Rob Bell begins his promotional video for his book "Love Wins" with the question, "Ghandi's, in Hell? He is? And someone knows this, for sure; and felt the need to let the rest of us know?"
If you haven't seen the video, its at http://vimeo.com/20272585
If you need some background on Ghandi, check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohandas_Karamchand_Gandhi.
I've struggled with this question myself. Ghandi, a good man, a hero of peace, a leader, a martyr. Ghandi seemed to live the Christian life better than most Christians, even though he was Hindu. Was even close friends with Christian Missionary E. Stanley Jones. Honestly, I'd like to live like Ghandi. The thought of Ghandi being in Hell really, really bothers me.
Iin the book of Isaiah, I came across another good man, the prophet Isaiah. No doubt, as good a person as anyone. In Isaiah 6:1, Isaiah the prophet records an encounter he had with God.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.
Isaiah, a really good man, encountering God, is "ruined" (Hebrew = destroyed, ceased, cut off) and "unclean"???!!!
The reason: "Holy holy holy is the LORD Almighty."
You simply cannot compare man's goodness with God's holiness. It's like trying to compare the power of the moon with the power of the sun. No comparison, sun wins, moon a mere dust spec burned to a crisp in an instant. It's just the way it is, no judging or anything, just plain ol' fact.
Rob Bell starts the conversation with a conversation repeated millions of times over thousands of years since any concept of Heaven and Hell came to be conversant about: surely the good are more deserving than Hell and if good people go to Hell, what does that say about God? With the implication that God is not fair.
A gut-wrenching, heart felt conversation, but its not even an "apples to apples" conversation because our destiny doesn't start with man's goodness, or even value, but God's holiness and almighty-ness. You have to start there and if you do, you'll quickly see any notion of "deserving" is simply non-existent, no judging or anything, just plain ol' fact.
I'll bet Ghandi would even agree, if he saw what Isaiah saw.
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