The chapel speaker at my school last Wednesday basically gave the "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" sermon (Jonathan Edwards) without the metaphor of the flimsy spider being held loosely over the pit of hell.(He read imaginary notes from people who got sent to hell instead) I was extremely uneasy throughout the sermon. The following seem to be the two schools of thought on the message:
1) He spoke things that were true. It is true that passages in the Bible condemn a person to hell who does not "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ." (He said "accept Jesus", which I'd imagine is maybe the same thing.)Since they were true, it does not matter how he said it or why he said it. We are sinners who need to hear truth, even if it's hard. We can't experience mercy and love until we understand sin and our guilt. Christians don't talk about hell often enough.
2) That the message was inappropriate and condemning. He should not make judgments. He should not motivate people to Christ by trying to "scare them out of hell". Jesus is more than "fire insurance," and consequently, he should not be approached as a way out of hell.
I tend to think that while we were created to be eternal beings, and the concept of an "eternal damnation" or "separation from God" is very real, that it isn't the whole message of Christ. If Christ's message is one of God's love and a betrayal, and humanity given an opportunity to be made new and clean and holy again, then attempting to explain the person and message of Christ by scaring people over going to hell is a lie.
To say the least, I was saddened by the negative reactions of my friends and peers who have a hard time learning about the truths of Christ as a result of messages such as this.
~~Thoughts?
4 comments:
Here's a bunch of thoughts that went through my head as I read your post . . .
It is interesting to note that I do not believe there is a single time where Jesus, Paul, or anybody else for that matter, addresses the irreligious on the topic of Hell. Anybody have a contradicting verse?
I am wondering if Jesus ever tried to scare somebody into the Kingdom? Perhaps, again, the religious Pharisees. (Which maybe in the context of the "Christians" at Valley WOULD be appropriate.)
Of course, Paul is clear that any words or deeds led by the Spirit must be accompanied by love, otherwise they are more hurtful than helpful. (1 Cor. 13)
We also seem to regularly forget the verse following John 3:16 . . . For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (ESV)
All this, but I am reminded, since I call myself a Christian, and am religious, that Jesus' harsh words about Hell are directed at me and the importance of actually finding life and not finding man's religion.
So the question is, did the talk make the "Christians" at Valley uncomfortable in a way that forces them to be confronted with the authenticity of their life with God? I think that's how Jesus used Hell.
"You have gone in quest of salvation from a sense of danger, or fear of the wrath to come, or a desire to obtain the inheritance of glory. How could it be otherwise? God made you with these fears and hopes; and he appeals to them in his word. When he says, "Turn ye, turn ye, for why will ye die?" he is appealing to your fears. When he sets eternal life before you, and the joys of an endless kingdom, he is appealing to your hopes. And when he presents these motices, he expects you to be moved by them. To act upon such motives, the, cannot be wrong. Nay, not to act upon them, would be to harden yourself against God's most solemn appeals."
- Horatius Bonar
Ryan, I'm not aware of a NT example, but in the OT prophets would speak of God's punishment - most often to the Israelites, but also to Nineveh (Jonah 3:4), Damascus (Amos 1:3), Moab (Isaiah 15), and so on. Of course, these are usually accompanied by judgment on Israel, and I guess not all of those were directed at the countries God would destroy, but God did not hide that He would punish sin.
As much as I fear Hell, I love God more. It hurts my guts more to know a friend won't know the LOVE of God, than to worry about them burning in Hell. I think of my life without God or away from God and it feels hellish. I love God too much to worry about Hell.
That's the short, emotional, non-bible answer. I'm such a girl. :)
Eh, nothing to profound, but I have to agree that our dear friend did spend to much time trying to scare people from hell as opposed to telling them about the love of Christ. Granted, as Malek would probably say, we very rarely hear the fire and brimstone message so it could be a nice change of pace to get the other side of the arguement (one that we often forget about), however, that speaker made God out to be some kind of indifferent judge. Though it is true that God is a righteous judge, discounting His side of mercy makes it near impossible to love Him. Notice I say near, I still believe it to be possible to love God's side of justice (I know I do).
Bleh, I personally think we need a chapel speaker that encourages us to think about our faith instead of one who's trying to encourage us all to "turn or burn" or "use Christ as a parachute to avoid death!" Maybe that's why I like this weeks guy.
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