It Must Take the Angels' Breath Away

Rev.20:15 - And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Westerners desire positive messages. In fact, many churches advertise that their minister preaches a “positive” message and that of course is meant to draw people to that church. The old “hell, fire, and brimstone” preacher has become a target of ridicule in this sophisticated evangelical climate. Rob Bell did a video that mocked what he referred to as “Bullhorn Guy” because he was ineloquently warning people on the street through a bullhorn. Of course Pastor Bell believes no one has anything to fear and that all will be saved so that message is irrelevant to him.

But even believers who supposedly include hell in their theology would rather not hear about it. And not to worry, in the average evangelical church hell is rarely referenced and when it is mentioned it is usually just that, a mention. There are many references to hell and eternal punishment through direct teachings and some parables. But the concept is distasteful to the educated western mind, even though we keep a doctrinal replica safely tucked away in our statement of faith (maybe).

But if we believe the Scriptures, we must admit that they do teach about two eternities; one bad and one good. But so often our behavior and lifestyle belies our profession of faith concerning these two realities. The way we are interested in this world, or the way we seem to love things, or even the way we get entangled with the temporal conflicts of power indicate a very shallow belief in the place called “heaven”. Let me illustrate.

A certain man has won 1 billion dollars in the Florida lottery. He and his entire family are beside themselves with joy, and they load up the car and head for Tallahassee to collect their new found fortune. As they reach Gainesville they stop for gas and a cold drink. The man reaches in his pocket and pulls out 11 dollars. But the man knew he had put 12 dollars in his pocket, but now there is only 11. He begins to scour the car floor looking for that other dollar, and he insists the kids remove the back seat so he can look for it.

He begins to sweat and use bad language because he cannot find that dollar. He accuses someone of stealing it and berates everyone. Now his oldest daughter stands aloof and watches the unseemly spectacle. A woman comes out of the store and stands next to the man’s daughter, and upon hearing the loud commotion she leans over to the man’s daughter and asks, “What’s going on?” The daughter explains that this is her father and he has lost 1 dollar. “The funny things is”, the daughter explains, “ that we are on our way to pick up 1 billion dollars in Tallahassee”. The woman looks at the girl with a wry smile and says, “Yea, sure you are”, and walks to her own car.

That is how it must appear to the world when we contend that we are headed for eternal life, but we strive to be rich, get all entangled with the affairs of this world, and are sometimes worrisome, irritated, and generally without the peace and contentment that would substantiate such a claim. Every person on the planet would give everything they have if they knew for certain they could have eternal life with God, but we say we have it through Christ but our lives remain an unremarkable cog in the western cultural wheel. With such a mind boggling claim, should not our lives stand out with incandescent brilliance in the midst of this deep darkness?

But I would like to turn our attention to the issue of hell. Regardless of the many different terms found in Scripture, I am speaking of an eternal place where sinners without divine redemption go and endure eternal justice while being separated from God forever. Now many churches, even some of the more seeker sensitive and purpose driven models, have hell mentioned in their statements of faith. And almost all orthodox churches include a doctrinal "yes" to hell. But most churches avoid mentioning it, not to mention teaching it, because we desire to be a positive people!

Now if it true that every sinner who dies in his sins spends eternity separated from God in a very, very bad place, and if it is true that redemption is offered to all sinners through Christ so that when they die they will spend eternity with Jesus in a very, very good place, then what else really matters? And yet the church spends this 80 year field trip as if this is all there is while almost ignoring the doctrinal elephant in the room. If you are a Calvinist then you have carved out a niche that allows your conscience to be free from any authentic passion for souls since you believe God has only redeemed a very tiny section of humanity.

But if you believe the Scriptures and the Great Commission, and if you believe that is not just some perfunctory exercise that God uses to make Himself look consistent in a game of divine solitaire,, then we are faced with a startling mandate that the western church has traded for a mess of earthly pottage. If we really believed in hell, who would build million dollar athletic facilities for our youth? If we really believed in hell, who would spend thousands on a “Christian” cruise? If we really believed in hell, who would go days and weeks without intercessory prayer? If we really believed in hell, who could go tearless night after night when our loved ones remain lost? If we really believed in hell, who could teach a series on how to increase your financial portfolio? If we really believed in hell, could a pastor redundantly present sermon after sermon complete with jokes, funny stories, and outlines of alliteration, but void of any tears? What does all that say about our so called profession of belief concerning the two eternal destinies?

And when Rob Bell and others present books and messages that openly suggest that everyone will be eternally safe in God’s love, we all race to condemn it and pat ourselves on our doctrinal backs. But our sin stares us menacingly in the face, and our inconsistency pulls the rug out from under our doctrinal hubris. The concept of hell is extremely difficult to actually believe because a passionate belief will always cause a sacrificial lifestyle that is filled with inconvenience, moderation, prayer, and a deep commitment to see sinners saved. And when we see the long, sad line of lost sinners headed for a lost eternity, it would result in a gut wrenching emotional experience that only added to our passion to stand in the gap for souls.

But here we remain, walking in the powerless redundancy of western hedonism but comforted by a religious structure that passes out a gospel kit complete with a profession, a baptism, a church membership, and a continuing Sunday morning get together that changes nothing and is primarily designed to pay the utilities, the salaries, and of course the mortgage. And the billions that have not been reached with the gospel all around the world? Are there no missionaries? Is there no Christian television? Are there no Bible translators? (Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?)

Yes, we surely have taken what was entrusted to us and remolded it into a religious sentiment that fits nicely within a well rounded cultural experience. Nothing fancy, nothing out of the ordinary, and surely nothing inconvenient or substantially sacrificial. Get up on Sunday morning, eat some breakfast, wash and clothe the outward man, drive to church, sit in the service, shake hands and smile before and after, go home and remove your Sunday clothes, eat again, settle in for some football, and voilà, you are a card carrying member of the western expression of a Christ follower. Something is terribly wrong.

But while Rome burns, let us give our attention to the presidential race since that is from whence comes our help. Keep hope alive Darfur; keep hope alive China; keep hope alive South Africa; keep hope alive Iran; keep hope alive Mexico; all of you, keep hope alive because we are praying and hoping that the American economy will turn around. That seems to be our hope these days.

Rev.20:15 - And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.