Others Centered

Let's Imagine

Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today…

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace…

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world…

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one

Every so often I hear how great this song is. People exclaim how great this world could be if only we would live the words of this song by the late John Lennon. Whenever I hear this I like to remind them that while this words of this song sound great, they represent an impossible fantasy and a world that I would not want to live in.

The first line tells us to think of a world with no Heaven, no Hell, and people living only for today. A world in which there is no Heaven or Hell means that there is nothing to look forward to. Life exists only in the now. We have no purpose for existing other than to merely exist until we cease existing. The existence of Heaven gives us a purpose for our lives. We have something to look forward to after this current life ends. God created us because He loves us and made Heaven for us to live eternally with Him. Hell exists because God is love, and because He does love us He gives us the option to love Him in return. There can be no love if you are forced into it so our Creator gives us an option. He loves us and wants to spend eternity with us but allows us to not love Him in return. He will not force anyone to do anything they do not want to do so there is an alternative place for them known as Hell.

The absence of Hell would also mean that there is no consequence for the actions of those in this life. The best example is Adolf Hitler. Would there be justice if Hitler just died and didn’t suffer consequences for his actions? What about people who sexually mollest and abuse children? Would we want a world where no consequences existed for people like this?

Living today means you do not care about tomorrow. While this sounds warm and fuzzy, our actions today have a significant impact on tomorrow. When people act without thinking of future implications of their actions, we have a society who acts irresponsibly and recklessly. This is not a good thing.

No countries and no religion also sound warm and fuzzy but they ignore human nature. There will come a day where we will have no countries and no religion but not in the way that Lennon imagined. This will happen when Jesus returns to Earth and separates those who received Him from those who rejected Him. We will live together under our King and He will be worshipped alone. We will have no “religion” but a relationship with our Eternal Savior. We will have need for countries nor religion because there will be no doubt who the real god is.

The existence of possessions do not lead to greed and hunger. Greed and hunger exist because of the depravity of human nature. Possessions actually create an opportunity for compassion and charity when you offer to give them up to help others. When you make money by creating something, you can offer your creation to others to make their lives better as well as offering your earned money to help them out in times of need. You can pay people to work for you creating an opportunity to improve their own situation. Lennon obviously believes in the goodness of human nature but the Bible is very specific on the reality of human nature. Many times we are told than none of us our good, that our goodness comes by the grace of God working through us. We are able to do good because He is good. Only when we recognize that all good things come from God are we able to help those in need and give our possessions. Lennon’s world does not allow for this because it calls for the rejection and elimination of religion.

I do not want to imagine John Lennon’s world. I want to imagine Heaven, spending eternity with our Loving Father and His only Son. I look forward to that day.

Categories: Religion_ Politics_