Happy Sunday,

I received very helpful feedback that last week’s edition (answering: “Does focusing on eternity lead to passivity?”) was getting at something useful but didn’t fully land and would be improved with examples. 

Reading it back, I completely agree!

So, below is the revised version. I am so grateful for this group for reading my drafts and helping to get them book-ready. You all are making Broken News so much better!

Does focusing on eternity lead to passivity? (Take 2)
There is an old saying: “Don’t be so heavenly minded that you are of no earthly good.” Johnny Cash even made it into a song, No Earthly Good.

It critiques pious people who spend so much time pondering spiritual matters or waiting for Heaven that they neglect practical duties, like loving their neighbors, sharing the gospel, or actively helping those with physical needs.

The problem is that both Scripture and lived experience refute this sentiment.

C.S. Lewis puts it this way: If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven.

Spending time dwelling on eternity—forcibly reminding ourselves that we, and everyone we will ever meet, are eternal beings of infinite worth—is what gives us the boldness to take action.

C.S. Lewis’s quote references men like William Wilberforce, a member of British Parliament who fought to abolish the Atlantic slave trade. Fighting for abolition was a great “earthly good” that came at great personal risk and led to Wilberforce being threatened, attacked, and targeted with assassination plots. But Wilberforce was confident of his eternity in Heaven, and this made him bold. He pressed on despite the danger because of his conviction that slaves were made in God’s image, and, when considering eternity, what danger was he really in? The most these opponents could do was kill his body, but they couldn’t harm his soul (Matthew 10:28). Why wouldn’t he risk his reputation and earthly safety to free the slaves? When considering his secure eternity in Heaven, these weren’t even risky decisions; they were just the obviously right thing to do.

Throughout Scripture, we are given marching orders to love our neighbors and enemies (Matthew 22:39, Matthew 5:44), share the gospel (Matthew 28:18-20), care for orphans and widows (James 1:27), defend the oppressed (Isaiah 1:17), care for the sick (Matthew 25:40), and generally serve anyone and everyone we can. These things often feel scary or difficult, but are less so when we stay focused on eternity.

When we’re focused on our secure eternity in Heaven, we can live without fear, not because nothing bad can happen to us on earth, but because our eternity is secure regardless of what happens on earth.

This is why Scripture’s commands to “set our mind on things above” (Colossians 3:2) and view ourselves as “citizens of Heaven” (Philippians 3:20) make us more likely to take action, not less.

The old saying needs fixing: if you want to be of earthly good, be so heavenly-minded.

Is this an upgrade from last week? Does it still not land? Should it not make the book?

Please hit reply and let me know! Your replies are genuinely a huge help and are massively shaping this book (obviously). I don’t have time to respond to each one, but I personally read every email.

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