Eternal Mindset

On March 5th, the World Racers went to a local church called Village Church. The church had a cake, cookies, brownies, tea & coffee, basically all the goodies. The worship was beautiful and then a speaker came up and initiated a time for the congregation to share anything that was on their hearts. The first woman who shared had been a devout Muslim her whole life and in that moment she gave her life to Christ! Right then and there! She started weeping and familiar faces surrounded & comforted her by celebrating the new life she accepted!

After this joyous occasion, the main speaker shared a convicting message. He asked the question, “where do we go after death?” and preceded to state how “most people have a false sense of security about eternity.” Take a minute for that statement to settle in… reread it. To prove this statement was true, the speaker referenced Luke 16:19-31 where the parable of a Rich Man & Lazarus passed away. If you have the time & resources I recommend you go read this passage! Firstly, the speaker acknowledged how Jesus named the poor man Lazarus, yet left the rich man unnamed. The speaker talked about Jesus knowing Lazarus by name, yet voluntarily left the rich man nameless. This countercultural action of naming the poor man while leaving the rich man nameless proves the heart posture of each individual. Jesus ignored the social status of both men and saw their heart posture.

In the scriptural passage, both men die in verse 22. The passage doesn’t mention Lazarus getting a proper burial, whereas the rich man was buried. Now this is Josh Ockrin speculating, but I picture the rich man having a proper funeral with kind words spoken in honor of his “luxury” life and Lazarus laying dead at the gate of the rich man’s house. Verse 22 goes on to say, “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.” By this point, the rich man is obviously quite envious of Lazarus’s position and calls for Abraham to “have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.”

Alright so by this point you might be like “maybe God will give the rich man a second chance?” or “eternal agony in fire sounds harsh, don’t we serve a loving God?” I don’t blame you for having these perspectives because I did have that thought up until recently. Instead, what Abraham has to say is SO convicting. “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.’” And Abraham goes on to say there’s no leaving heaven or hell once you’ve entered. He says, “And besides all, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.” From this I understand that heaven & hell are eternal realms where you will be for eternity.

The rich man had a false sense of security about eternity. He pursued what the world deemed to be successful and ultimately got that success, but it was surely temporary. On the contrary to the rich man’s lifestyle, Lazarus had “dogs [that] came and licked his sores.” He seemed like he had nothing from the world’s view, yet he was the one who was comforted by Abraham. Lazarus had an eternal mindset on what was to come, the rich man had his focus on material prized possessions. Lazarus had the mindset, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21).

Jesus says, “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven” (Matt 10:32-33). I share this message with you because I have learned the importance of acknowledging Jesus as my Savior & hope you can recognize that same importance. I realize it’s a touchy subject for some, and I’ve hesitated to share this, but I know someone out there needed this reminded of how there is eternal life after death. Death is inevitable and you decide where you spend eternity, heaven or hell.

To conclude, I want to share with you that the speaker of Village Church shared that the fear of judgement day and death actually convinced him to choose the Father. As I process the meaning of fear in relation to God, I’ve realized fear does not represent what we typically believe as darkness, or being afraid of, but being in awe and submission to the Father. The speaker shared that he did not even fully understand the Father’s love when he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior, yet he held an eternal mindset. Fear – awe and submission – brought the speaker into a relationship with the Father. I’d be overstepping my boundaries to question the process he took to accept the Father into his heart. Once he had the Spirit activated inside him, he learned of the Father’s love and started sharing & acknowledging Jesus to others! Having an eternal mindset saved the speaker and I can only imagine so many others to come. 

On a side note, I got to see my parents during PVT – Parent Vision Trip – and we got to do ministry in Guatemala together with the organization One Way! Team Selah will be partnering with One Way serving through soccer ministry, school outreach, and house visits until the beginning of May! Super exciting to serve alongside this powerful ministry group with such great people!!! Hallelujah