Buying Your Way Into Heaven

What if you could buy your way into heaven? Wouldn’t it be wonderful? The people with the most money would be assured of a great afterlife.

But hold it! Some people would have an advantage. If they were born into a rich family to start with, that wouldn’t be fair.

And what about the people who came by their money through dishonest methods? Perhaps they might have stolen it or duped others from the money they could have used to pay for their salvation. Would you want these kinds of people in heaven?

What about those who are filthy rich but are selfish? Perhaps they spend nothing on those less fortunate than they are. They have beautiful homes, yachts, expensive cars and other worldly possessions.

On the flip side, what about the poor? Is it their fault that they are poor? Shouldn’t they be given a chance, too?

So being able to buy yourself into heaven doesn’t sound like a great idea. What about doing good? That sounds better.

How do you define what is good? For example, Bill Gates probably does a lot more good than I do. Hold it! He has a lot more money to do philanthropic work. And now that he is retired from Microsoft, he has much more time.

What about those who have suffered terrible abuse and hardship? How do we judge the broken-hearted and discouraged? How do we be fair about being good? It is a lot easier being good when everything is working out for you.

So, how do you give everyone the opportunity of going to heaven? You figure it out.