Church Teaches 'Four Last Things'

In theology there’s a concept known as the last things. The typical modern church-goer acknowledges two last things: death and Heaven. And even then, we only grudgingly acknowledge that death is real, since in our culture that’s become a taboo word. For example, when someone dies, we don’t actually say he died; instead we say he passed, often prompting others to ask, “Passed? Passed what? A test? A football? A kidney stone?”

Or we say a person expired, as if he was a license plate, or a warranty on a dishwasher. But all in all, most people are realistic enough to accept that we all will die someday. Which reminds me of Woody Allen, who said, “I know I’m going to die. I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”

Now, regarding Heaven, that’s a concept we all embrace joyfully. Most people these days are convinced that everybody goes to Heaven. Oh sure, there are a few exceptions. Hitler and Charles Manson aren’t allowed in Heaven because they were especially evil. But all the rest of us, since we never committed mass murder, will be on our way through the pearly gates the moment after we draw our last breath.

The thing is, even though most believers nowadays acknowledge only two last things, death and Heaven, the Church has always taught there are FOUR last things: death, judgment, Heaven, and Hell.

Hey, that’s no fun. Isn’t it bad enough we have to, um, expire? (And I don’t mean the date on a license plate.) Shouldn’t we be guaranteed a trip to Heaven? Why would the Church go and throw a wet blanket on our happy thoughts of what happens after we, you know, pass? (No, I don’t mean a football.)

Well, the answer is simple. The Church wants us all to be fearful and miserable. No wait, my mistake. That’s what critics of the Church think the Church is all about. The true is, the Church teaches that there are four last things because that’s what Jesus taught.

Even if the idea of those two additional final things, judgment and Hell, makes us feel even more uncomfortable than the thought of death, we can’t act like an ostrich and bury our heads in the sand. Pretending real things don’t exist may make us feel better in the short term, but it’s asking for trouble in the long term. Just imagine a person who has a stack of past-due notices from the electric company, but he pretends they’re not a big deal. He may be blissfully ignorant, but his house soon will be plunged into darkness. Or imagine a country that piles up a national debt of 17 trillion dollars, but pretends it’s not a big deal. Yeah, I agree, that is hard to imagine.

So we need to look to the One who not only spoke the truth, but who IS the truth. Jesus clearly taught that after death there will be judgment, and then a person’s eternal destination will be either Heaven or Hell. That’s the blunt truth.

But Jesus also taught us that the truth shall set us free. When we know and accept the truth of the four last things, we can focus our lives on the stuff that really matters—loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves. Then when the time comes for us to, you know, pass (no, not a kidney stone), we can confidently stand before the Lord’s throne of judgment, and then spend eternity with Him in Heaven. And that will be so wonderful, we’ll be glad that at our death, we were there when it happened.