A review of Heaven
Is for Real by Todd Burpo. Nashville, Tennessee: W Publishing Group, 2010.
Print.
Heaven is for real is a compelling narrative of
Colin Burpo, a young man who supposedly went to heaven while he was on the operating
table being treated for a burst appendix. The story retells this difficult
event in the family's life, then traces the next several years of their lives
as, slowly, Colin reveals bits and pieces of his heavenly experience. The
narrative itself is compelling, enjoyable, and engaging.
This is certainly not the first account in recent
years of someone going to heaven and coming back. In fact, one could safely say
that there has been an unusually high number of reports lately of this same supernatural
phenomenon. Published in 2004, Don Piper wrote a book entitled 90 Minutes in Heaven and later Heaven is Real: Lessons on Earthly Joy, about
his “90 minute experience in heaven” following a terrible car crash. Don Piper
describes pearly gates, golden streets, and “incredible music in quality and
quantity”. Published in 2012, Eben Alexander wrote the book Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey
into the Afterlife, recounting his transformation from a religion-denying
neurosurgeon to a believer through an other-worldly encounter with an angelic
being during a coma. Also published in 2012, Dr. Mary C. Neal wrote To Heaven and Back: A Doctor’s Extraordinary
Account of Her Death, Heaven, Angels, and Life Again. Her account describes
a heavenly visit following a kayaking accident where she was pinned under water
for at least 15 minutes. These are three of several accounts over the past
decade where people were absolutely sure they had gone into the afterlife and
sent back to tell their stories to the world.
What is going on here? It is not beyond God’s
power to do such a thing, nor is it beyond God’s grace to use men and women as
voices to call the world unto Him. But is this how God operates in the New
Testament Church? Do the accounts, lives, and actions of these individuals bear
the fruit of ones who are genuine, Spirit-filled believers in the Lord Jesus
Christ? Or is it all smoke and mirrors?
We cannot fully know the extent of the truth
surrounding these claims, and that is part of the problem. Many of these
accounts are just as amazing as Colin Burpo’s story. These men and women seem
sure of their experiences, and not only that, but some return with doctrinally
accurate declarations of God’s love and man’s need for saving faith in Jesus
Christ by believing upon His name to be saved. Jesus Christ gives us clear
teaching in the Scriptures regarding the nature of truth and error. 1 John
4:1-3 tells us, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether
they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of
antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is
it in the world.”
We, as Bible-believing Christians, must judge
every spiritual claim against the doctrinal realities of the gospel of Jesus
Christ. If the supernatural experience of any man or woman does not line up
accurately with the gospel of Jesus Christ and the revelation of the Word of
God, then it must be rejected immediately. If the testimony of the individual
is overshadowed by their declaration of the true gospel of Jesus Christ, and
furthermore their account does not conflict with clear teachings of Scripture,
then perhaps we as Bible-believing Christians should not be principally opposed
to their message, even if we retain some skepticism as pertaining to its veracity.
In Mark 9:38-40 the disciples came to a similar
impasse. Jesus had not committed Himself unto men to testify of the gospel,
because “he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he
knew what was in man” (John 2:24-25). Yet in Mark 9 Jesus’ disciples approach Him
about a man, one not following Jesus, who was casting out devils in Jesus’
name. The disciples told Christ that they forbade him to do so on the grounds
that he was not in the company of Christ. From a doctrinal standpoint, this
makes sense. Jesus could not verify the clarity of this man’s message, and
perhaps would not want this man representing Him. This makes Jesus’ response
all the more startling when He said in Mark 9:39-40, “Forbid him not: for there
is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of
me. For he that is not against us is on our part.” Thus Jesus called for the
disciples to allow the man to testify, because through his work people were
receiving a proper understanding of Jesus’ power and authority.
Such a tale stands in direct contrast to that of
the “vagabond Jews” in Acts 19, who had no love for Christ or the gospel, and
yet sought to invoke the authority of both Jesus and Paul to exorcise demons
for their own purposes. Thus the Scriptures tell us in verse 13 that these men
“took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord
Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.” The demons response
is almost comical in verse 15-16, “And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus
I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit
was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they
fled out of that house naked and wounded.”
