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Gentle Reader,
You know what time it is. Kate and the crowd and some chocolate. A little humor and a little prayer.
We: open.
Go.
“Do not be so open-minded that your brains fall out.”
Rob Bell is causing a fuss again, although I don’t know why anything he says catches anyone by surprise. He hasn’t changed his stance on anything, really. I read Velvet Elvis years ago and wasn’t impressed by either the theology or the writing style. I saw a couple of the Nooma videos and found nothing substantial in them. I perused enough of Love Wins before chucking it across the room to know that it was just the same, tired, old “relevant” religion in a slicker, hipster-pleasing package. (Seriously, where does Bell get his clothes? During his interview with Oprah he sported some pretty sweet cuffed skinny jeans. And, oh, the boots!)
Side note: I won’t even get into how silly it is to take spiritual direction from Oprah right now.
I’ve never met Bell. I have no idea what he’s like in person. But based on his writing, I can say with certainty that what he sells isn’t the truth. The mishandling and even dismissal of Scripture, the constant harping on being “relevant,” (so bizarre to me, because what can possibly be more relevant – and transcendent – than Christ and Him crucified?), the outright call to travel along the world’s trajectory….
There’s nothing new under the sun. This kind of stuff has been preached and plastered everywhere for centuries. Bell is simply the latest, hippest peddler.
We have GOT to know the truth. We have got to be steeped in it. We have to know it backwards and forwards and inside out.
Should we be open enough to consider ideas? To have conversations? Absolutely.
But let’s not be so open we lose that which is most dear.
Stop.
Wow!!! Awesome post. Truer words have not been spoken. It is just so sad that people are so desperate for ‘something’ that they miss the Way, the Truth, and the Life that Jesus is.
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It genuinely scares me how close we can get to Jesus and yet miss Him. God, grant us the wisdom to latch on and hold tight!
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I’ve only read one of his books (the one about his relationship with his dad–can’t remember the title), and I liked it–but mostly because it was about the relationship with his dad. I don’t keep up on controversies much, and I don’t real a lot of books by ‘famous’ Christian authors. Jesus IS the way, the truth and the light. If our focus is on anything/one/else, we’ve lost sight of the truth.
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I shouldn’t keep up on controversies because it makes my blood pressure rise. 🙂 You are so right when you say that our focus has to be Jesus. Anything and anyone else is just…less!
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Marie, I can tell you’re passionate about this topic. There’s such a balance between keeping an open mind and holding on to Truth. I’ve found myself on a pendulum, osculating between fundamentalism and open theology in just the last 5 years. It’s my prayer that that the Holy Spirit will teach me and guide me and guard me throughout this journey of walking out The Faith.
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I believe that He will, Asheritah! God rewards those who diligently seek HIm (Hebrews 11:6).
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Great insight! I saw you tweeting last night about Rob Bell so I knew somehow he was back in the spotlight. Thank you for sharing this!
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Funny how these “famous” people never really go away, isn’t it?
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Amen, sister! I just read about this earlier today. I love (hate) how he called the bible 2000 year old letters and irrelevant. Ahem, word of GOD? No? oh okay…moving on…Great post, lady!!
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Ha! Love the “moving on.” If only more people would!
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Rob is outside my scope these days … I remember watching some of the Nooma series and having some good discussions about them, but he hasn’t been on my radar lately. I guess maybe I should look into that? Or not. Anything that dismisses the cross of Christ in favor of being “relevant” above all else? Maybe I’ll just stick with the Hebrews study with IF: Equip and stay connected in my Lenten study. Thanks for making this bold statement girl! ♥
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I think you’ve got good stuff going. Bell won’t add anything. 🙂 I love and continue to pray for you!
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Ah yes – I saw you on fb earlier today chiming in on this ‘new’ controversy! I have mixed feeling about Rob and actually really enjoyed some of his Nooma videos, and I enjoy how he can stir up conversations and challenge us to knoow what we believe. But, he can obviously go too far on many fronts and I didn’t actually see the interview/show but of course we know that the Word of God is always always always relevant! (Something about the living breathing Word and how heaven and earth will pass away but not so much these ‘letters’ from 2000 years ago! Yeah. That.) 😉
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I adore everything you put in parenthesis. Sums it all up quite nicely!
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Ok, so clearly I don’t get out much! Bell… ??? haha looks like I’m not missing much tho! I completely agree about being open but not too open. We have Truth in our Bibles, and thank God for that!! I’ve always been weary of the big time evangelists (if that’s who this Bell fellow is). Regardless, it’s great to converse with others but we should always refer to scripture to make sure it’s accurate info that we hear. Thanks for the FYI about Bell… I’ll stay away thanks 🙂
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We definitely need to hold up everything we see, hear and read against the truth of Scripture, Shannon! Amen!
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Bell sells more books by “pandering” to people like Oprah and saying what many people, both in the general population and in more liberal churches and synagogues want to hear. I don’t know where Bell is getting his current information, but when I read “Love Wins,” I realized he was citing religious Jewish sources, since various branches of Judaism have a different perspective on the afterlife than Evangelical Christianity. It seems Bell isn’t above using the interests of different groups to achieve his ends, which is to sell his material. I wonder what he really believes?
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That’s a good point, James. He does pull from a wide variety of sources to cobble together his “teaching.” And it sells. He’s got an ear to what will make him the most money.
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