Many Americans don't believe in hell, but what about Pastors?

In a recent article in the Religion New Service, Greg Garrison quoted a statistic that seemed to surprise him. He said that only 59% of Americans believe in hell, compared with 74% who believe in heaven, according to the recent surveys from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

The overwhelming majority of Pastors and Teachers never preach or teach on the topic for fear of seeming extreme or of being “irrelevant”, that is not addressing things that modern audiences are concerned about.

Rev. Kurt Selles, director of the Global Center at Samford University's Beeson Divinity School and quoted extensively in the article, ties this trend to the modern desire to “market Jesus”.

“When you're trying to market Jesus, sometimes there's a tendency to mute traditional Christian symbols. Difficult doctrines are left by the wayside. Hell is a morally repugnant doctrine. People wonder why God would send people to eternal punishment.”

He couldn’t be more correct. The problem, of course, is that this is disastrous for the critical matter of actually getting saved! If we remove the doctrine of sin and its’ punishment then we remove the need for Christ to have come; and if we remove that need, the entire doctrine of the cross falls apart.

Speakers said the seriousness of Jesus dying for man's sins relates to the gravity of salvation vs. damnation, according to Rev. Fred Johns, pastor of Brookview Wesleyan Church in Irondale, Ala. Selles agreed and added:

“If you don't mention God's judgment, you are missing a big part of the Christian gospel, Without wrath, there's no grace.”

That’s true as well, it’s not just a big part, it is the biggest part – in fact, it is all of the Gospel. Surely there is a part of what God does in lives of those whom He saves once redemption is accomplished and men and women walk with Him as His children…but the Gospel is about sin and its’ solution and that is wrapped up in the cross and nothing else!

The article goes on to mention that Pope John Paul II stirred up a debate in 1999 by describing hell as:

“…the state of those who freely and definitely separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy.”

Although the pope was reflecting official Roman Catholic teaching, some U.S. evangelicals expressed misgivings about the implication that hell is an abstract separation from God rather than a literal lake of fire as described in the Book of Revelation.

That puts it gently. The pope was dead wrong, couldn’t have been further from the truth. He was indeed reflecting official RC teaching, but not Biblical teaching. Hell is not for those who separate themselves but for those who, as a result of the Great Whit Throne, have been condemned by God and sentenced there – separated by Him. It is not their choice – it is His. When they are faced by that awesome and terrifying personage portrayed in Revelation 20:11ff, no one would chose to be separated; but they have no choice at that point. The pope is simply playing the RC party line.

We’ll talk more about this tomorrow…