Heavenly Minded and Earthly Good

There are a number of false dichotomies out there concerning the Christian faith. In the previous posting, I addressed the false dichotomy that you can't be loving and confront evil. Another false dichotomy is that if my focus is on heaven, I will disengage from the world and be no good to anyone. In other words, I will be too heavenly minded to be any earthly good.

I think that actually it is the opposite. I contend that the more heavenly focused the believer is, the more good fruit he will bear on earth. Jesus told us that if our treasure is in heaven, then our heart will be there as well (Matthew 6:21). And if our heart is heavenly, it is good. And, as Jesus said, A good tree bears good fuit (Matthew 7:17). Listen to what the apostle John says:

1 John 3:2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears,we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

And listen to the Apostle Paul, who basically says the same thing:

Colossians 1:3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel 6t hat has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth.

The heavenly hope that we have in the gospel purifies our heart. And purity in the heart means more love and selflessness which means more fruit. On the contrary, the mind that is earthly focused moves toward impurity which means more unloving and selfish:

Philippians 3:18For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.

We will move toward becoming that which we focus on. If our minds and hearts are on heavenly things, then we will become more heavenly. If we focus more on earthly things, than we become more worldly. We are told that the things of this world (cravings of sinful man, lust of the eyes and self-boasting) come not from God and will pass away (1 John 2:15-17).

I think this image of being too heavenly minded to be earthly good comes from those who act overly spiritual and condescending toward others. But spiritual pride is still pride which is of the world. Self-promotion is of the world, even if it is cloaked in spirituality. Condescension toward others is not heavenly but worldly. All of this is simply the worldly person, whose mind is on earthly things, putting on a mystical, spiritual facade. This was the spirit of the religious rulers in Jesus' day that he condemned. True heavenly focus of the heart will work in us love, gentleness and humility--fruits of the Holy Spirit.