The International Space Station in orbit around Earth. Elements of this image furnished by NASA. By dimazel/stock.adobe.com.
Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore should be able to sleep in their own beds tonight. Or at least in beds on this planet. That’s more than the two astronauts have been able to say in the last nine months, since their return after a supposed ten-day stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS) was delayed due to thruster problems on the Boeing Starliner spacecraft that was intended to bring them home. A four-person crew entered the ISS early Sunday morning as part of a mission to relieve Williams and Wilmore. The crew was greeted with smiles and hugs by the seven astronauts aboard the space station, none more than the two stranded Americans.
Their SpaceX spacecraft undocked from the ISS at 1:05 a.m. ET this morning, transporting Wilmore and Williams alongside two other astronauts. Their journey back to Earth will take seventeen hours, with splashdown planned for 5:57 p.m. ET.
No one has been born on the ISS
Let’s consider this remarkable story as a parable.
The ISS has been continuously occupied since November 2000. In its quarter-century operation, it has hosted more than 280 astronauts, cosmonauts, and spaceflight participants from over twenty countries.
However, none of them were born there.
Each came from Earth with the intention of returning when their operational duty was completed. As a result, no one would need to encourage them to board the spacecraft that would transport them home. However perilous such a journey might seem, it is a temporary means to a much more permanent end.
However, imagine that the space station was populated only with people who were born there. None had come from Earth to join them. How hard would it be then to convince them to board a spacecraft to leave the only home they have known for one whose existence they must take on faith?
In the meantime, how challenging might it be to persuade them to live for that day and destination? To convince them that the best way to redeem each day on the ISS is by using it to prepare for the day they leave?
This is just what Christians are asking secular people to believe today.
Becoming a Buddhist because you know Buddhists
You and I believe that this temporal world is but a means to our eternal destiny and that the best way to live today is to be ready for the day we depart this broken planet for our glorious eternity. But someone who does not share our faith will understandably wonder why they should make it their own.
The fact that we believe it is not enough, nor should it be. If that were the case, people who know Muslims should therefore become Muslims, people who know Buddhists should therefore become Buddhists, and so forth. No one should base their decision regarding eternity on such secondhand evidence.
If someone were to ask me why I use my days on this “space station” floating through the universe to serve the heavenly destination that I believe comes next, I would offer three responses:
- Our planet has in fact been visited by an emissary from heaven who taught us how to join him there. The empirical and historical evidence for Jesus’ life, earthly ministry, death, and resurrection is so compelling as to convince me that our faith is correct on factual and rational grounds.
- This God who visited our planet continues to work in our lives and world through his Holy Spirit. I have experienced personally the transformation he can make in a person when they seek his best for their lives. When we submit to his Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) and focus on loving our Lord and our neighbor (Matthew 22:37–39), others see the difference and we pray that they’re drawn to our Father (Matthew 5:16).
- Living for our eternal home is the best way to live on this temporary planet because all such preparations improve our lives and relationships now. If we knew our Lord would come for us tomorrow (John 14:1–3), anything we would change today is something we should change anyway. Confessing our sins, forgiving those of others, thinking biblically, and living redemptively are the best ways to experience the “abundant” life of Christ right now (John 10:10).
What my spinal surgery taught me
Satan is working to convince our post-Christian, secularized culture that this “space station” is the only reality that exists. At the same time, the Holy Spirit is working to convince them that they desperately need the salvation and transformation available only in Christ (cf. Acts 4:12).
You and I are largely the instruments through which this battle is being waged. When we submit to the Spirit, he uses us to lead eternal souls to their Savior (cf. Matthew 4:18–22). When we do not, the enemy uses our secularized, sinful lives as evidence against the gospel.
And we miss God’s best for us along the way as well.
I was a graphic artist in my early seminary years, working for a boss who insisted that I do things precisely the way he wanted them done. This was not egotism on his part. He had been in this business for his entire career, cultivated the customers we served, and knew what they wanted far better than I did. As a result, my personal artistic tastes were less relevant than his directives. Doing what he said served the customers who paid my salary.
When I had spinal surgery two years ago, the situation was similar. After the surgery, my physical therapists insisted that I do things that made no sense to me and only made my pain worse at the time. Again, this was not egotism on their part. They were outstanding physicians who knew what was best for my long-term recovery far better than I did. Doing what they said came at a cost but turned out to be an investment in a much better future.
David testified,
“By my God I can leap over a wall” (Psalm 18:29).
Here’s why: “This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lᴏʀᴅ proves true” (v. 30a). As a result, David concluded: “He is a shield for all who take refuge in him” (v. 30b).
Why do you need this “shield” today?
Quote for the day:
“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” —Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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