Last night I watched a movie called Hell House, with the tag-line "This Church Wants to Scare the Hell Out of You." The Hell House was an Evangelical Haunted House set up to scare "nonbelievers" into "accepting Jesus as their Savior." The movie was, to sum it up, a documentary version of Saved!
You could easily take my comments from my post on Saved!, put them in right here, and have no conflict of interest. But for the sake of it, there are two things I wish to bring up. Two things, I guess, that really bothered me about the whole thing (two big things amongst many others). First of all, they did the typical thing and focused on all the "really bad sins"--abortion, homosexuality, drugs, alcohol...--and said, "If you do these, you're going to Hell!" Actually, I don't think we're going to Hell so much for what we've done but for who we are (sinful creatures; the sin is the fruit of our sinful core; this changes when we enter the Kingdom). A lot of the people organizing the thing, however, looked like modern-day scribes and Pharisees. Judgment, condemnation, despising had the upper-hand. Whatever happened to compassion, mercy, forgiveness, real love? It seems to me that Jesus cared more about hypocrisy and judgment and condemnation than He did about homosexuality, drugs, alcohol, etc. Straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel, I guess. That dead dog.
Second point. They kept talking like Jesus was about entering the culture and destroying it. I just don't agree with that. I think Jesus subversively enters and consequently redeems culture, whether it is American culture, Indian culture, Buddhist or Islamic culture, Western European culture, etc.
Okay. Three things. I found it interesting that so many people were turned off by the Hell House. One person made the remark, "This is why people are against Christianity. It's because of people like you." Or something of that nature, I really can't remember. People say, "Well, Jesus ran into the same kind of hatred."
Yeah. From the religious elite. I think we need to rethink our evangelism paradigms.
And how many people who 'accepted Jesus into their hearts'--a term that is not biblical and which I have a major problem with--are actually meaning it? I don't think God wants us if we're just going to go to Him for fire insurance. I believe He is looking for people who love Him for Him, not for what they can get. I mean, if we go to God just to escape Hell, it's like getting married for the marriage benefits, but having no real passion. What's the point?
Maybe I sound like a negative little antibody. I'm sorry. There are some things about Christians and Christianity I just don't understand. Some things about Christians and Christianity that are just so... foreign to the gospel.
You could easily take my comments from my post on Saved!, put them in right here, and have no conflict of interest. But for the sake of it, there are two things I wish to bring up. Two things, I guess, that really bothered me about the whole thing (two big things amongst many others). First of all, they did the typical thing and focused on all the "really bad sins"--abortion, homosexuality, drugs, alcohol...--and said, "If you do these, you're going to Hell!" Actually, I don't think we're going to Hell so much for what we've done but for who we are (sinful creatures; the sin is the fruit of our sinful core; this changes when we enter the Kingdom). A lot of the people organizing the thing, however, looked like modern-day scribes and Pharisees. Judgment, condemnation, despising had the upper-hand. Whatever happened to compassion, mercy, forgiveness, real love? It seems to me that Jesus cared more about hypocrisy and judgment and condemnation than He did about homosexuality, drugs, alcohol, etc. Straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel, I guess. That dead dog.
Second point. They kept talking like Jesus was about entering the culture and destroying it. I just don't agree with that. I think Jesus subversively enters and consequently redeems culture, whether it is American culture, Indian culture, Buddhist or Islamic culture, Western European culture, etc.
Okay. Three things. I found it interesting that so many people were turned off by the Hell House. One person made the remark, "This is why people are against Christianity. It's because of people like you." Or something of that nature, I really can't remember. People say, "Well, Jesus ran into the same kind of hatred."
Yeah. From the religious elite. I think we need to rethink our evangelism paradigms.
And how many people who 'accepted Jesus into their hearts'--a term that is not biblical and which I have a major problem with--are actually meaning it? I don't think God wants us if we're just going to go to Him for fire insurance. I believe He is looking for people who love Him for Him, not for what they can get. I mean, if we go to God just to escape Hell, it's like getting married for the marriage benefits, but having no real passion. What's the point?
Maybe I sound like a negative little antibody. I'm sorry. There are some things about Christians and Christianity I just don't understand. Some things about Christians and Christianity that are just so... foreign to the gospel.
2 comments:
Dude, I agree totally. Believe it or not, I was literally part of the "hell house" drama one year. (I believe I was part of a "Satanic Cult" Scene.) I've seen it first hand and you couldn't be more right about non-christian's reactions. I don't think I've heard of anyone coming to Christ because of one of these things?
Jeff
I remember as a youth minister always getting literature about starting my own Hell House, and for only $50 or something, I could use their ideas and stuff, blah, blah, blah.
You hit it right on the head, Anthony.
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