Using the four letter word

Never have I been so passionate about reaching young Europeans for Christ. Never have I believed more in the power of God to do it. And yet never have I felt quite so pessimistic about achieving it.

I shouldn’t. I’m just back from a wonderful time with some wonderful guys in Upper Austria. I love Austria. I love the heart of the Christian teens and young adults, and was really inspired by some of things going down there. And of course there are glimmers of hope across Europe. On the whole though, they are just cameo shots. Largely it would appear that the church cares little about the lost-ness of this generation. Rather most seems to live in fear of upsetting the secularists and perhaps the Islamists. And quite honestly even if everyone was on their side, many wouldn’t want to compromise their comfortable lifestyles to take on a task of the magnitude of pillaging hell.

There I said it. I used the four letter word which is universally declared an obscenity within and without the church in Europe. Yep, I still believe in hell. I know most Bible believing Christians don’t these days. Or if they do, they don’t admit or live as though they do. But I do. Mainly because I believe in heaven. Not the sort of heaven evangelicals talk about these days: good decent tolerant middle class living boosted by podcasts, TV sermons and books on self-improvement with a little help from a friendly deity. No! Rather the uncompromisingly awesome version, which reflects the old fashioned absolutes of a perfect God. That is not a god who is quite nice and modern in His toleration of different ideologies, however flawed, bearing in mind that we’re all victims of some greater evil and therefore need to be given the benefit of the doubt. Rather a God who accepts nothing less than perfection in His heaven, and that includes us; but will go to any length, even the cross, so that we can know perfection, heaven and ultimately Himself.

Yes I believe in a gloriously loving God, who desires nothing less than absolute glory for us. Therefore however uncomfortable it may be to believe it, admit it and particularly live according to it: I also believe in hell. I believe that telling kids they’re special and then not telling the gospel is like serving hot drinks to the passengers as the boat goes down. Yes, you can get government funding for that. Bluntly even Satan would fund that. And yes, if you stop reading your Bible, you can even feel good about it. But ultimately it’s useless. Only the small bits of the church which get this sobering truth will be at all effective and even relevant today.