God Is Pro Choice

Yesterday during the sermon, I mentioned Hell. (yes, there are still some Christian Churches that still mention Hell during a service) But I digress, at the end of Church one of our newer teens was hanging around while I was talking to some other people. I finally got to her and she asked me a question that has plagued many a believer. "Why does a loving God condemn people to Hell?" A loving God does not send people to Hell I reassured her. We (meaning people) send ourselves to Hell. If God had His way no one would ever go to Hell, but He loves us so much, that He lets us make our own decisions. Then He allows us to suffer the consequences of those choices. You see God gives us free will. That is what makes Christianity unique among all the world’s religions. God says I gave you a brain now use it! It is known as free will. I went on to explain that a lot of other religions want you to check your brain at the door. Turn your mind off as you head to nirvana. If I were God: I told her; the first thing I would do is take away free will. She looked at me with a shocked face that only teenagers can create and said, “That would be terrible, then all we would be are puppets!” “Exactly! God does not want puppets, He wants living thinking followers. Who came to Him and stay with Him because they want to.” One of the hardest things I have to do as a Pastor, I explained to her is work with parents who raised their children in a Godly manor, giving them free will. Then those kids take that free will and make horrible choices, becoming jerks! I have to reassure those parents that they did their best. God is the same way, He gave us the gift of free will and every day we have to decide how we are going to use it. When we make poor decisions it hurts God, the same way those parents are hurt watching their kids make wrong, hurtful decisions. No parent wants to see their children suffer. Our God does not want to see His creation suffer. Yet there comes a point where both parents and God stand out of the way and allow that which they created make choices that could lead to their destruction. For the earthly parent, it may be death. For the spiritual parent it may be Hell. But those are the consequences of the gift of free will.