If you are an avid reader of Christian books, blogs or the twitter-verse these days, you have to admit that there has been huge serge on the topic of Hell within evangelical circles. Rob Bell might have sparked this recent serge but Bell is not the founder of the evangelical Hell controversy or debate. This debate is not even without precedent in recent evangelical history. You only have to go back a few years to when John Stott announced his view of annihilation rather than eternal punishment. The evangelical community was equally intensely reactive to Stott’s public admission.
The question I have been pondering lately is why the oddly emotionally charged reaction to the topic of Hell. Why this emotional reaction to anyone who would question the commonly understood evangelical view of it (which I hold to by the way). I think this is symptomatic of, among other things, a much larger issue.
I believe that the topic of Hell is so emotionally charged, partially, because it demonstrates our intimate and monopolous (I’m sure I made this word up) connection with Hell to our Soteriology (our view and understanding of salvation). The Evangelical church has largely viewed salvation solely through the exclusive lens of saving us from eternal punish – Hell. Therefore, anyone who would question Hell’s existence is, consequently, questioning everything salvation is about.
The problem is that Jesus saved us from more than just Hell. Jesus came not simply to bring eternal life after death (John 3:16), but also an abundant (John 10:10), sacrificial (John 15:13), selflessly serving (Luke 10:25-37) life on this earth now. We are saved from our selves and the selfishness that drives our world. We are saved from a purposeless life to a life filled with eternal significance and purpose expressed today in my immediate circumstance. Christ came not simply to save us from life apart from Him after we die, but also from life apart from him today on this earth.
Salvation is more than an eternal life insurance policy. Salvation is more than a transaction where we purchase an eternal piece of heavenly real estate. Instead, salvation is also about living with God at the center of your life here on earth, it’s about self-sacrifice, about loving your neighbour when it might cost dearly, it’s about loving others in and through difficult situations and it’s about the hope of doing so for all eternity.
I think the topic of Hell can be a convenient distraction from the difficult call of salvation that says we are called to live a different and very difficult life on this earth now: A life of purpose, justice, compassion and truth. We would rather the salvation message void of dying to self and prefer one with a exclusive focus on avoiding hell! Ironically, the Hell focused salvation message is an easier one to give rather one what also talks about Jesus’ call to “deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him” (Matthew 16:24).
In sum, the reason I think the debate about Hell has become so emotionally charged is, partially, because by questioning hell, people have questioned the sole purpose that many of our Soteriologies are based on.
