Maybe you can relate to me when I say that I’ve never understood the whole “second coming” thing.  I mean, I have to admit that I have been motivated to greater faithfulness by God’s love, by the challenge of reflecting Him to this world, and even by His discipline, but the reality of the second coming has never motivated me to do anything.  Now, it is clear from the teaching of Jesus and other New Testament writers that Jesus will one day return to this world, bringing history to its consummation and the kingdom of heaven completely to earth, so that, as the author of Revelation says, “the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them” (Revelation 21:3).  That part I understand.  The part I don’t get is the language of urgency and watchfulness that Jesus uses when discussing how we should live in light of his second coming.  After all, shouldn’t we always be living in the light of God’s truth and judgment?  Why do we need the second coming to convince us that we need to be consistent in our faith?

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Last week I ended my post by promising to deal this week with how Jesus used Hell in his teaching.  I’m not sure what I was thinking.  I mean, what made me think I could possibly do justice to this massive and excruciatingly important/touchy/difficult subject in one blog post?  So, instead of attempting to write the next great book on Hell, I think that the best thing I can do today is to share some observations on Jesus’ use of Hell that you may not have considered.  I think these observations will help us as we continue to look at how evangelical Christians use manipulation and urgency in order to scare people into the kingdom of God and motivate believers to action. 

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(The following passage is taken out of the MERV – Modern Evangelism Revised Version:)

Matthew 5:1-3 – Now when he saw the crowds, Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down.  His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying:

“If you died tonight, do you know where you’d go?”

What’s that?  You mean Jesus never used the threat of hell to pigeonhole people into making a decision to follow Him?  That’s not what my MERV says! (FYI – before you go running out to your nearest Christian bookstore looking for you very own MERV, relax - it’s not real)

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“Christianity in America Won’t Survive Another Decade!”

How would you react if you read the above statement in a Christian magazine?  Would you be alarmed?  Intrigued?  Or would you think it’s all just a load of bull???

I’ve noticed that for many years now, evangelicals have been fond of using alarm and urgency in order to motivate believers to action and (they hope) those outside the church to repentance and faith.  From the Left Behind series’ depiction of the Rapture to evangelism strategies that ask “If you were to die tonight, do you know where you’d go???”, from outrage at cultural entities like MTV, South Park, and Marilyn Manson, to painting the gay marriage agenda as responsible for the breakdown of the American family, evangelical Christians love to shock their listeners into action.  Sometimes, of course, such outrage and alarm is Biblical and right.  Often, however, Christians can be guilty of using the worst kinds of manipulation in order to reach the worthy ends of faith and righteousness.  Case in point: the first line of this post.

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