Playing The 'Get-Out-of-Hell-Free' Card

(This is the eighth chapter of my upcoming book, Christian Candor)

Keeping Score

American Christianity places a very strong emphasis on conversion. Many churches and evangelists keep a tally of those numbers. In fact, statistics show that most Americans will at some point in their lives accept Christ Jesus as their Savior. There are tips online and books to buy that promise to help aspiring evangelists break their “soul winning records.” The tactics taught often entail a sermon trying to scare people into Heaven.

However, research completed by The Barna Group shows that the majority of people who accept Jesus are no longer even going to church within eight to twelve weeks of their conversion.¹ Though weekly church attendance is not necessary for salvation, I seriously doubt these new believers have disappeared into the wilderness to fast and pray for forty days.

Once we get people 'saved' and into church, there is often little effort placed on relationships. Discipleship is watered down to a mere list of “do's” and don'ts” with very little emphasis placed on experiencing the deep love of our Father. As Jack Frost notes, we have replaced the great commandment with the great commission. ²

Going Back to The Basics

Ironically, despite the list of “do's” and “don'ts” those who stay with God and the church do not live much differently than the world. In fact, a recent in-depth survey revealed that many church going Christians live the same life styles and hold most of the same beliefs as unsaved individuals.³

These findings really need to be a wake-up call to the church. For the past several decades, the push has been to get saved in order to avoid the flames of Hell. Yet, the church in its infancy was known for its message of love. When the plague spread through Rome in the second century, many Christians stayed behind and cared for the sick.⁴ As a result, quite a few of those Christians died, but they found this acceptable because they knew that these sick people needed love more than the Christians themselves need life.

I am not stating that we must all run to a third world country right now and minister to the sick, but the church needs to reevaluate its fruitfulness. The world should know we are Christians by our love, and not by our condemning sermons, a Republican Party affiliation, or where our car happens to be parked on Sunday morning.

Heaven, Hell, Paganism, and Humanism

“What's so great about Heaven anyway?” That is a question I would personally wonder if I had no relationship with God, though so many Christians try to use Heaven as a selling point; as if Christianity is simply a free ticket to a terrific vacation in the after-life. I have seen several comics in secular media that portray Heaven as a dull place where fairies float around on clouds playing harps, yet Hell is presented as one big hot party.

Many of the unsaved have no desire to go to Heaven because they do not know God. Due to a lack of knowledge and a relationship with God, they are missing the entire point: God is what makes it Heaven.

The frequently used second tactic is attempting to scare someone out of Hell and into Heaven. This is another terrible way to present the Good News because as 1 John 4:18 states, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."

Think about what that verse is saying: God is love, and if there is no fear in love, then those who are pursuing God simply because they are afraid of eternal punishment do not truly know the depths of God or His love. I really do not see how we can possibly think we are making progress by preaching fear as it is contrary to the very nature of God.

Secondly, this scare tactic is becoming increasingly less effective because the mindset is different in today's society. In The Problem of Pain, CS Lewis points out that pagans during the New Testament period were different than the unsaved today. Back in those times, people truly believed that man was sinful and corrupt. The Gospel was considered the 'Good News' because its message was Jesus came to save us and justify us before God.⁵

Our challenge today stems from secular humanism which teaches that everyone is alright, that we do not need God, that we as mankind can make it on our own strength. So now our “Good News” message starts to come across as bad news if we are simply teaching that people should get saved so that “the big, mean God in Heaven doesn't throw their rotten souls into Hell.”

God does not eagerly anticipate throwing anyone into Hell. In fact, the Bible states that He desires that all would come to know Him. Hell is a place for those who have rejected God. Because God is good, He will not force anyone who has refused Him to spend eternity with Him in Heaven. Those who reject Him will be given a place devoid of His life-giving Spirit.

Heaven on Earth

Heaven starts here. Jesus says in Luke 17:21 that "the kingdom of God is within you." That is a powerful statement. When reading through Matthew, I believe one of the points Jesus makes is that we are to start experiencing God's Kingdom right here on this earth. This world is full of pain and trouble, and it is easy to slip into the mentality of thinking we are to just suffer through this life for our big reward at the end. But Jesus was saying something different. He said we are to start living in the Kingdom right now.

How to live in God's Kingdom right now is a topic that could easily fill an entire book. However, it starts with learning to love God and love each other. When we let God transform our thoughts, attitudes, and lives we will find a deeper joy and meaning than we ever thought possible on this earth.

Casting out Fear

I used to think God was mad at me, and I thought of Him as a large, towering God in the sky who was disappointed with me because of all of my imperfections. My fear of Him made it impossible for me to truly draw close to Him. But then I realized that we are not merely "sinners in the hands of an angry God" but rather children in the hands of a loving Father.⁶ That revelation is what enabled me to draw closer to God.

The Bible states we should fear God and the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. However, an awe-filled respect for an all-powerful God is different from being scared of Him. We cannot possibly expect to enter into a deep, growing relationship if we are scared. We must trust, and in order to trust, perfect love must cast fear aside.

Because the Bible states that God is love, and that fear and love cannot coexist I believe we should quit this ridiculous feat of scaring people into Heaven and believing in God. The Kingdom of God is within us, and His love flowing through us should be what draws unbelievers to Him. They should know we are Christians by our love.

Notes:

1. David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons, unChristian: what a new generation really thinks about Christianity...and why it matters (Grand Rapids, MI; Baker Books; 2007), Page 79
2. Jack Frost, Spiritual Slavery to Spiritual Sonship (Shippensburg, PA; Destiny Image Publishers, Inc; 2006) Page 71
3. David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons, unChristian: what a new generation really thinks about Christianity...and why it matters (Grand Rapids, MI; Baker Books; 2007), Page 48.
4. Ecclesiastical History 9.8.13-14 // Eusebius. Written in AD 323 or 324
5. CS Lewis, The Problem of Pain (New York, NY; HarperCollins Books, 2002)
6. Please note that I am not trying to mock Jonathan Edwards’ sermon. It is well written and he was a very effective minister. My goal is for people to understand that God is not a one-dimensional angry God, but that He is filled with grace and mercy.