There was a time in my life and maybe yours too where the answer to not going to Hell was making sure you attended church. There are so many things that are wrong with that ideology that we must unpack the thought then concentrate on a better ideology. First of all Heaven and Hell should not be made the designated multiple choice answers for everything theological and faith oriented. Jesus never made Hell the negative motivation to follow Him. And in fact, Jesus never made Heaven the positive motivation to follow Him. Jesus simply made the Kingdom now of greatest importance, which was to follow God and honor Him by honoring his word, his people, his creation, and his call. If we try to make Hell the enemy of the church, then in essence we are making the church Heaven and I'm not sure anyone who has ever been in relationship with any church would be willing to give it that tag. Second, attendance with a church does not give a free pass for everything else in this world. There are great positive things about church attendance and frankly I'm a proponent of church attendance. However, just because we attend church doesn't mean we live sin-free lives and are conquerors for the kingdom. It simply means we made a concerted effort on Sunday to join others who made the same effort. Sometimes it will mean we have walked away with great insights, warm emotions, or even full stomachs. And sometimes it will mean we feel we have wasted our time, the minister's time, and God's time.
If Hell is the scare tactic that is coercing people into a building to praise God...
If Hell is the scare tactic that is coercing people into a building to praise God...
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