Choklit Blog #80: Hell

       I’m sure you hear the word everyday, tossed around nonchalantly in conversations about anything, everything, and nothing. You probably don’t think about it much- it’s just another word your mom told you not to say when you were growing up.

       Maybe some of you do think about it a little more than that. Maybe you believe it’s a place where some people go when they die. Maybe you’re not planning on going there yourself, so it doesn’t bother you too much. Or maybe you think it’s just a myth.

       But does anyone ever really stop and think about it?

       If someone walked up to you and said, “Hey, one day you’re gonna die, and then you’re gonna burn in hell for all of eternity,” you would probably respond in one of four ways:

1. “I don’t believe in hell.”
2. “Yeah, I can’t wait! All my friends will be there!”
3. “I don’t think I’ll go there because I’m a good person.”
4. “I’m not going there because I’ve repented of my sins and accepted God's forgiveness.”

       In fact, as soon as you read that statement, you probably thought of one of those four responses or something similar.

       If you responded that you don’t believe in hell, then you’ve probably stopped reading by now, but I’ll talk to you anyway. What if I said, “I don’t believe that staring at the sun will make me go blind,” or, “I don’t believe that inhaling water will make me drown”? If I then proceeded to stare at the sun while sucking gallons of water into my lungs, what would happen? I would simultaneously die and go blind. Does the fact that I didn’t believe it change the fact that it’s true? No.

       So what happens when you say, “I don’t believe in hell,” and then you die? One of two things could happen: 1) You die and go to hell, or 2) You die and don’t go to hell.

       Now let’s look at it the other way. Let’s say I believe that eating a green potato chip will kill me (yes, I got that from the show Arthur). I never eat a green potato chip for my entire life, and I live a long and happy life. My avoidance of green potato chips has no real negative effect on me, except for maybe making me look ridiculous to a few people.

       So then what if I say, “I believe that if I don’t accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior and live my life for Him, then when I die, I’ll go to hell”? Well, I would be right, but for your sake, let’s say I die and it turns out there’s no such thing as hell (which would never happen, because hell is a very real place.) What damage would I have done by accepting Jesus and living my life for Him? I may have looked ridiculous to a few people, but I also would have done my best to live according to a set of rules that promote love to everyone. My life would then be over, with no lasting consequence.

       Now, in which case was the consequence of being wrong worse? The first case, where I didn’t believe in hell, it was real, and I was tormented for all of eternity; or the second case, where I did believe in hell, it wasn’t real, nothing happened after I died, and a few people thought I was silly during my life where I did my best to show love to everyone? If I’m right and hell does exist, you’ll die and go to hell where you’ll be tormented for all of eternity. If you’re right and hell doesn’t exist, I’ll look stupid to a few people and then I’ll die and nothing will happen. (But of course, I believe 100% that hell exists and I don’t believe there’s any chance that it doesn’t.)

       If you had the second response, you may have also stopped reading, but anyway... if you can’t wait to get to hell and party with your friends, then you believe it exists, right? And if you believe you’ll be partying with your friends, then you believe the Bible’s description of hell is inaccurate, right? (Mark 9:43 says “It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched.”)

       According to that logic, then you believe part of the Bible is true- the part that says hell exists. Also according to that logic, you believe part of the Bible is false- the part that says hell is a place of torment. Those are both facts that come from the Bible. If you say you don’t believe in the Bible, then how can you say you believe either of those facts? If you say you do believe in the Bible, then how can you not believe either of those facts?

       The only logical option is to say you believe part of the Bible. Now I have to ask another question- how do you know that one part is true, and another isn’t? Who told you which you parts are true? Who even has that authority?

       Either you believe that hell is a place of torment, or you don’t believe in hell at all. Nothing else would make sense.

       If you picked option number three, you’re the most likely to still be reading (besides those who picked option four). You don’t think you’ll go to hell because you’re a good person. Again, if you believe that hell exists, then you must believe the Bible. The Bible also says that, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23) and that, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,” (1 John 1:9). In other words, you can’t go to heaven just because you’re a “good person.” You can’t take sin into heaven, and everyone has sinned. You need God’s forgiveness to get into heaven, and there’s no other way to avoid hell.

       One more time: If you believe in hell, you have to believe the whole Bible, because it doesn’t make sense otherwise. If you don’t believe in the Bible, you can’t believe in heaven or hell, and you’ll have to come up with some other idea of what happens when people die. Of course, if it’s an idea you just came up with right now in 2011, chances are it’s not true. People have been dying for thousands of years, and something has been happening to them all. You can’t just make this stuff up.

       If you picked option four, congratulations! You’re right!