One Thing Hell is Not
I have seen it twice in the last few days. Driving around a smaller town, I have seen a man on a street corner holding a sign. To his credit, he is not shouting at people or being a nuisance. He is simply holding a sign with a message he intends to share with those who drive or walk by.
At the top of the posterboard sign, in huge Sharpie letters are two words: “Universal Salvation.”
Underneath, in smaller, but still very readable ink, are four words: “Hell is a Hoax.”
I get it. I get the mindset that would lead to someone making such a sign and trying to share such a message. I get why people would not want to talk about hell or think anyone is actually going there. I get why, when you observe funerals, the deceased is always said to be looking down from above, no matter how they might have lived here in this life.
That said, if we are going to be honest with the Bible, we must understand that one thing hell is not is a hoax.
That sign made me think, though. As a parent, it made me think about what I want my children to know about hell. Of course, it is the same thing I want everyone to understand about hell, but my children are to be taught primarily by my wife and I, so it is up to me to teach them about that place, as difficult as it might be to do.
So, what do I want them to know about hell? Lots of things, but at least four.
- Hell is real. Jesus spoke of it as real. The New Testament writers do not write about it as allegory. It is a very real place, and we need to speak of it in those terms.
- Hell is worse than anything you can imagine. The Bible does not hold back in describing the awful nature of that place. Outer darkness. Unquenchable fire. Weeping. Gnashing of teeth. There just is no way to get our minds around the agony and suffering of hell, and I want my kids to know that.
- Hell is everlasting. Just as heaven will last forever, so will hell. The Bible never backs off that claim. People who go there will be there, without hope, forever and ever.
- Hell is a place you don’t have to
go . Too many people say that we should not scare people into heaven. I agree to a point, but there is also a sense in which we should scare them out of hell! While hell is a real place, I want my children to know that God has given a gracious plan to save them from going there and, instead, has made a way to a place of eternal bliss and joy.
While that man with the sign is to be commended in some ways–he believes in his message, he isn’t being obnoxious–he needs to learn that the message he is sharing simply is not true. Hell is a lot of things, but a hoax is simply not one of them.
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AUTHOR: Adam Faughn
