We spent some time Sunday morning learning about New Testament concepts of heaven and hell and exploring our opinions and how they have been shaped. I grew up in a religious tradition where "hell" hovered over your head...waiting patiently for the sin which would allow you to be swooped up into the eternal lake of fire. Too bad for you.
Since people didn't always rush to that definitive sin, we "good Christians" often helped "hell" swoop. Fingers pointed and whispers flew and "those" people were condemned...mostly because they were not "like" us. Joy reigned when a soul was saved, but it was a public, collective joy...not nearly as fun as the secret exuberant joy that bubbled up when the sinner was punished and we were saved. I guess if someone else was heading straight toward "hell," it took the spotlight off of us...enabling respite from eternal vigilance regarding our own spiritual path and the fingers that might rightly or wrongly be someday pointed in our direction.
It is certainly true that heaven and hell are realities in biblical texts, though interpreted in different ways. No one consistent image or place emerges. Jesus speaks of heaven and hell. So we really can't completely ignore or dismiss the concepts. But, to me, Jesus' use of hell language seems descriptive, not determinative. He never points to someone and whispers their condemnation. He describes situations and attitudes...with God and without...living the way God wants us to live and living our own self-interests...and with the ways of life come judgment and consequences. He teaches and lives in the way that moves us toward the heavenly images...a place of love and security where all have rooms and food and comfort. He describes where our self-centered focus lands us...ultimately separated from community and love, living in pain and longing.
Heaven and hell aren't tools for the spiritual warfare or welfare of the Christian. They should be tools for the re-imagining of life together. How does God imagine our life together now and forever? Heavenly. If we refuse, we condemn ourselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment