Train Ticket Theology...

"Our own personal death is the hard, harsh, square peg that refuses to fit into all the round holes we plan for our future; it is the sand in our oyster that irritates us and makes our spirits protest against it. Why should we learn all these great lessons of life and, just when we have learned them we must give them all up and there is no opportunity to exercise them? Something about that makes us protest. – Ray C. Steadman

If we get down to it, our fascination with Heaven and Hell is really like everything else; all about us!

We want to know where we are going, we want to be sure it is the right place, and we want to use it as a hook to draw people to a life following Jesus or a warning to those who would not. The problem is, the afterlife becomes the central tenet in our faith walk rather than the life here and now, and how we can live in the place Jesus called the “Kingdom”.

This past Saturday as I was driving through a rural Georgia town I saw a “street preacher”. He was waving a bible in his hand and yelling at the top of his lungs as we drove by. In a situation like that you can only get a few words as you pass by. I heard, “Hell” and “Death” and “Sin” and “Repent” and a few other words like that. Is that the message we want to convey? Is fear really the way to Jesus?

This has lead to what I call “train ticket theology”. It is the message many believers of Jesus put out there, especially in the 20th century. If you get your “Jesus ticket” you will be in heaven, if you don’t… well, you know, it’s Hell for you! I also liken this to monster under the bed theology. You are scared as long as it is dark, but when the light breaks through the monster is quickly forgotten.

Heaven and Hell must be real, they are in the bible. But what are they? Should they be used as a lure and a warning? Is this the Good News Jesus talked about? This month, (June 25th) we will take up the issue of heaven and hell in Theology Café. I hope you can join us; we would really love to hear your thoughts…