Choosing heaven over hell, and vice versa!

Whether you believe it or not, let’s say for a moment, that there is a heaven. And please resist the temptation to protest that heaven will be boring if it is forever; heaven would have to be a place of everlasting perfection and so have no boring elements whatsoever! It will be a place of perfect love, perfect joy, perfect peace, perfect laughter, perfect beauty, perfect playfulness, perfect pleasure, perfect friendship, perfect all. So, there will be no boredom, as well as no pain, no tears, no loneliness, no frustration, no despair – it will be utterly wonderful, glorious and complete; with the love and excitement for the vitality of life that we sometimes glimpse here on earth being experienced forever, in infinite richness, diversity, surprise, and intensity. Now, I certainly want to be living in this kind of heaven as I am fairly sure you would too. 

However, it is important to first highlight that the above emphasis on the word ‘fairly’ is not meant lightly. Without in any way judging specifically who is who, I think it is possible, and even likely, that many people would and do choose the judgement of hell instead, and even after their deaths, in the full knowledge that it is a choice which involves rejecting this kind of heaven. But why would anyone reject an eternal heaven? Wouldn’t everyone choose heaven? Well, not necessarily; because I believe that those who choose hell will also know, as we will all do after our deaths, that accessing heaven must entail a recognition of their need to accept the forgiveness and mercy of God. The problem is that many people, and it pains me deeply to say this, would prefer not to accept the forgiveness and mercy of God, because this is an admission and submission which means ‘dying to self’, and which their egos and self-righteousness could not tolerate. In other words, we might say that hell is an option for the continued reign of personal egos and pride without the presence of God’s love and perceived need for forgiveness, based on the belief that human beings will owe nothing to God in the process. Reflecting John Milton’s account of Satan’s attitude in Paradise Lost: “Better to reign in hell, than serve in heav’n.” (PL 1:263), this chooser then takes this option to hell with her freely refusing to accept her dependence on God’s love and forgiveness.

Therefore, despite much religious angry posturing to the contrary, eternal judgement is not executed by a malicious and sadistic God intent on punishing the wicked without mercy, love, or forgiveness. He loves us all unconditionally, whoever we are and whatever we have done, and is always looking to reach out to us and ‘bring us home’ forever. Instead, judgement after our deaths, ultimately, is something we bring upon our own heads as we continue to choose independence from God fully aware of the consequences. So, the onus is always on us (now and forever) to turn to him and to choose God’s ways over ours – to choose mercy over judgement, to choose peace over conflict, to choose integrity over corruption, to choose humility over self-exaltation, to choose compassion over indifference, to choose justice over exploitation – in short, to choose love and life over hate and death (and see Deuteronomy 30:19).

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