As a ten year old, when I asked, after baptism, "Now what do we do?," the words "go to heaven when you die" were absolutely discouraging! By the time I was a confused fifteen year old, "when you die, you go to heaven, sounded like the plan to expedite!" Nobody in Christendom ever repeated to me, the words of Messiah in Matthew 22:32b, . . . G-d is not
the G-d of the dead, but of the living. Granted I had a Bible of my own, but that was in the day kids couldn't possibly know anything . . . except of course what they were told.
The principal of my Jr. High went to the same church, and he very succinctly explained there was a line between church and public place. When the deacon is the principal, where do you go from there? The pastor worked at the penitentiary and the public town pool was "too worldly," so the girl's class went swimming at the prison . . . It's so easy to look back and see why it didn't make sense, but it's also very easy to remember that you couldn't ask why it didn't make sense. Any questions along those lines were a lack of respect for elders or immaturity in your faith!
Faith is not opposed to reason and shame on the religious leaders that have taught that. Many have! Many still do. Although, it's not really spoken as such, many religious leaders lead struggling, questioning congregants into self-condemnation for not getting on top of their struggles or for questioning G-d! I don't think these individuals are questioning G-d, they are questioning those claiming to be speaking on His behalf.
So many seem to be struggling with unanswered questions and examples that make no sense, but still have the same promise . . . "when you die, you go to heaven . . ." I truly think some of these individuals honestly believe this is their only choice.
http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/watchman-on-the-wall/42063-why-are-so-many-pastors-committing-suicide
Our younger generations have enough hopelessness with the direction of the world, we simply cannot offer them beliefs without reason, and hope only in death.
Come now, and let us reason together, says YHWH . . . Isaiah 1:18a
For the believer, as long as we remain living, it only means that we have more purpose that God wishes to fulfill through us. We should be excited to seeing what that is, and confident that God sees us through whatever hardships we may encounter. Never the less, not my will but thine be done.
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