Many of us were taught, say this prayer so that when you die you can go to heaven, and then we based our theology on this afterlife focused version of the gospel.

The problem with this simple phrase is that God’s Kingdom story can’t be reduced to a slogan. It doesn’t start with the fall or end in pop-heaven. God’s Story begins prior to creation in the intentionality of God. And the story doesn’t end on a cloud with harps—it ends with the completed intention of God for all humans and the whole created world.

Consequently, it’s our lives that count (church and death are simply a part of life). While Christian spirituality includes those things it cannot be reduced to them. The scope and duration of God’s plan for us is vast. Reflect on these texts from The Message:

Matthew 3: There at the Jordan River those who came to confess their sins were baptized into a changed life….it is your life that must change…what counts is your life…I’m baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a Kingdom life… [Jesus] will ignite Kingdom life within you…the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. [He’ll] make a clean sweep of your lives. He’ll place everything true in its proper place before God.

Matthew 4: [Jesus] picked up where John left off: change your life. God’s kingdom is here…God’s kingdom was his theme—that beginning right now, they were under God’s government, a good government!

Matthew 5: You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.

Matthew 7: These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to you life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on.

Matthew 8: Jesus refused [the man asking to wait and follow him later.] “First things first. Your business is life, not death. Follow me. Pursue life.”