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Although I no longer engage in theological discussions on Facebook all that often, I still get into it with folks from time to time. What I find fascinating is the level of certainty with which many Christians approach whatever topics are being discussed. Especially confounding is how many of these \u201cbelievers\u201d offhandedly talk about the fate of non-believers. In essence, everyone is going to hell. Muslims. Atheists. Jews. Even Christians who theologically see things differently than them\u00a0 are one day going to find themselves consigned to the eternal barbecue.<\/p>\n
Talk about judgment!<\/p>\n
To that end, I\u2019d like to remind these Christians of a few things with the hopes that they will slow their roll when it comes to consigning others to hell.<\/p>\n
First, let\u2019s focus on Matthew 7:21\u201323, a favorite prooftext some Christians use to argue that others will one day be forever lost to the flames of hell. But before we tackle these verses specifically, let\u2019s take a look at how chapter 7 begins. Jesus states:<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor\u2019s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, \u2018Let me take the speck out of your eye,\u2019 while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor\u2019s eye.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This type of warning should give us great pause. It should make us feel a bit uneasy. Why? Because we should all see ourselves as the one with the ginormous eye-plank. That\u2019s the point. And I don\u2019t know about you, but I know that I\u2019ve yet to get all my shit together. I still sin. I still hold grudges. I still withhold mercy and grace. I still act like a damn fool from time to time. Hence, I should be the last to turn to my neighbor and start talking about all the sin in their life.<\/p>\n
What about you? Are you so holy and righteous that you feel the need to talk about the planks in the eyes of others? Or, should you take it easy when it comes to the sins of others?<\/p>\n
Think about it.<\/p>\n
Now, let\u2019s jump forward to verses 21\u201323, which read:<\/p>\n
\u201cNot everyone who says to me, \u2018Lord, Lord,\u2019 will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, \u2018Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?\u2019 Then I will declare to them, \u2018I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Ouch.<\/p>\n
If the warnings in verses 1\u20135 were harsh, these that follow are worse yet. But notice who Jesus is talking to. It\u2019s not the unbelievers. It\u2019s not the pagans. It\u2019s not, if I may be anachronistic for a moment, the New Atheists, or Muslims, or other \u201cnon-believers.\u201d It\u2019s those who profess to following Jesus\u2014those who prophesy and cast out demons in Jesus\u2019 name\u2014who are told to scram. In other words, if anyone is going to hell, it\u2019s those who say \u201cLord, Lord\u201d\u2014i.e. Christians\u2014but then refuse to act like \u201clittle Christs.\u201d<\/p>\n
The same thing could be said about Matthew 25:31\u201346<\/a>\u2014 yet another favorite prooftext Christians use to \u201cprove\u201d that some will burn in hell. What is deliciously ironic about this is that the point Jesus is actually trying to make is really the opposite of what many Christians would have us believe.<\/p>\n
Let me explain.<\/p>\n
You see, when Jesus divides the nations into the two groups\u2014wicked goats and righteous sheep\u2014notice that both the sheep and the goats are surprised by their standing with the Lord. In other words, those who think they are sheep but still refuse to aid the starving, the thirsty, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned, are going to be surprised when they end up on the left, as a goat, consigned to \u201ceternal punishment.\u201d While those who have no idea who Jesus is, but who still help those in need, will find themselves on the Lord\u2019s right, are counted as sheep, and who then gain \u201ceternal life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Again, like the passages from Matthew 7, this warning should be a sobering wake-up call for us all. What is made fairly clear is that we cannot simply rest on the fact that we take on the name of Jesus. Rather, we need to not only aid those who need it the most but need to resist the urge to judge those who don\u2019t, lest we find ourselves condemned by our own judgmental logic.<\/p>\n
The Apostle Paul emphasizes the same point in his letter to the Romans. After listing all the vices folks in the early churches were succumbing to, he then drops the following hammer<\/a> on those who judge others for engaging in these vices: \u201cTherefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Again, that\u2019s some pretty harsh stuff. It should really cause us to pause. Because let\u2019s just be real for a second: we are all doing these things. Even Paul did. Remember his admission<\/a>? \u201cI do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate . . . For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.\u201d And again<\/a>: \u201cAll fall short of the glory of God.\u201d Paul included. Me included. You included.<\/p>\n
So again, judge not lest you be judged. Cast not others into hell lest you cast yourself into hell. Beware of your own planks, not the specks of \u201cthose sinners over there.\u201d<\/p>\n
All this being said, I still believe God will one day \u201creconcile all things unto himself<\/a>.\u201d This even includes those who follow Jesus and yet still condemn others for not. The point I am trying to make, however, is that if anyone is going to end up in hell, it\u2019s not those whom we judge. It\u2019s us. We\u2019re going there. We\u2019re the ones retaining sins, not Jesus (see John 20:19\u201323<\/a>).<\/p>\n
So, to that end, may we lay down our swords of judgment and start showing others mercy in the same way our Father shows mercy to us (Luke 6:36<\/a>). May we bless our enemies in the same way our Father blesses them (Matthew 5:45<\/a>). For that is what it means to be perfect like our Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48<\/a>). That is what it means to be holy.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Although I no longer engage in theological discussions on Facebook all that often, I still get into it with folks from time to time. What I find fascinating is the level of certainty with which many Christians approach whatever topics are being discussed. Especially confounding is how many of these \u201cbelievers\u201d offhandedly talk about the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2874,"featured_media":1478,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100,40],"tags":[103,17,281,169,284],"class_list":["post-1472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hell","category-religion","tag-hell","tag-jesus","tag-judgment","tag-paul","tag-sheep-and-goats"],"yoast_head":"\n
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