In conclusion, my position on these supernatural
occurrence is one of skepticism, but also one in which I would desire to align
with the example we see in Scriptures regarding those who preach and teach
concerning God. I believe it very important that we do not get caught up in the
“emotionalism” of any one experience or encounter, nor should we focus upon the
experience at the expense of the Truth that there is a God, that we are morally
accountable to this God, and that only those who come to God through the
finished work of His Son Jesus Christ by “repentance from dead works, and faith
toward God” (Hebrews 6:1) may receive remission of sins and enter into the
eternal life that these men and women claim to have witnessed.
I would call upon us to do that which Gamaliel,
the Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin, called upon the council to do
concerning the Apostles of Jesus Christ in Acts 5:38-39, when the wise man
stated, “And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone:
for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it
be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against
God.” If these men and women speak out for the gospel of Jesus Christ and
maintain sound doctrine, they are doing good, not ill. And as we speak
concerning them, it is our opportunity to keep the focus upon the objective
realities of the gospel, and not the subjectivities of supernatural
experiences. If we all can maintain these determinations of patient evangelism
and care, we may not ever need to bicker among ourselves as to whether or not
these experiences actually happened.
With this foundation laid, there are 3 particular
concerns that I have with Heaven Is for
Real specifically that I would like to address:
The first problem is the biggest problem: what I
would call the “gospel problem”. There is not one instance in the book where
the gospel is clearly articulated. Furthermore, when Colin is asked in his
movie interview “what [he wanted] people to take away from Heaven Is for Real the movie”, His response was, “I hope they find
healing and that they can get wisdom from it, so that they know no matter what
happens, God is always there helping you. And no matter what Satan may put you
through, God can overcome it.” True words, as long as his intended audience for
the movie is the Church of God, and not unbelievers. Unbelievers may walk away
(at least from the book) more convinced of heaven, but they won’t necessarily
be closer to understanding why they should care, or how they can get there.
This is a major problem, and strongly speaks against the spiritual value and
authenticity of this book.
The second problem is the “experience” problem. I
referenced this in the general comments above, but there is something very
unsettling in our age about “Christian experiences”. We are well aware that
“Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14),
and so we cannot inherently trust those things of which our physical senses
would seek to convince us. We furthermore know from Hebrews 11:1 that “Now
faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Thus we know by its very definition that these people are not claiming God on
the ground of faith, but on the grounds of “experience. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells
us, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is
the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Hebrews 11:6 reminds
us, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to
God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently
seek him.” Thus we must understand that any physical or material “experience”
that we might have as believers is only as good as the role it plays in leading
us into faith in the unseen. Supernatural
experiences have no ability to stand alone in their spiritual efficacy. I am concerned with this book and movie that
the experience is attempting to stand alone, and that is a problem indeed.
The final problem is that of association. It was
very troubling to me when I saw, in my “Special Movie Edition” of the book, a
picture of the Burpo family with Producer T.D. Jakes. T.D. Jakes is a man who
is ambiguous at best concerning the doctrine of the Trinity, and had close
associations with “Oneness Pentecostalism” or “Modalism”, which openly denies the
doctrine of the Trinity in favor of an old heresy taking another turn around
the block which teaches that God is a single person who manifests Himself in
three different ways (or modes), as opposed to God being three distinct persons
as the Bible teaches. Furthermore, Jakes has revealed himself to be a false
teacher on many occasions, preaching a “prosperity gospel” of health and wealth
through several blatant Scriptural misinterpretations. Finally, Jakes revealed
during the 2008 Presidential election of Barak Obama that he is a man willing
to forgo Biblical principles and spiritual discernment in favor of superficial social
issues. His open support for President Obama simply because he is a black man, in
spite of Obama’s support for facilitating the murder of children, is absolutely
disgusting. For the Burpo family to
align with a man of such dubious spiritual fruit is to reveal a lack of
discernment at best, and deception at worst.
It is for these reasons that I cannot endorse Heaven Is for Real in any of its forms.
The spiritual intent of the message is confused, the spiritual associations of
the message are dangerous, and the spiritual fruit of the message is unclear.
These are not evident manifestations of the Holy Spirit’s work, and we as
believers should seek “higher ground” in our declarations of the truth both in
the Church, and to a lost and dying world.
