Monday 28 March 2011

Rob Bell

Rob Bell!  There I’ve said it.  It seems everyone is blogging about him, tweeting about him, being interviewed about him and  talking about him – well since his new book ‘Love Wins’ was announced anyway.  Here’s my take on the whole ‘Is Rob Bell a Universalist?’ debate. 

I don’t care.

I read a few web articles out of curiosity and some made some interesting points both pro and anti Bell’s book but I’m not going to link to them here or promote one over another because what does it matter what he believes?  Nor am I going to buy or read his book or engage in the debate any more.  As my, very wise, wife pointed out to me this morning it’s not like he’s altered the Bible!  Is God diminished because Rob Bell believes something I believe to be heretical?  No.  Is God enhanced because Rob Bell has a wonderful truth to impart to me?  No.  Am I a part of Rob Bells congregation?  No.  Are you?  Unlikely, if you’re reading this blog!  So what does it matter to you what he says, believes, writes or teaches?  If Rob Bell's ‘stuff’ brings life to you and helps you in your walk with Jesus then enjoy it, if it doesn’t float your boat then don’t engage with it. Listen to someone else’s teaching or ‘horror-of-horrors’ actually read your Bible for yourself more and ask the Holy Spirit to give you some fresh revelation!

As my friend Godfrey has noted in the past the ‘spiritual police’ are often around in our meetings – checking stuff out to see if it’s right or if it’s wrong.  Sadly those ‘spiritual police’ are sometimes not the modern day Pharisees and legalists, they’re us!  We have this crazy urge to judge everything and decide if it lines up with what we believe and then get all huffy if it doesn’t.  We get especially wound up if the person is successful, influential and, dare I say it, American!  We British often like to feel smugly superior with our, often, cynical world view and think things like ‘I would never have fallen for all that style-over-substance nonsense’ or ‘those naïve Americans will believe anything if it’s slick and flashy!’.  We justify our criticism by feeling like we’re part of some low-rent Christian team of ‘X-Men’, saving the church from the heretics and deceivers.  “I must quickly nip into this phone box and change into ‘Heresy Man’ – I fight untruth and dodgy-doctrine wherever it may be found”!  Nonsense, our responsibility is to love one another in the same way as the Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father, not to nit-pick over the beliefs and teachings of someone 4,000 miles away leading a congregation we’re not even a member of!

Again as Godfrey has said “Let’s hand in our home-made ‘spiritual police’ badges - we made them, God didn’t give us them.”

Wouldn’t it be nice if in our attitudes to other parts of the church, part of the bride of Christ, it was actually true that ‘Love Wins’?

9 comments:

  1. Nice- looks like freedom to me! I didn't know Brits ever made fun of Americans! LOL!!

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  2. Great points made here. A friend received the book through the post the other day and I flicked through it. I probbaly buy my own copy and post something about it - if only to keep my own little blog going! But I was also thinking that Rob Bell (whether we agree with him or not) will not have the last word on the subject and so maybe buying it is not really necessary. I also totally agree that we need to read the Bible and think for ourselves about where we stand on issues.

    One good reason to but it though is that it would bless Bell - and after the torrent of verbal abuse he's had to endure over it, maybe he could do with some extra blessings!

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  3. Dyfed,

    I sincerely doubt Rob is in need of any financial blessing as he leads a church of 40,000 and they're pretty big on teaching giving in the American churches, some of which will be good scriptural teaching on having a generous heart and some will be lousy manipulative exploiting of the masses!

    Any posts you subsequently make about the book will, sadly, not be read by me as I have stated in my blog that I won't be engaging in the debate any more!! ;-)

    Phil

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  4. Nancy,

    Us Brits LOVE making fun of Americans - you're such easy targets! However the Tyler family LOVE you more than we love teasing you.

    Phil

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  5. Good post Phil. I agree - I don't care! May Love win X

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  6. Great post Phil, made me smile before going to bed thank you, love (and a touch of humour) wins! Jx

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  7. Hadn't heard of the guy till you mentioned him here actually! Googled around a bit and haven't actually read anything much that I disagree with as yet either. Loved this quote on another blog about it:

    "The thing is even if I had done my PhD on his theology and knew his work inside out, I still wouldn’t brand the guy a heretic. Why? Because the term carries with it such nasty undertones. It shouts, ‘I know better than you’. It growls, ‘I have a better handle on the truth than you’. In earlier times it picked up a stone, or a hammer and nails, or struck a match, to silence the accused once and for all."

    Totally agree - it's God's church and while we are called to be discerning, we are also called not to judge. Even Jesus said "He who is not against me is for Me" and good old James points out that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Hmmm, methinks any taste of superiority in Christian thinking over another believer who may or may not be making mistakes puts you a position of pride and it isn't other people who oppose you then, it is God Himself. Scarey thought!!

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  8. Thanks for the kind words folks!

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  9. I get a sense that this thread may of blown up at some point LOL, GLORY! I bought 'The Book' read half of it LOL, and got a sense that Rob believed a lot more than he was letting on to LOL, I wish he would really of spoke his heart and divulged what he really thought LOL, I was so expecting Rob to communicate some of what I've been thinking recently but hey ALAS! LOL. X

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