Every Pastor In Cass County Should Go to Hell

Do I have your attention? Before you get mad and write letters to the editor, I need you to know that I am also a pastor in Cass County and would be forever changed if I spent one minute in hell. George Barna reported in October 2003 that 76% of Americans believe in Heaven and 71% believe in hell. Only one half of one percent of the people polled believe they could possibly end up in hell after they die.  

 

Do you believe in a place called hell as the Bible describes it?

 

If so many people are certain of their escape from hell, then why don’t our families, communities and country resemble Heaven? Are the 29% who don’t believe in hell going to spend eternity there?  If so many people believe in hell, why is hell a taboo subject for serious thinkers?

 

July 8, 1741 a man named Jonathan Edwards preached a sermon in the town of Enfield, Connecticut. The title of his sermon was, “Sinners in the hands of an angry God.” The title alone is enough to draw lawsuits today. Many would assume a message like that must have been preached by a wild-eyed right-wing fundamental evangelist. Instead it was delivered by a meek monotone speaker that history records as one of the greatest minds of that era.

 

Our culture has changed since 1741 when Jonathan Edwards delivered his sermon on hell. Today many are much more apt to believe experience over the absolute standard of scripture. Hell is one of those places I prefer to read and talk about rather than visit and experience.

 

Of course as a pastor I believe the biblical account of hell. However I believe a one minute visit would give me a new appreciation for what it means to call myself a Christian and why God has called me to pastor. What would happen if all the pastors in Cass County were to spend a minute in hell? I bet we would be preaching sermons like the one Jonathan Edwards preached in 1741!

 

Pop culture makes light of the reality of the prison the Bible describes as hell. Hell is not host to parties with all our rowdy friends. A little red devil with a pitch fork and a pointy tail will not greet you at the gates of hell. No Far Side comic strip characters will be there to make light of the severity of this place of misery. Scripture indicates that I would find tormented souls of men and women from both religious and non religious backgrounds. The Bible vividly describes the characteristics of hell as a place of unquenchable fire and torment with bars, chains, keys and gates. It is certainly a place I would not want to visit nor spend eternity.

 

According to Luke 16:19-31, I would not only hear the agony of those who thirst, but their petitions for me to preach and warn every man not to go to this terrible place! There is no doubt that spending a minute in hell would make me a better pastor. For there I would find all the encouragement a pastor could ever need to communicate the love of Christ to those who do not understand how to escape such a dreadful place.

 

I suspect that if it were possible for the pastors of Cass County to visit hell for just one minute our zeal to speak of Jesus would be much more fervent. Our compassion to reach out to those who need help would be much more sincere and our ability to stay focused on God’s mission would be keen.

 

The humanist, atheist and the agnostic say, you are using scare tactics to manipulate people. If I spent one minute in hell, I would understand the love tactics that Jesus Christ applied to free me from such a dreadful place. The scripture is clear. God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Hell was prepared for the devil and his angels. Yet the sin of Adam and our subsequent human depravity has created the separation from God the Bible describes as hell. The subject of hell may not be a politically correct message but it is a biblically correct message. And if those in hell could write a letter right now they would be pleading with us to tell everyone of the love of God that is available to all through the person of Jesus Christ.

 

The Bible is clear, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Saved from what you might ask? Saved from spending even one minute in a place God never wanted you to be in the first place. We are saved from God’s wrath, through Jesus according to Romans 5:9. The way of escape is not exclusive but simple and direct. Jesus stated that he is the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh to the Father but by him. He loved this world too much to allow it to go to hell. That is why he spent three hours on the cross suffering hell in our place. George Barna answered the question of who believes in hell. We must all personally answer the question of if we believe in the way to Heaven. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? 

 

John 3:17

  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.