Eternity’s Constant Tug

By Jack Partridge

I have discovered that heaven is not very far from the lost mind. When I bring up the subject of heaven with non-Christians, I find that most of them act as if they have been thinking about heaven long before I brought it up. Ed Stetzer, Missiologist and Senior Director of the North American Mission Board’s Center for Missional Research, has apparently discovered this too. Through a recent survey in cooperation with Zogby International, they found that “one of every five respondents said they wonder daily about the certainty of going to heaven.” Though you may be uncomfortable asking the well known evangelistic question “If you were to die today do you know for sure you would go to heaven?” it does not mean that you should avoid the subject altogether. Followers of Jesus don’t share the same struggles about eternity as lost people. The longer we are Christians and stay immersed in the Christian culture and insulate ourselves from a lost world, the less we know about what a lost person is thinking. The best thing you can do is to go into any spiritual discussion as a learner. Never assume that you know where a lost person is coming from because you almost certainly don’t. The next time you cross paths with anyone, do a little more listening than normal, combine it with prayer and a passionate expectation to share the gospel, and just see where that takes you.