A few weeks ago I posted a response to universalism from my book called  the (un)offensive gospel of Jesus. The book is raw art (in both the theological and artistic sense!) that sought to drive a conversation in the church about two questions: Who is the Jesus we’re showing? What is the Story we’re telling? The book is broken into two sections: Jesus-Show and Story-Tell. After offering a fresh portrait of Jesus and how we might show Him well to the world, I sketch an outline of God’s Story of Rescue that I think we Christians should be telling, beginning with creation, then speaking honestly of rebellion, rescue, and finally re-creation.

In the final ch. 9, “our re-creation,” I explore the reality of judgment in a section called That Other Place. The section addresses the topic of hell and reality of the possibility of negative outcomes of God’s judgment. While I think there is room to be cautious about how exactly the negative outcomes of hell will look and be, I think it is safe to say based on the witness of the OT and NT there will be a “Day of the Lord” moment when everyone will be judged—separated as Jesus says in His parables—and experience positive and negative outcomes of that judgment.

Here is how I address this subject in my book:

That Other Place

By “That Other Place,” I mean hell.

Yes, the dreaded ‘H’ word. You can’t talk about these things, however, unless you also talk about the reality and consequences of unbelief; about rejecting God and His Way and choosing to stay in rebellion.

While I think the prospect of a universal re-creation is possible, I find it hard to reconcile that idea with all the different teachings of Jesus which show a separation of people who choose belief from those who choose unbelief. Jesus Himself seems to insist that there is a separation between those who choose to entrust their stories and lives to Jesus in total commitment and those who hold onto the Way of Self while actively vandalizing shalom and rebelling against God and His Rhythm of Life.

I asked my friend Andy about his own struggle with judgment and hell. Like many of us, myself included, he has struggled with the idea that people will be judged and punished forever because of sin. The idea the some will receive eternal heavenly bliss, while others sit in hell has been a struggle for Andy. Recently, though, he’s begun to understand why judgment seems to make sense. “For the longest time both judgment and hell made me shudder, leading to a rejection of their existence. But in doing that I rejected the reality of our world. The reality is that there are consequences to our rebellion, which I think is hell. Now it makes sense that there is a hell and judgment because of that reality.”

Unfortunately, sin and rebellion exist. Things are not the way they are supposed to be. We are not the way we were supposed to be and we all continue to actively rebel against God and His Rhythm of Life. While I do think that the (un)offensive gospel of Jesus insists there will be a small population of judged unbelievers, I cannot escape the fact that some will be judged and separated from those who have repented of their rebellion and committed themselves to Jesus Christ as Lord.

That last paragraph may be hard to handle for some. Consider the words of Jesus, however, in a parable of a banquet that He used to illustrate the judgment and separation that would befall those who seek to enter the Kingdom outside of God’s terms:

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

“Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

“But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.

“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

“For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Here we face a story of a king who sends out his servants with an appeal to those already invited to his royal wedding banquet. In the Jewish and ancient Near Eastern cultures, social gatherings and parties had a double-invite: The first one told of the event and sought initial acceptance; the second was a reminder and told the guests that all was ready and they should come. In the story the slaves are not sending out an invitation; they are calling on those who have already been invited and accepted to remind them to come.

These people have already accepted the first invitation, but now they make excuses to reject the second invite. This was a huge act of betrayal because huge social significance was attached to rejecting the second invitation. Apparently, they had better things to do and they put their selfish concerns over their obligations to the king. They cared more about their “farms” and “business” than their social obligation to attend the royal banquet of the king. They even go so far as to subject the king’s messengers to violence and death!

In this parable, Jesus is speaking to two religious groups: the Chief Priests and Pharisees. Jesus reminds these leaders of the nation of Israel of their original invitation and subsequent rejection, directly tying into the next part of the story.

Because these originally invited people failed to respond to the second invitation, the king opens the door to everyone in the city. People from all corners of the city are invited to come to the royal banquet and enjoy a feast and festival. All people, both good and bad are invited, irrespective of person. The invitation did not depend on who the person was, but on whom the king chose to invite; he chose to invite everyone in his Kingdom and it didn’t matter who they were.

At this point we have two groups contrasted: those who think they have the right to their position as invitees, the right to a place at the banquet table and who think they are “in.” Then there are those who are unexpectedly promoted and surprisingly invited to the feast.

Originally, the Jewish people were invited to covenant with God to be His people. They received the first invitation. But throughout their history they did not live up to their obligations to that invitation. In Jesus’ story, they are replaced by an unexpected collection of street people. The first invited group who rejected the second invitation are replaced with a second group. As Jesus says, “The first will be last, the last will be first.” To be a member of the new group and new nation is no more guarantee of salvation than to be born into old Israel; it still depends on a persons reaction to the invitation, here symbolized by the wedding clothes.

This is where I want to turn our attention as we think about “That Other Place” and the possibility of judgment of humans.

In Jesus’ story, we come to a man who is wandering around the king’s royal wedding banquet in completely inappropriate attire. He is the guy in Rustler jeans and a Hanes t-shirt at your wedding reception. A sight to behold for sure! The king notices him, calls him friend and asks how in the heck he got into the party without the proper wedding clothes.

Contrary to popular thinking, a special wedding garment was not distributed to guests in the Jewish culture; special garments were not provided or expected to be worn at weddings or special banquet occasions. People were simply expected to wear decent, clean cloths that were appropriate for a wedding. In the case of a modern wedding, then, a pair of black khakis and white button down shirt would certainly do, rather than a special outfit like a tuxedo and bow-tie.

