No one can please God without faith. Whoever goes to God must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6 GW)
If you have any type of truthful understanding of what hell is, you do not want to go there. Nor do you want those you love to go there. Yet, if we look around the world it seems like there are many people either intentionally or inadvertently choosing this eternal destiny. If you have any compassion at all, you cannot look at this choice as a good one.
Recently our pastor said, “I just want to depopulate hell. I want it make it difficult for anyone from our county to go to hell.”
Woah.
Is that even possible? In this county where there are plenty of churches, plenty of sin, plenty of addicts, plenty of “good people,” plenty of…anything and everything, is it even possible to change negative trajectories?
I should hope so. But how do we do it?
First, we have to believe – really believe in the deepest parts of our being – that there are only two eternal options. As Christ-followers our eternity is sealed by the Blood of Christ in heaven. Those who reject salvation spend eternity in hell. In between those two groups are people who have either never heard the Good News or never had the opportunity to choose to follow Jesus. The Holy Spirit is speaking to hearts and minds that are open, calling them and wooing them into the Kingdom. But the kingdom of darkness is also fighting for these souls with words and actions that pull them away from the Lord Jesus Christ. I don’t have to quote numerous Bible verses to prove this; you can see it in the lives of those around you.
Then, we have to take risks and DO something. Be kind. Be generous. Be loving and giving. These are all great places to start to build relationships and spread the Light of Jesus in our communities. But we also need to be intentional about curating conversations that lead to telling people about the invitation to the Abundant Life in Christ and the choice that leads to that. We need to take the risks so that we are helping to depopulate hell. We were born to be risk takers and do something great for God, and it’s ok to tell God that, if we take the risk, he’d better show up!! It’s a specialty of his.
You may be thinking, “ME? Tell someone about Jesus?” Yep. Sometimes we have to take a first step – even if it’s small – toward a big goal. Sometimes God calls very unlikely people to do very important Kingdom things.
Think about it. When the angel first came to Gideon in Judges 6 he was hiding in a winepress threshing wheat, afraid of it being stolen. Yet, the angel called him a “Mighty Man of Valor.” Really!?!? He’s hiding in fear! Yet the angel sees VALOR!?!? Obviously God saw something in Gideon that he didn’t see yet – or even have yet. Yet, God grew it within him and Gideon took the risk to do amazing things.
God sees the greatness and goodness within us. He has given his children the Holy Spirit to comfort, guide, and encourage. We CAN take risks for God! We CAN push back on the messages from the kingdom of darkness and replace them with messages from the Kingdom of Light! We CAN depopulate hell, one life at a time!
God,
Give us the faith of Abraham, the courage of Gideon, the heart of David, and the mind of Christ. Help us to see – really see – those around us who need to know the Light of Christ. Holy Spirit, guide us to take risks to tell them about Jesus. We pray in the name of Jesus that this county and every county would be so full of Jesus followers and your Abundant Life, that there would be no one left to choose hell. Grant us wisdom, knowledge, discernment, and courage for the callings you have on our lives, we pray in Jesus’s name. AMEN.