Let’s go out and share the good news of Jesus. Whether we share Jesus out of a rescue-them-from-hell, give-them-eternal-life or participate-in-the-kingdom motive, let’s just be faithful to share that awesome and life-transforming message.

Thanks again everyone. Much to ponder.

There is a reason why the crazy cousin is locked up in the basement–he is crazy, disruptive, and unpredictable so therefore we need to make sure everyone who will witness the crazy cousin is in the right frame of mind and place to experience the realities of the crazy cousin. If you have a headache, tired, stressed, and exhausted, I am not going to intentionally keep letting the crazy cousin in because you need to be with him.

Essentially lets just be sensitive to our non-believing friends–that is all I am saying. We as Christians and preachers have nothing to prove.

Lets be honest, if someone is fat they know it and everyone else around them knows it so why do we need to keep telling them over and over again that they are on the bigger side? The same thing goes for non-believers. The idea of Hell isn’t revolutionary. It isn’t rocket science. More than likely there is a pretty good reason that non-believer is intentionally not following Jesus, so therefore scaring them only make them resist Jesus even more.

Lastly, we need to check our motives if we always have a hunch to preach the “doctrine of Hell”? Do you get life by being the Mr. Know it all? Do you get life telling people where they might go, when you don’t have a personal relationship with them? What is your intentionality of telling someone they are going to hell? Yes I know Jesus clearly say it i in the Bible, but how do you feel when you do it? Do you feel good? Do you feel liberated? Do you feel validated?
Again we need to be cautious what is really driving us to tell people their future eternal destination? And who knows maybe our assumption may be wrong? We don’t have divine knowledge, so lets leave that up to him to be the judge of a person’s future eternity and heart.

I believe this applies to Jesus’ teachings as well.
As an over-the-hill karate guy, I still remember what Bruce Lee said about our learning curve…

“Before I studied the art, a punch to me was just like a punch, a kick just like a kick. After I learned the art, a punch was no longer a punch, a kick no longer a kick. Now that I’ve understood the art, a punch is just like a punch, a kick just like a kick. The height of cultivation is really nothing special. It is merely simplicity; the ability to express the utmost with the minimum. It is the halfway cultivation that leads to ornamentation. Jeet Kune-Do is basically a sophisticated fighting style stripped to its essentials.” – Bruce Lee

Why do we so many times over-analyze and intellectualize such simple teachings?
To re-emphasize Lee,”It is merely simplicity; the ability to express the utmost with the minimum. It is the halfway cultivation that leads to ornamentation. ”
Jesus Christ Offers us a “sophisticated fighting style stripped down to its essentials” to battle the forces of darkness in this world and the lies Satan strategically feeds us every day. That ‘Essential’ was stripped, beaten, mocked, humiliated, crucified, dead and buried IN MY PLACE! And in His Resurrection He Has Already Given me Victory-His Victory-over death and hell and Satan that all believers share.
In His Crazy Love…

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Thanks,

Jeff

By the same token, we must do so and demonstrate ourselves and the message lovingly, or we are just empty noise to them (1 Cor.13). We are to love God and love people, but that love motivates us to know God and serve him by sharing Christ, preaching Christ, preaching the whole truth from the Bible (in love). I just don’t think we can ignore the “crazy cousin” of hell and sin.

Jeremy, I think the guy with the bullhorn yelling at people does do a lot of harm. I think the preacher who doesn’t warn about hell does a lot of harm. More than them, however, the preacher who says, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life” has done untold harm to the cause of Christ in the last 100 years. You need to read “The Way of the Master” by Ray Comfort. He gives a thoroughly biblical way of presenting the gospel that includes law, judgment, hell and the gospel. Modern evangelistic methods have and are failing to make true converts (9 of 10 fall away, most never even end up going to church) and it’s high time we included the reality of hell in our message with real heartfelt concern for their souls. If your mother was driving down the road that ended with a cliff you would warn her about the cliff, not tell her about “the wonderful other road.” She needs to be warned about the danger so she will be persuaded to take the other road that doesn’t end in a cliff. She needs to be convinced of the danger she is in.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” Prov. 1:7

“Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men…” 2 Cor. 5:11

I wasn’t undermining the meaning of Hell, rather I was undermining the methodology, rhetoric, and tactics in which we present the topic of Hell.

Hell is a big deal, (I never said that) however we give it a fair treatment in how we teach about it. There is a time and place.

Bottom line….you and i are smoking different stuff and that is okay. We both are Bible believing Christians who deeply love Jesus, but who have different hermeneutic and eccelsiology, that is completely fine.

I am just very cautious of your methods because I have seen it hurt so many people and completely turn them off to Christianity and the church. Your methods are a hit or mess. Either you are going to piss somebody off or you are going to get someone to repent. For example read Greg’s post about how he challenged the student to give his book to the barista. Well needless to say the barista rejected it and the student was left there feeling isolated and embarrassed. What do you think the chances are that barista is going to actually take a Christian and the church seriously? All that barista knows of Christians is the people who force their agenda on me.

We think we are doing Jesus a favor by not being lukewarm, when in reality we are viewed as arrogant, judgmental, and insensitive jerks. Being a jerk doesn’t help out the Kingdom of God.

Jay your critique is a valid one and there is some lukewarmness in the Church water, however that does not mean we be forceful and over intentional in how we communicate the message of Jesus. The two greatest commandments Jesus gave us: 1) Love God and 2) Love others and your enemies. That love word is the word agapeo, which essentially means to give it all up for. Love the unloveable..serve the unserved…..
How about we simply love the lost because more than likely they have never really experienced an agapeo unconditional love. How can they (non-believers) understand the doctrine of Hell message when they have never been affirmed for who they are? They have always been told…you are a reject, you are an idoit, you are a failure…..

Let us come alongside the lost and point them towards the beautiful cross. Lets leave the judging up to Jesus.

Thank you, Greg, for the post. Thank you always for being so bold and staying the course.