{"id":2319,"date":"2011-02-24T20:39:41","date_gmt":"2011-02-25T01:39:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?p=2319"},"modified":"2013-05-31T18:28:39","modified_gmt":"2013-06-01T02:28:39","slug":"call-someone-a-fool-and-go-to-hell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/call-someone-a-fool-and-go-to-hell\/","title":{"rendered":"Call Someone a Fool and Go to Hell?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>Jason was one of my best friends in Junior High and High School. He and I played a lot of tennis, listened to a lot of rap, and played a lot of Nintendo. I still remember when we beat Mega Man 2 in one day.<\/p>\n In our Sophomore year of High School, one of his favorite sayings was, “You Fool!” When Mega Man died, he would shout at the TV, “You fool!” When I aced him in tennis (he was better than me so it rarely happened), he would shout across the net, “You fool!” When we were learning to drive and someone cut him off in traffic, he would shout at them, “You fool!” He said it in jest (most of the time), and it became his signature saying.<\/p>\n Until one day our Sunday School teacher at church read Matthew 5:21-22. The last part really got Jason’s attention: “Whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.” When our teacher read that, everyone laughed and looked right at Jason as he squirmed in his seat and looked abashedly at the floor.<\/p>\n After that, I never heard him say, “You fool” again.<\/p>\n <\/a>What did Jesus really say?<\/strong> We had a long, spirited discussion about this, and some of them remembered what we discussed last week<\/a>. In the end, I had to bring in some Greek and Jewish background information (I have a love-hate relationship with doing this, which maybe I will write about someday).<\/p>\n I personally don’t think this passage (or the next one about adultery) has anything whatsoever to do with burning forever and ever in a lake of fire while Satan and his minions poke you with pitchforks to see if you’re done yet (“Nope? Note done yet. Put him back on the flames for another million years! Bwah-ha-ha-ha-hahahahaaa!”). Jason will be pleased to hear this.<\/p>\n
\nIn my “core group<\/a>” today, we read and discussed this passage. Not surprisingly, they were shocked at what Jesus said. How can he say that simply for calling someone a fool, they will go to hell? That’s impossible! Too difficult! Jesus is crazy!<\/p>\n