A lot of people who are in the seeker friendly branch of evangelism talk about self esteem, and hate, hate, hate the old hellfire and damnation.
They miss the point. THe most scary preaching ever given, the most judgmental, the most frightening… is in the Gospe, and was stated by Christ himself.
21“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ 22But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire. 23So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. 25Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. 26Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
Now, the word “fool” was Raca — which is equivelant to about the most obscene word you can drop. The unacceptatble words. Words that will get you into fights.
Now anger is inevitable. We end up saying and thinking these things. And when we stand up for the truth, we are called these things.
Instead, we are told to settle, to reconcile. Not to stand on our rights. To work towards restoring relationships.
Not destroying them, and causing division.
This is a direct affront and assault to the idols of this age: our sense of rights, which mean entitlement, and our pride, which we call self-esteem.
In this society, these messages are a secular form of blasphemy. We will be called fools, or worse. And that will damn them.
