Does Everyone Go To Heaven?

My palms were sweating, my face was flushed, and my stomach was in knots as I walked onto the stage to audition for Honors Children’s Choir (A group made up of some of the best young singers in South Carolina).
 
I had just listened to the girl who auditioned before me. She was incredible. She had clear tone, amazing pitch, and effortless confidence. I didn’t stand a chance.
 
Then it was my turn.
 
The cassette recorder clicked on, and everything I knew about music vanished. I forgot parts of the melody I had practiced for weeks. When it came time to sing scales, I could barely remember what a scale was. I walked off the stage embarrassed and defeated. The lights were too bright for my middle-school self, and I was sure I’d blown it.
 
A few weeks later, I got the call: I had made it. I HAD MADE IT! I must have done better than I thought.
 
That was shocking, but even more shocking: the girl who sang beautifully didn’t make it. She was crushed, and I felt terrible.
 
At the retreat, I learned the reason I made it and she didn’t. Most of the auditions had been girls, so the competition was much steeper. Meanwhile, most boys were trying out for baseball, if you were a guy who could fog up a mirror, you were in.
 
Turns out, I hadn’t really earned my spot. I had simply filled a need. I got a participation trophy.
That works fine for middle school choir. But is that how eternity works?
 
Somewhere along the way, many of us started believing heaven functions like a participation trophy. As long as you’re not a monster, you’re in.
 
But if everyone ends up in heaven no matter what… why did Jesus speak so seriously about judgment? Why did he warn about separation? And if there are no real consequences for rejecting him, what exactly did he die to save us from?
 
This week, we’re stepping into one of the most uncomfortable conversations in Christianity: hell. And we’re not doing it to scare or manipulate, but to wrestle honestly with what Jesus actually taught and why it matters. We’re going to see that the concept of hell is one of the most misunderstood doctrines in the Bible and has very little to do with pitchforks or Dante’s Inferno.
 
If this is a subject you’ve wrestled with, I really encourage you to join us tomorrow at 10 AM.