Sep
22
2016
I’m going to do some ‘myth-busting’ in this month’s column. “Be careful little eyes what you see…” was a Pre-school Sunday School song we used to sing many years ago. It is still pretty good advice! One of the new television shows I saw advertised intrigued me. It is called “The Good Place.” I figured out they were talking about Heaven, so I wanted to watch it, but missed it. From what several friends have told me, I think I’ll keep on missing it. There are several premises that are just not true and will lead to worry and a lack of peace. One of them is that surprised persons are told that they are dead and have ended up in “The Good Place” (as opposed to the Bad place) because ‘They’ are keeping track of the good things and bad things each person has done. When you have done more good than bad, you (supposedly) go to “The Good Place.”
This is wrong because none of us goes to Heaven because our ‘goods’ outweigh our ‘bads.’ We are given both the forgiveness of our sins and that entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven by Jesus’ taking upon Himself all of our sins on the cross. He died as the “one full, perfect and sufficient sacrifice” for us to make us right with God. When we accept Jesus’ offer to come into our lives, He not only does the “clean-up job,” but gives us that “ticket” into Heaven. So, we don’t have to worry any more about whether we are “good enough,” or whether someone we love who has accepted Jesus will go to Heaven when they die. You go directly to Heaven, without having to ‘change planes in Dallas’ or any of that other nonsense you may have heard.
One of the other bombshell errors on that TV show was that someone ended up in “The Good Place” by mistake. God doesn’t make mistakes! In John’s Gospel, chapter 8:32, Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” When it comes to some of these pop-culture things like this new show, there are going to be people who are made anxious, confused and worried. I’m sure the Evil One will be happy about that, but God’s people need to know the truth. Jesus does not want any of us to be worried, scared or anxious. He desires that we be full of joy and peace, no matter what kinds of difficulties we may have to face here on earth. Once we know these truths from Jesus, we will be set free from any of these fears and worries. We will indeed have that “Peace that passes the world’s understanding” because we won’t buy any of these lies or part-truths that keep us from what God truly wants to give us! Don’t let yourself get sucked into any of these modern myths. Stick to the Gospel truth, and encourage your friends, your kids and grandkids to find that truth, too.
Grace and Peace,
