Making Heaven Suck

While in twelfth grade, a friend of mine told me something that changed my life forever.  He told me that I should drink coffee.  This friend of mine was a rugged dude; the kind of guy who would be featured in a Carhartt jacket ad.  When my friend told me this, it clicked.  I had been a fool up til then.  If Carhartt ad guy thought that I should drink coffee, who else held this belief?  My conclusion was probably everyone.  From then it was sealed; I would become a coffee drinker.  And here I sit, writing this as I sip a latte.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people say that they are sick.  It wouldn't be that big of a deal if they weren't so sure of themselves.  I hear some people tell me that they are sick so often that it's hard to remember anything else about them.  I look at them and I can't help but think, "Oh yeah, she's sick."

The sad thing is that they're right.  Sickness is a role, and if one constantly puts himself in that role, well then by golly, he's there.  No one would ever admit to desiring sickness, but if one thinks about it, sickness is kind of attractive.  The sick role get lots of attention, it gives an excuse for bad performance, and an excuse to lavish blessings upon oneself.  You know, to heal.  But being in this role has the obvious downside of "you're going to feel terrible."  And you will.  Because you're sick.

This works with anything.  It certainly did with me and coffee.  I put myself in the role of coffee drinker, and it became true.  When we tell ourselves who we are over and over, we're going to act that way because it's the truth we know.  But when we listen to who we tell ourselves we are, we're bound to get it wrong.  Because we have a horrible perception of what is true.

In the book of Matthew, Jesus tells His disciples that He will give them the keys of heaven, and whatever they "bind" on earth will also be "bound" in heaven.  When we declare truth on earth, heaven follows suit.  So when we say to ourselves that we are a certain way, and we believe with absolute certainty that it's true (whether we realize we're doing this or not), it's true.  We're making heaven suck.

This is why I believe the Bible also calls us to speak the truth in love to one another.  Because we are bad at perceiving the truth, God calls our brothers and sisters to help us establish it.  This should frighten you.  Because it means when you speak truth to someone else, it affects their eternity.  For better or for worse.

You are not sick.  Sickness may visit you, but you are not sick.  If you're choosing to form a union with sickness, you may want to stop.  It's going to make you feel terrible.  What else are you telling yourself that is not representative of reality?  Since there are those of us who claim that God is reality, maybe we should speak the truth that He sees.  Anything less makes heaven suck.  And a sucky heaven is just hell.