Pretty bold question, I know. Seriously though, almost any parent would *die* for their child without hesitation. A parent’s love transcends morality, responsibility, and do-gooding. The love a parent has for their child is indescribable, and is the only way we get a glimpse of the Lord’s love for us.
Therein lies my dilemma. See, we’re clearly told to love the Lord God Almighty with all our heart and soul (Deuteronomy 6:5). We are supposed to love God more than anyone or anything. In fact, we are to love our families second to our love for God. (Yes, I realize that loving our families is arguably a way to love The Father — but in a quite literal, non-theologically-complicated way, we are to love God more than anyone).
So, if we are to love Him more than our children (I know it sounds bad doesn’t it?), then we should not be willing to go to Hell for them. Going to Hell would eternally separate us from God, whom we love more than anything. So the obvious answer is no, a Christian should not be willing to do that. But I’m not sure I’m there, and I’m not sure the logic is sound.
There is another complication though. See, Christ, whom we are to model in our lives, did die for us (his children). If we are to be Christlike, then we should be willing to die and go to Hell for the sake of our children. The catch, of course, is that Christ rose from Hell on the third day — not so for us. So the real question is, does a willingness to face Hell in place of your children truly put God second, or is it putting yourself second to your child? I do see a real problem with sacrificing yourself, as a Christian, the temple of the Holy Spirit (it’s not ours to sacrifice, we belong to Him). Isn’t that what Christ did for us though?
I don’t know the complete answer to the question, other than that I am willing to suffer eternal damnation for my children. If that means that I love them more than I love God — then I have issues. If, however, it means that I love them more than I love myself, I might still have some issues (especially since I am a new creature, born again into Christ), but perhaps they’re not as bad as they might seem. And possibly, just possibly, the love I have for my children is that same sort of love that He had for us. It’s at least worth thinking about.
Good day everyone. 🙂
hi
hi shawn. i think my site should be added to “blogs i like”
I’ve been thinking about your post all day since reading it. As a parent, I think it would be difficult for me to forsake my child in the belief that by doing so I would prove my love for God. Consider Abraham though. He was willing to sacrifice Isaac at God’s say so. How many of us would be able to do the same? Not many. Not most. If such a choice were possible and one did choose to go to hell for their child I believe that God wouldn’t allow it. Such a person would surely be suited for heaven.
Wow! You’re really thinking about some serious stuff. This one is impossible for me to answer really, because I don’t have children. If you love your children enough to be damned to hell for all eternity, that is completely selfless and God would recognize that and intervene and you would end up in heaven anyway. Wouldn’t you?
Gail,
I actually thought about it for a long time myself, and you make the key point that “if it were possible” — which it clearly isn’t. ie, there is no way we could have some sort of “proxy damnation” for our children. I was just really curious whether or not my willingness was sinful, or noble. I don’t have the answer, just wanted to put the thought out there. Abraham is a great example of sacrificial love (and I’m ashamed to admit that I don’t think I’d be able to do what he was going to do…)
Carrie,
Yeah, I think WAAAY to much. It’s also interesting that indeed the love for a child is unique to any love I’ve ever experienced. It’s not that it’s more powerful than my love for my wife — but drastically different. It’s coupled with a sense of responsibility that is unequaled to anything I’ve ever known. While there are several people in my life I would willingly die for — for my children, there’s absolutely no hesitation. It’s interesting to experience. 🙂
As far as God intervening, that correlates with Gail’s Abraham comparison. God did intervene before he sacrificed his son. It’s sorta the “shoe on the other foot” type thing (because the parent in my example is sacrificing themself), but indeed God did intervene.
I like questions without definite answers, because they inspire thought. If everything in life were black and white, we could all just be robots. :o)
Hey Shawn,
It is impressive that you find time to do all of this and be able to get the word out about Christ in such a techy fashion! Awesome. I really like what you wrote about going to hell for your kids? I pray that this seed that is planted will grow and grow and bear tons of fruit. KEEP it UP!
There is no point to this question because it’s not possible.
Neither is traveling faster than light, but there have been many an entertaining book written on that one… 😉
True true
It is not evil to want to save your children even to the point of willing separation from The Lord. The apostle Paul agrees.
Romans 9:3
I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel
God Bless,
another father
I liked your article on setting up the K12LTSP and may try it myself. I am building PCs that will be sent to the Republic of Benin in Africa and that gives me an idea as to how I could use some of my older hardware (as thin clients) but I’ll have to do a few test runs 1st.