The Role of Hell in the Gospel Message?

[anochria]

I'm curious to discuss whether people think the topic of hell (regardless of which classical view you take on it) should have any important part of the gospel message we as Christians present? If so, how much emphasis should be placed on it?

[jarrod]

When I discuss the good news with someone I rarely, if ever, bring up hell by my own volition. The gospel that I see presented in the Bible focuses more on reconciliation with our creator God by the forgiveness of our sins through the life and death/burial/resurrection of Jesus Christ. "Hell" is more of a side-note or negative result of not accepting the good news. However, I find since most people (at least the ones I talk to) have heard some form of the gospel, they tend to bring it up and lead the discussion that direction.

[steve7150]

I'm curious to discuss whether people think the topic of hell (regardless of which classical view you take on it) should have any important part of the gospel message we as Christians present? If so, how much emphasis should be placed on it?








Since hell is really not even a biblical word but a word created to invoke terror i would use the word "judgment" meaning the judgment of God is upon unbelievers if the topic comes up.
However Paul said it's the goodness of God that leads men to repentance, so i would emphasize everything we have we owe to God and then talk about what Jesus did for us as a manifestation of God's love for us.

[anochria]

Feel free to freely substitute judgment for hell. In fact, "judgment" is more what I was getting at anyway.

[anochria]

Or another way to put it would be is there any place for an appeal to fear in the gospel message?

[mattrose]

Fear is a tricky concept for Christians. We have passages about how valuable fear is and passages about how fear should be removed. I think this is because there are different kinds of fear. For instance, clearly there are healthy fears and unhealthy fears. It is a healthy thing to be afraid of a true danger, but unhealthy to be afraid of an imaginary danger.

Anyone who believes there is a God who will one day judge the world based on how we have lived our lives... should have a healthy fear of said God.

The problem with using 'judgment/hell' in american evangelism is that the people you are trying to reach generally don't believe in God (at least not the kind of God who would judge).

For a group that believes in ultimate realities, right and wrong, and a supreme God.... judgment could and should play an important role in evangelism.

[steve7150]

The problem with using 'judgment/hell' in american evangelism is that the people you are trying to reach generally don't believe in God (at least not the kind of God who would judge).

For a group that believes in ultimate realities, right and wrong, and a supreme God.... judgment could and should play an important role in evangelism.








I think most people believe in justice and most people believe in God so they can connect God with justice and being judged by our works. Believing someone died for our sins is more unnatural to believe and on the surface doesn't seem to make sense. So explaining it in a way that makes sense to someone with an open mind is the first challenge i would think.

[mattrose]

When I imagine the typical unbeliever in my area... they may be theists philosophically, but they certainly don't think God would send them to hell. To use the threat of hell as an evangelistic tool would way sooner cause them to judge the evangelist than to judge themselves as needing to change. Their sense of justice has more to do with karma than the Christian view of justice.

The key to your last statement is the open mind. I imagine that if there is an 'open mind' in play, a lot of different evangelistic methods would work. If not, pretty much nothing.

[anochria]

mattrose:

Fear is a tricky concept for Christians. We have passages about how valuable fear is and passages about how fear should be removed. I think this is because there are different kinds of fear. For instance, clearly there are healthy fears and unhealthy fears. It is a healthy thing to be afraid of a true danger, but unhealthy to be afraid of an imaginary dange

I think you are striking at the heart of the issue here. Just like we have problems with biblical terms translated in to English like "love" and "will", etc.., fear is a very nuanced idea in Scripture.

What, to your mind, makes for unhealthy fear, and what makes for positively productive fear?

[mattrose]

For me... healthy fear is based on reality
1. I should be afraid if I see a tornado coming my way
2. I should be afraid of looking over the edge of niagara falls
3. I should be afraid of a charging predator

Of course, how one chooses to respond to those fears is a different matter all-together (fight? fright? flight?)

Unhealthy fear is based on falsehoods
1. If I leave my home today, I'll probably be attacked
2. My wife, who has always been faithful, is 5 minutes late so much be cheating on me
3. I don't have any value so i might as well end my life

Applied to the topic of hell, from my perspective

"I better get right with God or he'll torture me endlessly in a lake of fire" is an unhealthy fear b/c it is not true. Now, unhealthy fears sometimes work out alright... but only in spite of their falsehood.

"I better get right with God because I'm not going to live forever and when I die I'm going to have to give account for how I've lived my life" is a healthy fear b/c it is true.