To frame a theme President Trump spoke about, I refer you to his book on dealmaking written about 40 years ago. Just bear with me on this, and you will see how this applies to you.
“I believe in the power of negative thinking,” he writes. “I always go into the deal anticipating the worst.” Later in the book he adds, “You have to convince the other guy it’s in his interest to make the deal.”
Trump’s comments lately sound like dealmaking, even if unintentional. Speaking about a peace deal he said, “If I can save 7,000 people a week from being killed, I think that’s a pretty… I want to try and get to heaven if possible! I’m hearing I’m not doing well…But if I can get to heaven, this will be one of the reasons.” Later, a reporter asked a follow-up question. “I’m being a little cute,” Trump said. “I don’t think there’s anything going to get me into heaven.” There’s definitely some “anticipating the worst” here, as well as trying to leverage Someone to “make the deal.”
I am not a Trump explainer. He has a number of Christians around him, many of which are perfectly capable of advancing this topic with him. In fact, I have to believe some already have. But since Trump’s heaven thing is bouncing around the cable TV shows, let’s explore how this applies to you.
In the Bible, heaven is a real place. It is the place where the Lord’s throne is (Psa. 11:4) and where Jesus went to “prepare a place for you” (John 14:2). We associate heaven with the concept of life after death. One of the foundational ideas of Christianity is that there’s more to reality than the material universe and more to life than the physical body.
To the point, how do you get there? Is it by trying to do well? Is it by saving others from harm? Is there a deal to be made with God? The gospel of Jesus Christ has an answer, quite different from world religions and secular philosophy. In fact, assurance of your place in heaven is possible, but not something you earn. “By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works” (Eph. 2:8-9). The Bible uses the word “saved” to indicate you are forgiven of your sin and given the righteousness of Christ to make you blameless and fit for heaven. You receive this gift by faith in Jesus as your Savior, whose death on the cross paid your sin debt.
In his book Trump writes, “I’m a great believer in asking everyone for an opinion before I make a decision.” Let’s hope he asks somebody about the heaven thing.