"Life on Earth is Preparation for Eternity"

My church is currently going through the 40 Days of Purpose series, and Thursday night we had our first session in small group. In the video, Rick Warren said, "Life on Earth is preparation for eternity." He then included Ecclesiastes 3:11 and Psalm 33:11 as references to support this statement. After checking out these verses, they didn't really seem to fit with what he was saying.

Over the past several days I have had mixed feelings on Rick Warren's statement, but as I've discussed it with several people including chat, small group, my sister, and through discussion board, I think I've been able to figure out my thoughts. Here goes:

For the person who is not a Christian, it is very clear that life on earth is preparation for eternity because their decision of whether or not they accept Christ as Lord will determine where they end up in eternity. We can see this truth in Matthew 6:19-21, which talks about treasures on earth vs. treasures in heaven.

The part I wrestled with originally was the relevance of this statement in the life of a Christian. I thought to myself, what in life would prepare me for eternity if I'm already a Christian? A man in my small group mentioned that the hardships we face in life prepare us for eternity. I thought about that, but I disagreed because the book of Revelation tells us that when we get to heaven, we will forget the pain, heartache, and hardships of our former life (life on earth) and will partake in the joy of heaven. So, how could our hardships prepare us if they will serve no consequence in eternity?

Another person in my small group said that the good things we do in this life will determine how much of a reward we will receive in heaven. I disagreed with her on this statement because I do not know of anywhere in Scripture where this viewpoint is supported. In fact, I learn something very different when I check out what Scripture says.

There is a parable in Matthew 20:1-16 in which Jesus describes a man who buys a plot of land and hires out help to get his work done. He hires people all day long starting in the morning and ending in the evening, and he promised everyone who worked the same sum of money. Let's say $100 for the sake of the story. So, at the end of the day, the workers come to collect their dues, and the ones who have been working since the morning think they're going to get paid really well because they've been working all day and some people only worked for an hour. However, the owner paid each worker $100. The ones who had been working all day were outraged, but the owner told them he gave them what he promised, and he has the right to give his workers whatever he wants.

This parable is comparable to heaven. As Christians, we are continually working toward pleasing God and joining Him in heaven. This is not to say that our salvation is based on works. Rather, the good things we do should be our response to God's love for us. Regardless of whether we accept Christ as savior in our childhood or at the end of life, we have still accepted His grace and will join Him in heaven. Through this parable we can see that God does not choose favorites with those who worked the hardest, but He treats everyone equally.

I later spoke with my sister on the topic of the statement "Life on Earth is preparation for eternity" and asked her what she thought. I felt she shared some good insight, and after sharing this topic with several Christians, I feel I have a good understanding of things. Here's a combination of what they shared. The life we spend on Earth is preparation for eternity because as Christians we are doing our best to tell others about Christ so that we can see them in heaven. We are preparing now for who we hope to see in the future. Also, it is in this present life that we are learning about God's love, joy, and service and how to have/do it more fully. This is preparation for how we will live it out when we are in heaven loving and serving each other.

After wrestling with this statement for a few days and getting feedback from several people, I've come to the conclusion that I do agree with Rick Warren's statement that "Life on Earth is preparation for eternity." I'd never really perceived life on Earth in this way before, and I think that's why these words stuck out like a sore thumb to me when I first heard them.

I guess now the question I need to answer for myself is, now that I realize my present life is preparation for what's to come, what am I going to do about it? What in my life do I need to start/stop doing?