Hell no, we won't go!

“Oh go to hell! Don’t pass Go and don’t collect $200.”

My friends and I used to say that to each other when we were kids, borrowing the thought from the game of Monopoly. We actually believed hell was a real place, like Dante’s Inferno.

But some people, such as Rob Bell, pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan, think there might not be a hell (Time, April 14, 2011) or if hell does exist it is not forever. Love will reconcile us to  God and we'll be okay. The problem, I explain to Sam, is that people like preacher Bell don't WANT to believe in hell or eternal damnation. They only want to believe in this uniquely American sociopathic dream that love will make everything right. You see this in our movies all the time.

But while it’s true that God loves us and will forgive us (after all God sent Jesus down here to reconcile us to himself), unfortunately, too many people think Jesus ‘ death on the cross is some kind of holy writ of habeas corpus that helps us escape the gallows even if we don’t ask forgiveness.  

Okay, I’m not a preacher and I’m not an umpteen-degreed theologian, but The Bible clearly tells us that hell is when God turns his back on us because we just won’t quit violating his laws and we’re too stubborn to ask for forgiveness. Jesus admonished us in the Bible that he was not sent here to change one iota of God’s laws (see 10 commandments).  He clearly spelled out for us, through the story of the woman at the well, that once we are forgiven (through God’s gracious love), that we are to sin no more. Jesus blessed and forgave the woman at the well but he warned her kindly, “don’t do it again.”

Make no mistake God will smite us mightily if we keep on blowing it. Read the Bible where it talks about judgment day. On that day, if Jesus says to you, “I never knew you,” all hope is lost. This love-conquers-all theme that is eroding Christianity is an alarming trend. Like Pastor Bell and countless other Christians, I too have questioned scriptures. But I do not dismiss hell as not being real.

The most villainous people on earth – serial killers, dictators who slaughter millions of their own people, the Nazis, blasphemers, adulterers, and child rapists – can all be forgiven, if they but ask. And they may be able to escape going to hell.  The key of course, is to humbly and abjectly ask for forgiveness. You won’t escape punishment but you might not go to hell. 

I don't know what Islam or Buddhism or other religions say about this, but continually breaking the commandments if you call yourself a Christian, definitely is going to result in more than a slap on the wrist like some nuns used to administer in Catholic school. Scripture absolutley states that even though love conquers many things, you must OBEY the rules.

Otherwise, pack your bags and prepare to start shoveling (uh, something).