Gregory Scott Blog

On Hell

Hear no evil — Courtesy of ©iStockphoto.com/pesky-monkey

It’s become increasingly un-pc to talk about Hell, even in Christian circles. Post-moderns are turned off by it. Many theologians feel the need to apologize for it, and Universalists have built a religion around the rejection of it. I’ve even seen one of my former pastors go off the reservation over it.

I’ve never been one to get wrapped around the axle on the issue of Hell. It actually makes a lot of sense to me.

People who reject God during their earthly life, who choose to live for themselves rather than the God who created them, get to do so for eternity. Isn’t it more a matter of free will than punishment? And if the punishment for rejecting God is separation from Him in the afterlife, doesn’t the punishment fit the crime? I guess I just don’t see the problem.

And then there are those who believe it’s unfair that people who’ve never heard the Gospel should go to Hell. But people don’t go to Hell because they don’t hear the Gospel but because they rebel against God.

There’s a bigger problem as well. If a person’s ignorance of the Gospel exempted him from Hell, who would ever share the Gospel–by doing so you could only make things worse for them. If a person’s ignorance guaranteed him eternity in Heaven, by sharing the gospel with him you would be taking the chance he would reject the Gospel and, no longer being ignorant, end up in Hell.

If that were the case, no one would ever share the Gospel, and if no one ever shared the Gospel, no one would ever get to know Jesus during their earthly life. If no one knew Jesus in this earthly life, the world would be in a sorrier state than it is today. You get the picture. It really can’t be any other way.

So you see, Hell actually makes sense…at least it does to me, but maybe I’m just not very smart. After all, I am just a simple caveman who became a lawyer. GS

How Being a Kingdom Citizen Makes You a Better Employee

In my law practice, I consult with people about their jobs, usually at a point when they are unhappy about their jobs. I know from studies I’ve seen that their situation is not unique. Some studies have shown that 2/3 of all Americans are unhappy with their jobs. Maybe you feel the same way.

Maybe you don’t like your supervisor or don’t think the company appreciates you. You may not think you are paid enough or that your last performance review was as good as your performance warranted. As a result, you may not look forward to going to work, and you may have trouble getting motivated to do your best.

We live in a fallen world and bad supervisors, greedy employers and discriminatory employment decisions exist in abundance. Your chances of avoiding them completely during your career are slim, which probably accounts for the 2/3 statistic. But a citizen of the kingdom of God can avoid becoming a statistic. The key is understanding for whom, as a Christian, you work.

The Apostle Paul said, “Whatever you do, do your work with all your heart, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance.” (Colossians 3:23-24). In other words, as a Christian you work for King Jesus and you should perform your job as if He was your boss (because He is).

If you are doing your work primarily to please men (your supervisor, your company or others), you will inevitably be disappointed with their response. They will rarely appreciate you as much as you think you deserve and will often treat you in ways in which you do not deserve.

If, however, you are working primarily to please the Lord and are looking to Him for your reward, there are at least four good things that can happen.

1. Your work will be more excellent. After all, how can you be more motivated than when you are trying to impress Jesus?

2. You will work harder. You know the Lord sees all things, and if you are looking to Him for your reward, you will be motivated to give a better effort because you know the one you are trying to please sees all your effort.

3. You will not be a man-pleaser. “Man-pleaser” is the theological term for “brown-noser”, and nobody likes a brown-noser. The best way to avoid being a man-pleaser is to focus on pleasing the Lord instead.

4. Your peers and supervisors will respect you. They will respect you because they will see the integrity of your work and that it is not motivated by what you think you can get from them or the company.

I challenge you to give this new “workview” a test drive; you might find it very liberating. GS

Tips From A Lawyer On Bible Study

One thing being a trial lawyer has taught me is how to ask questions, lots of questions. This skill is particularly helpful when it comes to studying the Bible. The good news is you don’t have to be a lawyer to use this skill. Here’s how you can apply it to get more out of your Bible study time.

When I read a passage in the Bible I ask the questions, Who? What? When? Why? Where? How? Take, for example, Acts 17:19 which recounts part of Paul’s visit to Athens: “And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, ‘May we know what his new teaching is which you are proclaiming.'”

Who took him (Paul)? Why did they take him to the Areopagus? What is the Areopagus? Where is the Areopagus? When did this take place? How long did it take to get to the Areopagus? What did Paul do when he got there? These are some of the questions I would ask.

Answering questions like these make the story come to life by eliciting context and details from which you can derive meaning and instruction. Sometimes answers to the questions are found in the surrounding scriptures. Sometimes you must resort to Bible study aids. But asking questions is where it starts.

I studied Acts 17 Sunday before heading out to the Areopagus in Athens. One of the questions I asked as I read these verses was “How long did it take Paul to get from the market place to the Areopagus?” If I had done some research I probably could have found out, but I was going there anyway.

So, I walked from the ruins of the market place to the Areopagus. It’s a good walk up a steep incline toward the Acropolis, and it took about 15 minutes. This surprised me because I always assumed these men just took Paul across the street. In answering this question, though, I realized that Paul probably had some time to think about what he was going to say and contemplate the potential danger of before he preached to the Athenian Supreme Court (“What is the Areopagus?”), yet he didn’t back down. He was one tough dude. It inspires me to be bolder and more strategic in sharing the Gospel.

