Christian Cliché

"Remember. Don't be so heavenly minded to be any earthly good."

This cliché is not necessarily the domain of Christian circles, but is popular in our post-Christian culture. I've heard Christians quote this mantra whenever we discuss heaven, or the church's role in social reform. It is as if, working in this world requires being earthly minded.

Actually, I've come to the conclusion that if we are earthly good it is precisely because we are heavenly minded. In other words, the more we understand heaven, and the One who dwells there, the more we will understand our role in this world. On the flip side, the more earthly minded we become, the more bogged down we are by worldly matters—even to the point of being no real good to God or to those in the world.

In Luke 12:13-34 the problem the rich man had was not that he was too focused on heaven to care about the concerns of earth. It was that he was too focused on this life (his concerns in this world) to care about the concerns of heaven.

Think about it. Do you agree with what Jesus said is true? "Life does not consist in the abundance of one's possessions." If you do, what are you worried about? What are you living for? Or better yet, how do you see the person who has nothing in comparison to you? Can you tell them what Jesus said about possessions? If not, why not? Do you really believe it when you or someone else lives below the poverty line?

In Colossians 3, Paul blatantly tells Christians to be heavenly minded, because it leads to earthly behavior that is pleasing to God. Our perspective is shifted from selfish, worldly living, to living in harmony with God's will. We actually have a change of mindset when we consider heaven in all that we do.

What do you believe? (Consider Philippians 3:17-21, Hebrews 12:1-3, and Romans 12:1-2)