The Standard is Heaven, But Until Then…

Matthew 6:10

When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He told them to start this way: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-10). Several years ago, I had a teacher who made this statement regarding Jesus’s instruction: “The standard is heaven, but the destination is earth.” This statement has propelled me ever since to labor intentionally for God’s heavenly kingdom to continue to spread here on earth.

The Bible has much to say about what heaven is like. It speaks of a realm where there is no opposition to God’s love and peace. There is no sorrow, tears, brokenness, or shame. There is no evil, no effects of evil, no sin, no effects of sin. There is no competing entity—no one or thing seeking to overthrow God. It is this reality that Jesus tells us to pray and labor for…now, and here on earth.

All of us long for this reality in our lives. We are all living in the time before that future reality fully takes place, though. We still experience sorrow, brokenness, evil, and sin. Yes, we have glimpses of that future glory (and sometimes massively, like, when sinful humans are made right with God through faith in Jesus Christ, or when marriages are restored, or when addictions are shattered). Nevertheless, we still live in a time when evil affects us even as God’s kingdom grows and overthrows evil.

Here, in this time before perfection, Champion Recovery Community gets to battle evil and its effects as well as further God’s kingdom, do His will, and display His glory. It is my honor to serve in this ministry in this way in this community in this generation in this patch of the world alongside some of the most amazing people in the world. To God be the glory!