Just had a great conversation with a student...universalism is participation trophy theology. It’s hard to get young people, particularly young men, to engage in the life of discipleship because we don’t treat the Christian life like a battle.

We are in the midst of a war, where Satan really wants to destroy your soul. God really wants to save your soul. But by giving everyone a participation trophy (universalism...everyone makes it to heaven in the end), we discourage people from entering into the fight.

After all, if there’s really nothing at stake, then what is the incentive to fight? Why give up things that the world considers “good,” to live the life of a disciple? If heaven and hell aren’t REALLY, not just theoretically, at stake, then why struggle?

We'll eat, sleep (with other people), drink, and be merry for tomorrow, our reward will be great! This is universalism in a nutshell, and I wouldn’t sign up to fight for that either.