Is annihilationism potentially dangerous when it comes to evangelizing the lost and preaching the gospel to them? Yes, I believe it is. If an unbeliever is told that the worst that could happen to him after he dies is nonexistence, then that can lessen the urgency for him to be saved from God’s righteous judgment and receive Jesus. I know this is the case because I’ve talked to many atheists in the presence of universalists who like annihilationists teach there is no eternal conscious torment in the afterlife. Routinely, atheists would state that if they’re not going to face punishment in the afterlife, why worry about salvation in this life?

“Someone objects that eternal extinction removes the fear of hell and encourages sin. But, we might ask, in whom? Skeptics make fun of the idea or use it as an excuse to charge God with injustice. Even those who say they believe the doctrine usually think it is for someone else and their lives remain unchanged as a result. The pragmatic argument based on supposed results cannot settle the issue since it begins with human response rather than with divine revelation. If the Bible teaches unending conscious torment, the human reaction does not annul what it teaches. If the Bible teaches everlasting extinction, no practical objection can make that less true. Evangelicals, remember, profess to derive final authority from the Word of God.”¹Fudge, Edward William. The Fire That Consumes: A Biblical and Historical Study of the Doctrine of Final Punishment, Third Edition (pp. 371-372). Cascade Books, an imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers. Kindle Edition.

People reject Christ over eternal conscious torment as well

I have on more than one occasion encountered people who will reject believing in God over the issue of eternal conscious torment in hell. I’ve heard people say they would never serve or believe in a God who would condemn people to eternal hell. The conditionals could say that the sword cuts both ways. Yes, it does.  However, when we look at the preaching of Jesus, we find out that he certainly did not teach universalism and he did warn people about the fires of hell.

• Matthew 5:29–30, “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 If your right-hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.”
• Matthew 13:40–42, “So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. 41 “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
• Matthew 18:8, “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire.”
• Matthew 25:41, “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels”
• Matthew 25:46, “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
• See also Mark 9:43-48; John 15:6

Jesus repeatedly warned people about the dire consequences of hell in the afterlife. He said it was better to lose body parts than enter whole into the unquenchable fire (Matt. 5:29-30; 18:8-9; Mark 9:43-48). Jesus gives the parable of the unrighteous steward who was squandering his master’s possessions. When discovered, the steward sought to make sure he would be okay in the future. So, before he was removed from his position, he quickly went to the debtors and told them to pay less than their total debts in order to settle everything. This, of course, would please the debtors and ingratiate the unrighteous steward in their eyes. This way he would be welcomed in their homes later on. Jesus then said in verse 9, “…make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.”  So, Jesus was warning people about the afterlife which is why he mentioned “eternal dwellings.”  Later in the same chapter (Luke 16:19-31), Jesus spoke of Lazarus, and the rich man and how they both died and one was in torment in the afterlife. In these two accounts, Jesus was urging people to make sure they do not enter into the fire. Nonexistence is not fire. It is neither safe nor unsafe. It is simply nothing. What is to fear in nothingness?  It is the same as before you were born.

Conclusion

I don’t believe annihilationists will admit that this is a potential problem because it would reveal a weakness in their position. Nevertheless, I believe there is an inherent danger the annihilationism (conditional immortality) when it comes to reaching the lost.  Not only does it deny Scripture, but it also goes against the warning of Christ, and weakens the necessity of believing in Christ now.

2 Corinthians 6:2, “for He says, ‘AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU, AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.’ Behold, now is ‘THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,’ behold, now is ‘THE DAY OF SALVATION.’”