If you died tonight...

"If you died tonight, do you know where you'd go?" It's a question most of us have heard at some point in our lives. It's one that many people have posed to unassuming strangers as a lead-in to conversation about salvation and developing a relationship with Jesus. But usually people on the receiving end of that question just want to run in the other direction or they simply ignore the questioner and walk right by them.

I'm all about questions related to faith. I think questions, thoughtful questions, help to draw us into deeper relationship with God as we seek to uncover more about God and ourselves. But I've never liked the "if you died tonight" question. I've always found it to be a question that's little more than a thinly veiled threat and is often perceived as such by those on the receiving end.

But aside from the question being antagonistic, what really frustrates me about that questions is that it reduces this incredible life-giving relationship with God to a sort of mechanical spiritual fire insurance. The question pre-supposes that the entire point of a relationship with Jesus is to secure salvation after we die. It becomes a get out of jail free card where we can escape eternal fires of damnation and go straight to eternal bliss.

One of the few things that just about all Christians can agree on is that a relationship with Jesus means that when this life ends, there is still a form of life after death; that in accepting Christ we will also experience the resurrection of Christ. But to say that's all that a relationship with Jesus is about is to do serious injustice to the Good News proclaimed by Jesus.

A relationship with Jesus is as much about life here and now, not just about life after death. A relationship with Jesus is about experiencing forgiveness of sins,and freedom from the many things that dominate our lives. It frees us from the rat race, the constant pressure to make more and buy more and consume more. A relationship with Jesus is about being part of a family that supports one another, loves one another, encourages one another, admonishes one another, serves one another, honors one another, teaches one another, learns from one another, forgives one another and so much more. A relationship with Jesus is about admitting that we need God's grace to give us the strength to live as God calls us to live. A relationship with Jesus is about experiencing the abundant life that Jesus offers us right now, not just life after death. The really ironic thing is that it is in relationship with Jesus that we discover our true-selves.

Yet so many of our evangelism and out-reach tactics don't reflect what a relationship with Jesus is really about. Which makes me wonder, Why do we do evangelism? What's our motivation for reaching out to others? Are we simply trying to make our churches bigger, with bigger buildings and busy schedules? Are we simply trying to demonstrate our own power, how persuasive we are, one more convert is one more notch on our belts? Are we trying to save people from some form of hell after death? Do we have any good news to offer for this life? Do we have any words of hope or love or healing to share for people who are suffering or oppressed or held captive by hate?

The way we reach out to society and interact with others ought to reflect what a relationship with Jesus is all about. Any support groups or caring ministries ought to be done out of genuine concern for others, wanting to help people heal from the pain of experiencing the death of a loved one, or the pain associated with divorce, or the stresses associated with cancer or other chronic illnesses. Any caring ministries that are really just a way to boost the membership of your church is going to be perceived as shallow and disingenuous. Ministries that are born out of a deep desire to build relationships, to offer comfort and healing and hope to people who are in need of that, regardless of if they ever become members of the church, is what Christians are called to.

Ultimately Christianity is about relationship. Relationship with God, with Jesus, and with our neighbors. In my opinion, the "if you died tonight" question undermines what Christianity is all about.