Everyone Gets a Trophy

There has been a bit of a flap on the Evangelical side of the North American Christian church recently over whether there is a real live heaven or hell and if God really does send people to hell. They are wrestling with the concept that if there is a hell, is God really mean enough to send people to hell, and is it forever or just until they shape up? Much like being sent to your room for a time out for belching at the table during dinner.  Books are being written (Rob Bell and Francis Chan), articles are being published, debates are being held and lots of money is being made. All of this furor is in just one segment of the church. The more progressive side of the church solved this problem and eliminated hell a long time ago.

There is no doubt that hell is a huge PR problem for the church. Especially since we (the church) have spent many years “selling” God as a benevolent old gentleman/woman who spends his/her time dispensing lollypops, sage advice and good wishes for humanity. He/she is a pleasant but impotent old creature who would be completely incapable of coming up with anything as negative as hell.

This morning I was reading the Gospel of Mark – some of the teachings of Jesus. When I do that I am reminded of people who say they don’t like Christianity but they like Jesus. “Christianity,” they say, “is too narrow and difficult.” That could be true but then I always wonder what this “Jesus” they like so much looks and sounds like and what he stands for; if anything. I sense the Jesus I like is very different from the Jesus they like because I have gone to the trouble of actually reading the Bible. But that is just a guess. Well, not really. I almost always ask those folks if they have read the Bible and the universal response is “no.”

When I read the teachings of Jesus I am: inspired; challenged; frightened; encouraged; and often irritated. But I am almost never made comfortable – put at ease. Jesus is pretty straightforward in his approach. We are in a monumental struggle. There are good guys and there are bad guys. There are good choices and there are bad choices. And there are positive consequences and there are negative consequences. Our choices do make a difference. Jesus seems to be of the clear opinion that there is a heaven and there is a hell.

Over the thousands of years that the Christian faith has been in existence, the reality of heaven and hell has rarely been in question. The question has come up several times, but historically only miniscule segments of the church have clung to the belief that hell does not exist. So I wonder why such a large segment of believers in the church of the North American culture are so attracted to the idea of a hell-less afterlife.

And then I thought about my days of playing sports. Come with me to a place not so long ago and not so far away. In that other time, if one wanted to play a sport one tried out for the team. And not everyone made the team. If one made the team, one did not necessarily play in the games. The kids who were good at the game played in the games because the team was attempting to win the games. One practiced a lot so one got better at the game so one could then play in the game and also be on a winning team. Way back then there were winners and there were losers. Winning was great. Losing sucked. One worked hard to win. One made choices and there were consequences to those choices. We learned important life lessons when we won and we learned important life lessons when we lost.

Generally speaking, sports are done differently today. Everyone makes a team, if not the team. Everyone gets to play. And at the end of the season, everyone gets a trophy. Everyone is a winner. It doesn’t matter how well you played. It doesn’t matter how much you practiced. It doesn’t matter how hard you tried. Nothing much matters. You just need to show up. If you show up, you are a winner and you get a trophy. And this philosophical approach is prevalent in most of areas that impact the lives of our children. (Sports, education, religion, games)

Having been brought up saturated in that philosophy, many of us have come to believe that is how the world works and is obviously how God works. No wonder we struggle with believing there is a hell. Going to hell would make one a loser. And there are no losers. Everyone gets a trophy.

Copyright © 2011, William T. McConnell, All Rights Reserved