God Loves the Hell Out of You
Why “Jesus or Hell” falls short of the Kingdom of God
Return
G’day Holy Goers!
We’re back for another newsletter aimed at helping you to fulfil The Great Commission right where you are!
We’re in the middle of a series looking at how LOVE is the Motivation, Message and Method of disciple making that Jesus used. Today we continue with looking at the Message of Love by tackling hell!
I hope you enjoy it and are activated to go and love the hell out of the people around you!
Equip
The Gym
Anyone who knows me knows I love working out. I love going to the gym, training for athletic events and challenging myself.
At the moment I am training for a Hyrox race which means I am doing a little more than usual. I have a program where I am hitting the gym 4-5 times per week, and doing another 4-5 running or cardio based sessions each week.
I have a goal.
I am fully committed.
And so I follow my program.
It’s no longer about “what I have to do” each day, it’s now turned into a lifestyle.
However, I know most people are not like me! In fact, based on industry data, about 67% of Americans who have gym memberships never actually use them, which represents roughly 42.9 million people not using the service they’re paying for. 1
In Australia it’s pretty similar with a 2021 study saying 50% of gym members went less than once per week with their wasted membership fees totalling a whopping $2.4 billion per year.2
Why am I talking about gym statistics here? Well I think we see something similar in the Church.
Now, it would be easy to just talk about Church affiliation and attendance. In fact, 44% of Australians identify as Christian or Catholic, while only 4.6% of Australians attend Church weekly.
However, todays newsletter is not about Church attendance. It’s about the message we are preaching.
I believe that many believers are like those gym members, who have paid their fees, and never go to the gym which begs the question, “What message have they responded to?”
The Message is…
Whenever I train people in evangelism I like to ask them, “What is the gospel?”
It’s a simple question, but it’s amazing how many people find it difficult to communicate. The most common summary I get is this,
“Jesus died and rose again to save us from our sin.”
When I press them a little more, the idea comes out like this little statement I used to quote all the time:
It’s Jesus or Hell.
The gospel is often taught as “Do these things and believe these things and instead of going to hell, you can go to heaven.”
However, when we look at the message Jesus declared, we see that it wasn’t a “go to heaven” message, but a “heaven come to Earth” message. Jesus called this message “The Good News of the Kingdom of God.” (Check out this newsletter here for a lot more on this.)
God loves the hell out of you
When we realise that the gospel message is “The Good News of the Kingdom of God” we see that:
God doesn’t just love us so much He wants us to avoid hell… God loves us so much He loves the hell out of us!
When Jesus met those possessed by demons He loved the hell out of them by setting them free.
When Jesus met those who were sick or dying, He loved the hell out of them by healing them and raising them back to life.
When Jesus met those who were rejected by the religious leaders, He loved the hell out of them by including them, forgiving them, and championing them.
The message we have is a message of love. It’s a “God so loves the world” message! It’s a message that is backed by love in action.
Hobby to Lifestyle
As followers of Jesus, we are called to love like Jesus loved us. (John 13:34-35) We’re called to love the hell out of the people all around us. “God Loves You!” is our message and it’s backed by action. That’s the good news of the Kingdom of God!
Don’t be fooled by those who say that unless we mention sin and hell we’re not preaching the gospel. A look at Jesus’ message and ministry debunks that myth and calls us to a deeper more costly love that requires far more of His disciples.
Imagine if the standard changed from “Did you mention sin and hell?” in our gospel sharing, to “Did you love the hell out of them?”
Let us not be like the gym members who simply settle for having the membership… Yes, Jesus loves you and has saved you! However, thats not the end.
It’s time to fully commit! Just as I have turned my fitness hobby into a lifestyle, I dare you to imagine what would it look like to turn the Good News of the Kingdom into a lifestyle of loving the hell out of the people around you.
Activate
This week’s challenge is to spend some time praying about and imagining what it would look like to turn The Good News of the Kingdom of God into a lifestyle of loving the hell out of the people around you.
Ask yourself these questions to help:
Does the gospel I preach focus on Heaven when we die or Heaven on Earth?
What does a gospel message based on “Jesus loving the hell out of us” sound like?
What would it look like to love the hell out of the people I live/work/socialise with?
How can I communicate the idea that Jesus loves the hell out of us?
Let’s Go!
https://mirrorsdelivered.com/blogs/industry-news-trends/eye-opening-unused-gym-memberships-statistics
https://www.finder.com.au/news/unused-gym-memberships