The Sermon or the Tears?

Richard Beck shared in a blog post about his experience of preparing and preaching a sermon about hell. Here is the conclusion:

 And that was the turning point.

Somewhere deep within me I knew, a feeling I’ve never let go of, that there was no way I could reconcile the bullet points of my sermon with my breaking heart. Going forward from that sermon I knew faced a choice. I was at a spiritual crossroad.

On the one hand I could go with this list I was reading, this list of torture and horror and pain, and say “This is what God is like.”

Or I could go with my breaking heart, I could choose the tears. “This, this ache of love. This is what God is like.”

What is hell like? What is God like? I had a decision to make. And I made it that night.

I could choose the sermon or the tears.

I chose the tears.

Click through to read the rest. On a related note, PZ Myers shared a graphic created by someone who clearly chose the sermon.