A Hard to Hear Parable: The Rich Man and Lazarus

The Parable of the Rich man and Lazarus is difficult to take in. Jesus is addressing leaders who are scoffing at his message and he warns them that they are justifying themselves merely from the frame of reference of human standards, but that God examines their hearts. And then he lays on them an appalling picture of consequences in the afterlife. He depicts both heaven and hell and the people who are taken to each place. Has the prospect of ending up in hell ever caused you to stop and consider what God's appraisal of your heart might be?