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Jesus preached what is undoubtedly the most famous or popular sermon ever preached: the so-called Sermon on the Mount. In the course of that sermon, He preached things that many would deem as positive, such as “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 7:12).
But in the next breath, Jesus began to discuss things that most people would deem as negative (Matthew 7:13-27). He said things that most people don’t want to hear, but they are things that people need to hear.
If you go to a doctor, the doctor is bound by an oath to give you the truth. If you have something wrong with you, the doctor is supposed to tell you the truth. If your prognosis is bad, he must share that with you. If what you are battling is terminal, he cannot withhold that information from you.
As a preacher of the Gospel, I am bound by God Himself—a higher oath, we might say—to preach the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27), and that inevitably includes preaching or discussing things that most people would rather not think about. But they are things that could make the difference between “eternal punishment” and “eternal life” (Matt. 25:46).
In my relatively brief career as a preacher, I’ve encountered two extreme mindsets among Christians: (1) Those who want to hear nothing but hellfire and brimstone sermons; (2) Those want to hear anything other than hellfire and brimstone sermons. Balance, I believe, is the key.
I don’t get any sadistic joy out of preaching or writing on hell or eternal punishment, but I know these things must be discussed, because they are as much a part of God’s Word as the death, burial, and resurrection ofJesus Christ. Let’s also not forget that Jesus did what He did, in part, to provide us a way of escape from hell (cf. Rom. 5:9; 1 Thess. 1:10).
For one to suggest today, as Jesus Himself did, that there will be people in hell flies right in the face of our politically correct, pluralistic culture. While our culture may have streamlined heaven and air-conditioned hell, the fact still remains that we are either on the high road to heaven or the highway to hell. Jesus didn’t shy away from the truth, because to love others is to share with them the truth, even when that truth might be unsettling.
Jacob Evans
Pulaski Street church of Christ
Lawrenceburg, TN