Fair warning…….. this post likely contains things that you will not like. It is unusual to be able to offend and annoy people on both sides of an issue at the same time. What can I say…….it’s a gift.
First off…….. some ideas and definitions. The analysis that follows is based on these precepts.
1. There is an afterlife…. the Bible says so……. but in addition there is something written on our hearts that tells us so. You can argue about the details, but I believe in an afterlife that is beyond scientific explanation. The afterlife will be divided into a “nice place” (paradise) and a “not nice place” (hell). I want to end up in the nice place even though I am a bit unclear on the details.
2. All humans are fallen, imperfect beings……..We all do bad things. There are differences in degree, but we all fall short. I’m a better person than Hitler. But; God’s spectrum of good to evil is so vast, that, compared to God, the difference between me and Hitler is pretty small. In a word…… it’s insignificant. To use a metaphor…… If evil is San Francisco and good is Boston, then Hitler is the west side of tenth street in St. Louis……and I’m in the middle of tenth. Looking west from Boston, Hitler and I are hard to distinguish. BTW, my apologies to the good people of San Francisco.
3. According to social scientists, those who identify as Christians are just as likely to do bad things as those who identify as non-Christians. This ranges from priests abusing children to using the handicapped spot when you have no significant handicap. (That just drives me crazy)
4. Admission to paradise is through grace……acknowledging Christ and accepting his gift of forgiveness.
So here is the analysis:
If we are all fallen beings, and entry into paradise is through Christ’s forgiveness…….. then paradise is not going to be full of “good people”………….. it will be full of forgiven sinners. Doesn’t seem fair, does it? If you aren’t annoyed yet, just wait……it gets worse.
There is a corollary. Hell is not going to be full of “bad people”……. it will be full of unforgiven sinners.
Even worse…… the people in hell are not going to be substantially different from the people in paradise.
Kind of adds a new urgency to the business of “marketing” Christianity to our friends and family doesn’t it?
This just doesn’t seem fair, does it? Our human need for justice cries out……. the bad people must be punished……at least all of those people who are “badder” than me. We want THEM to go to hell.
But, in the process, we overlook the fact that we are sinners too. If you really want fair……. If you really want justice……..then we all go to hell….. both sides of tenth street.
There are 2 choices here:
Plan A………..the Fair plan……….. We all go to hell.
Plan B………..God’s plan…………….We accept Christ’s gift and go someplace better than we deserve.
Plan B looks like the “hot ticket” to me.