What does Tribe teach about heaven and hell?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At Tribe, the teaching on heaven and hell starts with a simple but serious claim: what comes after death is not a matter of opinion, and it does not change based on whether a person believes in it. Brian Briggs opened the 'Full Reward' series by laying out what the Bible actually says about judgment and eternity, arguing that most Christians have drifted into fuzzy thinking on both subjects. He walked the congregation through Hebrews 9:27 and 2 Corinthians 5:10 to establish that every person dies once and then faces judgment, and that the accounting covers deeds done in the body. He was direct that opting out of belief in God does not change that outcome, comparing it to disbelieving in gravity and stepping off a building anyway.
Matthew 25 was his anchor for the binary nature of that judgment. There are sheep and goats, and no third category. Those who have not received Jesus stand before God on the basis of their own merit, and Brian used the image of a bad egg in an omelet to explain why no quantity of good works can offset a rejection of Christ. Salvation is not earned but received. In his Easter message from the Parable of the Wedding Banquet, Brian made the same point through a different image: the king in the parable provides wedding garments for every guest, and the man found without one represents anyone who wants God's blessings on their own terms or who assumes that church attendance or a Christian upbringing is sufficient without personal surrender to Jesus. As Brian put it, "It's okay if you don't believe in hell. It's really irrelevant if you do or don't. That does not change the reality of the existence of that place."
The flip side of the teaching is the reward waiting for those who do receive Jesus. Brian anchored the 'Full Reward' series in 2 John 1:8, where John urges readers to be diligent so they receive their full reward. He noted that the Greek word behind 'reward' means wages due to a worker, always in proportion to the work done, which means something measurable is at stake beyond simply being in God's presence. The congregation's collective uncertainty about what that reward actually looks like was, he said, exactly why the Holy Spirit was calling them to sit with the question for a few weeks.
Taught from 2 John 1:8 · Matthew 25:31-34 · Hebrews 9:27 · 2 Corinthians 5:10 · Matthew 22:11-14
The passage taught · 2 Corinthians 5:10
10 For we must all be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
World English Bible
Messages that go deeper
- August 3, 2025 Turn And Live Brian Hunter opens a series on eternity, walking through scripture on judgment, heaven, and hell to show why how we live now shapes the reward awaiting us.
- April 11, 2023 A Little Story With a Big Meaning Brian Hunter preaches on the parable of the wedding feast, exploring what it means to receive God's invitation and be dressed in the righteousness of Christ.