MYTH #30-JESUS TAUGHT A LOT ABOUT HELL

FOR AUDIO VERSION CLICK HERE.

I remember as a kid noting that Jesus talked more about "hell" than He did heaven. That made quite an impression on me, that Jesus felt He must teach so much about it. But a closer look at what Jesus taught will demonstrate that He didn't teach about "hell" at all! It's a myth-a well-preserved and emotional one, at that. There is a lake of fire mentioned only in the book of Revelation, but Jesus didn't teach about it.

I've always known through my study of the Greek New Testament that the translators of the Bible, beginning with the King James made a universal decision to translate many words as hell. I never really understood the problem with it until I heard Rob Bell, a teacher of the Bible in a most relevant way, speak on the subject of hell in the middle of a series he was doing. The series was called "God Wants To Save Christians" and he was saying that God wants to save Christians from missing the point in many areas.

The third word translated as hell is Gehenna. Gehenna does not mean hell either, yet this is the word Jesus frequently used. It is used eight times by Jesus (twelve, if you count the times a different writer repeated the same story). In Matthew 5:22, Jesus says: "But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell."

In Matthew 5:29-30, Jesus says: "If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell."

In Matthew 10:28, Jesus says: "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

Then in His blasting of the religious leadership in Matthew 23, Jesus says: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves." And later in that chapter, He says: "You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?"

Here's the question that must be asked in order to understand what Jesus was teaching: What did His audience think He was referring to, when He used the word, "Gehenna"? Gehenna is literally "the Valley of Hinnom"-Jerusalem's city dump, where children were sacrificed to Molech. Judean Kings Ahaz and Manasseh engaged in idolatrous worship there, which included the making of human sacrifices by fire to Baal. Later, King Josiah pronounced this horrible, fiery, garbage pit accursed, because of the horrendous human sacrifices performed there. The prophet Jeremiah cursed the place and predicted that it would become a place of death and corruption.

When Jesus used this term-Gehenna, those who were listening certainly didn't think to themselves that He was talking about a future destination called hell. Instead, they believed He was referring to that wretched, accursed, useless place-the fiery garbage pit-always burning. He was saying to the angry, the lustful, the religious leaders who were leading others astray and those who are fearful of the wrong things: "You deserve to be thrown into the pit of destruction, because you are useless and worthless because of these actions." "You are worthy of the Valley of Hinnom; you are worthy of Gehenna."

Jesus was not talking about a future location, but a place of worthlessness and uselessness right here, right now. He wasn't speaking of a lake of fire, but a place defiled and was used as the city's garbage dump; a place of rotting flesh, maggots, stench and fire. This may be one of the most powerful Christian rumors ever and should be a strong reminder to pay attention to what Jesus is really saying. This is certainly one of those times when the traditions and commands of men have made the commands and teachings of God ineffective and misleading. God wants to save Christians, alright; He wants to save them from missing the point!

MYTH #29-JESUS WANTS YOU TO BE HEALTHY, WEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL

FOR AUDIO VERSION CLICK HERE.

There is something inside most of us that believes that if we are walking with God, our God will make us more successful. And, if I am faithful to my God, then my God will keep me in His healing hands and keep me healthy. Certainly the God of gods is able to do all of the above and more.

This has become a damaging myth to so many. The first area of damage is to use God as you might use a genie. This is thinking that God works for you. Have you ever heard someone say, "I tried God out and He didn't work for me." Well, if you think in this way, then you have it all backwards. The Lord doesn't work for you; you are to work for Him.

The second area of damage in embracing this myth has been repeatedly applied by Christian radio and TV personalities. It is the presumption that if you give your money to God's work, then God will pay your bills. One preacher specifically asks his viewers to tally up the total of their bills and send a check for that amount to his ministry. And, believing this myth, many people actually follow through and send their checks.

The third area of damage for those who embrace this myth that God wants you to be healthy, wealthy and successful is to come to believe that they are having troubles because their faith is too weak. If Jesus wants me to be healthy, wealthy and successful and I am not any of these, then I must feel spiritually inadequate-a spiritual midget, at best.

