I saw this on social media today:
“I’d rather hate my way to hell than love my way to heaven”
Now, I’m sure it’s just someone reacting to something Donald Trump said or some whacko “religious” person put on TikTok but it made me pause for a moment. Really? Hate your way to hell instead of loving your way to heaven? Maybe you just misunderstand what Christ asks of us.
Christ *asks* us to love. Love everyone. Love the people who make you mad. Love the people who say things you don’t agree with. Love people who live a lifestyle you don’t agree with. Christ asks us to be kind. Be like him. He did not hang out with the religious leaders who tried to make the Jewish society into a caste system, forcing those who were not “clean” to worship elsewhere. Christ came and sat with the sinners, the sick, the poor, the weak in spirit. Christ came to this earth to serve others. Christ came to this earth to make us kinder, gentler people.
Yeah, you look at all the commandments and the Biblical scholars giving rules to live by…but Christ said this is the first and the greatest commandment: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and love each other as you love yourself. That’s it. Christ will take care of the rest.
So here’s the rub. People (humans) are going to “judge” regardless. And, some people are going to make asses of themselves as they do it. They are going to tell you that the Word of God as stated in the Bible is the be all and end all. Honestly, I believe that. But what I don’t believe is that we were put here on earth to judge each other. I’ve read the Bible. A bunch of times. Some of the stuff is hard to read because it’s harsh. And it explains what’s going to happen in the end. It says we’ll be judged.
What the Bible says is that GOD is the Judge. Not Joe down the street, or Tanya who always tells you the gossip at the water cooler, or Amy who can’t seem to say anything nice, or Rob who doesn’t live a lifestyle you agree with. GOD is the judge. God knows all. He sees all. And he will judge based on (to steal a Martin Luther King quote) content of character. He will judge based on your devotion to him and his son, our Savior Jesus Christ. He will judge based on seeing your heart and what your heart holds. He will judge in a way that WE CAN’T UNDERSTAND because he is above our understanding. And if you don’t believe this, think about this truth.
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son – sacrificed his beloved Son – so that our sins would be washed clean in the blood of the Lamb. (paraphrase of John 3:16). What that means is, when we come to stand in front of God for judgement at the end of days, we are sinless in God’s eyes because Jesus paid that price. Those are easy words to type but exactly who are you willing to die for? Really. Who would you give up your life for? Think about that for a while. If you’ve got someone in your head that you’d actually die for, add this: who would you be CRUCIFIED for? Lots of ways to die are quick. Crucifixion is NOT. And it’s painful. And agonizing. Jesus did that for US. You may not know him but he knew you and he said, “Yup, I’ll go to the cross for you, Julie. I’ll give up my life in one of the most excruciating methods for you, Frank.”
You may think I rambled on for no reason here but if one person reads this and says, “Yeah, not me. I don’t want to hate my way to eternal damnation and fire and pain and sorrow and grief and agony…” then this was worth it. I’m not a Bible-thumping conservative…but I know that my Lord and Savior wants us ALL to live like Him. In love. In servitude. Spreading kindness. Giving.
In this year of what will probably be immensely divisive and many will sever friendships because of political loyalties, I pray that some of us transcend that. I pray that whether you love or hate a political party, you will stop and think about what you say and how you say it. I pray that you will pause and be Christ-like. Sit with the sinners. Because when you throw around the words heaven and hell, you are talking about Jesus Christ and Satan. The terms are synonymous, make no mistake about that – Jesus is Heaven and Satan is hell. I pray you choose Jesus.
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