Hell and Social Justice

David Hansen, writing in The Art of Pastoring - Ministry Without All the Answers" recounts his struggle with the meaning of hell and finally, the potency the resolution of his struggle had on his preaching and ministry.

With hell kicked back into my theology, something unexpected happened. It was to be expected that my evangelistic preaching would get hotter. What I hadn't anticipated was that my preaching and teaching on social issues and concerns got hotter too. After all, Jesus himself taught us to care for the poor and oppressed. Yet his teaching on the subject, like that of the prophets, was based squarely on the fact that those who refuse to care for the needy will be judged. He presented the issue unequivocally when he described the fate of those who had refused to care for the needy:

"Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison and did not help you?" He will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me." Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. (Matthew 25: 44-46)

What an irony: many social-activist Christians have rejected the doctrine of eternal punishment because they think it detracts from social concern. But if Jesus' words are taught straight from the Gospels, social concern will become central to every Christian, since our eternal destiny hangs in the balance.

I scorched some eyebrows when I preached that racial prejudice and anti-Semitism could send a person to hell. the congregation knew I meant it. And they took it, because I was preaching the Word of God from a prophetic position of declaring God's judgement against sin. (Page 89 / emphasis the author's)

Interesting.

Comments

[Anon]

I dismiss the concept of eternal punishment because the words consistently translated as "eternal" have no place being translated that way.

And because I really think God is just a bit more powerful and less egotistical than the idea that he will burn the vast majority of his population who had the misfortune to be born in the Third World and never hear of him, or who reject him in this age.

Social activism out of a fear of hell means going forward from a position of fear - and aren't we all tired of Christianity-as-fear? I would have thought Christianity-as-love is a much better idea. It just takes more work. All that lying down and dying to your own stuff.

Just my two cents' worth. Apologies for soapboxing but this is a subject close to my heart, for it is a pivotal hinge on how much we trust God and how powerful and kind we believe him to be.

[[rhymes with kerouac]]

Anon - Thanks for your response. There's a wide divergence in views on the topic of hell, and even those denominations / churches who enshrine its eternal existence in their doctrine often shy away from emphasizing it. Can we emphasize how seriously God takes the issues of social justice without fear mongering? To me that's a fascinating question in this context..

[John Lunt]

Well, my view is that hell is real and it is eternal. I think the author makes an interesting point. I've used it myself with some church folks.

"Not everyone who says Lord Lord will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but those who do the will of my father."

I think the church needs to hear that. It concerns me that we've gotten into the "just believe and confess" mode for salvation. A key element of that message is "Repent!"

If Christians repent - change their minds about how they live, they will serve others including the poor.

Oh well, just my two cents worth

[JOANEE]

I wonder what Hell is too ,the Bible says there is weeping and wailing and nashing of teeth ,Sounds terrible but then so does crucifiction for a God of love .According to the old Testament God had no mercy for those that defied Him and worshipped idols .Men ,women ,children ,babies and animals died a bloody death at God's instructions .It would be nice to believe in Heaven only ,all we would have to fear for disobedience would be annialation .The trouble is people dont realize there is a hell to be shunned ,like it or not ,God is the Judge ,I believe thats why there is so much evil going on because like anon they dont want to face reality .It would be hell to be left in a world without God where evil rules and that could go on forever,we see some of it now where mam has no conscience .Like the garden of Eden when the devil said go ahead disobey God nothing will happen ,you will be as smart as God and we know where that went.Dont get lulled into a false sense of security ,there is a hell.

[Anon]

I think one of the reasons why there's so much evil going on is because people have such a low view of God and his love and kindness, and therefore of themselves, being created in his image. Without vision the people perish and resort to lowlife scumlike behaviour.

I believe there is a hell, but I do not believe it is eternal, and I certainly don't believe the standard American version that paints God as small, mean, nasty and unable to redeem his creation back to him. The early church did not believe in hell as we know it. It wasn't until Constantine and the centering of the church in the middle of the culture that the whole concept of hell (which, if you investigate close enough, is actually a pagan concept) came into existence in the church. In my view, it's done more harm than any other idea, to distort our ideas of God. But that's just my two cents' worth. I'm sorry - I'm not meaning to try to convert anyone to my way of thinking. I find doctrinal arguments on message boards to be less than useful. I just find it difficult to shut up when I hear people talking about hell in this way - sorry 'bout that :)

The thing that turned the world upside down way back when, when a ragtag group of people took the gospel (the good news that the Kingdom is at hand) to the people. It was by their love for each other that the rest of the world knew that these people were onto something. I would love to see the love of many of us believers grow warmer again

[JOANEE]

Anon Just curious ,do you believe Jesus is the Christ, Son of the Living God. The one who came to earth ,died on the cross ,rose again and is now at the Right Hand of God?The One who came to seek and to save those that were lost. Im asking because you sound like a J.W. no offence intended.

[Anon]

Heya Joanee. Yeah, I do believe Jesus did all that :) He is absolutely central. The firstborn of all creation. Don't that done make ya shiver? :) It's funny how as soon as you say you're a universalist, people automatically think that your view of Jesus' atonement must be somehow less. Whereas it's in fact more, for me, these days.

What a crazy whacky world we live in :)

(How come you thought I was a JW? Don't they believe that only 144,000 are gonna be saved?)

[JOANEE]

Anon Sorry I dont know what a universalist is.I knew JW's dont believe in hell so was just curious . Hope I didnt offend you .RWK can just sit back and let us blog for him LOL Nice chatting with you ,always good to meet another believer

[[rhymes with kerouac]]

John Lunt - Jesus seems to be drawing a direct link between eternity and the here and now, doesn't he? Maybe this shouldn't surprise me, but Jesus seems to see heaven as a present reality - not a thing yet to come but a thing that is - and that we can make bring that reality to life (to the surface?) in our own. Like Anon says, what we focus on says a lot about who we are and shapes what we do. These kinds of conversations fascintate me so - once again - thanks for being here, friend.

Anon - I really liked what you said about the love of believers growing warm again. I think we're really good at being Christians but not very good at all at being like Christ, but maybe that's a discussion for another day. Frankly, I haven't got the whole hell thing figured out. I've heard it described as the absence of God and, whatever that might look like, I don't want to be there. That's pretty much the sum of my theology on that one.

Joanee - Getting other people to write my blog. That's how I roll...

[GraceHead]

NO SUCH HELL
proof
http://gracehead.com/index.php/2007/10/28/p287
the myth
http://gracehead.com/index.php/2006/03/01/p258
God, hates "hell"
http://trumpetcallofgodonline.com/index.php5?title=Proclaim_NOT_the_Hell_of_the_Church_of_Men...In_Their_Word_is_No_Mercy_Found%2C_Only_the_Makings_of_Satan

[[rhymes with kerouac]]

GraceHead: I read the articles you pointed me to. Your arguments are certainly passionate, but not compelling.