Perception is Reality?

Through the years there have been numerous catch phrases that our workplace or society has pressed upon us. I am on the Board of Directors for a local theatre and at our last monthly meeting, I was reminded of a new catch phrase that seems popular, “Perception is Reality”. I’d heard it before but this time I paid attention to the saying and noticed that it is about one of the most idiotic sayings I’ve heard in quite some time. Let me explain;

• Let’s say you come across a salesman who is trying to sell you a chair with rotten legs all the while telling you how sturdy of a chair it is and giving you a long history of all the people who have sat in the chair. It’s painted and looks really nice so the perception is that it will hold you if you decide to sit in it. You plop down on the chair but the legs break and you fall to the floor.

• Maybe you are asked to help replace a light socket and your helper tells you he’s pretty sure he has turned off the power to the two wires hanging from the ceiling. They don’t look energized and even look completely harmless. You reach up to connect the wires to the new light socket and instantly find out the power is still on and you get an electrical shock.

• You’re driving home in a rainstorm, you come up to a section where there is water running across the street and it looks flooded. You stop and look at the situation and decide that it’s not too deep so you proceed to drive through the water. Your car begins to float off the road and you end up stuck in a ditch and you car is totaled.

In all three of these situations you have the perception that all is going to turn out well. However, the reality of the situation is that you fall on the floor, you get shocked and you wreck your car. In each case, the perception did not match the reality. This happens also when we pre-judge people on their first impression. At times it may be correct but there are times when our perception of people is wrong.

Sadly, this philosophy even spills over to the most important aspect of our lives. Some people have the wrong perception of how to get to heaven. Even the almighty Oprah has given out false information on getting into heaven. Some of the perceptions on how to gain entrance into heaven include;

• Live a good life
• Give to charity
• Help other people all the time
• Serve at the soup kitchen/homeless shelter
• Support the United Way/Salvation Army/Goodwill
• Attend church regularly
• Don’t drink, smoke or use drugs
• Get baptized
• Pray regularly

There are plenty of other answers: "I'm basically a good person, so I'll go to heaven." "OK, so I do some bad things, but I do more good things, so I'll go to heaven." "God won't send me to hell just because I don't live by the Bible. Times have changed!" "Only really bad people like child molesters and murderers go to hell."

These are all common rationalizations, but the truth is that they are all false. Satan, the ruler of the world, plants these thoughts in our heads. He, and anyone who follows his ways, is an enemy of God (1Peter 5:8). Satan is a deceiver and often disguises himself as someone good (2 Corinthians 11:14), but he has control over all the minds that do not belong to God. "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (2 Corinthians 4:4).

Getting into heaven is not based on whether our good outweighs our bad; we will all lose out if that is the case. "And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace" (Romans 11:6). We can do nothing good to earn our way to heaven (Titus 3:5).

When God created the world, it was perfect and good. Then he made Adam and Eve and gave them their own free will, so they would have a choice whether to follow and obey God. But they were tempted by Satan to disobey God, and they sinned. This separated them (and everyone that came after them, including us) from being able to have a close relationship with God. He is perfect and holy and must judge sin. As sinners, we couldn't reconcile ourselves to God on our own. So God made a way that we could be united with Him in heaven. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). Jesus was born to die for our sins so that we would not have to. Three days after His death, He rose from the grave (Romans 4:25), proving Himself victorious over death. He bridged the gap between God and man so that we may have a personal relationship with Him if we only believe.

"Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent" (John 17:3). Most people believe in God, even Satan does. But to receive salvation, we must turn to God, form a personal relationship, turn away from our sins, and follow Him. We must trust in Jesus with everything we have and everything we do. "This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference" (Romans 3:22). The Bible teaches that there is no other way to salvation than through Christ. Jesus says in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Jesus is the only way because He is the only One who can pay our sin penalty (Romans 6:23). No other religion teaches the depth or seriousness of sin and its consequences. No other religion offers the infinite payment of sin that only Jesus Christ could provide. No other “religious founder” was God become man (John 1:1,14) – the only way an infinite debt could be paid. Jesus had to be God so that He could pay our debt. Jesus had to be man so He could die. Salvation is available only through faith in Jesus Christ! “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Is it naïve to think Jesus is the only way to heaven? Not if it is true. Jesus said He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). Either He was telling the truth or He wasn't. If He was telling the truth, it's not naive to agree with Him.

Followers of Christ are generally assumed to be from the Western hemisphere. However, Jesus began in the Middle East and spread outward from there, throughout the whole earth. There are many believers in Africa and Asia. Currently the largest Christian church in the world is in South Korea.

Faith in Christ is not just a Western thing, though skeptics and antagonists like to paint that picture. The Bible tells us that the multitude of believers who will be in heaven will be from every tribe and people and nation and language (Revelation 7:9), and that Jesus died for the sins of people from every tribe, nation, people and tongue (Revelation 5:9).

If Jesus is in fact, God, as He said, and rose from the dead as proof, then He has given us ample reasons to believe in Him. He is not asking for a naive faith, but a knowledgeable faith in Him. And those who will believe in Jesus receive a more abundant life, direction in life, peace with God, and eternal life.

Basing our entrance into heaven on something that is perceived is dangerous. We should do all we can to explore the truth of the situation and not hang our eternity on some modern new-age fad or belief system that is full of holes. Eternity is too long to be wrong.
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1 Peter 5:8
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

2 Corinthians 11:14
And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light

2 Corinthians 4:4
in their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Romans 11:6
But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

Titus 3:5
He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit

John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

>Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 4:25
The sacrificed Jesus made us fit for God, set us right with God. The Message

John 17:3
And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.