(First, there are over 600 words in this one. Oh well.)
I know that heaven is not the topic of the thread, but at some level, the whole idea of being an overcomer in the context of Lee's theology is put up against the more trite aspects of popular theology.
I recall a song — really just a chorus, don't know if there was anything but these four lines:
Heaven is a wonderful place
Filled with glory and grace
Oh I want to see his face
Heaven is a wonderful place
Now it is clear that there is something a little misplaced for most of us when we sing these kinds of songs. Or think in these ways.
Or is there?
Paul acknowledged that just dying and being with Christ was personally preferable. No matter whether you like the simple terminology, that is "going to heaven."
And let's consider the chorus. It is not about streets of gold and mansions. (Yes, there are songs that cover those things. "Mansion Over the Hilltop" has both.) It is about seeing the face of Jesus. It is about the glory and grace that fills it.
But it is not weighty. It is "shallow" theology, so we diss it. (And it is my first reaction as well. Not pointing fingers.)
But even if shallow, it is not simply wrong. There are no verses that directly support the words provided to sing. But it is not just a fairy tale that doesn't contradict other verses. It has a base in truth that can be found in scripture. Tying everything up in a serious theology that needs a verse reference after every statement is overkill.
And Lee tried to do that. He provided verses all over the place. In fact he provided so many that when he finally said the ridiculous thing that was coming, there had been so many verses provided that we too often missed that the most important things were not actually supported.
That is another topic for another thread. But here, there is something to be said for (or really against) parsing through scripture to find nit-picky things like whether heaven is the right word to use for where we go after death but before the rapture, while dismissing the real, practical commands of God through Jesus about this life as we ignore the part where Jesus said "teaching them to obey all that I have commanded."
This is not about any particular posting in this thread. It is about the mentality of "what matters" in the LRC v the rest of Christianity. I may agree (somewhat) that many in Christianity are a little too focused on "heaven," but I would suggest that the LRC simply renamed it and made it virtually the only focus.
But I'm not sure that they understand what little we think we see about the life to come. They have distilled the substance of "overcoming" to better meetings, better teachings, and better terminology. If I presume that overcoming is about
this life, then I would be more focused on the practical commands of Christ. Love God and your neighbor. Serve. Obey all that I command. I would see that obedience is precursor to knowing the truth that "sets you free." It is not the other way around. It is about getting this life right, not practicing falling on your face and shouting "Holy, Holy, Holy . . ." If we have properly prepared this life according the best teachings available (and that starts with Jesus, not Paul — no disrespect to Paul, but he is commentary, not the other way around) we will be prepared for that when the time comes (assuming that is really what we will be doing — I am not saying one way or the other).