To debunk this myth I want to offer three observations. FIRST-Jesus speaks of suffering as a norm for those who are His disciples. Even when He gave Paul's mission through Ananias, Jesus said, "and I will show him what he must suffer."

SECOND-In one of the earliest books written after the Gospels-the book of Hebrews-there is a major chapter that lists out the Hall of Faith, demonstrating how God works in response to man's faith and faithfulness. But after so many successes of faith are listed, the writer of this book turns the corner a bit. The results are not always positive when a person exercises his faith in God. In some cases, people were sawn in two, stoned, lost their children by death, lived in caves and holes in the ground and their wardrobe was made of animal skins. Now that doesn't sound like healthy, wealthy and successful to me.

THIRD-How much does Jesus want from those who follow Him? There are basically four dimensions of your life as you relate to the Lord-time, treasure, talent and touch.

1. Time-How much of your time does Jesus want from you? You might revert to the principle of the Sabbath and say He wants one-seventh of your time-one day a week. However, as you examine what Jesus requires, I think you'll come to a different conclusion. Jesus wants 100% of your time. You are to be a follower of Jesus and one who practices His Kingdom all of the time-not part time, but full time.

2. Treasure-How much of your money and stuff does Jesus want from you? You might revert to the principle of tithing and say what He wants is 10%. However, as you examine the teachings of Jesus, I think you will discover that He wants everything you have-100%. You own nothing. He owns everything you have and all that you are. You are to be the manager of your money and stuff for Jesus and His Kingdom.

3. Talent-How much of your talent does Jesus want from you? Since He gave it to you and empowers you to use it, I think you'll find that He wants it all-100%.

4. Touch-How much of your touch-your relationship with people-does Jesus want? Every time you come into relationship with anyone, you are to love that person and every time you find a person in need, you are to do what you can to meet those needs-hunger, thirst, clothing, and shelter. He wants your 100% attention.

You see, Jesus doesn't want you to be healthy, wealthy and successful as much as He wants YOU. Nothing else really matters to Jesus, but knowing and walking with you. Jesus doesn't even want to hold first place in your life. First place implies that there are many other places that are ranked in importance and can easily crowd out whatever is in first place. You may be healthy or ill, wealthy or poor, a success or a failure, but Jesus wants to be at the center of it all. Jesus doesn't want first place; He wants to be the center of everything you are and all that you do. So, why not turn it over-100%.

MYTH #28-JESUS IS OPPOSED TO ALLAH

FOR AUDIO VERSION CLICK HERE.

Before 9/11 hit the USA, I was not much of a student of Islam. I had read the Qur'an, but without much interest or understanding. After 9/11, we were all shocked into a crash course on terrorism and Islam. Sermons, articles, books and Christian talk shows spewed out the Christian talking points on "Islam" and most everyone bought into them without much personal research.

One of the biggest and most common of the "talking points" was in the analysis of the Muslim name for their God-Allah. What was taught and bought was that Allah was an ancient Moon god and therefore had no connection with the God of the Bible. The battle lines were drawn again between Christian and Muslim. Certainly Jesus must be opposed to using the term Allah and we must separate ourselves from it and Allah's followers. But, I have come to understand this as a myth-a deadly misunderstanding.

Congressman Mark Siljander in his groundbreaking book, A Deadly Misunderstanding, says, "This is one of the most painful misunderstandings among Christians. Nearly all Christians universally feel that Allah is not the same God as the God of the Hebrews, or Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Ishmael." He goes on to say, "Televangelist Benny Hinn also commented, 'This is not a war between Arabs and Jews. It's a war between God and the devil.'"

You may be able to demonstrate that the name Allah was originally the name given for a moon god, but there is no Moslem today who believes he is praying or submitting to the moon god, but to the God of gods-Allah. But once this is said, someone inevitably points out that the Muslim world is actually calling on the moon god unknowingly.

This doesn't hold water at all. The people of Israel used the name of a Canaanite god "El"-a god that was worshipped as a bull deity (hence the idea of forming a golden calf)-and they came to call their God of gods "Elohim"-a plural form of El to denote the Godhead. In the Aramaic language of Jesus' day, the language Jesus used, Elohim would have been spoken as "Alah". And before Mohammed was born, Arab-speaking followers of Jesus would have used this same word-Alah.

