Hell is for real.

So lately I've been thinking a lot about hell.


Say whaaaaaat, now?!?!

Yep. Hell. The bad place. H-E-Double-hockey-sticks.

I'm sure you're wondering why. Why would I want to think about Hell? What kind of barbaric person even believes in Hell, these days? What kind of barbaric god would condemn people to Hell, anyway?!?! Why are we even talking about this?!? God is LOVE, man. Don't bring that judgement around here.

This past week, I saw a video floating around the interwebs depicting a sweet, tearful young woman, a self-professed Christian, calling out a street evangelist because he dared to talk about Hell. And that's not the kind of god people need, she said. You're driving people away, she said. You're breaking my heart. You're just being mean. And the people in the crowd were eating it up. Jeering, ridiculing, cheering on this well-meaning, sensitive young woman. I'm sure she meant well. I try to lead people to Christ by the way I live my life, she said. Not by judging them, or being mean to them.

And this is not an uncommon attitude. There are lots of christians who would have felt the offense of the street preacher's message. That without a Savior, we are going to Hell. It's offensive. It's also the Gospel.

I remember being taught as a teenager that the best way to reach people for Christ was by the way I lived my life. By showing people God's love. Butbutbut... If I'm sitting here being a smiley, happy, loving Christian, but never once warn the people around me that they are going to die and go to Hell without Jesus, how is that loving them? HOW DO I SHOW PEOPLE GOD'S LOVE IF I DON'T WARN THEM ABOUT DEATH?

How do I sit on the plane, wearing my parachute, and not tell everyone around me that the PLANE IS GOING DOWN?!?

And if I am offering them the parachute, without telling them WHY they need it, why would they take it from me, or bother to put it on?!?

WHAT IS THE POINT OF THE GOSPEL IF NOT TO SAVE US FROM HELL?

Jesus didn't die to make us all happy, so we could feel warm and squishy and talk about love. Jesus DIED because if he didn't, we would have to spend ETERNITY separated from God. We (all of us!) are so filthy on our own, that God, in His perfect holiness can't even look at us. But he created us to be with him. So what's a big, mean ol' God to do? He had the nerve to send His perfect, blameless son to this earth, to pay the penalty for our crimes, to take on all our filth, so that we could be saved from Hell. What. A. Jerk. Can you believe this guy?!?


Here's the deal. Hell is for real. It's the horrible, awful final death and separation from God for ALL of eternity. It's kind of the whole point of this salvation business. The whole gospel hinges on the truth that Hell is for real. If it wasn't, then Jesus went through some really awful shit for nothing.


The Gospel is offensive. It just is. It's hard to say and hard to hear.People hate it. They really do. In fact, if they don't, you're probably not telling it right. No one wants to hear that we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. No one wants to hear that the wages of sin is death. No one wants to know that they are a big ball of messed-up that without God doesn't stand a chance. But if we're not telling them, then we're not loving them. And God is LOVE, man. He really is.