There are a few subjects that are taboo to discuss. I try not to talk about the Titanic when sailing on an Alaskan Cruise Ship. I tend to not talk about plane crashes when flying to a vacation destination. I try to not talk about winning when I am talking with a Cleveland Browns fan. And I try to not talk about Hell…well…really ever. Many of us as Christians are terrified to talk about the subject of eternal damnation. Hell either seems too complex to discuss or too inhumane to consider. Hell is truly a taboo subject – especially when discussing God with non-believers.

One mistake we often make as Christians is that we think because we don’t like a certain issue it automatically means that it is unjust or unfair. We feel like God’s plan can not exist beyond our limited understanding. I have been reading the book of Job and this is one mistake Job’s friends ran into with their so called “encouragement”. They felt suffering could only exist for those that did wrong because otherwise – God would not be just. However, at the end of the book, God condemns them because their view of Him is too small. In other words, they are corrected because they feel they are big enough to fully understand God – instead of knowing that: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.” (Isaiah 55:8) So, it is with the topic of Hell – we don’t have to be comfortable with it and we certainly can’t completely understand it – we just have to trust that God knows best. After all, His track record is certainly astounding and we know that He is: “a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth.” (Exodus 34:6b)

Our other mistake when we ask the title question of this blog is that we make it sound like God is petty and loves sending people to hell. Yet, in Scripture we know that is not true. 2 Peter 3:9 reads: The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.” In fact, when we think of the definition of Hell – we see that it is not necessarily even God who sends people to Hell but instead our own decisions that determine our eternal destination.

For you see, God created us with free will – the ability to choose His free gift of salvation OR the ability to choose to constantly try to separate from God and live life our own way. Many choose to ignore their creator. In fact, they want nothing to do with Him. God can’t “force them” to love Him – that would destroy the free will that He created them to have. Instead, He allows them to continue to choose. And when the time of death comes and we leave this earth – that choice comes to fulfillment.

For you see, Hell in its purest sense is separation from God. That is the most theologically true definition we can give concerning the matter. We may never be able to fully know if the flames of hell are literal or figurative but the one thing that we do know is that eternal separation from God is what defines Hell. For you see, we don’t understand the gravity of being separate from God. We only know that when Jesus died on the cross – the most pain that He felt was not the physical abuse He took on but instead the moment that God turned His face away as Jesus bore the sins of all humanity. At that time Jesus cried out: “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46)