Highway to Hell

We might be on the road without knowing it

Growing up in the 70’s was interesting. Marijuana, whiskey and beer were common around my house. And my favorite record was Highway to Hell by AC/DC. I would play that album over and over, pretending to be Angus Young rocking out on the solos.

The church hated that song, and asked people to break the record if they owned it. The assumption was that the writer and the band were glorifying the desire to go to hell. But that wasn’t actually the meaning of the song.

The words of the song are the expression of the ironic life of a rock star - leaving family, eating junk food, living in a bus with a bunch of smelly guys. And remember, in the 70’s there were no cell phones, video game systems or iPods. Highway to Hell was the verbal expression of what it meant to leave loved ones and comforts for the pursuit of the excitement of the rock star life.

Although we may easily refer to particular sins as placing us on a literal highway to hell, there is one sin that is so sinister, so private, and so unrecognized by the perpetrator that many of us are on the highway to hell and don’t even know it. And, like the meaning of the song, most of us commit the sin, because it gives us a feeling of acceptance from our peers.

Jesus speaks of that sin in Luke 16:19-31.

The rich man in this story has everything he wants. He feasts every day, when most Jews of his time only feast at the seven feasts of Israel. Lazarus would have been satisfied to eat what fell from the table, and be treated like one of the dogs that were licking his wounds.

In a culture where sharing and welcoming aliens and strangers into your home was common and instructed by God, the rich man built a fence to keep Lazarus and everyone else from getting close to him. The rich man went to great measures to separate himself from the world around him.

Both men died eventually; the rich man went to Hades, and Lazarus is at Abraham’s side.

Hades is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word Sh’ol. It is the only word used in the Old Testament that is translated into the English word “hell.” And it means grave, pit, dead and sleep.

Abraham’s side is an ancient Hebrew figure of speech that represented a great feast with all of God’s people.

In life, the rich man saw Lazarus as beneath him, and at the most, he saw Lazarus as a servant or a slave. This is important to remember when we look at the story that Jesus tells.

In this story, Jesus is not giving us a practical picture of what heaven and hell look like. Instead there is a much more important message; it is a message of how to stay away from the Highway to Hell.

In life, the rich man built a fence to separate himself from others. In death, the rich man was separated from all of God’s people by a large chasm, one that was impossible to cross. That which he wanted in life, he received in death - eternal separation. But there is another thing that is very important to understand. Notice that the rich man tells Abraham to have Lazarus give him a drop of water and then the rich man wanted Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his family. Both of those requests were the demands of a master upon his servant. Even in death, the rich man saw Lazarus as his servant who would cool his tongue and fetch his family.

Jesus’ message about thinking of others as less than yourself is clear: “Don’t do it!” It is a dangerous sin that puts you on the Highway to Hell. When your racist views and prejudices are supported by others, they thrive and give birth to hate. Jesus tells us that no one is more important than another, and no one, because of skin tone, financial standing or place of birth is to be unwelcome to those who call themselves followers of Jesus.

Writer: Capt. Jonathan Gainey was born in Jacksonville, FL in June, 1969. He has been married to Staci, the daughter of retired Salvation Army officers, for twenty years and they have four children ages 18, 16, 12, and 4. Jonathan was commissioned as an officer in June of 2002, and is currently serving in his third appointment in New Bern, NC, USA. He is working on a Masters of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and is the creator and manager of the Flocks Diner website, where his passion for learning and teaching is expressed and shared through writing and a weekly podcast.

Tags: exclusion, feasting, poor, rich

2 Comments to Highway to Hell

1. Love the song, love your take here. Very good. It’s vital to be able to dig deeper into why Jesus said the things he did, and what the crowd around him would have heard given their culture and understanding. If we don’t do this, we have little chance of understanding it and applying it ourselves.
   It is a powerful notion that Lazarus simply received what he had been longing for - total separation. And that separation from other humans was a part and parcel with the choice to be separate from God. C.S. Lewis adopts a similar view in and through “The Great Divorce” - that hell is actually the heart’s desire of those who receive it.

   Grace,

   Aaron
aaron on January 18th, 2009

2. As always, Johnny, you give a fresh perspective. Thanks.

   Interesting that Romans says “honor one another ABOVE yourselves.” Not as your equals, but actually as your superiors.
Amy Reardon on January 20th, 2009

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