John 3:10-12 lays out pretty well the three reasons people will not embrace Christ: (v.10) they do not understand the gospel; (v.11) they refuse to receive the gospel; or (v.12) they do not believe the gospel.
That fourth thing is the teaching that those that do not accept Christ will not merely perish (as in John 3:16), die the second death or even be cast away from God’s presence for all eternity. It is that the God of the bible will send most people to an eternity of conscious and severe suffering. They simply can’t get past the madness of such a message.
Thing is, unlike those who preach such a message, these folks have really thought it through. They’ve asked themself what kind of God metes out such a punishment to mere humans who not only can’t comprehend it, but often can’t understand what they have done to even deserve such a thing.
They also can’t comprehend his purpose. This is a little like when a kid from the US goes to a foreign country with different laws and finds himself serving the rest of his life for something that, in the US, might get you a probation. They actually break the law because the punishment is so severe they don’t believe it really exists. Imagine a state that had the death penalty for going one mile an hour over the speed limit, but nobody knows anyone who has ever been executed for it. You would take that penalty less seriously than you would take a $30 fine, because you can’t wrap your head around it.
And when non-Christians see the penalty for sin as losing not only this life, but what John 3:16 calls “eternal life”, with the alternative being permanent death, they can wrap their heads around the decision they are being offered.
A side benefit is they can see God as just - the wages of sin is, in fact death - and it is easy to see that as the justice of a true loving God, and not a vindictive torturer.
Interestingly, as a Christian, that is all I wish on the unsaved: That they do not receive eternal life in the presence of their creator. And, of course, outside the presence of God, there is no life.
There is a tendency towards “The ends justifies the means” theology in churches and it has been that way for a long time. If Jim and Tammie Faye Bakker were cheats and frauds, it is OK because some people got baptized. I also keep meeting Christians that think going to church is an inconvenience.
Mega-churches can be really good things. Many of them are mega because they work. The Village Church in Texas is one example.
We still preach on sin. We just preach on the sins that the other people commit. The sin of global warming. The sin of not supporting increased Welfare. The sin of uber-wealth. The sin of owning a Hummer.
I'm doin' what I can...
Reminds me of the old joke about bear hunters...
"Y'all skin this one while I run out and get another one."
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