anNoyiNG

i am very annoyed right now. frustrated and annoyed. ok, the background: im in this theology class (yes, another one. they are required, if you're wondering..) and we've got these discussion boards we're required to participate in. no big deal. we read these articles, critique them and give our own personal conclusions and then its open discussion. well our last article was on hell which really is not even pertinent to the story other then it gives you an idea of the context of which we were discussing. so, im reading this post by this guy who is going on and on about these experiences he's had regarding the entire concept of hell. they began in his childhood sunday school classes where the teacher basically used this fear-technique in trying to get children to respond to accepting Christ by teaching the atrocities of hell. then he talked about this sermon he'd heard and i wont mention any names but it was preached(?) by the founder of Liberty University...any guesses? now, i speak from second-hand knowledge, i wasn't there and therefore did not physically HEAR what was said, but from the sounds of it, it was a grown up version of this guy's earlier sunday school experience. this is what annoys me. i feel as if certain churches, predominatly one's in the South, since this is where i was raised and hence have formed my opinion, try to portray Christianity as this ticket to get out of the fire and brimstone known as hell. they try to scare people (as well as little people) into believing in Christ. this disturbs me. primarily because grace is such a good thing. its transforming in and of itself, there is no need for scare tactics to "trick" people into believing this good news. secondly, this gives Christians a bad name. certainly hell is a real place and our hearts should be in a position that want to save others from its reality. yet true belief is only going to be accomplished in others who've experienced love, not experienced fear. and maybe this is a misread on my part. i am just personally opposed to this way of getting people into the realm of Christ's love. opposed and annoyed.