Guest post by August Stine
My Son Thinks I Am Going to Hell!
In spite of the fact I am a former fundamentalist Christian and ex-pastor, my minister son and his family think I am headed for Hell. This is my response to him. I use the pen name of August Stine to protect my son. It can be googled if you need more information about me.
Different Family Beliefs
Your faith is important to you.
My beliefs are important to me.
We pray to the same God every day
For me, He is the Caring Creator;
Who cares about my well being
To you, He is the fearful God
Who demands obedience.
I believe Jesus was a spiritual man but not God.
I believe Jesus said some great words of wisdom
And I am sorry he had to die on the cross.
You believe Jesus died for the sins of man
And his salvation is a gift from God.
I do not believe this, but let’s suppose I did.
Didn’t you say salvation was a gift?
If it is a gift, why do I need to do anything?
You say I am going to hell unless . . .
You even give me the words I should say—
“Jesus, forgive my sins.”
Do people go to hell for not saying these words?
What if I wait until just before dying and then ask?
What if I meant to ask Him for years but didn’t?
You say “Too late—you missed your chance!”
This is God we are talking about isn’t it?
Is God limited by time or death?
On the other hand, if salvation is a “gift,”
Do I really need to ask Him for forgiveness?
The Bible says God freely gives this gift.
Where did all these attached strings come from?
Why conditions on God’s unconditional love?
New converts are told their Christian duties.
Tithing is one—not too bad—it is do-able
Unless you are unemployed or on minimum wage.
But the heaviest of all these burdens is . . .
People go to hell unless we show them Jesus.
So their salvation is in our hands . . .
I thought salvation was a gift.
Why is this huge ugly rope attached to this gift?
Am I responsible for my neighbor’s salvation?
Why am I involved with another man’s salvation?
Why does God need Me?
Suppose I want to play golf on a nice day,
But my neighbor dies and goes to hell . . .
And it is my fault . . .
Because I did not tell him about Jesus.
Please don’t tell me
God is so awful and demanding.
Why am I involved in someone’s eternal choice?
I thought God loved me and my neighbor.
Because of His heavy guilt trip,
I can’t even play golf without God on my back
I cannot believe God dearly loves me . . .
But loads me down with guilt trips
About darn near everything I do.
If I truly am a child of God,
Why do I have to be afraid of Him?
Why can’t I enjoy God
And let Him fix the world?
I thought that was His job.
Scripture says God is with us always;
If so, “Come on God, let’s go play some golf.”
I absolutely LOVE THIS!!!!
One of the best posts Ive read on any blog- ever. You know a lot of people Bruce, and they really have some amazing stories to tell and some very deep thoughts on life. It’s just incredible – in the best possible way.
Very well said!
Of course the gospel (“good news”) promises a battle between father and son, see e.g., Luke 12:53.
The Hell concept simply has to go. No loving creator would create an eternal place of suffering. When you think about it, there can be no such place. We used to think Hell was under the ground. Now we know what the earth is made of and Hell just isn’t there.
There is no logic and no compassion contained within this concept of eternal Hell.
You highlight how it’s all about constant, unremitting guilt. I think many compartmentalize this and go on their way. For those serious types, it preys on their minds and they therefore feel constant guilt for just being a normal human going about their day. I resent this constant guilt trip. When I read Christian blogs, it’s always there.
On the other hand, if you reject the constant guilt-well, how can you do that if everyone around you is gonna burn in hell, and you’ve been taught to have a Christian testimony, be a constant witness of Jesus and the good news, etc. Then what business would you have doing anything ordinary? Surely people going to hell trumps you having fun? Makes sense, but there’s that guilt.
No one can live that way and not go insane, so from what I’ve seen, most Christians live lives exactly like non-Christians. But they supposedly have all these beliefs.
So it doesn’t make sense to me.
I keep longing to resurrect Christianity from bits and pieces that I really love, but you are so right, Lynn, the Hell infliction is pretty insurmountable. And Jesus, as reported in the Bible, talked much about Hell, or at least who would be there. The whole reward or punishment afterlife is so minor league that one just has to laugh that it has such a hold on the world. I mean, honestly, this is what we get for our mortal existence? Maybe the only way to talk about Hell is in the here and now. Maybe we sentence others to Hell by our lack of compassion, but Hell is just to have the only life you EVER get to live to be so desperate. Hell is now, and failing to help others is to give them Hell for their only lives. All it would take to transform that desperation of Hell is a little generosity.
reminds me of this clever tweet:
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https://twitter.com/shitmydadsays/status/209705033204371457
“We ain’t a sharp species. We kill each other over arguments about what happens when you die, then fail to see the [f*g] irony in that.”
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re: god, golf, and guilt: a joke:
http://www.makeitclearnow.org/relhumor.html#Golf%20during%20church
I too am former clergy. This is so reminiscent of the relationship I had with my religiously conservative father, though he never went so far as to condemn me to hell. My personal reformation came when I realized that church doctrines of heaven and hell had more to do with control and power than salvation. If only the church hadn’t lost sight of the teaching that the Kingdom of Heaven is within, and that is our salvation.