Christians are supposed to show love to nonbelievers, which is a key of our religion. "They will know we are Christians by our love." But sometimes when we show that love people are unaware of the gravity of the situation they are in. You can't be a nonbeliever and get to Heaven. And there's only one alternative. Why do we avoid talking about the true circumstances they're dealing with? There are a number of reasons.
Churches today are focused on attendance. If you go to a megachurch, you'll notice the number of "salvations" they experience. I'm not saying no one finds true salvation at these churches, because I do know people who are true believers who found salvation at churches like that. But it's about meeting a quota. They want this many people to come forward because it's about numbers. Not just there, but in most churches. If a church's numbers die down, then that church will die. It's all about the well being of our churches, not necessarily the spiritual health of those we come into contact with, and that's hard to think about It's about bringing people in, and people don't respond well to "fire and brimstone" preaching.
I've always enjoyed hearing about the alternative to salvation because it helps believers to understand what Christ has saved us from. Those megachurches may bring people into contact with the name of Jesus, but they're just being introduced to one aspect of His character. There are consequences for our sinfulness and that's a fact that's overlooked in favor of sermons that make God sound like an entity that is only about forgiveness and second chances. There is certainly forgiveness and second chances, because my God is merciful. But the threat of eternal damnation is not an empty one. What exactly did God save us from?
My favorite sermon is "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," by Jonathan Edwards. This sermon is about as dark as you can find. It's about the nature of our relationship with the Almighty. We're hanging over the pit of Hell by a thread. God is holding that thread and has every possible reason to drop us. We're creatures who are undeserving of any kind of relationship with God, much less His love and compassion. But He does love us and does provide a way to be saved. Why? Because of His incredible mercy. He shouldn't love us, but He does. And we should love Him back because He has provided us with a method of escape from eternal damnation.
Christ saved us. We need to make people understand exactly what He's done for us and what He's saved us from.
