A message from Jesus to Christians - "Go to hell"

I am one of those simple Christians who realises that I cannot live for Christ without setting in place some spiritual disciplines - perhaps that's why I am a Methodist! I like the simple methodical way of finding Jesus through daily prayer and reading the scriptures, I still fast weekly, I worship every week (preferably in my local Church when I am in South Africa), I give generously, I take retreats, I try to find service and extraordinary ministry opportunities, I take relationships seriously... You know what I'm talking about...

Well, this morning when I was doing my quiet time, a daily discipline of praying, reading the scriptures, and waiting upon God's loving presence, I was struck by something that I have read many times, but only saw this morning. I'll get to the message that I received from this passage below, however, let me first say why I think I have missed this message previously.

Perhaps the reason why I have not read this text with earnest attention is because it has been claimed and hijacked by spiritual warfare type Christians - that's not me! So, I have tended to look over it saying to myself these verses are for someone else... I'm not that kind of Christian so let's go on to find something that is for me. You know what that's called? It's called selective listening! When I was young I used to apply selective listening to what my parents and teachers told me! I would hear everything, but I would only listen to those bits that I felt fitted my worldview. Now, as an older man, I wonder how much I have missed out on because I did not listen!!

Well, thankfully because my time clock is messed up and I am a little bit tired at the moment I was open to hearing from this text!

Matthew 16:18-19 - And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

I have always read this passage and thought that the Church (which Jesus said he would build upon the rock) and hades (hell) are two separate 'places'. You know, the old dichotomy between good and evil, the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of evil. However, this morning I realised that the 'operational' spread of the Church i.e., that area in which the Church should have influence and act, contains a great deal of evil and hardship! Certainly when I was a pastor of a local Church there were members within my congregation who felt like they were in hell! Some of them were ill, some of them were in financial struggle, some of them had bad and abusive relationships... You get the idea. BUT, there is more, within the area of my Church there were homeless people, prostitutes, people who did not belong to my Church or any other Church who needed grace, love, forgiveness, healing, and the love of Christ and Christ's body! These people are loved by God, their struggle matters to God and so I should be taking God's grace to encounter and overcome their hell!

So, the message that I heard today from the Lord is this: Christians, go to hell! That's where Christ would wish us to share His grace, his love, his mercy, his healing and of course his love!

I know that within the ministry that I currently have there is struggle and hardship very close to me. I work with people who are lonely, afraid, hungry, angry, broken, unloved, in chaos, without purpose.... You get the idea. I shall be considering how to go to hell to establish the Church there.

I am starting to understand that the ministry that I currently have is just such a ministry - I am taking the Kingdom of Christ to the heart of many people's hell. I am realising that 'The Church' exists radically within the heart of the place where most people spend most of their time... Not a Sunday morning service, but a desk, a booth, behind a counter, in an open plan office, under the hood of a car, in a bank....

The Church of Jesus in the marketplace.