The World That John Lennon Imagined

On December 8, 1980, John Lennon was killed outside his home in New York.  Naturally, yesterday marked 30 years since the singer's death.  By all popular accounts, John Lennon was perhaps the brightest light in a supergroup that changed the course of modern history.  That being said, I'll have to confess I'm not much of a Beatles fan.  Their music has never really appealed to me, but I certainly acknowledge the fact that the Beatles are adored by many others.  For that reason, I know I run the risk of angering a few folks with what I'm going to write, but it's a risk I'm willing to take.

On October 11, 1971, John Lennon released what may be his most popular song of all-time.  The song Imagine soared to #1 in both Canada and Australia, and it would go on to reach #3 on the US Billboard charts.  Even Lennon himself hailed the song as being just as good as anything he'd ever written with the Beatles.  I just want to ask a simple question:  What exactly did John Lennon imagine?  Read the lyrics for yourself:

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

John Lennon imagined a world of "no religion" - a world devoid of any concept of heaven or hell.  Since heaven and hell are both biblical doctrines, I don't think it's a stretch to say that John Lennon would've eagerly invited a world without the Bible.  And of course, in a world with no religion it appears that all references to God would no longer be necessary because apparently no God exists.  It's no wonder then that Lennon envisioned a world where all the people were "living for today."


With that being said, it's strange to me that some Christians are attracted to the music of John Lennon.  Do we share John Lennon's worldview?  If so, then there's no way we can call ourselves followers of Christ.  In regard to heaven, Jesus said it was a very real place where He was going to prepare a place for all those who believe in Him (John 14:2).  And as for hell, Jesus also said it was a very real place of fire and brimstone - a place where "their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:44, 46, 48).  And while Lennon may have longed for a world without religion, James (the brother of Jesus) called all Christians to demonstrate pure and undefiled religion:  "To visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world" (James 1:27).


I don't know what kind of world you imagine, but I hope you'll join me in rejecting the world that Lennon envisioned.  While peace and sharing are both qualities that we should desire in the world today, we are naive and just dead wrong if we think lasting peace and sharing are going to come apart from Christ Jesus.  Everywhere the socialist/communist overtones of Lennon's imaginary world have been tried, they have failed miserably (Nazi Germany, Red China, USSR, etc.).  But where the grace of God has been offered through the preaching of the Gospel, souls have been saved, lives have been changed, and the entire world has been transformed.


Lennon once opined:  "Christianity will go.  It will vanish and shrink.  I needn't argue with that; I'm right and I will be proved right."  30 years after his death, Lennon is gone but our Lord Jesus remains.  His Gospel continues to ring out all over the world.  And someday soon, Jesus will come back to rapture all those that belong to Him.  "Even so, come, Lord Jesus!" (Rev. 22:20).  The coming Kingdom of Christ - that's the world I'm imagining.