Practical Ministry Skills Will That Person Be in Heaven? Miroslav Volf God isn’t only going to forgive those we like. He might forgive some we hate. See "Answering Tough Questions" Training Pack

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Topics:	Adult education, Christian life, Growth, Pastoral care, Pastors, Shepherd, Small groups, Teaching
Filters:	Discipleship, Pastor, Pastoral care, Preaching, Shepherd, Spiritual director
Purpose:	Discipleship
References:	Luke 15:28-31
Date Added:	August 01, 2007
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When my theologian-friend visits his elderly mother, he often ends up as a resident theologian for a small Cuban-immigrant community of her friends. "Is it possible," one woman asked him, "for Castro to convert on his deathbed and end up in heaven?" "It is possible," Professor Eire assured her. "This is what Christian faith is all about. Nobody is beyond the pale of redemption." "Well, if that were to happen," said the woman, "then I would not want to be in heaven."

Most of us have our own "Castros" with whom we would rather not share the space of the world to come. Heaven with them, we imagine, would feel more like a forecourt of hell. But according to God's plan for redemption, the not-loved ones will be transformed into the loved ones, and those who do not love will begin to do so. Enemies will become friends.

A Hard Teaching
Heaven is more than just a fresh start. It is more than just the creation of a new future. It is also redemption of yesterday, today, and tomorrow—redemption of our whole lived life. Heaven is having had your messy pages made clean and right again. Since the majority of our sins are committed socially—against one another—it makes sense that in heaven our relationships will be restored. This is a necessary part of the transition from the world in which we live into the world that is to come.

More Than Words
The divine judgment will reach its goal when, by the power of the Spirit, each person sets aside attempts at self-justification, acknowledges personal sin in its full magnitude, experiences liberation from the guilt and the power of sin, and recognizes that all others have done precisely that—given up on self-justification, acknowledged their sin, and experienced liberation.

Having recognized that others have changed—that they have been given their true identity by being freed from sin—one will no longer condemn others but offer them the grace of forgiveness. Beyond the simple utterance of "I forgive you," this forgiveness is the kind of reconciliation in which former enemies move toward each other and embrace each other as belonging to the same communion of love.

Scandalous but Good
Once, after a lecture on the Last Judgment and the Final Reconciliation, an African-American student approached me. "Do you know what you are saying?" she asked: Many masters of her enslaved ancestors were "good" Christians, and she may see them one day in heaven. "I know," I responded, "and it is scandalous, isn't it?" She—and I along with her—was troubled by the thought of the Final Reconciliation." But if it were otherwise," she said after a while, "heaven would not be heaven."

1. How can church leaders model God's forgiveness to the congregation?

2. Who are the groups or people that seem especially beyond redemption in our society?

3. What are some points our church should emphasize when we teach about forgiveness?

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Posted: July 21, 2009 Anonymous

There is a possibility, I suppose, that "Castro" could be in heaven, if by "Castro" one means someone whose deeds are universally acknowledged to be cruel and evil. There is a tendency nowadays for well intentioned persons to go "soft" on sin. They expect to see loved ones in heaven, on the simple premise that God is too loving and hell is too awful. On that basis we can also expect Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, and Bin Laden to be there. My understanding of the Bible leads me to believe that "Castro" whether on his death bed or not, would have to genuinely repent of his sins. This is the only way he would be in heaven, and the only way I would be happy to meet him. While agreeing with some of what you said, You have told only half the story, and you have done so without citing one biblical text. Like you, I struggle to understand the seriousness of sin, and thank God everyday for his saving grace. Am I to expect less of "Castro" and if so why? What makes him special?

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