Q: I’m in a band, not a Christian band but almost all of the members
besides two of us are christian, and among these 4 members that are Christian 3 of them have girlfriends. Now I myself am not a Christian,
at all. But these guys are devout christians and they do partake in
sexual activities. Now are my friends going to hell? Because they love Jesus, and God, and the bible and all that business, and they’re all
really great guys. I would hate to see that they’ve worked their whole
lives to go to heaven just to go to hell for having some teenage fun.
I’ve kinda just been wondering about it for a long time and thought
“Who better to answer my questions about Christianity than a website
full of Christians?”. In conclusion are my friends going to hell?
A: “I’m not a Christian at all.” Well, Elwood, while I don’t know what particular dogma you adhere to, I’d hate to scare you, but the fact that you are even this concerned about the welfare of your friends, especially being that they believe differently than you do, is actually very Christ-like!
That said, while I’m sure you have encountered more than a few people who would like to send people to a hell that they don’t even own (I say that because I am a Christian and I know I have!), I can tell you that I certainly do not know. For whatever reason—and I’m gonna pray that it’s biblical ignorance—a lot of people tend to overlook what God says about heaven/hell and the final judgment as it relates to it all:
“Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes,
who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal
the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.”—I Corinthians 4:5 (NKJV)
Now, I’ll be honest with you. The Bible is supposed to be the spiritual road map, so-to-speak, for all Christ believers and it does say that fornicators and adulterers will not inherit the kingdom of God (I Corinthians 6:8-10), but my bigger concern for your friends relates to my favorite quote on hell: “Hell is truth seen too late.”—Tryon Edwards
One of the things that Christ came to this earth to do, was to provide us a way to live an abundant life NOW (John 10:10). Sometimes I fear that we are so concerned with existing in the afterlife that we forget to live in the NOW. Right now, I’m not nearly as concerned about whether they are going to hell as if their choices are healthy for their present-day well-being; if they know and accept the truth of what God would like to do through them even at this very moment.
There was something you said that I thought was interesting: “You would hate to see that they’ve worked their whole lives to go to heaven just to go to hell for having some teenage fun.” See, from where I sit, you don’t have to work your way into heaven nearly as hard as you have to work your way into hell. There is a scripture which assures us that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear (I Corinthians 10:13) and so if we do anything that compromises our destiny, because of God’s grace and provision, it would appear that we would have to really try to make that “hell” happen.
But, to be honest with you, I think that’s getting a little too deep. My gut response to you? Try asking your friends what you asked me. More than anything, Christians are supposed to be representatives of Christ’s character and I find it interesting that you, a non-Christian, seems to be more convicted about their life choices than they do. You never know, your asking them could be what prompts them to do some serious soul-searching.
Uh-oh. Careful, Elwood…you may be more of a Christian than you think!