Cowards

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day who was Jewish, and out of the blue he stated that "Christians are cowards." I asked if he could elaborate, and he talked about how our faith is motivated out of fear. If we don't do what we're told, we go to Hell, and so we obey out of fear. While I had heard essentially the same argument before in theological tracts, I had never actually heard it stated out loud before, and certainly never so candidly. Unfortunately, we both had commitments which precluded the possibility of an actual conversation on the topic, and so I was left without a chance to defend my position.
The church has been far too focused on the afterlife for far too long. In all honesty, when I go to outreach events or retreats, they seem to be painfully focused on what happens next rather than what happens now. Worse than that, there is a blatant overtone of fear. "All of these terrible things will go away if only you would believe." While I can't deny that through faith comes freedom from a great many things, my friend does seem to have a point. All too often we make God into a miracle drug vending machine so that we can escape our fears as well as our need to act. The gift of Heaven seems to have been turned into a blindfold, barring us from seeing the horrors of this world and removing our responsibilities here and now.
I would like to propose a different way of looking at these same things which have been used to turn Christians into cowards. First, the promise of Heaven is not something which frees us from the responsibilities of Earth. Rather, Heaven is a promise that frees us from being concerned with what happens to us in this life. It is the assurance that the injustice we face in this world is not the way of ultimate reality. Instead, so long as we do what is right, whatever price we pay in this world is irrelevant. Heaven should inspire us, embolden us, and grant us the peace to carry on our battle against the dark forces in this world.
Second, I feel it is wholly appropriate for us to wish to avoid suffering ourselves. The goal, fundamentally, is to make it so that none suffer. In the meantime, however, it makes perfect sense for us to cast off all unnecessary suffering. The suffering which faith purges from us does not build character or surmount challenges. We are letting go of a crippling force in our lives so that we are free to suffer in more productive ways.
Christianity has been undermined by humanity. We are a fearful species, and in Christianity we find the ability to mitigate that fear. It is entirely honest to say that, without a change of heart, without spiritual rebirth, than Christianity is little more than a safety blanket. Christianity is predisposed to seek out those in fear, but the goal is to purify the person, purge the fear, and bring forward the courage of those who belong to the Lord.