Why Are You a Christian?
Why do you have a relationship with God? Is it for the result of heaven? What if there was no heaven?
I remember this one Friday night vespers I had, when I was in late middle school or early high school. Our pastor asked us, “Would you still follow God if there was no heaven/after life?”
Would I still follow God if there were no heaven?
If there were no heaven, I would live with no consequences of hell, and try to get away with a lot of things. If there were no heaven, I would probably not even be at Friday night vespers, would I?
If this was true for me, this means my whole relationship with God is based on a beneficial exchange. I act according to God’s laws, and God gives me heaven so I will not have to perish in hell.
What kind of relationship is that? It is like marrying your spouse because that person can feed you and give you financial security, instead of marrying her or him because you love the person.
I pondered a lot on this question, and I was scared for my own answer. What frightened me was the fact that I might hold my fear of not getting into heaven so highly, that it becomes the whole of my motives. On top of that, I will probably not go to heaven because I don’t love God. I love being saved from hell.
From there, I reevaluated my relationship with God: to figure out reasons why I am in a relationship with God. It was not “why I want heaven” anymore; it was “why I want God.”
Being in a relationship with God is safe and comforting, daring and exciting and fulfilling and satisfying. We receive all these things from God, and He only wishes for us to obey Him in return; and when you love someone, you would want to do what makes that person happy. That is why we act according to God in the way that we do - not to get to heaven, but just because we love Him. I realized this years later.
Where is the root of our relationship with God? Is it because of a friendship, relationship, benefit, personal revival, gateway, position, or reputation? When everything breaks apart, is there a foundation strong enough to hold up your relationship with God?
For me, if heaven did not exist, it was not enough. That is what scared me the most. I did not want to admit that no heaven was all it took. All my motives derived from the hope of not “burning in hell.”
I refused to let that be my reasoning and decided to rebuild my spiritual foundation from the bottom with the sturdiest reason possible: because I personally love God, because this God is my God, and He walks with me throughout my life. From there, I’m slowly building a relationship with God and experience life with Him.
If there is no heaven, would I continue my relationship with God? Yes, I can confidently say that I would, because He is worth it.
Elizabeth Kim is a junior at Andrews university and majoring in elementary education.