Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 6
The speaker claims the epistles say “nothing much…about going to heaven when you die,” and summarizes the contrast: evangelical focus on “getting people to heaven” versus Anabaptist focus on “getting heaven to earth.” Where does your own spiritual imagination live most of the time—future escape or present embodiment—and what concrete evidence in your choices shows which gospel you’ve absorbed?
Another way to ask: Do you mostly think about faith as escaping to heaven later or living “heaven on earth” now, and what choices in your life prove which one you really believe?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
The transcript pushes us to examine whether our daily goals match a “save-me” future-only gospel or the kingdom focus of “getting heaven to earth”; our choices will reveal which story is actually motivating us.
- He says, “there’s nothing much said in the epistles about going to heaven when you die,” challenging a common assumption about the gospel’s center.
- He summarizes his standard contrast: evangelicalism often emphasizes “getting people to heaven,” while Anabaptism (rightly understood) is “about getting heaven to earth.”
- He grounds present embodiment in the Lord’s Prayer: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.”
- He argues young people need a present purpose, not only a goal “probably 50 years later,” and that kingdom preaching gives “a present concept of reality.”
- He critiques scare-based motivation (“scare tactics…keep scaring them”) as unsustainable and says the kingdom message is “very appealing.”