I know it's dicey to do theology from a TV show, but I've been thinking about the series finale of LOST and its view of the afterlife. The final scene in the final show of the six year series takes place in a church-like place with symbols of all major religions. So, the syncretism is off-putting to begin with, but the idea of afterlife as a "flash sideways" may have some theological merit.
In the earlier seasons of the TV show we were treated to flashbacks. Then things got more weird (if that's possible) when we were having flash forwards. In the final season we had logic-wrenching flash sideways; that is, events happening in something akin to a parallel universe. As it turns out, the flash sideways was the way the show handled the death of characters.
Although some commentators have seen allusions to purgatory in the final scene where everyone is waiting for Jack before going into the light, I think the flash-sideways notion is more radical than that and may have some support in Scripture.
Let's start with the logical understanding that heaven is outside our space and time. We can't get there in these bodies of flesh. That's a pretty orthodox view. Heaven is where God is and God has no beginning or end. So, in heaven it's always now. There is no more time. Logically then we don't go to heaven "after we die. " Heaven isn't waiting for the sequence of events to play out. Outside of time, the reign of Christ has already begun.
The New Testament clearly teaches that "eternal life" is already happening to believers. Jesus said in John 5:24, "I'm telling you the truth - whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has (present tense) eternal life." "You have already passed from death into life," John writes in 1 John 3:14. Paul says our true life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). During his stay in Arabia, Paul said he was caught up to the third heaven. Was he on drugs or did the Apostle actually have a vision another realm? These passages show clearly that what Jesus called eternal life is happening now.
These verses may be more literal than I ever imagined. Could it be that when our spirit was regenerated by the Holy Spirit we opened our eyes on another shore? What I saw in that final episode of LOST was the possibility of the Scriptural truth that we actually exist in this time and also in another timeless dimension to which our mortal being has almost no access. I say "almost no access," because there are moments in this world when believers are allowed to experience our life outside of time and space. One of those times is Holy Communion during during which we look back, look ahead, and exist in the present all at the same time. It is sacramental precisely because of its timelessness in our time.
So we may understand the word "spiritual" is something more than a religious-sounding sentiment, but has real content. The world of the spirit may very well be flash sideways eternal life. The life of the "flesh" is very real. I am not advocating a gnostic denial of corporeality. Suffering really hurts. But the fact is our eternal life cannot exist in this space-time continuum. So what happens when we die? Our physical bodies cease to function and the awareness of our spiritual life is revealed to us. Rather than thinking about going to heaven after we die, we might better think of afterlife as "when heaven is all there is."
What could this perspective mean for eschatology? What about the resurrection, both the Lord's and our own? Scriptures affirm that resurrection is when "death is swallowed up in victory" (1 Cor 11). Christ's victory in us could be expressed as the end of parallel time in favor of what Paul described as the"pneumatikos body" (spiritual body) that dwells in eternity. For believers, our spiritual existence is already with God.
What about praying to saints or praying to ourselves if we are already existing with God outside of time? The Scriptures clearly teach there is no inter-mediation between the eternal world and our world by anyone other than Christ (1 Timothy 2:5). This is the great fixed chasm Jesus spoke of in his parable of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:26).
So what might the flash sideways concept tells us about the purpose of life? In LOST this mortal sojourn was explained as the opportunity to gather friends and family. Jesus said our mission as Christians is to share the Gospel, bringing good news to those who are being born from above that their new life is hidden with Christ in God. Jesus' imperative was to preach, teach, and baptize disciples. So sharing the Gospel may not be as much about growing churches as much as it is gathering those whom God is calling to Himself and preparing us together for the wonderful life we know now only through a glass darkly, but then face to face with Christ.
I welcome comments and questions. If this is the way the world and Heaven are integrated, it gives me great peace. It affirms the faithfulness and sovereignty of God and I see so much more clearly the need to set our minds on things that are above, or perhaps, sideways.
