Hell

Some send their car there when it breaks down, some tell those they don’t like to go there, and I have even heard it used on the streets by a mother to her child. Yes, honestly! We use the word almost without thinking, but does the place really exist?

Have you been to any funerals? I guess in every case, the minister will say nothing but good things about the deceased, and suggest that Heaven is the goal. So, we are happy, and even encouraged to think that Heaven exists and that’s where we will go.

We feel very comfortable with the idea of Heaven, even those who are not very religious. Part of that may be because we don’t want to think of anything bad when our life ends. It is comforting to think that we will spend forever in a good and happy place of light, surrounded by angels and nice music. But is that a true picture?

Parents think nothing about correcting their children when they do something wrong, and if correction doesn’t work, then punishment. This could be the removal of a toy (that could be an iPhone!), being sent to your room, or in the past physical correction like a smack. Today, we frown on any kind of corporal punishment, and as a result we have softened the concept of our loving parents doing anything to hurt us, even when we do something wrong and deserve it. So, parents are encouraged to help, guide, and affirm their children, but never punish, after all they might get the idea they don’t love them. I well remember a loving mum smacking her child because they ran out into the roadway and into the path of an oncoming car. Fortunately, the car driver saw the child, and swerved to avoid her. Immediately after the smack, came a long, tearful hug and kiss. Did that mum love her child? Undeniably. Did that child know she was loved? Again, certainly.  

The Bible talks a lot about correction and punishment, but we have chosen to concentrate on, and only emphasise the God of love. However, we must take the Bible as a whole, and when we do, we will see that God’s love and justice are inextricably linked. He does not give one without the other. I read that some theologians think that hell is a metaphor, or imaginary, to give the ‘idea’ of punishment which is meant to keep us on the narrow way. On a human level, what would happen if you said to your child, ‘you are being punished for doing wrong, but don’t worry, it’s only an imaginary punishment, it’s not real’? I don’t want to burst your bubble, but God says that not everyone will go to Heaven. Some will go to hell. That, my friend is an uncomfortable thought, but true nonetheless. I suppose we comfort ourselves by thinking that hell is filled with the Hitlers of this world, and no one like us, right? So what do we do with these verses? If there is no justice, we would never have to worry about how we lived, would we? Just asking.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 NIV

But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:14 NIV