Heavenly Minded

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.—Philippians 1:21

A quick look at history reveals that some of the greatest things that have ever been done have been done by Christians who believe what the Word of God says. They have done things to help others, from building hospitals to founding relief organizations.

As C. S. Lewis said, “The Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next.”

Some people have been criticized for being so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good. But in response to that, I would say there are far more people today who are so earthly minded that they are no heavenly good. And when you are truly heavenly minded, then you will be of the greatest earthly good.

The apostle Paul said, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). I think that statement could have been attached to any Christian in Paul’s day: “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Look at the church of the first century and the way they changed their world. Those first-century Christians didn’t outargue the pagans, they outlived them. They also outthought and outprayed the nonbelievers, and the world was a different place as a result.

That is the kind of Christianity we need today. I wonder what would sum up the lives of a lot of Christians today. Would it be “to live is Christ, and to die is gain”? Maybe it would be something more along the lines of, “Hey, what about my needs?” That seems to be the battle cry of a lot of people today. If we train people to be consumers instead of communers, then we are going to end up with customers instead of disciples. I think we need to get back to this first-century model.