So, next time you study the Bible, just go Denny Crane or Perry Mason on the text. You might be surprised at what you discover. GS

Byzantine Travel Journal: Epilogue

Well, we are back home, and this Byzantine journey is completed. Each place we went, at one time, was part of the Byzantine Empire (with perhaps the exception of Odessa), a Christian empire that abided for 1,120 years, and, as the kingdom of God should do, brought the gospel to pagan lands, redeemed and elevated culture and left a residue of churches as evidence of the faith of the people who resided and still reside there today.

Since this is my last entry of this travel journal and I like lists, I wanted to rank the places we visited in order of preference. We enjoyed every port and that a place is listed near the bottom here is not a suggestion it’s not a great place to visit. It’s just that some places are “more great” than others.

1. Istanbul, Turkey. We spent 4 days touring and as much as we saw I think we could have spent 4 more days and still not seen everything. Hagia Sophia, the Theodosian Wall and an unplanned visit to Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, were highlights.

2. Athens, Greece. Walking the path of the Apostle Paul from the Ancient Agora up to the Areopagus and standing where he delivered his Mars Hill sermon was inspiring. The visit to the Byzantine & Christian Museum at the end of the day was a fitting end to the trip.

3. Ephesus (Kusadasi), Turkey. Walking through these extensive ruins gives one a great feel for what Apostles Paul and John would have seen in the first century. The tomb of John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved” was also a highlight.

4. Cappadocia, Turkey. This has to be one of the strangest most fascinating places on earth. The frescos in caves inhabited by first century, and later Byzantine, Christians add the substance of history to the esthetic beauty of this place.

5. Sevastopol, Ukraine. The visit to Chersonesos where Vladimir I was baptized bumped Sevastopol up the list a few notches.

6. Nessebar, Bulgaria. There are a number of Byzantine era churches on this little peninsula, which, combined with interesting shops and restaurants, made this a wonderful day trip.

7. Odessa, Ukraine. Beautiful period architecture. We enjoyed the old city and Architectural Museum but would have enjoyed the museum more with air conditioning.

The Great Theatre, Ephesus — The Theatre, Ephesus

8. Volos, Greece. We didn’t get to visit the actual city of Volos, which may have been very nice. Meteora was fascinating (Byzantine monasteries on top of mountains), but we had to drive 2 hours to get there and that is all we saw in an 8-hour day.

9. Yalta, Ukraine. The scenery is terrific and the Yalta boardwalk is wonderful, but when you have temperatures of 95-100 degrees, the dearth of air conditioning detracts from the experience for us pampered Westerners. Old guys treading the boardwalk in nothing but Speedos and flip-flops is also a negative. Not a Kodak moment. That said, there is a huge potential in Yalta for Western tourism. GS

Byzantine Travel Journal: Day 16 (Athens)

Today was a stellar day, which is unusual for last days of vacations. We tried to book a private tour guide for Athens because there was so much we wanted to see and only had the day. However, it was a religious holiday, and tour guides were scarce. As a result, it was going to cost us $650 for a guide and car service. So we decided to go it alone.

As it turned out, we saw everything we wanted to see, and, because it was a religious holiday, admission to every museum and site was free. We were able to walk everywhere, enjoyed a long lunch, wonderful lunch and did it all between 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. It helps to have a wife who is a saint. She didn’t feel well all day but rather than sit it out in the hotel she came out and hung in there all day. We are both glad she did because we shared one of the great tourist days of our lives together.

Here was our itinerary: the Plaka and Monastiraki, Hadrian’s Library, Roman Aerides Market, Ancient Agora, Museum of Ancient Agora, Areopagus, Acropolis, Parthenon, lunch, Floumoussou Etairias Square (shopping), Hadrian’s Arch, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the National Garden, Byzantine & Christian Museum.

There were three highlights today. First was recreating Acts 17:16-34 by walking from the Ancient Agora (marketplace) up the path to the Areopagus and then walking up on to the Areopagus. The trip takes 15-20 minutes, which means Paul would have had some time to think about what he was going to say when he got there.

When he got there Paul didn’t just preach Jesus, he told these justices God did not dwell in temples made by man, a direct insult to their pagan religion. As Paul was telling them this, they would have been able to look right up and see the Parthenon—their most cherished pagan temple. It was pretty gutsy of Paul to say such things to the men who had the power to put him to death.

I took a picture looking up to the Parthenon from the top of the Areopagus so you could get the idea of the view the justices would have had while Paul was saying these things about their pagan religion. This is the sort of thing you realize when you see a place instead of just read about it. It’s a great reason to travel.

The second highlight was they Byzantine & Christian Museum. If there is a better museum in the world covering Byzantine life and art I can’t imagine what it is. If you have any interest in the Byzantines, this museum is a must-see.

The third and most important highlight was being able to share this day with my best friend and love-of-my-life. Most great things are better shared, and that is certainly true of travel. It’s even better when that person is learned, fun and loves Jesus, all of which is true of my wife. GS