During a conversation about a teenager who was wandering from the Way, getting involved in things that were both damaging to her life and sinful in the eyes of God, her Dad suggested that the answer was to preach more hellfire and damnation! I disagree. Can we really be ‘scared straight?’ 20 years ago, the state of NJ started a program by that name that lets juvenile delinquents experience real prison life up close, with the intent that it will let them catch a glimpse of what’s waiting for them if they refuse to stay out of trouble. Some churches, usually around Halloween, do something that is similar, called “Hell House.” In dramatic sketches, teens are told that Hell awaits if they persist in their sinfulness.
I do believe that the Bible is clear about the reality of an eternal place of separation from God, too horrible to contemplate. Jesus used the garbage dump of Jerusalem as a metaphor for that place. It is the refuse heap of eternity, a place where the presence of God and good is not known, where hope is lost. While it is not our right to determine who goes there, we must not deny what the Scripture plainly teaches. However, I am convinced that preaching the grace and love of the Father, shown to us through Christ Jesus, is a much more powerful message for life-change than a fear-based message about Hell!
In the opening chapters of Romans, Paul presents the truth about God’s efforts to restore humanity to a right relationship with Himself. In that beautiful argument, we find this: "God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 5:20-21, NLT) That promise, not the threat of Hell, is the central message, the genuine Gospel!
If our message is one based on Fear, the best we can hope for is greater human effort to ‘be good.’ Dallas Willard has coined an unforgettable phrase that describes the efforts of many churches and pastors who fear Hell more than they love God. Dr. Willard says that they substitute the ‘gospel of sin management,’ for the glorious Gospel of Christ Jesus. Instead of creating disciples of Christ whose hearts and minds are increasingly made to be like the Lord by the powerful Presence of the Spirit, their efforts are designed around making incremental change in behavior, creating nicer people who learn how to ‘manage’ their sin, rather than defeat evil.
Here’s the truth about us. Fear has a very short shelf life. We can learn to live with any threat, becoming numb to it after a time. Even the threat of Hell cannot sufficiently frighten us into devotion to God! We can write all the rules we want, but those rules, no matter how dire the consequences we attach to them, cannot change the intent of a heart that has not experienced the life touch of the Spirit of God. The Word says, "You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires." (Colossians 2:20-23, NLT)
So, I invite you to join Paul (and me!) in this declaration:
"We preach Christ crucified … who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:30-31, NIV)
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Sweet Jesus Christ, my sanity.
Sweet Jesus Christ, my clarity.
Bread of heaven, broken for me,
Cup of salvation held up to drink.
Jesus - Mystery.
Christ has died, and
Christ is risen,
and Christ will come again!
Celebrate his death and rising!
Lift your eyes! Proclaim his coming!
Jesus - Mystery!
Mystery - Charlie Hall
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