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...
...then maybe we should rethink that body of people.
There is no doubt in my mind that Hell is a scary place and that Heaven is the better option. However, I hope that church is not my "Hell Escape." I want church to be something more than that for me and my family. Right now my wife and I are working hard with our 2 and 1/2 year old twin sons on what it means to listen to our words and follow our directions without rebellion and saying "no" or "no way" or the newest "no way Jose!" When they listen and follow instructions they get a treat. When they don't listen they are given timeout. I don't want my boys to only listen to my words so that they can have a treat (although that is what works right now). I want them to learn the value of respect, listening, and self-control. God is not much different! He does not wish for us to find Him only to combat our fear of Hell, but rather to find Him in a meaningful way that all we want is to be with Him, for Him, and with others who also long for Him.
I want church to be a place of relationship with God and others so that I can go out into the world to share that relationship with everyone else. If the fear of Hell brings someone through our doors, I hope our message and our personality as a church will offer something more, something pure, something unbelievably drawing that will keep them coming. That they can lay down their burdens and join us as the expression of Jesus Christ.
There is no doubt in my mind that Hell is a scary place and that Heaven is the better option. However, I hope that church is not my "Hell Escape." I want church to be something more than that for me and my family. Right now my wife and I are working hard with our 2 and 1/2 year old twin sons on what it means to listen to our words and follow our directions without rebellion and saying "no" or "no way" or the newest "no way Jose!" When they listen and follow instructions they get a treat. When they don't listen they are given timeout. I don't want my boys to only listen to my words so that they can have a treat (although that is what works right now). I want them to learn the value of respect, listening, and self-control. God is not much different! He does not wish for us to find Him only to combat our fear of Hell, but rather to find Him in a meaningful way that all we want is to be with Him, for Him, and with others who also long for Him.
I want church to be a place of relationship with God and others so that I can go out into the world to share that relationship with everyone else. If the fear of Hell brings someone through our doors, I hope our message and our personality as a church will offer something more, something pure, something unbelievably drawing that will keep them coming. That they can lay down their burdens and join us as the expression of Jesus Christ.
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