Why does getting rid of hell scare us so much?

My Sunday movie was Come Sunday on Netflix. It is about the rise and fall of black evangelical Bishop Carleton Pearson. It’s a true story, though there is the usual disclaimer that there were changes to the story for dramatic effect. I did not grow up in an evangelical church, white or black. Because of their strong stance against homosexuality I’m glad I didn’t. So I didn’t face a culture in which a person is faced with a strong choice of heaven or hell nor with the strong emphasis that one must win converts to protect them from hell. I became interested in this movie a month ago (Young Royals came first) through an episode of This American Life on NPR. The movie told the same story as the radio episode – the movie was produced by This American Life and its host Ira Glass. The movie provides the emotion and drama the radio program can’t match. My discussion is from both the radio show (and its transcript) and the movie. The rise: Pearson started his own church in Tulsa, Oklahoma with an important difference: he attracted both black and white members. That brought the attention of the evangelical world. The church grew to about 5,000 people attending each Sunday morning. Pearson was in demand to preach at other churches around the country and world, a demanding schedule. The movie shows him living in a quite nice house with a lovely wife and two small kids. Pearson had gotten his degree at Oral Roberts University, one of the top evangelical schools. He was such a distinctive student he attracted the attention of Oral Roberts, who took a personal interest in him. Later, Roberts would describe Pearson as “My black son,” supposedly equal to his white son Richard. As I mentioned the emphasis is on converting, “saving,” others. That includes the person who sat next to Pearson on flights. The movie showed a couple of those scenes. The radio show mentioned one of those flights was at night and Pearson would have much rather tried to get some sleep. But he felt that if the person beside him wasn’t saved then Pearson might be their only chance. Then came the crisis point. It was while images of refugees from the Rwanda genocide were on his TV. He saw malnourished suffering people. Pearson’s reaction was based on the theology he had been taught and had preached that if one didn’t believe in Jesus one was going to hell, which was an awful place. His mental conversation went something like this:

Pearson: God, you’re not being a loving god. These people are suffering and when they die they get sucked into hell. God: That’s what you think we’re doing? Pearson: That’s what I’ve been taught. Someone needs to preach to them. God: Push your plate away, put your baby down, and get on the next plane. Pearson: Don’t put that guilt on me. I can’t save the whole world. God: That’s right. You can’t save the world. That’s what we [Jesus and God] did. Can’t you see they’re already in hell? You keep creating that for yourselves and each other.

Pearson concluded: God didn’t invent hell. People did. If God created hell he is more of a monster than Hitler. Hitler burned 6 million Jews. If God created hell he is burning at least 6 billion. The fall: Pearson preached based on his new understanding that everyone, whether they believed or not, was going to heaven. As he did so people began to leave the service. Over the next few weeks and months evangelical publications branded him a heretic (his services were broadcast). His white associate pastors resigned to start another church. His congregation dwindled from 5,000 to 200. Oral Roberts accused him of listening not to God, but the devil, saying half of your congregation walking out is proof. Roberts turned his back. Pearson’s church could no longer pay its bills. Reggie, the gay organist (yeah, a stereotype, but we’ll go with it), had been told there is a difference between being gay and doing gay. Even he left. Later Reggie says that difference is a lie. There are a couple more details about Roberts’ life that are mentioned in the film. Roberts laments he was unable to save his gay son. And his straight son, the one to inherit the leadership of the Oral Roberts University, was caught embezzling. After a while Pearson found people interested in his message and he began to build a ministry around that. He wonders: What is it about loving each other unconditionally that scares us so much? He felt relief in that he didn’t have to spend every moment trying to save everyone he met. He could be open to a lot more people, especially gay people. He wrote the book The Gospel of Inclusion which I may have to get. The radio show said that Roberts brought the evangelical movement into the mainstream by emphasizing the positive and downplaying hellfire. Pearson took another step and got rid of hell. This story is of interest to me because of this question: Why did most of the congregation walk out? Didn’t they like the assurance that they didn’t have to measure up to some impossible standard, that they would get to heaven? The radio show included a bit from Steve Palmer, who was the youth pastor when Pearson started preaching inclusion. Palmer recalled growing up in the evangelical church and being regularly scared with hell and how bad it is. He said that fear is a big motivator. It will pack a church. That is part of the answer I have developed over the many years of writing this blog and which I’ve applied to other situations. After all those descriptions of how nasty hell is declaring one is a believer in God is quite an important step in one’s life. It also allows a person to say “I’m going to heaven. And you’re not.” That is supremacy right there. So if a person is told that everyone is going to heaven, even if they didn’t do the work of becoming a believer, then that person has lost their edge of supremacy. They see they are equal to everyone in the social hierarchy after a lifetime of being told they’re better. For most people believing they are better than others is crucial to their understanding of themselves. And if a church tells them they get to heaven even if they don’t show up on a Sunday, why go at all? Towards the end of the film Pearson shows the beginning of an answer. There are other things a church can provide. It can provide a community that knows you, loves you, and is willing to care for and nurture you. It can honor every aspect of your being. It can provide a sense of purpose in giving you opportunities to love and care for others. It can give a way to use your skills and talents. It can be a place that you want to visit every chance you have. On March 31 the NPR program Hidden Brain did an episode titled “Escaping the Matrix.” It was mostly about children having access to smart phones and how damaging that can be. The bit that caught my attention and is appropriate for this discussion is this: Conservative teens are happier than liberal teens. That seems opposite of what I expect. It is because conservative teens have the church. It isn’t the theology. It’s the built-in community. Liberal teens, many of whom don’t go to church, don’t have such a community. I wish for ways to build a community for everyone and, for the non-believer, doing so without theology.