Why on Earth?
By Scott Collins
In just a few hours, we’ll welcome 2015 into being. The New Year is a time we review and preview. We diagnose everything from our weight to the weight of the future. In the spirit of reflection, let me ask you, “Why are you on earth?”
In his upcoming book, Agents of Redemption, Buckner President Albert Reyes writes, “Redemption is God’s movement in history to rescue individuals from the dominion of darkness into the realm of the Kingdom of Jesus, his son.” And true to the book’s title, Reyes further writes, “The greatest resource of God’s redemptive mission on earth is the followers of Jesus.”
In his book Surprised by Hope, N.T. Wright argues that being on earth is about more than going to heaven or hell. That is not, Wright believes, “the end game.” What happens to me after my death is not the “major, central, framing question,” but rather, “God’s purpose of rescue and re-creation for the whole world.”
In other words, if your only theological reason for being on earth is to go to heaven, you are missing out on a lot of fun stuff right now. “The whole point of being saved in the present is so that we can play a vital role within the larger picture and purpose” of God, according to Wright.
I’m pretty certain heaven is going to be a lot of fun. But why wait? God calls us to get into the game now and be part of his renewal of creation.
Paul calls us into this ministry in 2 Corinthians 5 by reminding Christ-followers that we are new creations ourselves. He writes that “he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors.”
You ask the question, “Where do I start?” Remember, the kingdom Jesus brought was for “earth as it in heaven,” so start wherever you find yourself on earth.
It’s at this point where I put on my hat as chief P.R. person for Buckner and point you towww.buckner.org. Check out the heading “Engage.” You’ll find all sorts of ways you can be an agent of redemption.
As you thumb through the 2015 calendar of your life for the next 12 months, look for times when you can be an agent of Christ, not just for heaven’s sake, but earth’s, too.
Scott Collins is vice president of communications for Buckner.
Prayer of the Week:
-God, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
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