I remember the conversation as if it were yesterday. A friend and I were talking and the subject of God’s judgement came up. Slightly unusual since he is an atheist and I am a Christian, but only slightly because talking with intelligent atheists about God can be both enlightening and rewarding. The gist of the conversation is that talk of a God worthy of worship and the concept of Hell were mutually exclusive. Not that unusual an objection as these conversations go. It didn’t catch me off guard. However, my atheist friend was criticizing the hellfire and brimstone shouting matches that went on daily in the center of campus between students (and sometimes faculty) and the more vocal members of the local branch of Christendom’s more vocal and annoying Christians. We were discussing this “Turn or Burn” sort of evangelizing and my friend said something that did catch me off guard. “If the fear of Hell is the reason that I should trust God, then what moral authority does God supposedly have other than he’s bigger than me?” The question is subtle but important because it isn’t questioning the justice of Hell as much as claim that acknowledging the threat of Hell is a good reason to follow Christ.
Hmm.
When I asked my four hundred or so Facebook friends to list some of the habits of highly annoying Christians, the turn or burn appeal was right at the top. Whether it was a poorly illustrated Jack Chick tract with cartoon drawings of tiny pitchforked devils that would be the envy of any 3rd grader, or some sidewalk prophet who would forgo an actual conversation in favor of a spit-laden invective complete with poetic aplomb: “Turn or Burn. Get Sanctified or Get French-Fried” so forceful and passionate that the Westboro Baptist Church cult would put down their signs and applaud (you know until they noticed the preacher wasn’t part of their fold), the message was clear. The Turn or Burn mentality annoys us.
So I would like to offer a lesson in what makes the purveyors Turn or Burn strategy is both annoying and deeply misguided.
1) They get Hell wrong. The problem with Turn or Burn is that it ignores a simple truth: God doesn’t torture people in Hell. Oh don’t get me wrong, I’m not jumping on Rob Bell’s “we-can-be-loved-out-of-hell” heresy. I’m saying that there is a simple but important distinction between torture and torment. Torture involves active participation in inflicting pain. To be waterboarded, you have to have someone doing the dunking. Hell is not a torture chamber with demons or devils gleefully roasting humans over a fire. Its not even a lake of fire where the populace is regularly barbecued because Revelation 20:14 says in what must be a figure of speech, Death and Hell itself will be thrown into a lake of fire. It is rather a place of separation from God and torment because of it. Ever since I heard it, I have loved the line in Christopher Marlowe’s version of the Dr. Faustus story in which the devil Mephistopheles explains that separation from God is Hell:
Think’st thou that I, who saw the face of God, And tasted the eternal joys of heaven, Am not tormented with ten thousand hells in being deprived of everlasting bliss?”
If God is goodness and order and love, then any place totally devoid of God is evil, chaos, and hate. That is torment.
2) They don’t seem sad about Hell. Given their understanding of Hell as a torture chamber where God actively inflicts pain on others for not believing in Him, Turn or Burners seem all to happy to tell others they are going to Hell. The problem with turn or burn is not that they passionately warn other. Jesus had harsh words of judgment that would make your skin crawl. rather its the delivery that makes it annoying. They don’t seem at all bothered by the reality of Hell. There is no sorrow in the warning. I remember when I first really looked into the passage where Jesus gives his “Woe unto you scribes and pharisees” from Matthew 23
Now, I’m quick to admit that this performance by Bruce Marchiano is pure speculation but don’t you hope its accurate? Don’t you hope that Jesus feels compassion for those he prophecies against? Reminds me of a story I heard in Mississippi when I was growing up. Seems two old men are sitting on the porch as old men often do and the topic of conversation came around to the new pastor at the local church. One gentleman remarked that he liked this new pastor better than the old one. The other asked why?
“Well, our last pastor talked about hell and the judgment of God too much.”
“Uh huh.” said the other gentleman. “And this new pastor”
“Well, he talks about hell and God’s judgment too much for my taste.”
“Well, why do you like this pastor better?”
“This new pastor does it with tears in his eyes.”
3)There are more Biblical ways to Evangelize.
Finally, what makes the turn or burn method of evangelism so annoying is that its not really New Testament evangelism. I’ll make a bold claim. No where in the new testament is the threat of hell used to convert someone from a pagan world view. Jesus talks about hell but always as a warning to those who at least share the worldview that makes hell real. He warns the complacent and self-righteous who falsely think that everything is right between them and God because they are acting good. I can’t find a single instance when Jesus or Paul tells any non-Christian they are going to Hell because they commit some particular sin. I think Tim Keller gets this right.
