Do Good in This World By Loving the Next

Can passion for the world to come actually bear good fruit in this present world? Doesn't such a future orientation make us subject to the old charge that Christians are so heavenly minded we're no earthly good? Doesn't it lead to a withdrawal from this present world?

Certainly many people have thought so. Henry David Thoreau laid the blame squarely at the feet of the founder of Christianity. "[Jesus] taught mankind but imperfectly how to live; his thoughts were all directed toward another world." Thoreau believed people too interested in obtaining eternal life in the world to come were in fact useless in this world; they "have a singular desire to be good without being good for anything." In fact, some Christians have actually argued that because God intends to destroy this present world, it doesn't matter what we do with it. Is this a necessary implication of the biblical encouragement to focus on the world to come?

Within the creative tension of restlessness and patience, as the Christian leans forward toward God's eternal future, the actual result is productive engagement in the world and spiritual transformation within. C. S. Lewis's words on this matter are justly famous: "If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. . . . It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this."

Continue reading at thegospelcoalition.org

Wesley

up until the last century for the most part Christians did good because of their love and looking for the world to come. lot of the reason dealt with eschatology of the church. until the popularization of dispensationalism premillenialism Christians worked to improve the society so it could resemble the world to come. now looking forward to the world to come by dispensationalist gives them an excuse to not worry about their neighbor. for most of Christian history Christians worked to bring heaven and earth closer and now its either heaven or earth not both. Jesus came to set the captives free in this life not in next life. the first century Jews were looking for their Messiah and did not recognize him. now the most 21st century Christians are looking forward to Christ's kingdom, yet do not see it all around them.
http://twitter.com/BradNova Brad Nova

I wish the main goal of Christians was to spread the love of God throughout this world. Sadly it seems that most are more concerned about denying homosexuals the ability to get married or preventing the government from helping the poor.
- Evermyrtle
  
  And this means starting at self not your neighbor, not the other person, just self!! We are really good at pointing the fault of the other person and forget entirely "self!"
- http://www.answersingenesis.org/ keyboardshark
  
  Everyone has the equal opportunity to marry a person of the opposite sex. If they do not wish to follow this definition that has been established by God, they should not hijack the institution as a way to legitimize immoral behavior, nor do they have any right to label a same-sex arrangement as 'marriage'.
  
  How do Christians "prevent the government from helping the poor"? You have me completely baffled on that one. Remember, the government has no money of its own, only what it confiscates from its citizens, so it has no business "helping the poor" by taking money from other people and redistributing it without their consent. Please show me in the Constitution where that is a legitimate function of the central government.
Evermyrtle

Does Thoreau, worship self?. JESUS teaching was perfect. If we live by HIS teachings we would have no trouble in the world because all of our problems comes from hate, greed, denying JESUS and GOD, and getting our own way in all things. As a whole we do not care how our neighbor is getting along, if he needs anything that may be just simple love and caring to some material thing as food, clothing or other necessities. We sit back in our own little corner with all that is ours and
watch the world go by, as long as nobody touches anything that is ours.

There is one thing we are really good at, that is telling everyelse how he should live, how he should manage, how he should raise his children, how he should think, even how to worship, etc. etc.