The Conversation - Pt. I (The Question)

In your personal opinion, what do you understand it takes for a person to get to Heaven?

Heaven? Well, if there is such a place - and I hope there is, y'know - you gotta try and be good, and not, y'know, kill anybody ... and go to church, I guess, and ... I don't know. Just not screw anybody over, if you'll pardon my French. Why? What do you think it takes?"

It only takes one word and you've got the whole thing in the palm of your hand. Hold out your thumb. That's "F", and "F" is for forgiveness. We cannot have eternal life and heaven without God's forgiveness.

"Forgiveness? Ha! What do I need to be forgiven for? I live my life the way I want to, by my rules, and I'm pretty good. I've never asked for anything from God and that's what I've gotten."

You sound like a lot of people who are convinced they are self-made and self-contained. But inside, every person has a hole in their heart that can only be filled by God - a God-shaped hole, if you will. We are born with the inherent knowledge that there is something larger than us, something grander than us, something else besides us and some place else besides this world. People spend their whole life looking for the piece that fits in that space. We try to fill that hole with anything we can get our hands on, but only God will fit.

"God doesn't fit in my life, what with all His rules and "thou shalt not's."

Rules like "Love your neighbor?" Like "Heal the sick, feed the hungry and care for the poor?"

"No, rules like no drinking and no having fun; no running around with your buddies. You can't lie, you can't even look at a pretty woman! There's no sex and you have to go to church all the time. They're always trying to make you feel guilty."

I think you're confusing God with your parents. Jesus said, "I have come to the earth so you could have a fuller, more joyful, fulfilling life." And tell the truth: does excess alcohol really bring out the best in you? And nowhere in the Bible does it say you are can't have fun. And here's a heads up: God created sex.

"How about football and baseball games and fishing and hunting? And tailgate parties? And golf?"

They're not mentioned in the Bible as recreations. What the Bible does say - in my own words - is, "I am God. I am the only God. Don't put anything ahead of Me. Not football, baseball, golf, fishing, hunting or your desire for a new car or big screen plasma TV."

"See! Rules, rules and more rules and no fun!"

God doesn't say you can't have any of those things. He says don't make them your god. Don't put your desire to have the coolest stereo system on your block above Him.

"Well, that may be, but it still doesn't tell me why I need forgiveness. I'm no axe murdering serial killer, and I don't run around on my wife, and I don't look at porn on the internet - on purpose - and I don't do crack or meth or heroin or bet on the horses and I'm not a drunk ... at least not on a regular basis."

Sounds like you follow a set of rules. Maybe some of these sound familiar: Don't commit murder. Don't lie, cheat and steal. Honor your father and mother. Don't covet ...

"Yeah! That's one of those things: coveting! What the he ... heck is that, anyway?"

Remember when your neighbor, Bob, got his 50-inch plasma TV? Were you happy for him, or did you say to yourself, "That should be mine! I work harder than he does, and I've had to put up with a lot more crap at work, and I've had to work for everything I've ever gotten while he gets everything practically given to him! I deserve it more than he does." And Frank's wife, Marion...?

"Oh, yeah ... she's hot!"

Wanting what is not yours, whether you deserve it or not, is coveting.

"OK. So I have broken a few of "the rules," but does that make me such a terrible person? I mean, I've never acted on most of those impulses. Besides, nobody could keep all those rules. So I guess no one can get to Heaven. Or maybe we're all getting in!"

"Through Him (meaning Jesus) ... through Jesus we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sin." That's in the Bible, Ephesians chapter one, verse seven. You see, Jesus kept all those rules. He was the only one who ever did, and so He fulfilled The Law - which is what the Jews called the Ten Commandments. Jesus paid our tickets for breaking the rules, so now all we have to do is ask for forgiveness.

"I still don't think I've done anything so bad that God should be mad at me."

You already said you've broken a "few of the rules," so that means you have sinned. God said, "Keep these rules or forget about Heaven." In effect, your breaking of those rules means the sins were more important to you than God and eternal life. And, He's not mad at you. As a matter of fact, it breaks His heart.

"Breaks His heart? I'll bet He doesn't even know I exist!"

He formed you in your mother's belly. He mixed the DNA just so, just the way He wanted. He has numbered the hairs on your head - He doesn't just know how "many" hairs you have, He knows which one is which! Oh, yeah. He knows you exist.

"OK. So if Jesus paid for my tickets, then maybe I can buy into this forgiveness thing, since there's nothing major I have to do. What else you got?"

Well ... that brings us to the next letter. Hold out your first finger. Yeah, your "pointer" finger. This one is "A."