Being gay doesn’t send anyone to Hell anymore than being straight sends anyone to Heaven. Not going to church doesn’t send anyone to Hell anymore than going to church sends someone to Heaven. No one is separated from God for eternity because they commit some particular sin. Rather, we are separated from God for eternity when we reject him. Gay people reject God. Straight people reject God. Drug Users, Hindus, Baptists, and NASCAR fans reject God. The problem with the judgment “you are going to hell because you do __________ ” is that its a red herring. It distracts from the problem. The problem isn’t homosexuality, drug use, porn, devoutly following a religion, or anything else. Its rejecting the Biblical message that we need a saviour. That’s it. The Gospel is simple. Social issues are complicated.
Given this theology, what makes more sense: warning of hell (a hell that most don’t believe exists) or asking and responding to the reasons people reject God and his church? In fact, there is one similarity between all of our habits so far: They are all ways to avoid a genuine, compassionate dialogue about a relationship with God. I leave you with the Swirling Eddies poignant song Hell Oh.
Hello
Is anyone here?
You don’t get the picture
Hell glows bright and clear
And I’m just a cynic talking about a white-bleached sepulchre
I’m bringing ants to your picnic
They’re feeding on a dead man’s bones
Countdown to tribulation, oh, oh, oh, oh
Hello
Isn’t it clear?
Have I failed to tell you?
Heaven is oh so near
There once was a cynic who talked about a white-bleached sepulchre
I’m the bee at your picnic who stung you ’til you had to run home
Countdown to occupation, oh, oh, oh, oh
Countdown to salvation, oh, oh, oh, oh
Hello
“The single greatest cause of atheism today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and deny him with their lifestyle.” (Brennan Manning, quoted at the beginning of the movie “Beware of Christians”)
What a befitting quote that outlines a possible consequence of the “Turn or Burn” evangelistic approach. Christians who use this method and believe it will work are blind to the perception “unbelievers” glean from such fundamentalist, black and white statements. “Turn and Burn” propaganda displayed on graphic tees, bumper stickers, etc. is just plain inflammatory to unbelievers. Statements such as “Got Jesus? It’s hell without him” or “Try Jesus. If you don’t like Him, the devil will take you back.” build barriers and create unfair stereotypes that “all” Christians subscribe to the same belief. For the unbeliever, this type of “cowboy” evangelism paints Christians as arrogant, judgmental, legalistic, self-righteous and superficial zealots. And it creates a greater chasm that distances them even further from having a relationship with God and ultimately salvation.
Let’s (hypothetically) compare the unbeliever’s position before and after exposure to the “Turn or Burn” philosophy:
BEFORE: A small creek creates two banks; God on one side and the unbeliever on the other.
AFTER: The Colorado River creates two “banks”. It is called the Grand Canyon. God on one…
Well, you get the idea. Therefore, I would ask Christians who subscribe to this philosophy…
1. How did you come to Christ? What’s your story?
2. Were there Christians that positively influenced your decision to accept Christ as your Lord and Savior?
3. If so, what qualities or characteristics describe them?
4. How did your experience with these individuals impact you?
I would venture to guess that the Christian(s) who made a positive impact in your life did not use “Turn and Burn” strategies or tactics. We need to turn to God’s Word for instruction in this area. His Word is truth, uncompromising and non-negotiable.
We need to live vulnerably enough that people see we are a work in progress and vibrantly enough that they experience Jesus in us. Evangelism is not something you “do”, it’s a way of life. We live out our identity in Jesus Christ everywhere we go, every minute of every day, with every person we encounter.- [Rediscovering Evangelism: Helping Others Experience Life With God. Text Copyright – 2011 by The Chapel]
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:3-4)
I’ll say there’s more than that. Because our traditional translation of the texts into “heaven and hell” is actually misguided, and influenced more by the Roman idea of Hades than by the original Biblical texts.
