Every pastor sees the damage that is done to people by too heavy an emphasis on God's judgment. The damage often begins in childhood. Because children can be rambunctious, adults too often try to frighten them into obedience. The church is no exception to this practice. Parents sometimes report that their children have come home from Sunday school or vacation Bible school in tears and trembling because some misguided adult had tried to frighten them into faith with horrifying images of the punishment that awaited them after death. The adults behind such fear-mongering often claim that they have to do this in order for the children to understand.
Such tactics might get a quick walk down the aisle, but the damage shows up later. Some people in their seventies, eighties, and even nineties were introduced to the faith this way. They heard judgment without grace. They adjusted their behavior to meet the expectations of the adults, they joined the church, but weighed down by the fear, they never learned to love God. God remained someone to fear. Love had trouble breaking through the shell of the fear.
We cannot deny that the Bible consistently proclaims God's judgment. Throughout both testaments God judges sin, confronts our injuries and exploitation of others, calls us to faithfulness, and threatens punishment for disobedience.
If we look at the very earliest stories in the Bible, we see a remarkable portrayal of God. In the second of the two creation stories, the one that actually was written first, God is portrayed in a tender, attractive way (Genesis 2:4b-17). From the newly watered ground, God scoops up some mud and gently forms the first human, breathing life into his nostrils. God places the new person into a garden full of all that the human will need and delights for the senses. God cares about loneliness and so creates companions for the human, finally making another person for companionship. You cannot find a sweeter picture of God anywhere in scripture. Still, in the middle of the garden is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The fruit of that tree comes with a warning. If the human, loved and cherished by God, eats of the fruit of the tree, he will die. The threat of death hangs over this beautiful story.
When the Old Testament prophets proclaim judgment, they don't sugarcoat it like Genesis does. The prophets thunder about a God angry at the treatment of the poor, idolatry, greed, and soulless worship. If we want to choose a representative, maybe Amos is the most blistering of all. When the Lord roars, the pastures wither and the tops of mountains dry up (1:2). Amos compares God's punishment to being eaten by a lion; all that will be left over will be a few bits of flesh that the lion didn't bother with (3:12). We must admit that that is a fearsome image of God.
Church members will often say that the God of the Old Testament is judgmental, but the God of the New Testament is loving and forgiving. When we come to the New Testament, however, the images of judgment do not go away. Matthew repeats the phrase throughout his gospel that sinners will be thrust into the outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (3:50; 22:13). We gnash our teeth when all is lost, when we feel helpless, when we have played all of our cards and still lost. Paul cautions that we are storing up wrath for ourselves on the day of wrath (Romans 2:5). We cannot oversimplify the portrayal of God in the New Testament.
Hebrews is no exception. The last verse of this passage describes God as a consuming fire. What a frightening image! We would be hard-pressed to decide which was more terrifying, the powerful jaws of a lion, or the scorching heat of a fire.
This verse from Hebrews is probably an allusion to the end of Moses' life. The people are about to cross from the wilderness wandering into the promised land. Moses knows he will not be allowed to go with them. Moses warns the people not to forget their covenant, because God is a devouring fire, a jealous God (Deuteronomy 4:21-24). Once more, the Bible portrays God's judgment as a means of controlling the behavior of the people.
We have here just a small sample: The threat of death, a snarling lion, the day of wrath, a consuming fire. We must take seriously these messages and images from scripture. While we are taking them seriously, we must be careful with them. We can make tragic mistakes with these images from scripture. We ignore them at our spiritual peril. If we use them wrongly, to frighten and control, we can crowd out the messages of God's love.
What we should never forget is that the messages of God's love come through the scriptures even more clearly and strongly than the messages of God's judgment. God threatens Adam and Eve with death if they eat the fruit, but they don't die. God drove them out of the garden and punished them, but God also made clothes for them. God continued to love and care for them, even after their disobedience. The prophets, for all of their thundering, teach God's love, also. Hosea could be almost as harsh as Amos, but he teaches about God's anguish over our sin. "My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my fierce anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and no mortal, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath" (Hosea 11:8b-9). In Deuteronomy, right after the scary talk of God as a consuming fire, comes this heartening promise, "Because the Lord your God is a merciful God, he will neither abandon you nor destroy you" (Deuteronomy 4:31). Matthew talks of weeping and gnashing of teeth but also of a light burden and an easy yoke (Matthew 11:30) and of a risen Christ who will be with us always (28:20).
