You Believe that You Are the Only Ones Going to Heaven

I stopped at a fast-food joint following an evening preaching appointment many miles from home. Though I had dispensed already with my jacket and tie, perhaps my long-sleeved white shirt betrayed me as a preacher. A fellow diner in line ahead of me at the counter asked if I was a preacher, and I acknowledged that I was. Then, he asked for what church I preached. When I mentioned the church of Christ, he said, “So you’re one of those fellows who thinks that only the church of Christ is going to heaven!”

Sometimes the joke is told of new arrivals in heaven being given the grand tour by the apostle Peter. Upon approaching one chamber, Peter puts his finger to his lips and whispers, “Be very, very quiet because over there are members of the church of Christ, and they think that they are the only ones up here.”

Both the statement uttered by a fellow fast-food consumer and the little joke are attempts to ridicule and mock Christians. Spontaneously, I answered my new acquaintance at the restaurant, “Why would you say something so prejudicial and unkind?” He was taken aback and said, “What do you mean?”

I asked him, “Do you believe the Bible is the Word of God?” He said, “Yes.” “I do, too!” I responded. “Do you have religious conviction based on what you read in the Bible?” I blurted out, which he also affirmed.

We must not be ashamed (Romans 1:16) to affirm and stand by the religious convictions that we have as a result of appreciating the Holy, inspired, inerrant Word of God and applying what it teaches to our lives. It is not our job to consign anyone else to a devil’s hell (James 4:11-12), but it is our job as Christians to save ourselves (Acts 2:40; Philippians 2:12) and take as many others with us (Mark 16:15-16; James 5:19-20) to heaven as we can persuade (2 Corinthians 5:10-11).

Understand, though, despite not being responsible for sentencing any soul to his or her eternal destiny, we may well teach truth seekers the difference between what is sinful (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) and what is truth (John 8:32). No, I don’t even think that all members of the churches of Christ are going to heaven (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23).