I was on my way to work and listening to the radio. I like to spin the dial, give each station a few minutes, regardless of whether it’s music, news or talk radio. Or preaching. If something in my variety show keeps my attention, I’ll stay with it until a station break, or until my attention dwindles. Today it was preaching.
I don’t remember the speaker’s name, but he was one of the more popular ones, like Swindoll or Stanley. I also noted that he was one of the more educated ones, a proven Biblical scholar, it seemed. He was outlining the afterlife, heaven or hell, based upon one’s decision for Christ. From my church background I know this means accepting God’s son as your personal savior, realizing that he died for our sins, and has gone before us to heaven to prepare a place for us. Non-believers are destined for an eternity in hell.
That’s when it hit me. How could intelligent men accept such statements, let alone teach them! The questions began to pour forth from my mind, and, yes, I was still driving safely. Could any of us name just one person, past or present, who deserves to be tortured FOREVER for deeds done in a lifespan of less than 100 years?
I thought of three examples of life and tried to determine if any of them warranted the doom of damnation for all of the ages. The first would be one who had led a miserable life, giving and receiving hurt and hatred. Was that person not created by God? Was he or she viciously evil from birth? And what could they possibly do throughout their adult life that would cause them to deserve suffering in searing flames — for 10 BILLION YEARS - for starters?
Another person might have led a fairly decent life, with all of life’s ups and downs. Perhaps they made mistakes, like all of us do at various times, but they felt bad for their shortcomings and were willing to feel sorry and to do better. But for whatever reason they don’t pray the sinner’s prayer, lay their burdens at the foot of the cross or ask Jesus into their heart. The fundamentalist Christian evangelist would emphatically predict a judgement of damnation for such a person, because they ignored or rejected the Gospel. Shouldn’t they only get 5 BILLION YEARS since they weren’t as bad as the miserable person? Nope. If you’re not FOR Christ, say the preachers, you’re AGAINST him, so down you go. To Hell with you.
Person three leads a blessed life. Has very little conflict. Is recognized as a peacemaker, cares for those around him, shows love and trys to see the good in everyone. But because he believes in God, but can’t quite buy into the salvation thing, he too must suffer FOREVER because he didn’t go forward and pick up his Get-Out-Of-Hell-Free card.
All of these folks came into existence by the will of God. They were all given various views of God by well-meaning people who, more than likely, didn’t quite get it right. Our presence in this marvelous creation sets the stage for many questions about what’s out there, why are we here and where are we going? Our regular reminders of death stir us to consider our own mortality, causing us to fear the unknown, despair for the end of our days, or hope for immortality.
And what about this word “eternity”? Even the religious folks teach that God exists outside of time and space as we know it. Eternity is what happens after life is done happening. It has nothing to do with time. They teach that God so loved the world. But a god’s gotta do what he’s gotta do. Reject my Son, reject me. No more love. Nothing but pain.
They also teach that God is not willing that any should perish. So if any DO perish, then God’s will is thwarted, right? Come on! If God wills anything, it’s a done deal. If God is not willing, it can’t happen. Either he’s God or he’s not. So would most of us limp into heaven with broken wings? Maybe so. Because wouldn’t it make more sense for a loving and just Father to discipline his children and make them into obedient, loving offspring? Wouln’t any level or duration of hell or outer darkness be worth it if it caused us to realize our own emptiness, shortcomings and need for fellowship and affection from our heavenly Father and his family?
This is the message that I believe God has laid on my heart. It’s a message of tremendous hope and encouragement. Reconciliation is his plan for making things right. Life is what happens on the journey. Love is the ultimate destination.
Read more about: eternity, Hell, salvation
December 9th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Steve said “It seems to me that the ultimate goal of perfection is for all to be completely reconciled. If anyone can pull this off, surely God can.”
God just wants us to love everyone, right? It’s really in scripture a lot–love God first, and love your neighbor as yourself. Wow! I feel like I’ve had a revelation. That is just really freeing. We don’t get to pick and choose–we just do it because God says to.
December 8th, 2008 at 5:18 am
I believe that we are connected through our souls, not only to God but to each other. Inside we are all spiritual beings. We humans just ride around in a physical body. We’re on the journey now. What we don’t accomplish in this life gets addressed in the next, with physical encumbrances taken out of the equation. Christ wants us to be reconciled to his Father (our Father); the first step in that is to reconcile with others we have wronged, or those who have wronged us. Hurt must be healed. Anger must be snuffed out. Hatred must die. Hell is more of a process than a place. Some of us are experiencing it now. To be doomed to endless torture with no hope of escaping is pointless.
Being an obedient follower of Christ means to put his teachings into practice. Unconditional love is at the center of those teachings.
God made everyone. We are his sons and daughters. The Apostle Paul confirmed that to the Athenians. It seems to me that the ultimate goal of perfection is for all to be completely reconciled. If anyone can pull this off, surely God can.
December 7th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
So, I would understand you to say that because we are connected to our creator, then we must someday be reconciled to him. (How are we connected? Through our soul?) Then, those that are not reconciled through his son before they die must be reconciled after they die, hence, “the journey” begins after death instead of while they are still living. And, hell, in fact, exists, but you do not believe in a state of eternal torment for those unreconciled at death.
In the gospel of John, Thomas says, “Lord, we do not know where you are going and how we will get there.” Jesus answers, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” I believe Jesus’ statement means that he is showing us the truth of who God really is, and the way to be reconciled to him. The life Jesus lived, he lived through his father, and the life we live (as we are reconciled) will be lived through Christ living in us. He goes on to say that he is in the Father, the Father is in him, and he will come and live in us, and we will be one. He also said, if you love me, you will obey me. The reconciliation of our life in God is being an obedient, faithful, loving follower, is it not? I think that Jesus said that “knowing him is eternal life.” So, our highest aspiration would be to know him. A product of knowing him is eternal life.
You believe that all will be reconciled. Do you believe that all men/women have a soul? That everyone that is born has a soul? It is a sweeping statement, and one I couldn’t answer.
November 27th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
There seems to be an eternal connection between the created and the Creator, such that to completely cut off your Maker would be to deny yourself completely, which is impossible. So is free will really free? Is it not a gift? To exercise the right to will yourself into non-existence is the one thing that cannot happen because it negates your very being.
November 11th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
If God eventually brings everyone to him, what does that do to free will? I’ve always thought that free will means that we were created in such a way that we have a choice, and sometimes the choice is to not seek God. If He’s making all of us into obedient, loving offspring, why not just make us that way to begin with?