Popcorn

So this Gospel passage is often used to defend the modern notion of hell. So let’s get that out of the way. I’m an annihilationist, meaning I read the Gospel as a choice between life and death, not heaven and hell. Jesus contrasts punishment and life. He does not say punishment or reward nor does he say punishment or the bosom of Abraham. I say bosom of Abraham because that is the alternative to the fire used in the Lazarus and the Rich man parable. In Mathew 10:28 Jesus talks about the fire that will destroy the soul using a Greek word can also mean life.

That all being said it misses the whole point of this passage. As much as I would love use this as a hammer passage to chastise politicians that pass laws making feeding the hungry illegal, or who deliberately spread a disease for their own financial gain, or who lock the stranger’s babies in cages. That’s not the point of this passage either.

The point of this passage, as I understand it, is that if Christ is your King, your focus should be easing people’s suffering. Clobber passages have nothing to do with easing people’s suffering. To bring up a point I have made several times, the Good Samaritan did not seek revenge on the bandits, he tended to the wounds of the victim.

Tending to the victim does not make for stories that (to quote Eddie Izzard) that are good for eating popcorn. We blame the victim in our culture. The poor brought hunger on themselves. If you used “the Secret” (meaning if you wish hard enough) you’d never get sick. And we have no use whatsoever for people who’ve ever been in prison, much less those who are still in there. It’s better for the hero to kill them off in the final reel.

The kingdom isn’t like that. The kingdom will be full of people who care for others. People who care for others are bringing about the kingdom. Caring for others is about finding out what the other needs, not how YOU think they should be cared for. Something funders of charities don’t understand – the rich and the eye of the needle thing. Love IS the answer. Sadly, there is so much resistance to that truth. If you listen to our pop songs, even love is framed as a competition.

Resistance to the culture we find ourselves in is not going to be about fighting evil. Where anyone got fighting evil from Jesus’ words is beyond me. It will look like the Underground Railroad, getting slaves out of the South. It will look like hiding Jews in occupied Holland as in the Ann Frank Story. I bet you could eat popcorn to movies like that.