The same thing can be said for the English word we use, "god". The Latin for God is "dios", which was originally used by pagans. Siljander notes: "'God' is derived from a proto-Germanic pagan word for a water god, water spirit, or idol (pronounced 'gut')." Or, take the Latin word for god "dios", which became "theos". This has a heathen Greek origin, taken from the same root for the god Zeus. So, when you use the name "God", do you really mean or are you calling up a "water god"? Or, when you use the word "theos" where we get our word theology-the study of god, are you calling up Zeus? Absolutely not! We have taken these terms and infused them with the meaning of the God of gods.

Siljander points out: "For over 500 years before the Prophet Mohammed, Arab Christians and even some Jews in the Arabian Peninsula used the Arabic word 'Allah' for God. How about the 10-12 millions of Christian Arabs who use Allah every day as their Arabic word for God? Do they remotely consider that they are praying to a Moon -god? Not at all! What of the five million Assyrian and Chaldean Christians who pray to 'Alaha,' being the same derivative of Allah?"

The Aramaic word for God is "Elahh" or "Alaha" and the Arabic word for God is "Elahh" or "Allah". If you saw Mel Gibson's movie, The Passion of the Christ, you know that it was filmed in Aramaic. Jesus spoke Aramaic. Therefore, when Jesus spoke of God, He would have used "Alaha" and this is simply the Arabic version of "Allah". When Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God, He used "Alaha" or in the Arabic Bible, "Allah".

So, is Jesus opposed to Allah? No way! That's a bad myth. On the contrary, Jesus came as the fleshed-out form of Allah to the Muslims, of Alaha to the Assyrians and Chaldeans, of Elohim to the Jews, of God to the Germanic Christians and to every other cultural name given to the God of gods. You see, Jesus trumps everything! JESUS is the name above all names and someday everyone will come to acknowledge Him. Jesus, simply and wonderfully and irresistibly Jesus!

MYTH #27-THE FINISHED WORK OF JESUS WAS TO DIE

FOR AUDIO VERSION CLICK HERE.

I remember going to special services on Good Friday each year as a kid and the primary theme was the seven words of Jesus on the cross. One of these sayings of Jesus was "It is finished." If you were to survey most Christians today and ask them what was it that was the finished work of Jesus or what did Jesus come to accomplish, you will receive the same answer most of the time. The finished work of Jesus was to die on the cross for the sins of the world. Jesus did come to die and He mentioned this a few times with His disciples, but they just didn't get it or didn't want to get it.

As important as the death of Jesus was, it is a myth that this is why Jesus came. I say this with great backing from Jesus Himself. You see, it's important for us to get back to the teachings and principles of Jesus. His teachings and principles are primary in our understanding of the truth of Jesus. It is true that when Jesus said these words, it marked the finished work of Christ on the cross. He had finished the sacrifice that was required for the redemption of the world.

However, a few days before Jesus died on the cross, He revealed what His finished work actually was-the reason why He was sent to earth. So, what did Jesus say was the work he came to complete? When Jesus prayed to the Father, He prayed for Himself, for His disciples and for us today. This is really the Lord's Prayer. The "Our Father Who art in heaven" prayer is better viewed as the disciples' prayer, when He was teaching the disciples to pray.

So, what was it that Jesus came to do? What is the work He came to complete? The finished work of Jesus is more than what we normally think. It's within these words of Jesus' prayer in John 17 that we can find the true revolutionary nature of what Jesus came to do and what He expects from us as disciples. Jesus said that He finished the work the Father sent Him to do: I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. Notice what Jesus says is the finished work He came to do. "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. "Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.

"But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. "I have given them Your word.

Jesus came into this world to invest His life in a few men and now He sends us out to do the same. "As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. "For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. "The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

Jesus invested in a few-all those God brought to Him. I believe this is the finished work of Jesus. He invested in the 12 and lost one of these, so He gave Himself to eleven men. Now if this strategy was good enough for Jesus, then don't you think it's the best strategy for you and me as well?

I spent most of my life preparing and training to invest my life to move the masses toward Jesus. Now I know this was the wrong strategy. Just as Jesus met and gave healing to one person at a time, so we are to do the same. Let me ask you something. What are you doing with the people God has brought to you? Are you investing your life and teachings in these few? Jesus saw this work as the most important work ever. Don't you think we can take a clue from Jesus and do the same?

