I’ve heard this song on the radio a couple of times, it’s very catchy!
It’s called Heaven for the Weather by The Streets. And of course it’s erroneous!
Now, I wouldn’t necessarily expect anything else. It’s not like you’ll find The Streets on your [insert Christian compilation CD equivocal to the NOW compilation CDs]. Although Mike Skinner (vocalist for the streets) has obviously had some sort of ‘Christian’ influence (even though his dad never went to church!!) he’s not a Christian. But what Mike has done in this single is highlighted a common misconception of some people that they use as a reason for not becoming a Christian. Here are some of the lines in the song:
I want to go to Heaven for the weather
But Hell for the company
I want to go to Heaven for the weather
But Hell seems like fun to me
The understanding is that since a persons family and friends are not Christians too and are going to be in Hell, then they’d rather be in Hell as well. How we argue against that could lead us to another error. Let me demonstrate.
God is the originator of all things good. Good things are things including family and friends, pleasure, delight and enjoyment, company and any good relationship. Since Hell is a complete absence and separation from God it is also a complete absence from the good things God gives us including family and friends, pleasure, delight and enjoyment, company and any good relationship. 
So in Hell, although a non-Christian may be with those who in this lifetime are his friends and relatives, in Hell they won’t be friends and relatives. (And here’s how the error can creep in.) God is not only the originator of life but also of existence. In Hell since there is separation from God and his good things, there is also a separation from his good things and so existence is also removed from them. (Warning, you have reached annihilationism! – For a definition or explanation, click the link for wikipedia on it)
I do see how someone could hold that view. Not sure if I can see it from the scriptures but I can see it at least with philosophical reasoning. No wonder it’s something that many have wondered into including John Stott’s at least coming towards it (though not necessarily full-blown supporting it). It’s interesting how easy it is to go from one error to another by wanting to highlight the error of an error. Once again, my friends, it’s a question of balance.
But it’s one we’ve got to engage with and be careful with because it’s a very common misconception of Hell that people want to be there with their mates and their mothers and Jimi Hendrix. Be careful not to go too far!
November 19, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Whilst hell is often supposed to be the absence of God, if God is truly omnipresent and cannot be untrue to himself, then hell must be a place where God is present, although certainly not with any degree of blessing.
However, the answer to the notion that hell will be a fun place shouldn’t be found in a discussion on the nature of hell. Fundamentally, such a misunderstanding of hell rests in a total misunderstanding of God, and if Mike Skinner and others even believe in God, it isn’t the God that is revealed in the Bible.
Surely then, it is the truth of God – his glory, greatness, holiness, love and of course justice – that should form the basis of a response, especially in how these truths have been expressed in Jesus.
Interesting thoughts about how easily we can slip into heresy though.
November 20, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Interesting post, Jonny.
I have a question… To what extent can expect him to have a Biblical view of hell? The reason I ask this, is that while having an erronious view of hell, a lot of people (especially Christians) also have a pretty unbiblical view of heaven too. If heaven is sitting around on clouds strumming harps – or even worse, one long eternal church service – then… well… I still can’t say I see his point, but I can see why he’s not that bothered about going to heaven.
Once Christians reclaim a more biblical view of heaven (or rather the new heavens and the new earth), then at least we’re starting down the right road. Sadly, in the meantime maybe the fault for Mr Skinner’s perspective lies uncomfortably nearer home…?
February 11, 2009 at 8:47 pm
My Biblical view of Heaven has changed so much in the last year, due to being in the Word, in prayer, with other believers, and going through a trial (which I think is a spiritual battle, since I fully turned my life over to Christ a year ago). Instead of it being a place above the clouds that looks a certain way, and sounds a certain way, I believe it is the state we are in when, having been resurrected as perfect beings through Christ’s sacrifice, we are fully in God’s glory – a state of overwhelming joy, peace, love, excitement, rest, awe, mirth, creativity, etc. Nothing in my walk with Jesus thus far leads me to believe that anything about Him, God Almighty, or Heaven is boring or full of hemmed-in goody-goodies. I can;t wait to meet Paul, Mary Magdalene, Peter, and the thousands of other believers who are there in the mansion already having feasts with Jesus our Lord! There is nothing in the Bible to lead us to believe that any of the saints who have gone before us are dull and unimaginative. In fact everything about them (once they were saved) that I can discern from Scripture is fascinating: they were incredibly focused, brave, tough, loving (in the true sense of the word), selfless, wise, creative, and so faithful, and all while being imperfect sinners who were just trying to find their way on earth. Are they in Heaven because they were self-disciplined enough to make the grade to get in? Absolutely not! They are in Heaven because they accepted the gift of Grace, and they couldn’t resist the Holy Spirit moving them to infinitely higher ground while still on earth. If they were “self”-disciplined before they accepted Christ’s gift, they were using it in ways that brought pain and destruction. But the self-discipline that came from the Holy Spirit allowed them to do incredibly exciting, dangerous and truly meaningful things for the Kingdom of God, which is, unlike the song in question implies, full of the most awesome company you could ever meet! In a nutshell, if you are a believer, and know Jesus just a teeny-tiny bit, you know that anywhere He is, you’ll want to spend eternity. Non-believers need us to give them the Good News, so that they too will know Him and know that Heaven couldn’t possibly be boring!