Why we need a hell

The last few weeks have been hectic. The "Boston or bust" campaign is energy sapping, leaving little left for blogging.

I've had thoughts on why Lance Armstong shouldn't return to competitive cycling, "Don't do it Lance! The magic of seven in a row will be soured by the words 'Lance has cracked!' coming from Phil Liggetts lips."

I have also been amazed at the irony of the Hadron accelerator, especially when the scientists attempting to reduce God to a particle "pray" that their very expensive experiment works.

Today I was burning some information sensitive documents when the fire grew especially fierce. My face reddened and I felt dehydrated as I stoked away. I thought about hell. I imagined standing next to a lake of fire waiting to be thrown into it's relentless fury. I was deeply thankful that salvation expressly promises that hell won't happen to a true believer.

Then I was reminded of how little we talk about hell. Hell has become clumsy talk, the scare tactic of outdated evangelists. Emergent leaders are steering us away from the strict heaven/hell, saved/unsaved catagorisation of all humanity. Admittedly, the latter is a drastic reduction of the meaning of life and the purpose of God. Even a fireman believes that there is more to life than getting people saved.

However, we are cultivating a contemporary faith that skillfully avoids the "H" word as condemnatory and manipulative and these days, preachers prefer motivational talks.

As I gazed at the burning bank statements, I recalled a recent broadcast of an investigative TV journal on child porn. There are many reasons why people do evil: indoctrination, poverty, fear, intoxication.... and I try to see through the act to see the redemptive potential of an evildoer. But anybody who abuses kids and seeks to earn renown by broadcasting the abuse online....makes hell seem like a heluva good idea.

My bewilderment of spirit at the depravity of such people finally finds a counterbalance in the thought of them being tossed into the consuming, devouring fires of hell.

I know that the bible teaches that the list of the damned at the final judgement will offer some surprises. Hell isn't just for the repulsively sinful. But child molestors convince me that a hell should and does exist.