I wrote a pretty long book review the other day about the issues I have with (what I call) demonizing Islam and the Muslim belief system. The more I read Daughters of Islam, the more affirmed I feel in this opinion.

Here’s a thought provoking quote taken from Adeney’s book which shows keen spiritual insight. This was expressed in a prayer by Rabia, a seventh-century woman mystic:

"Oh God, if I worship you from fear of hell, burn me there.
If I worship you from hope of heaven, exclude me from that.
But if I worship you from love of your own self, then withhold not from me your eternal beauty."

This quote struck something inside of me because of conversations I’ve been having with my wife and others lately. Both of us feel as if we, as Christians, have greatly over-emphasized the afterlife in our understanding of the Gospel. When you take an objective look at what is revealed in Scripture about heaven/hell it becomes clear that our concepts of the afterlife are not formed by Scripture as much as by tradition, culture, and what we’ve been taught.

Should heaven and hell be our main motivation for loving and choosing to follow God? Should heaven and hell be a central part of how we share the Gospel (i.e. the good news about what Jesus came and did) with people?

I think not. In fact, even as this devout Muslim mystic has prayed, people often long to know God because His eternal beauty draws them to. I’m not saying there is no afterlife (or that it will be insignificant.) I am only suggesting that what we know about it is far less certain and clear than what we can know of God and his awesome revelation in the here and now.

[Footnote: I recently heard an online sermon on the topic of worship by Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. In this sermon he pointed out that in all the numerous systematic theology books he had researched not one talked about the characteristic of beauty as it relates to God. This astounded me! I’m sure many of those systematic theology books talked about heaven and hell and God’s judgment, providing a plethora of scripture references as proof, but the fact that all these resources omitted the aspect of God’s beauty seems very telling, doesn’t it? Maybe it’s time to stop missing the point. Just a suggestion…]