As I have been reading about the hell controversy (see last post), I have been doing some reflecting on some of the issues related to this issue.   Here are a few thoughts:

The Centrality of the Gospel

Christ’s church disagrees on a lot of issues.  Even in my local church, there are different convictions on numerous things – from tithing to translations to issues of divorce and remarriage, and on the list could go.  So who cares if Rob Bell has a different view about hell?  Why the big fuss?  The answer is the centrality of the gospel.  No one is going to go to hell if they get tithing wrong.  But if we get the gospel wrong, we are in a lot of trouble.  The gospel is the core of what the church believes.  God, Christ, and salvation, are all tied to this issue of hell – and to the gospel.  As his book redefines the gospel, it is a big deal.  While there is room to disagree on minor issues, we must hold fast to the basic truths of the Christian Faith as taught in the Scriptures and held by the Church for the last 2000 years.

A Passion for God and Compassion for People

I sometimes struggle with what I should include in this blog.  It does after all have a theme – does this discussion even fit?  I think it does.  A passion for God includes a passion for his truth.  And compassion for people means warning people that a bestselling author they might read will teach them things that could lead them astray.  Compassion for people means not only warning of error, but then also reminding them of the truth.  That is what I sought to do in the last post.

The Need to Preach Hell

As a pastor, I don’t preach hell much.  Not many pastors I’ve heard do.  I wonder how many Christians are simply unprepared to address this issue, to think Biblically about it because they have not been taught about it.  How many might be led astray by this book because we have failed to preach an uncomfortable truth?  And if we really have compassion for people, shouldn’t we warn them of the reality of hell, and the certainty that they will go there apart from Christ?  Jared Wilson discusses this further, and Ligon Duncan has some suggestions on how pastors can do it.

True Humility on Hell

It is common for certain Christians to argue that humility calls us to  approach our convictions tentatively, to recognize that we could be wrong, to hold nothing definitively as truth.  That allows them to question everything and hold to not much of anything.  But God has spoken in his Word, giving us answers, giving us truth to believe.  Humility in this case requires us to bow the knee to his revelation, to hold to his truth.  There is nothing particularly humble about refusing to hold firm to what God has clearly taught.

Is God or Man Primary?

It seems to me that one of our hangups on the issue of hell is this question of who is primary.  If man is primary, then how dare God send us to hell!  How dare God punish us!  Who does he think he is?  But what if God is primary?  What if God made me and hence can do whatever he pleases with me?  What if God is holy and we have sinned against him?  What if God is glorious and our sin is a gigantic offense against his glory?  What if God is just and will punish sin?  If God is primary and Creator and holy and glorious and just, then hell begins to make sense.  We don’t like it.  It eats at our pride.  It offends our attempted godhood.  But we don’t have to like it.  We just need to recognize that God says hell is a reality.  We just need to receive Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf.  We just need to give thanks to God that through Jesus we can be spared.  We just need to go forth and tell others the good news that they too can find salvation in Jesus.

For further thoughts on this controversy, check out some interesting posts from Kevin DeYoung, Trevin Wax, and Tim Challies.