Jesus and the Myth that "Good" Will Ever be Good Enough

The bar for heaven's entry is so low that only a few will reach it

Several years ago, a famous politician made a stunning statement as he reflected on his own legacy at age 72. He spoke about initiatives he had spearheaded and listed several of his own successes, both real and self-perceived.

The surprising part of his speech was the takeaway, in which he speculated about the afterlife. He said, and I quote:

“I’m telling you if there is a God, when I get to heaven I’m not stopping to be interviewed. I’m heading straight in. I have earned my place in heaven. It’s not even close.”

When I first heard this statement, it dawned on me that Christianity is the most unique religion in the world. Why? Because Christianity offers no option for behaving, achieving, or performing our way into the afterlife.

With Jesus, heaven’s door opens to us at the beginning of our journey, not at the end. It is based on invitation and love, not merit. The door is Jesus himself. He lived the life we should have lived but didn’t, and he died the death we should have died but will never have to. Jesus lived and died in our place. And he rose from the dead to seal our redemption and future.

Other religions say what the politician said of himself: If you want to get to heaven, you have to accomplish something. You have to live up to something. You have to bring it.

For self-aware individuals, this is a more terrifying thought than it is comforting. Even Karl Marx recognized this. In a rare moment of transparency, Marx disclosed an inner thought that influenced the destructive worldview he would come to espouse. Reflecting on his own struggle for “salvation” or “significance” or “identity” or whatever we may call it, Marx said:

“I am nothing and I should be everything. Man, the poor, denuded creature, must repress his smallness.”

The aforementioned politician and Marx are saying the same thing from different angles—the politician from a place of superiority and feeling strong, and Marx from a place of inferiority and feeling weak. Both assume the way to salvation is through work. Through exertion. Through human effort. Through fulfilled expectations.

The thinking is that we start off small and we work and strive into our potential. In the end, this effort will determine our salvation or our judgment, depending on how we have performed. It will also be our ticket to being accepted by God (if we believe God exists), by others, and by ourselves.

Do you ever wonder where the ache to be declared “good” comes from? What is it that attracts us to things like having our names remembered on a building, or in a history book, or on a donor list, or on a book cover or record label, or by an industry, or by our descendants? Do you ever wonder where the drive to accomplish something significant comes from? Why do we feel we must leave a legacy?

But what if your name has already been given to you, and your legacy has already been settled? What if God has already given you that name and that legacy, and the purpose of your life is to live from that name and legacy versus living toward it?

God has given you that name and legacy. It is already yours. In fact, it has been yours since the beginning of time and even before then:

“He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.” (Ephesians 1:4-8)

Jesus Christ lived and died—he made himself nothing—so you would never have to feel like a nothing. He became small so you would never have to “repress your smallness” as a poor, denuded creature. He rose from the grave so you could get to heaven and walk right in and not have to stop for an interview, not because of what you brought to the table to validate yourself but because of what Jesus brought to the table to secure your validation. Because your trial has already happened, heaven’s court is adjourned and a perfect record has been established on your behalf by another.

It bears repeating that the door of heaven’s entry opens to you at the start of your journey, not the end.

God does not ask you to be amazing. Instead, he asks you to be humble, faithful, forgiven, and free. And when you struggle even with these things, he has you covered.

Leave the awesome to Jesus. When you do, you will also become the best version of yourself.

But without the pressure.