{"id":80701,"date":"2011-03-15T14:36:17","date_gmt":"2011-03-15T20:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/?p=80701"},"modified":"2012-10-02T20:41:53","modified_gmt":"2012-10-03T02:41:53","slug":"hells-bell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2011\/03\/hells-bell\/","title":{"rendered":"Hell’s Bell"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Rob Bell hubbub is everywhere.<\/p>\n

Whose side am I on? <\/p>\n

I\u2019m not on a side. I\u2019m a student of the Scriptures, so I\u2019m growing and learning and full of questions. And I greatly appreciate how Rob Bell is challenging Christians to sift the Scriptures and recapture a vision of Christ\u2019s love\u2026 as well as Christ\u2019s warnings about the wages of sin. If I\u2019m on a \u201cside\u201d, I\u2019m on the side of those who know they don\u2019t have all the answers, and who are humbly approaching Christ with a desire to learn. And I\u2019m not concerned about where that places me on any particular theological seating chart.<\/p>\n

Bell\u2019s new book Love Wins<\/em> has stirred many Christians up into a hysteria of argument, anger, and in the case of John Piper, abrupt public condemnation.<\/p>\n

(Piper, before he even read the book, posted a Tweet that said, \u201cFarewell, Rob Bell.\u201d<\/a> Because, of course, Christians should always break fellowship in public when they hear a rumor about somebody else\u2019s theological opinions. Right? Right?)<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t read Bell\u2019s book yet. I\u2019ve seen some of the interviews he\u2019s done on the subject of heaven and hell, and read a brief excerpt from the book. I\u2019ve read Byron Borger\u2019s comments<\/a> on the subject, and Richard Mouw<\/a>\u2018s\u2026 both of which take a very different tone than Piper\u2019s. Today I read Matthew Paul Turner\u2019s response<\/a>.<\/p>\n

UPDATE: I encourage you to read Jeff Keuss\u2019s post on the subject as well.<\/a><\/p>\n

And I\u2019m startled, because I posted comments that are somewhat similar to Bell\u2019s a few months back, before I\u2019d even heard of his book, before I\u2019d ever read any of Bell\u2019s work at all. There was no protest at all. Now, granted, I don\u2019t have an audience as big as Bell\u2019s. But I didn\u2019t get the feeling that this subject would throw Christian leaders into a public fury. So I\u2019ve been surprised by the recent development.<\/p>\n

So, regarding my thoughts on the issue at hand \u2014 that is, \u201cDoes Jesus plan to send bazillions of people to hell for an eternity of torment with no hope of relief?\u201d \u2014 I\u2019ll share what I have posted before. I still have much to learn on this subject, I\u2019m sure. But I have always had trouble reconciling what I was taught about hell during my childhood, and what I encountered in Jesus\u2019 teachings.<\/p>\n

In a Facebook discussion about salvation and judgment, I very cautiously posted some of my own impressions:<\/p>\n

Hell is the house we build for ourselves to wall out Jesus and his invitations. And even then, he shows up in the house, inviting. We can still choose to stay there.<\/p>\n

So shall we sin, then, since his grace is irrepressible? Hey, you try it, and let\u2019s see how that works out for you.<\/p>\n

Hell is the misery we get when we ask for it.<\/p>\n

Hell is the falling down, the attacks by predators, the fear, the loneliness that comes from seeing the light and choosing to walk in the opposite direction into the dark.<\/p>\n

Hell is what Adam and Eve tasted when they tasted the fruit that had been forbidden. Immediately, they were insecure. Ashamed. Afraid.<\/p>\n

But God found them. And the judgments that had been promised them (that they would die on that very day) were lightened. They were offered grace. Hardship, yes. Suffering, yes. But grace and ultimately redemption.<\/p>\n

We can become so lost that we can\u2019t find our way back. Even so, he\u2019ll find us there.<\/p>\n

We can look at a kingdom of glory and choose to walk away and build a creaky little shack in the dark, where there is only sadness and self-loathing and emptiness. Still, there\u2019s a knock at the door. Because he descends into hell to find us.<\/p>\n

We are made in his image. His spirit resides within us, groaning. So if we\u2019re ever in hell, he\u2019s there with us, suffering, urging us to surrender.<\/p>\n

And isn\u2019t that the glory of love? If the beloved cannot choose to walk away and reject the glory of union, then there is no way to know the joy of two parties willfully embracing one another.<\/p>\n

But I have difficulty believing that there is anything like eternal damnation unless there are souls that persistently choose it, no matter how far Christ goes to invite them out of it. I don\u2019t think you\u2019ll find anyone in hell saying, \u201cI keep on asking God to help me and he won\u2019t.\u201d You\u2019ll only find those who go on saying, \u201cI have seen the Lord and I still choose this.\u201d<\/p>\n

But if Christ asked God to forgive his enemies even as he was killed by them, then I believe that grace trumps all. Is God going to answer Jesus and say, \u201cNo. I don\u2019t forgive your enemies. I\u2019m locking them up for eternity and they don\u2019t get a second chance?\u201d<\/p>\n

Scripture tells us that every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. EVERY knee, EVERY tongue.<\/p>\n

And \u201cwhosoever believeth in him\u201d shall. not. perish. (John 3:16)<\/p>\n

The writers of scripture chose the most frightening metaphors available to them to describe what life is like when one turns away from God. So we get pictures of fire, of gnashing teeth, or a devouring misery. And which of us hasn\u2019t felt some of that misery? We invite it when we turn our eyes away from the light.<\/p>\n

But the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church. Notice: The gates will not prevail. That means they\u2019ll come down. They\u2019re permeable. Even on the other side of them, you\u2019ll find Christ can find you there.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m writing this with broken words, from a broken understanding, in a broken world, hoping that some glimmer of truth comes through the cracks. May God grant me insight if I am wrong, as I so often am.<\/p>\n

But whatever the case, I take steps toward hell every day in my foolishness. He always welcomes me back, accepts my repentance, blots out my sins, grants me what I don\u2019t deserve. So I trust him. I trust him completely, even in matters of heaven and hell.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019m grateful that no one has yet said \u201cFarewell\u201d to me for this.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m even more grateful that I can trust Christ to go on offering me love and grace as I seek to grow in understanding of his love.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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