How can a God who is all loving send someone to hell?

We had a birthday recently. Rebekah turned 10 years old. She got one of the best presents an American kid living overseas could receive: Oreos!



Savannah, EB, Rebekah and Elizabeth (Liz).

I was drinking cappuccino in the dining car of the train that was taking me from Budapest to the Czech city of Brno, where I was scheduled to speak that night. We were passing rolling hills and small villages along the Danube river in the northern part of Hungary. We even passed the Visegrad castle perched on a high hilltop above the river. I remember praying, “Thank You, Lord, that I can take Your message of reconciliation into a country where You are largely ignored. What an awesome privilege. I certainly must have the greatest job in the world!”

The Czech Republic is a country of 12 million people, yet has the same ratio of evangelicals as Poland: ½ of 1 percent of the population. In spite of the rich Czech history of the Moravians and the Hussites, the Czech people have shown little interest in the gospel since the fall of Communism. Yet when I arrived in Brno and met the staff of this student ministry (a group aligned with but not a part of Campus Crusade for Christ), my heart was encouraged. These Czech missionaries are working the campus at Brno, along with several other universities inside of Czech. Also EB’s mom’s family comes from Bohemia, which is modern day western Czech; my wife and children all have Czech blood.

After touring the city for 2 hours, I gave my presentation to 60 students on “If God is all-loving and all-powerful, how do we make sense of the evil and suffering around us?” After my talk, which was translated into Czech, I fielded some questions. When that was over, several students wanted to ask me questions one-on-one, including one young lady with tears in her eyes. “How can a God who is all loving send someone to hell, even if that person sincerely searched for God?” I took a deep breath, smiled and attempted answer to her plea.

“First, I appreciate your heart. It shows a tender spirit. I understand this is a difficult issue. It is for me too. Second, God created hell because many people want nothing to do with God. They shake their fist at God or ignore Him their whole lives. When they die, they merely get what they have spent their whole physical lives pursuing…separation from God. Therefore God would not be just if He didn’t create hell.

Third, I believe no one deserves heaven; rather we all deserve hell due to our rebellion against God and His incomprehensible holiness. So the fact that heaven is even an option for us is an indication of God’s grace toward mankind. And God maintained His just nature not by merely waving off our sin but by extracting in its entirety the penalty for our sin. Therefore even though there is a hell, God is still the Most Just Judge and the Greatest Love in the universe. (I didn’t but I should have at this point quoted Athanasius, an influential Christian theologian, when he said back in the third century, “What kind of person must He have been to bring us the salvation that He alone could have and did bring to us?”)

Fourth, I believe in hell because Jesus teaches about hell. And I trust Jesus. I may not always understand Him fully but I trust Him. Fifth, in a direct response to your question, I believe the Lord will move heaven and earth to get the gospel to those who truly seek Him. I reject the idea that God is unable or unwilling to get the gospel to those who honestly seek Him. In fact Ronnie (my pastor in Budapest who speaks frequently to this student group) travels to Iraq several times a year to meet with 13 Iraqi pastors. 11 of those 13 pastors came to faith in Christ because Jesus appeared to each of them individually in a dream and said, “Follow Me.” No Four Spiritual Laws, no TV preacher, no Jesus film showing. The Lord is prepared to do whatever it takes to call His sheep to Himself.”

She smiled, wiped away a tear, thanked me and left. I’m not sure if my words were helpful to her or not. But the staff there said I connected well with the students and even said they are anxious to have me back again.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Matt

A view of Brno, Czech.