By PM Kimbler
The Sermon Nobody Wants to Hear
When is the last time you heard a sermon about hell? Not a passing mention. Not a sanitized reference buried in a feel-good message about God’s love. An actual, uncompromising sermon about the reality of eternal judgment, the wrath of God, and the fact that most people are headed there.
If you can’t remember, you’re not alone. Today’s church has decided hell is bad for business. It makes the congregation uncomfortable. It drives away the unchurched. It doesn’t fit the brand of a loving, inclusive, grace-filled Jesus who just wants everyone to be happy.
Pastors stopped preaching it. They buried it. They swapped judgment for affirmation, conviction for comfort, and the fear of God for the gospel of self-esteem. Their sermons sound like motivational speeches, turning Jesus into a life coach and salvation into a self-improvement program. After all, messages about hell don’t fill collection plates, so pastors decided silence was safer than truth.
The result is a generation of people professing Christianity who have no concept of what they’ve actually been saved from. They have no urgency, no conviction, and no fear. If there’s no hell, there’s nothing to be saved from. If there’s no wrath, there’s no need for a Savior. The gospel becomes pointless, faith becomes a preference, and eternity becomes irrelevant.
The truth is hell is real, and the church’s silence about it is sending people there.
Why the Church Stopped Talking About It
Let’s be honest about why this happened. It wasn’t because pastors suddenly discovered new evidence that hell doesn’t exist. It’s because they decided scaring people away from hell doesn’t grow churches. Positive and encouraging messages grow churches. Making people feel good about themselves grows churches.
The seeker-friendly movement told us we needed to be more palatable. More inviting and less offensive. So out went the preaching on sin, judgment, and hell. In came the messages about your best life now, God’s plan for your success, and how Jesus just wants you to be happy. Sermons became “10 Ways to Get the Most You Can Out of God” instead of warnings about eternal judgment. The gospel got repackaged as self-help with a side of Jesus. Churches started looking like TED Talks. Pastors started sounding like therapists. Conviction became the enemy of growth.
Here’s the problem: the gospel isn’t supposed to make you comfortable. It’s supposed to make you aware that you’re a sinner under the wrath of a holy God, headed for eternal separation from Him unless you repent and trust in Christ. That’s not a marketing strategy. That’s truth. When you remove hell from the equation, you remove the entire reason Jesus came. You’re left with a watered-down, powerless gospel that saves no one but it sure makes you feel good!
What Jesus Actually Said About Hell
If you think preaching about hell is unloving or outdated, take that up with Jesus. Jesus spoke about hell more than anyone else in Scripture. He spoke about it more than He spoke about heaven. He even spoke about it more than He spoke about love. He described it in vivid, terrifying detail, and He did it repeatedly.
In Matthew 13:42, Jesus said the wicked will be “thrown into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” In Mark 9:43, He said, “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out.” In Matthew 25:46, He said the unrighteous “will go away to eternal punishment.” Not temporarily. Not just for correction. For eternity.
Jesus described hell as a place of outer darkness, unquenchable fire, and eternal torment. He called it a place where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. Where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. He warned people to not fear man that can only kill the body but fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. These aren’t metaphors or scare tactics. This is Christ, the One the modern church claims to follow, telling us the reality of what awaits those who reject Him.
If Jesus thought hell was important enough to warn people about constantly, maybe we should too.
Hell Isn’t a Metaphor
One of the ways the modern church tries to sidestep the doctrine of hell is by redefining it. They’ll say it’s not a literal place, it’s just separation from God. Just separation? Or it’s a metaphor for the natural consequences of sin. Or it’s the absence of God’s presence. Anything to make it less terrifying and soften the blow.
The Bible doesn’t give us that option. Revelation 20:10 says, “The devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Revelation 20:15 says, “Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.” That’s not symbolic language. That’s a literal destination.
Hell is a real place of real torment that lasts forever. It’s not annihilation, you’ll experience every second of it. It’s not a second chance. It’s not remedial discipline. It’s eternal, conscious punishment for those who die in their sins without Christ. You don’t get to rewrite it just because it makes you uncomfortable.
The Problem With Preaching Only Love
The church loves to talk about God’s love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness. Those are beautiful truths, and they’re central to the gospel. If that’s all you preach, you’re only telling half the story. God’s love is demonstrated against the backdrop of His wrath. Grace only makes sense when you understand what you’re being saved from.
Romans 5:8 says, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Why did He have to die? Because the wages of sin is death. Because God’s wrath against sin is real. Because without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. The cross is proof of both God’s love and His justice. You cannot separate the two.
When you preach love and you don’t mention wrath, you end up with a god who tolerates sin. A god who winks at rebellion. A god who says, “Do whatever makes you happy, I’ll take care of it in the end.” That’s not the God of Scripture. That’s not justice. That’s a false god invented to make people feel comfortable in their sin and it’s a lie from the pits of where you’ll end up.
The Cost of Silence
Pastors that refuse to preach about hell are not being loving. They’re being cowards. Love warns people. Love tells the truth, even when it’s hard. Love says and does the hard thing.
