- Image by Denis Collette…!!! via Flickr
I will never forget an account I read in a book a few years ago. I honestly do not know if the account is true or not. The account that I read took place during the Vietnam war. A dying soldier asked a minister who cam to comfort him asked the minster only one question as he knew he had only minutes left before he would be faced with eternity. Only one question burned in his soul – he asked the minister “is there a hell?” The minister responded without hesitation “No.” The soldier then replied with “If there’s no hell, you are not needed here but if you are wrong, you have misled everyone here.” Perhaps the minister simply wanted to comfort those that were dying and or perhaps he really did not believe in the truth of scriptures that he represented as a minister of the Gospel.
Even if the story is not true, unfortunately it is true with some within some aberrant teachings in Christianity. “Mother” Teresa is held up as one who devoted her life to God and of helping others. In a shocking statement, she revealed that she does not preach the Gospel to the lost that she ministers to. After all, they are in need of help and the Gospel won’t help them (my paraphrase). Her reasoning behind this is that the lives of the Hindus that she was helping was so poor and they were in such need that the Gospel was of no benefit to their temporal lives. They needed food, clothing, shelter and medical attention.
Robert Schuller focuses on the “positive” aspects of Christianity and will not teach that a person is a sinner. If one does not know the condition of sin, then where is the need for salvation? The list of preachers not teaching on sin or the consequences of sin is growing and is devastating. It is devastating because it can and does lead people to the belief that all is well with their soul.
Jesus teaches on Sermon on the Mount “It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” (Matthew 5:30). Jesus also warns “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot the soul. Rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)
Churches are moving away from teaching sin, consequences of sin and punishment. Some churches teach soul sleep, other churches teach annihilation, and some churches simply don’t bother with it at all but instead focus on the temporal.
It is a tragedy what churches are teaching today. Like that dying solider stated to the minster, If there’s no hell, you are not needed here but if you are wrong, you have misled everyone here” – misleading people to believe all is well with their soul.
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6 comments
pttyann
February 8, 2010 at 7:01 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Hello Tishrei
How very true your post is,the fear of going to “Hell” is what helped me get saved! But now the realization of “Hell” is barley ever brought up in sermons!!!! So many people don’t believe there is a “Hell”,but that doesn’t change the truth of God’s word!!! “Hell” is real and you need to be saved/born again to avoid going there.
Tishrei
February 9, 2010 at 10:02 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
You’re right — “hell” is barely ever brought up anymore. It sure scared me before I was saved like it did you.
Margaret
February 8, 2010 at 8:50 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Tishrei,
Somewhere in the Old Testament — maybe Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Ezekiel — God condemns the priests for not teaching the people the difference between good and evil….. I can’t seem to find it at this time, but the message was that the priests were bringing condemnation upon themselves for not rightly teaching the people….. God wants His whole message preached to the people so that they can come to know the Lord as the one and only God, who will judge us all.
It’s evident that many preachers value only their own popularity….. But, the people are also at fault for not wanting to hear about hell….. It’s kinda like sweeping all your dirt under the carpet and then making out like your house is clean.
Margaret
Tishrei
February 9, 2010 at 10:00 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Yes, they value their own popularity and filling up the seats in their churches. That’s how they measure their success. It’s really too bad — a tragedy not only for themselves but for the members they lead astray.
Repent Harlequin
February 9, 2010 at 5:30 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Hey Blog Lady T.,
It was in Jeremiah. He was being criticized and jeered for teaching “terror all around” while the priests or king’s prophets were saying, “Don’t worry about it. Life is good.”
This is why we left the ELCA. The pastors there were telling homosexuals, “You’re fine.” It wasn’t just that issue, which I viewed as a sympton. It was that they were doing the exact opposite of what the Bible calls them to do and they will be held to greater accountability, because the Bible also teaches that.
In Christ,
Kent
Tishrei
February 9, 2010 at 9:59 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Howdy Kent,
I knew what Margaret was talking about but like her, I couldn’t remember which book of the Bible it was in. Thanks —
It’s rather amazing what churches will do to accommodate their members. They lead them straight to destruction along with themselves.
BLT!