Our lead pastor, Steve Phillips, examined the statement backwards–looking at “heaven” then “way” then “only” then “Jesus.” If you’ve ever struggled with that claim–either having trouble believing or understanding it, or explaining to someone else why it is true, I encourage you to watch/listen to the whole thing here:

In a very small nutshell, the question of how Jesus can claim to be the only way to heaven is usually the wrong question to ask, because we have the wrong picture of heaven. We think of it as more of the stuff we like–food, sports, friends, music, whatever–only better, and none of the stuff we don’t like.

But that’s not heaven. Heaven may include some of those things, but at the core, heaven is being in the presence of God. Jesus said,

Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

Heaven, eternal life, is intimate, complete, eternal knowing the Father through being in HIs presence.

The Problem

There’s a problem, though. We aren’t fit to be in that Presence. Part of the reason Jesus came is to cleanse us from the sins that beset us, and He teaches us, helps us, and shapes us to be fit to live there. And He is the only One who can, the only one who has ever lived who is capable of doing so.

Of course, there are some people who don’t want to be in God’s presence. They don’t want to not sin. They enjoy it. Sin is fun. If we’re honest with ourselves, that why we all sin: because there is pleasure in it. Some people don’t want to give that up. In that case, how cruel of God would it be to force them to be with Him forever?

So, those who want to be in His presence can come to Jesus and He can work to save us from our sins and make us fit for heaven. And those who do not want to be there are not forced to be. As Dallas Willard said (and Steve quoted), “God will allow into heaven anybody who in His considered opinion can stand it!”

Frozen

This way of thinking about it reminded me of Olaf’s song “In Summer” in the movie Frozen. It’s one of my favorite songs (though not the best song) in the movie. Olaf thinks summer is a combination of the stuff he already knows but better and things he’s heard about (somehow) that sound really fun/exciting. He didn’t know that he’s not able to live in summer the way he is, as a snowman.

Someone else had to make a way for Olaf to live in this place he wanted to be, because he just wasn’t fit for it otherwise. He would have melted in summer whether he knows it or not. Elsa made it so he can live there by adapting something to suit him (creating a snow cloud that floats over him all the time) so he could stand it.

If Olaf had asked, “Why does everyone want to keep me out of summer?!” we would have laughed at the silly little snowman who just didn’t know any better. But when we ask, “How could a loving God keep me out of heaven?” we’re making the same mistake Olaf did.

Kingdom Thinking: With this way of thinking about heaven, truthfully do you want to go there?

Now, there is a new book to add to that list: The Wisdom of Walt Disney: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone (from Walt Disney and Disneyland). In The Wisdom of Walt, Dr. Jeff Barnes combines elements of Disneyland, Walt Disney’s life story, his own story, and leadership/success principles to create a one-of-a-kind (until he writes another one) book.

Usually when it comes to books like this, there is a certain “been there, done that” quality to them, as the author simply recycles what dozens of others have said with their own little spin to it. It would be untrue of me to say that everything in The Wisdom of Walt is brand new. It’s not, nor should it be Why reinvent the wheel? However, the tried-and-true wisdom that’s in there is contextualized enough with Jeff’s own experience and the stories of Disneyland and Walt Disney that it often feels fresh. Also, there are definitely instances of new ideas (they were unfamiliar to me, anyway), like personifying your “inner voice” and making it more of an entity to be listened to and bounce ideas off of.

In addition, each chapter ends with a “hand stamp” that gives a memorable story hook for what you just read in the chapter and a “souvenir stop” where you can take what you just read & learned and apply it in practical ways to your life before moving on. I highly recommend paying special attention to these two parts of each chapter, by they way. No matter how good a book is, if it’s not applied intentionally soon after reading it, it does very little good. Actually answering the questions and doing the exercises suggested significantly help reduce that risk.

Did I have any qualms with The Wisdom of Walt? A couple, but all relatively minor. First, I had expected the book to be a more comprehensive look at Disneyland, which it is not. Perhaps that is just because of the way I wrote my book. Different authors, different approaches.

Second, I would have liked the references documented in more detail. There are many other books, blogs, etc. referenced, but no detailed footnotes or endnotes to tell the reader exactly where a quote came from. I talked to Jeff and this was an intentional choice, and it doesn’t take away from the readability at all. I just like detailed references.

Finally, there were a couple of facts about Walt Disney and/or Disneyland that may not be 100% accurate. I’d say the majority are, but there were 3 or 4 that stood out to me as either things that I had never heard before and couldn’t verify (which doesn’t mean they are wrong, I just want to confirm them) or that are the commonly thought to be true but probably are not–the colorblind bulldozer operator comes to mind for this one. Again, this doesn’t affect the readability of the book, and the lessons are still just as valuable. The truth is, it’s extraordinarily difficult to write a book on this particular subject that is 100% accurate in all those little details. I’m sure mine has a couple, too, and 99.5% (estimated) is pretty impressive.

Because of those little qualms, I can’t quite give the book a full 5 stars out of 5, but the rest of it is so good and valuable that I can confidently give it 4.75 stars. If you have an interest in Walt Disney and Disneyland and you’re looking for a book that can help you take your success to the next level, I highly recommend The Wisdom of Walt.

NOTE: If you’d like to know more about Jeff Barnes and The Wisdom of Walt, check out episodes 101 and 102 of my podcast, Stories of the Magic, where Jeff is my interview guest.

Disclosures: I received a review copy of this book at no charge, but all opinions are my own. Also, I am quoted twice in the book. It didn’t affect my view of the book, but you should know. Finally, Amazon links to purchase the book on this page are affiliate links.

I’ve been pretty quiet here for a while, as some big life changes were happening–the greatest of which was the birth of my first child, a daughter, almost 4 weeks ago.    Now I’m back, though, and I have something very special that I’m announcing.

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