So, throughout the Bible messages of God's love and forgiveness, mercy and care are intertwined with messages of God's judgment and punishment. We cannot separate them out, keeping only what we want. In the movie Wall-E, the little robot finds a diamond engagement ring in its original box. He throws the ring away and keeps the box! We might wish we could throw the judgment passages away and keep the love, but that would not be the best thing for our souls, for our spiritual development. The passages about judgment are there for a reason.
To get at that reason, we can start with our own experience. In any attempt to master a craft or become an expert in a field, we must push ourselves. Often a coach or a teacher becomes the one who drives us to do our best. A music teacher prods a student to work on pieces the student thinks are too hard. A good coach will not let an athlete settle for a good enough effort. A good teacher will put just the right amount of pressure on a student to get the student to think more deeply. A wise teacher or coach with just the right amount of fear inducement can motivate the student/athlete to practice just hard enough, study just a few minutes longer, strain the muscles just a bit more to bring out the best. A mean, controlling bully will not work, but too soft a mentor will leave us just short of the mark. Much the same idea works in child-rearing. That is tricky business. Being too lenient can spoil a child, being too harsh does not give the child enough room to grow. Children need a healthy combination of love and respect for their parents.
The images of God's judgment serve another purpose as well. We have to face it. God needs to get our attention. We are too indulgent with ourselves. We buy our own excuses. We continue to do dumb things that we should know won't work. We buy gas-guzzlers, exceed the speed limit, and then wonder why the price of gas is so high. We continue on a self-destructive path, heedless of the consequences. If the images of God's judgment get our attention, then they are worth it.
The images of God's judgment remind us that our sin hurts people. When we exploit other people, when we neglect the poor, when we act selfishly, God cares about the damage we do. God cares about those who are stepped on in life, who are shoved out of the way. God's judgment is rooted in God's care for those we hurt. If these images of God's wrath motivate us to treat people better, they have done their job.
Now, maybe we are ready to read these words in Hebrews about God as a consuming fire. We must admit, this can seem to be a terrible image. Fire is a good thing, bringing heat, light, and protection. A consuming fire sounds different, though. Americans saw all we wanted to see of consuming fires on September 11, 2001. We have seen what fires do to people's homes and possessions. We have seen what fire has done to Iraq war veterans attacked with IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices, used in Iraq). In some cases, their ears, hands, and even faces have been burned off. How can we see a loving God in such an image?
A young pastor, new to the country, once saw a fire raging on a neighbor's field near the parsonage. Rushing breathlessly to the fence the pastor called out desperately, trying to get the neighbor's attention. The old farmer who owned the land ambled out with a smirk on his face. "Relax, son," the farmer said, "it ain't hell yet!" The farmer had, of course, set the fire himself. He was burning the stubble from his field. It was the fastest, easiest, cheapest way to do it. Without the fire, the field would have no growth next season. God's consuming fire does not have to leave us scarred and disfigured. God's consuming fire can burn away the stubble in our souls, preparing us for new growth. That may not seem a pleasant image, but it may be what we need to hear.
Let us take seriously the images of God's judgment in scripture. Let us learn from them. Let us always balance these images with images of God's mercy. In Hebrews, the author passionately describes Jesus as one who became human to understand us, show us the way, and to redeem us. That is a God of love. A woman preparing for the ministry once wrote to her supervising pastor in the candidacy process. She exuberantly exclaimed that she was "head over heels in love with God."1 In our teaching to other people, especially to children, let us remember that such an attitude is what we want. We cannot get there only on fear. A quaking fear of God is not right. We want people in church to learn to love God. We have a very good reason for doing that. From cover to cover, the Bible teaches that God is head over heels in love with us. Amen.
1. This quote comes from Mary Martin, a candidate for ministry in the North Texas Annual Conference. The quote is from an email sent to the author and used with permission.