"Good People Go To Heaven"
I grew up believing that good people, who did good things went to heaven, but when I attended funerals it seemed everyone went to heaven regardless of who they were and what they did. I was raised in the Greek Orthodox tradition, in a loving home that taught me the basic principles of Christianity through loving others, being kind, and as a woman that I should never wear pants to church, like I said, basic principles. The Jesus I met when I was 17 was unlike anything I had experienced before, he seemed real, modern, and interested in my life. Additionally, he was promised to have some sort of power, which I was assured would change my life for the better and spare me from eternal separation from God. Miraculously, it worked, Jesus was real and my life actually did begin to change. This journey led me to a time of deep soul searching of what I believe, why and what kind of message I will spread (and live) as a minister of the gospel of a religion that has wounded many by wrongly condemning many to hell without ever hearing their stories or fearing many into its’ eternal rewards without ever saying hello. It has become important to me over the last few years to redefine how I engage with humanity and our eternal destinies in light of what I believe to be true about the unchanging nature of God, for I believe that God is love…forever.
At some point in my new-found relationship with God, I realized I had come under the influence of traditional evangelical Christianity. The message and experience of love that I heard my whole life and that had recently become real for me started to take on other conditions and agendas, which I wasn’t so sure about, but thought it was part of the package deal for following Jesus. Let me clarify before I deconstruct some of my experiences, that I am forever grateful for the willingness of someone to share the gospel with me and for the organization which trained me in sharing the love of God with others. I entered a culture where praying a specific prayer after hearing about four spiritual laws that would save one from eternal separation from God and a life burning in hell. The conversations generally turned towards this defining moment of accepting Jesus to be spared from hell. Ironically, I saw this method “work” beautifully for some who were in a place where they wanted to be saved from something, but for many more, it felt like a rote checklist and a fear tactic.
The Groaning
Something in me groaned after these experiences because something in me knew there was more to this amazing God of love than fire insurance. I began to wonder if this way of communicating the glorious gospel still works. Elaine Heath, in The Mystic Way of Evangelism, offered a similar sentiment,
When we believe in and experience love as God’s meaning, love becomes our meaning, for we become like the God we worship. When love becomes our meaning, the ramifications for evangelism are immense. We are cleansed of legalism, judgmentalism, coercion, and exploitation. We are liberated so that we can now see the “total fact” of others, which is so much more than their guilt and sin, or their wounds. This is not a sentimental, soft love. It is a tungsten power that respects others, says “no” to injustice, and unflinchingly involves itself in the muck and mire of broken lives. We can love in this way only because God first loves us.”[1]
Additionally, there are so many verses that brought me comfort about not fearing throughout the Bible; that utilizing fear and ultimatums seemed incongruent to the God of everlasting love, mercy and truth whom I was getting intimately acquainted. In The Inescapable Love of God, Thomas Talbott, explained, “The power of the cross is not the power of the sword; it is the transforming power of love. And the Christian message in its purity is not a message of fear, but of hope and love, the very love that casts out fear.”[2]It was voices like Heath, Talbott and God’s own word that led me to pursue a different way of evangelism that was not rooted in fear and agenda, but love and relationship.
I became involved with other ministries, traveled to many different countries, and eventually landed in a church where grace and truth are married together under the covering of Christ, leaving fear behind. In every place where I traveled to minister and share about Jesus, I found that God was already there infused in the darkness, not bringing judgment, but fiercely lovely, not condemning or lawyering, but inviting and restoring. I began to wonder about hell and how long does God’s love truly last? Do everlasting and enduring, common words to describe God’s love and mercy in the Bible, really mean forever? Or does it just suddenly stop if one does not pray the right prayer in the right time, before the last breath? Does it end in our humanity? Does it depend on us? Does it depend on God? Do we have a choice? What about family and love and grace? What about all being made alive in Christ and all things being made new? What about the lost generation of unchurched who are unmoved by threats of hell and eternal punishment? What about all that evangelism training?
Urgency
I have millions of questions as I take this journey, but as I have recently accepted the calling on my life to pastor and tend to God’s people in the 21stcentury, they have become more personal and important when considering the church today and of the future. I must consider the implications and my beliefs of hell going forward because of how it will impact how I pastor and live my life. Mike Breen, author of Building a Discipling Culture stated, “We are creating a culture, even if it’s unintentional. The question is, do we like the culture we are creating?”[3] These words struck a core in me, because I am concerned that as the Church we have historically created a culture of fearing people into heaven and have lost the very soul of the Gospel, which I believe is to restore all of creation back to relationship with its’ loving Creator and have connection with one another. I believe as Christians we are called to create a culture where loving fearlessly will guide us back to authentic community with one another and with God.
To be continued in part 2: "One God, Millions of Views"
FOOTNOTES
[1]Elaine Heath. The Mystic Way of Evangelism: A Contemplative Vision for Christian Outreach. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2008), 68.
[2]Thomas Talbott. The Inescapable Love of God. (Eugene: Cascade Books, 2014, Kindle edition), 20.
[3]Mike Breen, Building a Discipling Culture, Second Edition. (Pawley’s Island, SC: 3DM, 2011.)
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