Hear the episode that inspired this blog (specifically at 1:06:30.)

Is loving others enough to get you into heaven?

I recently had the privilege of recording with the In Pursuit of Meaning Podcast where Chase — who is open about being an atheist — asked some deep, challenging questions, including this:

“Imagine I were to die tomorrow, and find out that I was incorrect in my beliefs, learning that God actually does exist. If what gave my life meaning on earth was loving others and alleviating human suffering wherever possible, do you think that God would still send me to hell?”

This is a deep theological question; if you gathered ten Christians into a room, you may receive ten different answers.  As I prayerfully thought through my response, I was reminded of how often Jesus emphasized the spirit of the Law amidst a people that focused deeply on the letter of the law.  In his “woes” to the Pharisees, he even called out their tendency to check spiritual boxes while missing the heart of those invitations:

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”
Matthew 23:23

In fact, Jesus called out this disparity often:

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.  So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Matthew 6:1-4

Jesus wanted to make it clear that what we do externally can be negated if we are off-track internally.  We can be doing all the “right” things, but if our motives are wrong, then our “reward” won’t extend beyond the moment.

Chase and John Doe could functionally live the same life, loving others and alleviating human suffering in the same way, yet do so for wildly different reasons.  Imagine John Doe did so reluctantly out of obligation, or to receive praise, or to benefit himself in some way; how might the outcome of his “love” be different from one who served with authenticity and integrity, even if they did not know God?

When Jesus summarizes the most important commands to “Love God and Love others”, he makes it clear that a component of entering eternity is our relationship with God; however, many believers are prone to acknowledge the former and neglect the latter.  Too often we point to God while failing to truly love His children; as John puts it:

If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
1 John 4:20

Loving others is non-negotiable:

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Romans 13:8-10

In the same way we can not love God if we do not love others, when we love others, we actually show love to God:

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.  We love because he first loved us.
1 John 4:16,19

As we’ve shared before, the Love God calls us to is not the love we assume it is; it is not only a deeper, wider thing, but something we cannot muster on our own:

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
1 John 4:7-13

The question of eternity is tied to the Father, the Son, and the Spirit; yet here on earth we are given an invitation to step in, even before we fully understand.  As Paul puts it, “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12, from a chapter focused on Love) God knows the answer to Chase’s question; and his story is still being written.  What is amazing about the love Chase shows is that it is not done under compulsion of promise of an eternal reward; the “reward” of his love limited to the here and now… and yet he still chooses it.

Those of us who call ourselves Christ-followers may actually have something to learn from this.