Daycare, Storytime, and Hell...

Today I arrived at the school to pick my daughter up at daycare at the usual time. I was greeted by her teacher and she complimented me on what a lovely girl Karsyn is, very endearing and very polite. I knew all of this of course, and thanked her with a big proud smile on my face. She then proceeded to tell me about the storytime that day. The book used at storytime today contained the subject of a grandparent dying and going to heaven. Karsyn used this opportunity to share with her fellow pre-schoolers some thoughts on life after death. She said that God made heaven for people who love Him. She then said that God also made hell and that Jesus would throw the devil into hell and anyone who does not love God would go to hell too.

Now, I don't know if the teacher was telling me this just to make small talk, or if she was wanting me to be aware of my daughter's bold proclamations and potentially frightening statements to the other kids. I do know however that she has never talked to me before other than a polite "hello". Regardless, I just smiled and responded - "well that's great, it's good to know she has her theology right!".

I know we can be quick to talk about Heaven, but we also need people to know that the alternative is Hell. It is easier to talk about heaven - that's the nice part, but hell is bad news. Keeping hell in our consciousness helps to maintain an urgency of evangelism. People without Christ are not lost to nothingness, they are lost to an existence of everlasting torment. But we have the Good News! We can preach Christ crucified, sinners sanctified, believers satisfied, and saints glorified. Now there is a story we need to be telling - go on get out there, it's storytime!