekend?”

Mr. Lin:  “Yeah, I had a barbeque at my house on Saturday!  It was pretty awesome!”

Friend 1: “Oh yeah, sorry I couldn’t make it.  My husband and I already had plans, but next time let me know earlier!”

Mr. Lin:  “Haha ok, my bad.  You know how I roll… I need to get better at planning.”

Friend 2: “You had a barbeque and didn’t invite me??”

Although she was only giving me a hard time, she kind of had a point.  Or… did she?  After all, on my email I wrote:

“Anyone I left off this email, feel free to send this invite along – everyone is welcome.”

The Problem with Christianity

A not-so-long time ago, when I was a Christian only by name and not by faith, I struggled with many concepts.  One of my biggest issues was that only Christians were to go to heaven – which left out many people who were really awesome people.  I mean, most of my closest friends weren’t Christians, and honestly, they were (and still are) some of the best people that I know!  To me, it didn’t seem fair.  Fast forward 10+ years to the present, and I still have some of the same thoughts.  Although I now have some great Christian friends, I’m incredibly blessed with many truly amazing non-Christian friends.  Their unconditional love, integrity, and self-sacrificial nature are more in line with what the bible teaches than most Christians I know – myself included. 

As I’ve gotten to know the bible, I’ve slowly begun to understand some of the things that confounded me for all these years about Christianity.  First off, in Romans 3:21-26 it states that being a Christian doesn't make you a good person.  I mean, I’m a Christian and I still get caught up in lots of things that wouldn’t be considered Christ-like behavior!  The fact is we’re all the same… well, except for one detail.  In many ways, this difference is like the barbeque I was hosting – everyone is invited; it’s just whether or not we show up!

Heaven is like a Big Barbeque

After talking to some people that didn’t make it to my barbeque that Saturday, I realized that those that didn’t come fell into 3 categories:

1)      They didn’t know anyone else that was coming, so they decided not to come

2)      They didn’t hear from someone that I invited that I was having a barbeque

3)      They had already made plans

I’d guess these are similar reasons to why the city I live in has 5.26 million people, but there is only seating room for 150,000 in all the churches in the area:

1)      They don’t know anyone that goes to church, so they don’t go either

2)      No one invited them

3)      They have other things to do

Going to church isn't what brings about salvation, but it's a good introduction for anyone that's curious about Christianity.  So... for those of us that are Christians, when was the last time you asked one of your friends to come to church with you?  And, for those that aren’t Christians, when was the last time someone invited you? 

Friends,

            If anyone wants to come to church with me some day, I’ll be more than happy to take you!  If not, I still love ya and won’t think less of you… just like I’m sure you don’t think less of me for asking.  Thanks for reading my blog, and feel free to ask me questions about my faith!

                                                                                                            Love,

                                                                                                            Johnny

This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.  ~ 1 Timothy 2:3-4