Obviously French

There was a movie that came out twelve years ago, "Vertical Limit."  It was about trying to rescue trapped mountain climbers on K-2, the second tallest mountain on earth.  In one of the earlier scenes, we are introduced to a character named Monique who approaches two other mountain climbers, Skip and Peter.  She brusquely shoves some papers at Skip, whom she knows, and doesn't say a word to Peter, who she has not yet met.  After she walks off, Skip explains to Peter, "Don't mind her.  She's French-Canadian.  Some days she's Canadian.  Can be quite pleasant. Today she's obviously French."

Now before I get deluged with e-mails from readers in France, let me assure you that I have nothing against them.  I am sure they have similar jokes about Americans.  I am simply using a humorous scene in a movie to illustrate a point.  Those of us on the road to sanctification who are not yet perfected have a sin nature that frequently leads to lapses into sinful behavior.  We are Christian-sinners.  Some days we are Christian and can be quite good.  Other days we are obviously sinners.

I have a little dog like that, named Amelia.  She has the most unique personality of any dog I have owned, because she is equal parts perfectly sweet and perfectly wicked.  She can be the dearest little thing sometimes, humble and submissive, and at others she truly embodies the common name for a female dog.  She is quite manipulative, and has her owners thoroughly trained, and as princess of the household she rules over the other three dogs.  She is full of mischief.

Paul describes the problem in Romans 7:15-17: "For what I am doing, I do not understand.  For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.  If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.  But now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me."  The Christian is indwelt by Christ yet sin remains.  This is a very real struggle for many of us, and there are days when I am an obvious sinner.  Sometimes others suffer because of my sin.

  As Christians, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit who convicts us of our sin and leads us to hate it and to ultimately be freed from that part of our flesh.  Our hope in Christ is that our sanctification will one day be complete when we reach Heaven and leave this world and our worldly ways behind us.  The problem with Amelia is that the Spirit does not dwell within; I just don't believe she hates that sinful part of herself. 

As her human, not canine, father, I still love her despite her sin.  And my Heavenly Father loves me despite my sin.  He has much higher expectations of me, however.  He has given me his Word, His Son, to constantly remind me of the standard to which I am held.  And as short as I fall compared to that standard, I thank God for providing it for me.  Those of the world who do not believe in Christ have nothing by which to measure themselves save their own notion of goodness.  Like Amelia, they have no higher Being to which they compare themselves.  They are comfortable in their sin.

We have much Scripture to support the notion that animals will reside with us in Heaven.  Isaiah 11:6 talks of the wolf (not lion) lying with the lamb, and other animals present.  Revelation talks about all creatures praising God (5:13).  We do not have a Scriptural guarantee that our pets will join us in Heaven, although many Christian writers seemed to think so.  C. S. Lewis in particular felt that our pets would be with us.  He states in "The Problem of Pain" that, "in this way it seems to me possible that certain animals may have an immortality, not in themselves, but in the immortality of their masters."

He also states, "If a good sheepdog seems 'almost human' that is because a good shepherd has made it so."  But what if you are a bad dog with a bad shepherd?  God cannot allow sin into Heaven.  There is no peeing on the rug in Heaven.  How will we get Amelia there?  I will be allowed into Heaven because Christ covers my sins and has paid for them.  Poor Amelia cannot accept Christ and therefore be perfect in sanctification. 

We are both obvious sinners.  If Amelia has to rely on my sanctification as her master to get into Heaven, she may have a real problem.