Tackling the Issue

At the mall on Wednesday night this week, we spoke to a man who very quickly asserted that he didn't believe in hell. Despite his apparent hearing of words to the contrary, he made a point to mention that his belief was different and he could not believe that there could be a place like this because God is a forgiving God.

We went through the Law and Grace in our discussion. He admitted to being a liar and thief (though he couched this in the past when he was young), stated he never might have disobeyed his parents, but never taken the Lord's name in vain and even corrected those who had. There was a hint of  him thinking that sins of the youth did not equal being a sinner today so we clarified that one sin (like murder or rape) means you are a sinner for all time. And yet, what we didn't say, or talk about, was whether he thought he currently sinned.

In retrospect, we didn't focus on sin and judgment, but instead on grace and God's love and acceptance of us. We had limited time as when his wife showed up she seemed ready to go and take him, but I pressed Bobby to continue talking (Bobby was doing all the talking).

But why didn't we tackle the issue of hell? This man's belief in no hell meant that life could be lived in whatever manner deemed appropriate. He stated that consequences are present in this life for wrong behavior (breaking the law), but God is one of forgiveness.

Reading this morning Francis Chan's book, "Erasing Hell: What God Said abut Eternity, and the Things We've Made Up" he remarks that "Jesus threatens hell to those who curse their brother (Matt 5:22)." And he states earlier that while many of us just want to think that only the devil and his angels go to hell, Revelation is clear that "the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, the murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars" will experience separation from God for all eternity (Revelation 21:8).

I guess I'm thinking that we need to be better listeners and not feel like we shouldn't speak on the subject at hand. It was fine to share the usual message that we share in talking to people of Law and Grace, but the real issue with this man (Joe Romero was his name) was his own thinking that hell was not an option. And we really should have focused our conversation on this for it really is the crux of his belief.