The conversation

Note: if you are reading this on facebook, it doesn't mean I've broken my fast! My account automatically imports my posts, so if you want me to respond to your comments you'll have to wait til Easter, or post them on the blog itself.

Now normally I don't make a big deal about differences between my brothers & sisters in the faith when it comes to differences in doctrine. Most of the disagreements that Christians have are a matter of emphasis - placing importance on one teaching over another. I also hesitate to blog about such things because I'm mindful of my unchurched friends & family who read my stuff that either don't understand the issues or just don't care. It can really turn people off, Christian or not, when you take issue with what others believe. Some have disagreed with me, (even so far as to call me a son of Satan & a false teacher if you can believe that), so I take great care in what & how I say things which are contrary to other's views. But I felt I had to write about Rob Bell and his recent book, "Love Wins." Now in fairness I haven't read the book, but I have heard about the buzz it generated. Recently Bell was interviewed on MSNBC about the book, and I have to say I was disappointed with what he had to say. You can watch the interview below or, if you're reading this on facebook, click here to see it.



First I have to say I didn't think Bell adequately answered the question about God's all-powerful nature and His concern for the world. In fairness it isn't an easy question to answer in the first place. But to ask the question, "Is God all-powerful but doesn't care about earthquakes in Japan, or does He care but can't do anything about it?" is a false dichotomy. An either/or answer can't be given here. Is God all-powerful? I believe He is. Is He good? Again I say yes. So why then so people suffer? We can say that God respects the freedom to choose, and that sometimes we suffer the consequences of other people's choices. This doesn't explain natural disasters though. But natural disasters are just that - they are natural. They are neither good nor bad, they just are and they are also part of the forces that shape the planet we live on. I don't know why an all-power and all-good God allows for earthquakes & tsunamis, but if God is good, then we have to assume that God has a good reason to allow them to happen. It's not an easy answer I admit, and it may be an easy one to come up with since I'm not recently affected by a natural disaster. But in a small way I know what it's like to suffer senselessly.

Second, I'm really concerned about what Bell may be implying in the interview. From what I understand of his writing, according to the interviewer, Bell is saying that everyone will be saved. Again I haven't read the book. But if this is what Bell implies then this means he believes there is no hell (or maybe it will be empty), and therefore no justice will be dispensed on those who reject God and do wrong in this life. Now I know that the notion of hell is disturbing to most people, and there's a lot of misunderstanding about the importance of hell. Putting it simply hell is the place where an all-loving God lets people go to when they choose to live for themselves. As C.S. Lewis put it, there are those who will say to God, "Your will be done," and those to whom God will say, "Fine, have it your way." Basically it's the place where self-absorbed lives will go on for eternity. If that's not hell I don't know what is. But the good news is that Jesus came to save us from hell - not just the one we create for ourselves in this life but the one we make for ourselves in eternity.

"But what about those who never hear about Jesus? Where do they go when they die?" That's another hard question to ask. But while a universalist view brings a comfortable, easy answer, it makes God smaller. A universalist God is not that holy; He tolerates sin. A universalist God is not all-loving; He isn't motivated by the sacrificial love demonstrated by Jesus' death on the cross. And He's not all-powerful; He can't reach those who have no church and no Bible. But He is all these things. I believe that if God is that holy, that loving and that powerful, and if there is that much at stake, He will somehow and some way make Himself known. Our job as Christians is to do everything in our power share the gospel with those who are in our path, and trust God with the fate of those who we have yet been unable to reach.

Now again I know that there are those who believe it doesn't matter what we believe, and to you I say I respect your view. But I'm mainly writing to believers who are taken by Rob Bell's approach to the faith. I never have been comfortable with Rob Bell, and I've bristled at the comparison some of my friends have made with him and me. Though I think some good has come of it I've never been a fan of the Emergent Church movement and its view that theology is just an ongoing discussion, but hopefully I've added to the conversation in a constructive way. But if what they're saying about his latest book is true, then for me this is cause for alarm. You can't say you believe the Bible is true and then ignore one of its major themes - that a loving, good and powerful God came to save us from an eternity of separation from Him. And that's what sin does - it separates us from relationship with God. It does it in this life, and death just makes that separation permanent.

And a lot worse.