One of the benefits of social media and the vast numbers of people corresponding is the opportunity to read their responses to unusual or thought-provoking questions. A good case in point is a recent post on Facebook. It read as follows: “If you could talk for an hour to any person, living or dead, who would it be?” Most people responded with a desire to talk with a loved one who had passed, some said God, others mentioned heroes of the past, and very few said someone still living. Before continuing: who would you choose? Why?

One notable absence from the list of those most would like to talk to are people who have done terrible things in life such as murder or rape. No one, it seems, wants a conversation with Hitler, Mao Zedong, or Genghis Khan. Additionally, I could find no entries where someone wanted to talk with anyone who is in Hell. In other words, few of us want to face, understand, or explore the darkest reaches of the human psyche if given the chance in an hour’s time. Fair enough; I would not waste the precious little time I had visiting the disconsolate underbelly of depravity.

One of the teachings of the Christian faith is that there will be a reckoning of one’s past before God. The entirety of one’s thoughts, actions, and motivations will undergo the microscope of inspection. God, it seems, wants to talk to us about our dark side and what we have done with the life we have been given, whether in an hour or in eternity. This is not to say that our altruistic behaviors will be unvisited, only that our unholy nature will be considered first.

If this is the case, if our shortcomings and tendencies to meanness are first-up on the program bulletin that is our life, will the first act move swiftly to the next – the one where self-reckoning causes us to change into a benevolent human who is filled with compassion for others and expresses this in acts of kindness? Or will our “talk” with God need more than an hour?

In a balanced manner, we are born with inherent tendencies and are a product of our environment. What we can control is our attitude and actions. We can choose to do the things that are right and praiseworthy, or we can choose to be selfish and mean-spirited. The reason we wish to visit with a relative from our past is because we love and respect their lives. The reason we disdain the idea of an hour with an evil person is because we have little respect for the values they expressed.

One day, you and I will pass from this world and people will be charged with our memory. Will the choice they make, given the chance, be to spend an hour with you?

Kent Simmons is the pastor of Canyon Community Church in Kingman, AZ.