I’m not saying that God does not separate people, but telling people that the idea of Heaven and Hell is a misconception and that the originial sources tell of Sheol, the resting place, Gehenna, the idol worshipper’s valley southeast of Jerusalem turned into a waste dump, and the occasional mention of Tartarus (the barren and dry place)is quite useful as I can see it. They go “hmmm” and won’t have nearly as much trouble with it. Giving you the chance that God may not want to torture, but as the now instated leader of life won’t have use of those that he can’t trust. The question being, are you a rebel, a goat who go your own way and try everything no matter how much of a mess it makes, or do you trust God like a sheep will trust a good leader so that we can work together? That is the question to me.
And I haven’t met any opposition of those ideas before, except for by christians who haven’t really studied these things.
Harald, I think we are on the same page.
Immortality is God’s alone. It is entirely because of him that we have consciousness.
If we are ‘tormented,’ it is because God is keeping us in existence, in hell. Every moment in hell is from God. He is sustaining our torment. Therefore, yes, he is torturing the damned. He refuses to snuff them out, or euthanize, or redeem them. God will continue sustaining their spirits in torment for eternity. Every last moment.
God so hated the world that he was willing to give his only son, that whoevers heart he hardened would not perish, but have eternal life in torment.
I would like to see the scriptural support for that.
Such as:
“Immortality is God’s alone”: Aren’t the angels immortal? Were’nt Adam and Eve immortal before the fall, and aren’t we meant to be with the coming back of the Lord?
“God so hated the world…” Really? As I would like to quote N.T. Wright: “God hates sin like a violin maker would hate to see his beloved creation being used as a tennis racquet.” And uphold that idea, that it’s exactly because God loves us, and loves this world He created, that God hates seeing us abuse this lovely creation so much. Just because we think we know “better”. Having a brain of about two kilos, we think we can have the knowledge to run this world? What kind of self-grandiose, preposterous lie is that?
God doesn’t need to hate this world, or any of us people, in order to hate sin. I’ll say, quite the opposite!
Your view reminds me of Gnosticism, and I though that has been thoroughly refuted long ago. So you do have some work to do here, if you are to convince me of *that*.
I Timothy 6:16. We have no reason to believe the Greek Phikosopher’s decision that souls are immortal. God can destroy them at any time, simply by withdrawing his hand. If God suddenly left the universe, it would be like the sun. Everything would die, even the vent-feeders at the bottom of the ocean once the Earth crashes into Jupiter.
As for our 2kg brain, remember our whole job was to steward the earth. When we sinned, we indeed became a menace to it.
If God loved humanity (by which I mean the world, not the earth), he would purge us all of sin, show us to our own eyes our potential as his servants, and then start forgiving, rather than transferring the debt to Jesus. He didn’t do that. He transferred our debt to Jesus, who, by becoming the only way (many are called, few are chosen) has hardened the hearts of most so that they might be damned.
Perhaps God does not want to force us, but instead give us some measure of free will so that we may learn to work together with him? Instead of laboring like slaves? That free will means we need a time to learn and choose: What do we want with our lives?
Even as servants, a good servant is what he or she is because they choose to fill that place in their lives. Not because we feel that we are forced.
And as far as 1. Timothy 6:16 goes, you won’t come far with picking a single Bible verse out of its context. I’ll rather present the word “Elohim” to you, meaning “the heavenly realms” (with angels and all) but often translated into just “God”. I’m not sure it’s used there, exactly, but anyhow, these often aren’t exact terms.
And the translators have a pretty rough job of translating the original texts, often doomed to fail if you not making them into whole lectures. (And by then most people won’t bother to read it all.) I’m not claiming to be an expert here, but I do want to stress that we need to be humble when we read these things. And see that we can easily miss out on something with these verses, especially if you read them one by one out of their context.
The New Testament is built upon the Old, so I suggest you use some time with that also as it gives most of the context you need to read these things right.
That turns free will into a booby trap. “Yeah I warned you, but you thought being tortured for all eternity was absurd, so you weren’t convinced; who’s laughing now?”
It doesn’t change the fact that since the early 400s we’ve taught that God does not put the damned out of their misery, but keeps them, by direct action, or by omission, in eternal misery, and that this is more respectful to our dignity than euthanasia.
If this is true, then we must grin and bear the repulsiveness of this doctrine and preach it even more, not less, no matter how superstitious it sounds.
If it’s not true, then those who teach it should be silenced by the church for Christ’s sake– literally.
There are no other options. Infinity is infinity is infinity. If the torment of the damned is infinite, then taking away their free will to save their souls is a perfectly moral thing to do.