Do Good People Go To Heck When They Die?

One thing I struggle with sometimes is the age old question: how could a loving God send "good people" to Hell? I know most of the text book Christian answers to that question - and they help - but I still have to wrestle with the question now and then. I've decided that I believe good people just go to heck when they die. Of course I'm kidding, but anyways...

I believe that God doesn't send anyone to hell -- I believe going to heaven or going to hell is up to you! God won't drag anyone to heaven kicking and screaming -- if you tell God you want to live for him you will be with him in heaven when you die -- if you do not choose God now, he will not force you to be with him when you die. The cool thing is, is that people who really want to know God WILL find him. The Bible says that God wants nothing more than for us to find him and know him. I love meeting people who want to know God -- I think if oftentimes means they are humble and the universe is not revolving around them -- they are open minded enough to seek the truth. Plus they're usually just fun to talk with. My wife is a perfect example. She was in to all sorts of miscellaneous beliefs and then she found God. She's been a new person since, and she has a faith that will move mountains. If you need to know if the claims of the bible are true, just look at her life. The nativity story tells how God chose people who were in to astrology to be the first people to see Jesus -- what an amazing God to choose people who didn't even follow him but a different religion to be the first to greet the savior of the world.

So... where do good people go when they die? I think most of the time good people will go to heaven, because most good people are not living for themselves but for God. Even if some good people haven't discovered the real God, they are probably on their way to finding him. As a follower of Jesus, I want good people to know about the ultimate good person -- Jesus. I figure good people like to know how they can be gooder -- and Jesus is a great good person to model. Not to mention that living like him will land you in heaven when you die. I don't want to be pushy about telling good people about Jesus though, because sometimes people think you're just trying to make them a religious person, and they usually don't like that. Plus Jesus was never pushy, and he's the ultimate good person and I want to be like him. I think with bad people you can be pushy about Jesus - they usually need a good role model.

WARNING - A LITTLE TEACHIN'/THEOLOGY/PHILOSOPHY: C.S. Lewis, I believe it was, says that God doesn't send anybody to hell - they send themselves. It's a choice. Everyone either chooses to trust God and live for him forever, or live for yourself and not be with God when you die. God doesn't send good people to hell - it's like choosing to do drugs or not - if you don't, good things happen, if you do, bad things happen - you already know what happens if you choose drugs, or choose a self centered God-less life - God isn't guilty for sending anyone anywhere. Now hell is often portrayed as never ending torture - this is actually up for debate. Some people interpret hell in the Bible to be that your soul is destroyed -- Annihilationism -- basically you die and lose out on heaven - this is the "eternal punishment." I used to be the person who does good things to try to earn my way to heaven, until I realized that God sacrificing his Son for the sins of the world was so that I didn't have to try to earn my way - I just accept God's sacrificial gift. I also believe that either Jesus is God, or he's not. If he's not, the whole Christian faith is a lie. If Jesus IS God, than all the other religions of the world are lies. Jesus and other religions aren't compatible - they all have different endings. It's a choice we all have to make -- even if you choose nothing - you're choosing something!