THE ACTUAL AND THE IDEAL - Part 2

Dear Family and Friends, thank you for your comments on last week’s post. This week I have taken the liberty of paraphrasing “The Actual and the Ideal,” because I think Prince’s statement puts the tension of living in two different realities in perspective: 

TWO REALITIES 

There are two realities, life on the earth and the things of heaven or, if you prefer, the kingdom of heaven which begins now and is to come.

To be wise is to seek after the things of heaven and, at the same time, to live life on the earth, being fully present to the good without denying the existence of the bad.  Be careful to distinguish

between acceptance of today’s reality and resignation which is the refusal to be God’s instrument of change in the world. 

And they that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever (Daniel 12:3).

To fail is to live life on the earth half-heartedly, indifferent to the needs of others, thinking only of self, and to reject heaven and eternal life as if they were unreachable fantasies.

To accept only the things of heaven is delusional; and to refuse life on the earth may be either suicidal or Gnosticism, the chief characteristic of which is dualism. (Dualism means that there's a spirit world, which is good, and a material world, and everything about that material world is bad.) 

Do not criticize life on the earth because you have received revelations about the things of heaven. 

Do not reject heaven as a living reality or become bitter about spiritual things because life on the earth seems futile, hopeless, or mundane.

To be wise is to live life on the earth with all of your strength, all of your heart, and all of your soul so that you might bring glory to God who created you, and to hold on to the things of heaven because He who promised is true.

These [Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham] all died in faith, not having received what was promised, but having seen it and greeted it from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth (Hebrews 11:13). 

To live life on the earth and hold on to the things of heaven requires faith, not in a set of principles or in a vision, but faith in a person – Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords. Amen.