To Hell with it...
Words have been floating around my brain today. Misery. Suffering. Desperation. Hell.
I remember growing up in church where salvation was taught….but that salvation was most often sold as a way to avoid punishment, particularly punishment in the afterlife. When given a choice between spending eternity in Heaven or in Hell, it became a pretty obvious choice. But just avoiding punishment isn't a way to truly LIVE in the here-and-now, is it?
Jesus didn't sell Himself that way when he walked this earth. He told people to "go and sin no more" not because they would be doomed to an eternity with flames and suffering. Jesus told those people to sin no more because He wanted to save them from the Hell they were already living in.
This morning as I have read through the news online I have seen a terrible story about the culture of rape that is happening right now in Alaska. The man featured in the article (and several others in his treatment program) had been molested as children and they grew up to molest and rape others as a way to make others suffer as they were still suffering. They are living in Hell. Right now. Another news story was about Philip Seymour Hoffman overdosing on heroin, surrounded by so much heroin he could have stayed high for weeks. He had everything to live for -- a promising career, wealth, and fame -- and yet he was found dead on the floor of his apartment. In his own private Hell. As a foster parent I know of the atrocities that happen to children. A six month old who had been raped. Children who live in homes covered in filth and animal waste so sickening that social workers can barely walk into the home without vomiting. People are injecting and ingesting a cocktail of toilet bowl cleaner and cold medicine. Meth. It is crippling them. Strangling them. Causing them to scratch holes in their faces and lose their teeth. Their children are starving to death while their parents willingly make themselves zombies with drugs. And it is giving them a life of horror. Children and adults are being sold into slavery all over the world. It is estimated that two million children (yes, TWO MILLION) are living in slavery right now. Many of them are part of a horrifying sex industry driven by perverse pornography. It is all just Hell. On. Earth.
Jesus wants us to live transformed lives. He wants to get us out of Hell so we can truly live the lives we were created for. Yes, there are rules meant to protect us from broken relationships, sickness, heartache and pain. Those rules aren't about punishment. Most importantly Jesus offers a life of grace and belonging and forgiveness and freedom meant to give us something more to live for than Hell.
I remember growing up in church where salvation was taught….but that salvation was most often sold as a way to avoid punishment, particularly punishment in the afterlife. When given a choice between spending eternity in Heaven or in Hell, it became a pretty obvious choice. But just avoiding punishment isn't a way to truly LIVE in the here-and-now, is it?
Jesus didn't sell Himself that way when he walked this earth. He told people to "go and sin no more" not because they would be doomed to an eternity with flames and suffering. Jesus told those people to sin no more because He wanted to save them from the Hell they were already living in.
This morning as I have read through the news online I have seen a terrible story about the culture of rape that is happening right now in Alaska. The man featured in the article (and several others in his treatment program) had been molested as children and they grew up to molest and rape others as a way to make others suffer as they were still suffering. They are living in Hell. Right now. Another news story was about Philip Seymour Hoffman overdosing on heroin, surrounded by so much heroin he could have stayed high for weeks. He had everything to live for -- a promising career, wealth, and fame -- and yet he was found dead on the floor of his apartment. In his own private Hell. As a foster parent I know of the atrocities that happen to children. A six month old who had been raped. Children who live in homes covered in filth and animal waste so sickening that social workers can barely walk into the home without vomiting. People are injecting and ingesting a cocktail of toilet bowl cleaner and cold medicine. Meth. It is crippling them. Strangling them. Causing them to scratch holes in their faces and lose their teeth. Their children are starving to death while their parents willingly make themselves zombies with drugs. And it is giving them a life of horror. Children and adults are being sold into slavery all over the world. It is estimated that two million children (yes, TWO MILLION) are living in slavery right now. Many of them are part of a horrifying sex industry driven by perverse pornography. It is all just Hell. On. Earth.
Jesus wants us to live transformed lives. He wants to get us out of Hell so we can truly live the lives we were created for. Yes, there are rules meant to protect us from broken relationships, sickness, heartache and pain. Those rules aren't about punishment. Most importantly Jesus offers a life of grace and belonging and forgiveness and freedom meant to give us something more to live for than Hell.
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