Love doesn’t stand by silently while someone walks toward destruction. If you saw someone about to step off a cliff, would you stay quiet because you didn’t want to offend them? Of course not. You’d shout. You’d grab them. You’d do whatever it took to stop them. That’s what preaching about hell is. It’s a warning. It’s a rescue.
Ezekiel 33:6 says, “If the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.” Pastors are watchmen. If they see people headed for hell and stay silent, God will hold them accountable. They can fill their churches. They can get applause. They can grow their platforms. None of it will matter if they failed to warn people.
The blood of the lost is on the hands of silent shepherds.
False Teachers and Their Judgment
The Bible has strong words for teachers who distort the gospel and lead people astray. Jude 1:4 warns of false teachers “who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.” II Peter 2:1 says, “There will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves.”
These aren’t fringe cult leaders. They are people standing in pulpits today. They are teaching in our churches. They write bestsellers, and lead conferences. They preach a gospel that requires nothing, offends no one, and saves no one. They tell people they’re fine as they are. That God accepts everyone. That hell is either empty or doesn’t exist, or as long as you said a prayer once you’re just fine. They’re leading people to destruction and doing it with a smile.
Matthew 7:21-23 should terrify every false teacher: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'” Notice He says many. Not a few. Many people who thought they were saved will hear those words. False teaching has consequences. Eternal ones. Broad is the way that leads to destruction and many are on it. Many.
You Can’t Love People and Lie to Them
Here’s the truth the modern church refuses to accept: telling someone they’re headed for hell unless they repent is the most loving thing you can do. It’s not mean. It’s not judgmental. It’s not hateful. It’s love. Real love cares more about someone’s eternity than their temporary comfort.
The world has convinced the church that love means never making anyone uncomfortable, and if you truly care about someone, you’ll affirm whatever they’re doing. You’ll celebrate their choices, and never suggest they might be wrong. That’s not love. That’s cowardice dressed up as compassion. True love speaks truth, and like I said earlier, even when it’s hard. Especially when it’s hard.
Proverbs 27:6 says, “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” If you refuse to warn someone about hell because you’re afraid of offending them, you’re not their friend. You’re their enemy. You’re letting them walk into eternity unprepared because you cared more about being liked than being faithful. That’s selfish and unloving.
Most People Are Going There
Whenever you hear someone reminisce about loved ones that have passed they always say so-and-so is looking down on me. The fact of the matter is the Bible is clear. Not everyone makes it. In fact, most do not. Matthew 7:13-14 says, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Jesus said few. Not most. Few. The majority of people, including people who call themselves Christians, are on the road to destruction.
That should terrify you. Most of the people you know are headed for hell. Most of your coworkers. Most of your family. Most of the people sitting in churches every Sunday who think they’re saved because they prayed a prayer once or walked an aisle or got baptized as a kid. If their lives show no evidence of transformation, no fruit, no repentance, no love for God or His Word, they’re not saved. They are deceived.
I John 2:4 says, “Whoever says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.” James 2:19 says, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that and shudder.” Belief alone doesn’t save. Hell will be full of people who believed in God but never surrendered to Him.
What Are You Going to Do About It?
So what now? Are you going to keep pretending hell doesn’t exist because it makes you uncomfortable? Are you going to stay silent while people you love walk toward it? Are you going to keep going to a church that never challenges you, never convicts you, never warns you?
Or are you going to wake up?
Hell is real. Jesus is the only way to escape it. Repentance is required. Faith must be genuine. Time is running out. You don’t know when your last day is. We are not promised tomorrow. You don’t know when the people around you will take their last breath. Every day you stay silent, someone you know moves closer to eternity without Christ, and closer to hell.
Stop worrying about being liked. Stop trying to fit in. Stop making excuses for a gospel that offends no one and saves no one. Tell the truth. Warn people. Plead with them. Love them enough to make them uncomfortable, because their eternity is at stake.
You will stand before God one day and give an account. Did you tell the truth, or did you stay silent? Did you warn people, or did you let them perish? Did you love them enough to offend them, or did you care more about keeping the peace?
Hell is real. The church stopped preaching it. Don’t be part of the problem.
Speak up. While there’s still time.
Get the Book That Started It All
If this article challenged you, you need to read Why You Can’t Be a Christian and Vote Democrat: No Compromise. This book digs deep into the uncomfortable truths the modern Church refuses to preach – from abortion and biblical marriage to the cost of compromise and what it really means to follow Christ in a culture that hates Him. Available now in paperback and hardcover. Get your copy here.
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About PM Kimbler
PM Kimbler is a Christian conservative author, speaker, and former congressional candidate (California’s 36th District, 2020 primary). She is the founder of BeaconLight Press and writes unapologetically about faith, culture, and politics from a biblical worldview. Her mission is to challenge Christians to live without compromise in a world that demands it. Connect with her at pmkimbler.com.
External Resources
For Scripture references mentioned in this article, visit Bible Gateway.