hmph...
It still blows my mind how the main thing on many Christian's minds is whether or not everybody gets theirs in the end.
I'm talking about hell.
Why is it that so many Christians can't grasp the goodness of God without needing Him to also bring the hammer to the heathen? It seems that anytime I start talking about the Gospel with other Christians the FIRST thing out of their mouths is "What about hell?" What the hell?! (sorry :))
I'm taking a liberty calling this group of people Christians instead of believers because, unfortunately, the word Christian these days is more indicative of a sectarian church-goer than a tried and true believer. Somebody with a closed mind that says they believe the Bible cover to cover, but actually only believe what the pastor tells them to. And when I say the Gospel, I'm talking about the FINISHED work of Christ, not an opportunity at a "second chance." If I say believer, I'm talking about someone who actually believes the Gospel.
Getting back to hell, I believe religion is the reason for Christians' obsession with hell. Many would say that hell is a place of permanent separation from God. However, a quick read through Colossians chapter 1 will pretty clearly show that Christ is in all and through all and that He bridged the gap between fallen humanity and God. Francois du Toit says, "Religion thrives on two lies, distance and delay; Jesus cancelled both."
The thing that saddens me most about western Christianity is that most find it easier to believe their Eternal Life Membership could be revoked than to believe there may be extra memberships available. Just remember, kids, yours was free, too. The verse that comes to mind is 1 John 4:18: There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
I'm not saying that there is no hell. What I am saying is that if your first reaction to the scary-good news about Christ's Completed Work is to question who's going to hell, you're doing it wrong. I'm going to call that fear of punishment and suggest you check your love meter. An appropriate response would be something along the lines of, "Wow! This is good news! I want everyone to know that God fixed it for us!"
We'll talk more about the Gospel another time. Until then, love because He first loved us.