MYTH #26-TO JESUS SALVATION IS ALL ABOUT HEAVEN

FOR AUDIO VERSION CLICK HERE.

The emphasis upon salvation throughout the years tends to over focus on salvation as the channel or gateway to heaven. This has become an overriding theme in Christianity and yet is a myth. Salvation is so much more than a gateway to heaven or eternal life.

In the Old Testament Scriptures the concept of Shalom is a primary theme. Shalom is where people experience a peaceful and satisfying relationship with every aspect of life. Shalom encompasses the idea of peace, wellbeing, prosperity, and the experience of God's blessings. Everywhere in the Old Testament, peace and prosperity are seen as God's reward to those whose ways are pleasing to Him. In Proverbs 16:7 it says: "When a man's ways are pleasing to the Lord, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him." And in Psalm 128:1-2 it says: "Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways. You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours." Where "salvation" or "saved" is used in the Old Testament, it is in a "quite concrete" sense that "covers more than spiritual blessings," such as deliverance from earthly enemies, wellbeing and "the effect of God's goodness on his people". This sense of an all-embracing salvation is continued in the New Testament, even though the more spiritual aspect of forgiveness of sin receives a stronger emphasis today.

Jesus speaks of a wider sense of what salvation means. In Luke 7:50, Jesus says to the "sinful woman" regarding forgiveness of her sins, "Your faith has saved you", and in Mark 10:52 He uses the same Greek word for the blind man to imply restoration of sight. In Mark 5:28, He uses "saved" with a double meaning when he told the woman who had been suffering from bleeding, "Daughter, your faith has healed you, go in peace and be freed from your suffering." The word "healed" there is the word for "salvation". So, physical healing and spiritual salvation are found in the same term. Jesus didn't separate the physical from the spiritual.

Several years ago I delved into the term "salvation" and found several dimensions of its meaning and this revolutionized my thinking. Let me list them out: 1) Salvation means to make wide-This is a freedom from being stuck, from distress and the ability to pursue one's own objectives and unique purpose in life. 2) Salvation means God will come through on your behalf-I love this one. Wait and see the mighty deeds of God. God uses divine intervention in the midst of a crisis. However, He uses divine appointments in the continual process of life. 3) Salvation means safety and security-to maintain life unafraid of numerous dangers! 4) Salvation means healing-This is emotional and physical well-being-wholeness. This is the essence of the Hebrew word Shalom. 5) Salvation means constant redemption-God is true and loyal to His covenant with man and always seeks man's restoration. 6) Salvation destroys the purposes of evil forces-You can count on it. No matter how much evil throws at you, God is there to protect. 8) Salvation means God's love in action-It flows from His love as God is courting and wooing us back to Him. 9) Salvation means the active presence of God among His people-This is one of my favorite parts of salvation. God is present right here, right now, working in and through each one of us.

Jesus never thought of salvation in terms of heaven only. There was so much more to it in His mind and teachings. You see, when you embrace this myth you diminish the fullness of salvation for yourself. With this myth you tend to wait around for the "sweet bye-and-bye" and ignore what's happening now on earth. To hang out with Jesus and walk with Him, you must be present right here, showing up for the divine appointments He continually sets up for you every day. This is what it means to really love Jesus-to love God with all your heart, strength and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself.

There is a funny story that sums up this myth. A very religious man approached another man on the street corner and asked, "Do you want to go to heaven?" The man quickly replied, "No!" The religious man was surprised at this answer and said, "I thought everybody wanted to go to heaven when they die." The man replied, "Oh, I thought you were getting up a group to go right now!" That's the experience of salvation right here in the present.

Psalm 62:1-2 Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. Psalm 37:39 The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD; he is their stronghold in time of trouble. Psalm 40:16 But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who long for your saving help always say, "The LORD is great!"

Only a god who can bring salvation to me down here right now is worthy of worship! Everything else is just pie-in-the-sky, wishful thinking. Jesus, the Savior, is greater than all other gods and is worthy of your praise and worship, because of His salvation.