There’s a popular critique of Christianity that says: We like Jesus, it’s the church we can’t stand. And: We accept Jesus’ message of love, but we can’t tolerate the harsh God of the Old Testament.
But this approach to Scripture crashes into a blunt barrier: Jesus himself frequently speaks of hell. The caricature of “gentle Jesus meek and mild” just will not hold up if you actually read the Bible.
D. A. Carson notes, “The person in the Bible who talks the most of hell is Jesus.” He “talks about dungeons and chains, outer darkness… weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth” (The God Who Is There, p. 208). For example, Jesus said, “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!” (Luke 12:4-5). “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many” (Matt 7:13). “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire” (Mark 9:43). Etc.
You see, Jesus reveals the True God in all of his blazing, beautiful splendor. But we hesitate. People prefer God’s goodness (e.g., love, mercy, peace) and dodge his greatness (e.g., holiness, justice, wrath)—as if we could redesign God to suit our fancy.
In short, we have a problem with hell because we have a problem with God. Upon learning that the Lord was going to destroy Sodom (Genesis 18), Abraham prayed with compassion: What if some righteous people still live there? To which God replied: he would not destroy the whole city if a godly remnant remained—and yet, the judgment of unrepentant sinners would surely come in due course! In the end, Abraham rightly fell back on this fact: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? (18:25). Can you also be still, stand in awe, and let God be God?
