What the Hell?

If I were to make a study of hell based only on what can be read from church signs… Or, more to the point, if I were travelling through life “outside” the Church – unconfirmed; unconvinced of a loving God who seeks to save us from ourselves and enjoy relationship with us forever; uncommitted to any intentional expression of faith – does anyone think a pithy one-liner about eternal damnation, unending torment, irrevocable condemnation, etc. would somehow draw me nearer to the Lord? Is this the faithful witness to the love of God in Christ Jesus that the Holy Spirit comes to empower? Please don’t get me wrong. I believe there is a hell. I believe the evil we ask to be delivered from in the Lord’s Prayer is all-too-real. I believe “the thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy…” John 10:10 KJV

I guess I also believe that such things should be dealt with soberly, with the Master’s rebuke ringing in our ears, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” Luke 9:55, 56 KJV

What saddens me about these signs, is that they often read like an inside joke – a knowing wink – that leaves the uninitiated, the uninformed, the unwilling or the unable alone to fend for themselves. Another thing, and this may just be me, I have never found the terrors of hell to be more compelling than the fear (awe, wonder, reverence, gravitas, etc.) of the Lord or the healing touch of grace, mercy and peace.

I love Francis Xavier (c. 1546) for these words: My God, I love you not because I hope for heav’n thereby; / nor yet because if I love not, I must forever die. / But, O my Jesus, you did me upon the cross embrace; / for me you bore the nails and spear and manifold disgrace. / Then why, O blessed Jesus Christ, should I not love you well; / not for the sake of winning heav’n or of escaping hell? / E’en so I love you and will love, and in your praise will sing, / solely because you are my God and my eternal King.

What he said.