Will Heaven Be Boring?

Will I get bored in heaven? This is one

of those kinds of questions that

followers of Jesus don't feel like they

should be able to ask, but I think if

we're honest, a lot of us do, including

myself. Welcome to Provoke and Inspire,

where I wrestle with culture and current

events by asking what would Jesus think

and what would Jesus do.

Look, whether you're a follower of Jesus

or not, the thought of dying is scary.

And as followers of Jesus, we of course

comfort ourselves by believing that life

is not our ultimate destination. And

while dying is of course understandably

scary, we have a great source of hope.

Now, on the surface, this sounds great.

But let's be honest, if I think about

heaven for more than 30 seconds, the

emotions it produces isn't comfort, it's

fear. Maybe it feels sacriiggious to

admit it, but I have generally coped

with my angst about heaven by not

thinking about it. That is until

recently. I came across a video on

social media of two guys on a subway

having a casual conversation about the

afterlife. One guy said, quote, "I think

heaven would suck eventually. You would

get bored and it would become hell."

Now, this was not some deep

philosophical discussion. And it's

unclear whether either of them actually

believed heaven was real, but their

argument struck a chord with me. Were

they right? You see, for most of my

life, I conceptualized heaven as they

do, a place of eternal good times. I've

imagined this life, but without pain and

disappointment and suffering. But then

the doubts would begin to creep in.

Would that actually be cool to

experience forever? Now, I've heard all

sorts of counterarguments and rebuttals,

and the worst one I heard was actually

from my grandmother. I remember having a

conversation with my grandpa about

sports and whether sports would be in

heaven because in my 10-year-old brain

that was a very important factor. Now,

as we were having this discussion, she

interrupted my out loud musings in the

back of their Chevy Lumina and simply

said, "Oh, honey, in heaven, you'll just

be worshiping at the throne of God

forever." That did not comfort my

10-year-old brain. Fortunately, my

grandpa came to the rescue and he gave

me one of those reassuring shakes of the

head. As if to say without words, "I

love her, but that sounds miserable for

me, too." Now, another and possibly more

common response I hear to my concerns

is, "Well, we just can't understand what

heaven will be like. It's just way

beyond us." The mystery explanation

isn't emotionally satisfying, even

though it's obvious from an intellectual

perspective. Still, have I had the right

sort of mystery in mind? Recently, I've

had a paradigm shift that has

dramatically changed my view of heaven.

What I long for most is not the

multiplication of pleasures found here

on earth. It's for a substance of an

entirely different kind. The guys in the

video are absolutely right. If heaven is

just good coffee, sunsets, and jet ski

rides multiplied, that wouldn't be

paradise. That would be a cage. My shift

in perspective occurred when I began to

view heaven as the consummation of a

kind of intimacy that here on earth

always feels kind of watered down and

distant. It will not be like that in

heaven. There we will finally and fully

have what we are created for. A perfect

union with the one who made us once and

for all. We will have the kind of love

that emanates from the infinite himself

which is inexhaustibly fulfilling. In

short, we will never get bored of being

loved by God. It is the kind of

satisfaction that relegates all other

pleasures, even uncorrupted, infinitely

multiplied earthly pleasures, to their

proper place. An awesome bonus to be

experienced from a place of total

wholeness and joy. He will satisfy our

deep desires to be known and loved with

such perfection that we will laugh at

having thought that a good meal or a

vacation in the Bahamas could have ever

stood in its place. This new paradigm is

no less mysterious, but it's the kind of

mystery that I can wrap my head around.

Paradoxes aside, this was a necessary

shift in my thinking. So, yeah, my

grandma was right. I long for God

himself, and I will never grow tired of

being in his presence. She could have

just maybe explained it a little bit

better. Thanks for watching Provoke and

Inspire. If you enjoyed this content,

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for everything else. That's it. Peace.