The event to which this man was invited required him to make a change, to change his clothes into something that was appropriate to the event for which he was invited. The parable assumes the man had time to change and come in appropriate attire anyone might have. While the cultural context of the parable didn’t require a specific type of clothing, any invited person was to come clothed in a way fitting this specific event, nonetheless. Instead, the man made no preparations to wear clothes fitting to the feast he himself chose to attend!

Four years ago when I was working on Capitol Hill, I was invited to attend the official Bush/Cheney Presidential Campaign party in Washington, D.C. The event was quite the affair and was filled with members of the press, cabinet members, lobbyists, thousands of supporters and Administration staff, and then little ol’ me. Not only was I invited to take part in the festivities, but I had some responsibilities of my own. I was required to come to the invited event appropriately dressed and to behave accordingly. If I had come dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt I would have been soundly given the boot. If I had come in my old sweatpants and the sweatshirt sporting my fraternity Greeks, I probably would have been arrested! Instead, I came dressed in my black tie garb, the only clothes fitting for a Presidential party.

So here’s the question: How are we coming to the banquet at judgment? What clothes are we wearing? How are we coming to this grand banquet at the Day of the Lord?

The first invitation goes out indiscriminately to every person. The second invite begs a response. This second invitation is the other side of the paradox between divine grace and human responsibility. The first invitation was the announcement proclaimed by the Heavenly Hosts in chapter 8: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth shalom to all humans, on whom His favor rests!” This announcement heralded the coming Lamb of God, the coming Rescuer, an invitation to take part in this new act of rescue by the Creator. The second invitation was by Jesus himself, which we will consider in the next chapter. In this invitation, Jesus announces to the entire world that the good news for which all humans have been waiting (the Kingdom of Heaven) has arrived. We are invited to respond in repentance, belief, and following.

I get the feeling from this parable, though, that there are a whole lot of people who have accepted God’s invitation to salvation and shalom. Of course everyone wants everlasting life and re-creation at some level. Many people, though, will respond by coming dressed to the banquet as a lumberjack or in their frat house sweatshirt.

This lavish banquet with Jesus as host is for us, and the question is: how are we coming? Are we following the social customs of this Kingdom, or going inappropriately dressed to meet our Creator? Are we clothing ourselves with the righteousness that God requires or are we simply coming, not as we are, but as we insist on being?

These are the questions we need to ask as we think about “That Other Place” and who will or will not go there in judgment. Often, people make hell and judgment out to be God problems, as if the idea of eternal judgment somehow makes Him out to be less than the hyper-relational Lover that He is. Hell and judgment are not God problems, they are human problems. Just as rebellion and the consequences of rebellion are human problems, how we are judged for our willful vandalism of shalom and willful rebellion against the Creator and His Rhythm of Life are also our problems.

Just as the man who decided to show up to the banquet as he insisted was thrown out into the darkness in judgment, so too will those who decide to float through life on their terms and approach Jesus’ banquet and God’s judgment sporting their own outfits.

This brings us to the end of verse 14: “For many are called, but few are chosen.” One commentator distinguishes between called/invited and chosen: “Called means taking up the initial invitation, chosen means preserving to the end. The word for chosen has exactly the opposite meaning in Matthew that it has in Paul: in Paul it is used mainly to assure of salvation’s possession, whereas in Matthew it is used mainly to warn of its loss. In Matthew’s context chosen is a goal word, not a source word; it is a word of admonition more than of comfort; it is ethical not predestinarian.”

Whereas the apostle Paul instructs Christians to live in a way that is worthy of those who are chosen, Matthew urges them to live in a way that would ensure at the end that they are among the chosen at all. Jesus is demanding that we do not come to His banquet and final judgment on our own terms and hand him a life lived according to our own Way; Jesus demands that we come to the banquet as a denier of self, a cross-carrier, and a follower of Him and His Way of Life. In short, Matthew cautions against the false security which thinks God’s salvation is a done deal, “in the bag.”

How about you? How are you coming to the king’s banquet? How are you approaching our collective final judgment? The ending proverb, “For many are called, but few are chosen” could be put this way, “None are excluded but those who exclude themselves.” As I said before, since “That Other Place” and final judgment for continuing in rebellion isn’t a God problem, but a personal human problem, are you coming to the Wedding Banquet on God’s terms or yours?

While Jesus does indicate a judgment and separation of people who decide to come to the end on their own terms, the Church does need to be careful about declaring who is “in” and who is “out” all by themselves. Far to often I hear the question, “Who goes to heaven and hell?” Usually, the answer is rooted in whether a person subscribes to the particular lists of “do’s” and “don’t’s” of the person asking the question. In chapter three I wrote quoting Jesus:

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Some who thought they were on the “inside” at judgment time will actually be on the outside of the Kingdom; some who claimed the name of Jesus Christ were nevertheless unknown to Jesus. They will be cast out of His presence. While Jesus does talk about judgment and separation of believers from unbelievers, of deliberate followers from deliberate non-followers, the Church needs to be far more careful with Her talk on who is “in” and who is “out.” The beauty of the good, hopeful, (un)offensive message of Jesus is that rescue and re-creation are continually available for all humans.

God intends to rescue and re-create all of humanity. In coming to earth, Jesus intended to redeem all of humanity through His life, death, resurrection, and ascension. His act of rescue is sufficient for all humans and effective for everyone who will honestly embrace Jesus as Lord.

Despite all of this talk on judgment and hell, the hyper-relational Lover God sent His Son Jesus Christ into the world as our Victorious Obedient Substitute so that any human who entrusts and totally commits their life to Jesus Christ will not taste ultimate death. Instead, they will be resurrected to experience an eternal existence with their Creator, in perfect shalom and unity.

That is our ultimate hope: resurrection from the dead into shalom and into an eternal relationship with our Creator permeated with love.