Judging the Judgment Houses
This is a great article a friend of mine shared with me two years ago that was written by Dr. Russ Moore of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Check it out. Seven Reasons Halloween Judgment Houses Often Miss the Mark.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Jeremy Vanatta
Ben Simpson (@JBenSimpson)
Jeremy, that’s a great article! I added a couple of thoughts of my own at my blog about judgment houses. They were:
In the past, I have been part of putting on a Judgment House or Hell House and have taken groups to a Judgment House. So, I have experience. To be honest, I’ve felt uneasy about them the entire time. Dr Moore’s reasons are excellent, but based upon what I’ve seen, I would add two more reasons they miss the mark:
1) They get you scared at the wrong being. They usually communicate that salvation by faith in Christ is ultimately about being saved from the devil. No doubt, once in Christ, we have personal victory over Satan, but we must get the biblical perspective concerning from whom we are saved. Ultimately, God, by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, saves us from God Himself. It’s not the devil that unrepentant sinners should fear. It’s God. It’s God who can destroy both body and soul in hell. It’s God who will pour out His wrath forevermore on unrepentant sinners, including the devil and his demons. We should fear God way more than the devil.
2) They get you to answer the wrong question. Like similar ministries such as “Heaven’s Gates, Hell’s Flames,” they try to get you to answer this question: do I want to go to hell? I’ve certainly heard a few in my day say that they do want to go to hell, but 99% say that they don’t want to go to hell. Then Judgment House leaders will usually say something like this, “If you don’t want to go to hell, pray this prayer, and ask Jesus into your heart.” If you do so, they’ll then pronounce you saved from the fires of hell.
The only problem is that they’ve gotten you to answer the wrong question. The question of the gospel is not “Do I want to go to hell?” The question of the gospel is “Do I want Jesus as my Savior and Lord?” Almost everybody wants to avoid to hell. However, many want Jesus as Savior for “fire insurance,” but few want Jesus as Lord. The only problem is that if Jesus is not your Lord, He is not your Savior. Judgment Houses almost always miss this crucial part of the gospel.
Jeremy Vanatta
Ben,
Thanks for the additional thoughts. You probably figured it out, but you were the “friend” who highlighted this article two years ago. I was going to link to your blog that you just alluded to, but ran out of time this morning. I’m glad to see you’re not ashamed to give yourself a plug 🙂
Blessings,
Jeremy
Ben Simpson (@JBenSimpson)
Was I that friend? I wasn’t sure but thought I’d throw out my thoughts to your readership. Did I give myself a plug?
Jeremy Vanatta
“Yes” on both counts. No worries. There is no shame in plugging yourself on The Threshing Floor.