I've never liked the fear-factor approach to sharing the Gospel, but sometimes even the Lord utilized that avenue to shock some people into a semblance of reality.
Luke 16:19-23
19 "There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.
20 "But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate,
21 "desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 "So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
23 "And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
This topic was driven home to me this morning as I watched a typically negative news report about an 18 year old woman in Mississippi, whom the entire community saw as being a little angel, so nice, so loving, so pretty, and yet, in reality, so hooked on drugs, sex, and looking for "sugar daddy's" to take care of her as long as they provided her the drugs and parties to which she was addicted. The only problem was, one of her sugar daddy's murdered her.
The strong, emotional paradigm of presenting her main studio photo, surrounded by angels tooting their horns, the shampoo hippy Jesus looking toward her photo with adoring eyes, well-wishing cards wishing her the best in Heaven...etc. That's not to say that any mortal among us knows for sure her real fate in eternity, and that's not the thrust of this post.
What is before us, however, is the real danger that so many have placed themselves within, living for the pleasures of the world as if they were NOT going to die tonight, or tomorrow, next week... The real danger is everyone pretending that there's no doubt about the eternal fate of those who had lived for the devil up to the moment of death, and every one of those people envisioned as being in paradise with the Lord, even among surviving family members who intentionally avoid considering the alternative.
The enemy doesn't want those families getting more serious about talking with their remaining, lost children about Hell. The prospect of the dead child being in Hell as a result of a life lived in rejection of Christ, is something the enemy of our souls doesn't want to take place because it works...at least, in the lives of some!
So, to apply the numbing salve to the conscience of parents and friends, the perception of every one of those souls being in Heaven plays right into the devil's hands to ensure that any fear of Hell is not at all uttered. After all, the feelings of the family must be protected, right?
At what expense?
Eternity!
The willingness of so many to play that eternally deadly game, gambling the very souls of their own children and relatives, all on the basis of feelings...
That rich man in torment, as described in Luke 16 above, certainly didn't see any reason to sugar-coat the truth for the sake of feelings! He was dead serious about someone going before his kin and warning them that the place of torment is real, and so horrible that it must be avoided at all costs.
Do you see how perspective can have a total reversal that casts any regard for mere feelings into the trash, where it belongs, when the prospect of eternity comes into play? That's not to say that it's ok to trample feelings with utter disregard, but when weighing on the scales of importance, feelings end up being out-weighed by any and all prospects of eternity!
What say you?
MM
Luke 16:19-23
19 "There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.
20 "But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate,
21 "desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 "So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
23 "And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
This topic was driven home to me this morning as I watched a typically negative news report about an 18 year old woman in Mississippi, whom the entire community saw as being a little angel, so nice, so loving, so pretty, and yet, in reality, so hooked on drugs, sex, and looking for "sugar daddy's" to take care of her as long as they provided her the drugs and parties to which she was addicted. The only problem was, one of her sugar daddy's murdered her.
The strong, emotional paradigm of presenting her main studio photo, surrounded by angels tooting their horns, the shampoo hippy Jesus looking toward her photo with adoring eyes, well-wishing cards wishing her the best in Heaven...etc. That's not to say that any mortal among us knows for sure her real fate in eternity, and that's not the thrust of this post.
What is before us, however, is the real danger that so many have placed themselves within, living for the pleasures of the world as if they were NOT going to die tonight, or tomorrow, next week... The real danger is everyone pretending that there's no doubt about the eternal fate of those who had lived for the devil up to the moment of death, and every one of those people envisioned as being in paradise with the Lord, even among surviving family members who intentionally avoid considering the alternative.
The enemy doesn't want those families getting more serious about talking with their remaining, lost children about Hell. The prospect of the dead child being in Hell as a result of a life lived in rejection of Christ, is something the enemy of our souls doesn't want to take place because it works...at least, in the lives of some!
So, to apply the numbing salve to the conscience of parents and friends, the perception of every one of those souls being in Heaven plays right into the devil's hands to ensure that any fear of Hell is not at all uttered. After all, the feelings of the family must be protected, right?
At what expense?
Eternity!
The willingness of so many to play that eternally deadly game, gambling the very souls of their own children and relatives, all on the basis of feelings...
That rich man in torment, as described in Luke 16 above, certainly didn't see any reason to sugar-coat the truth for the sake of feelings! He was dead serious about someone going before his kin and warning them that the place of torment is real, and so horrible that it must be avoided at all costs.
Do you see how perspective can have a total reversal that casts any regard for mere feelings into the trash, where it belongs, when the prospect of eternity comes into play? That's not to say that it's ok to trample feelings with utter disregard, but when weighing on the scales of importance, feelings end up being out-weighed by any and all prospects of eternity!
What say you?
MM
