Learning from the Rob Bell Firestorm
Monday, April 18, 2011 at 6:00AM My latest column at Christian Week:
I was in the middle of my chores on the last Saturday of February when I stopped to read some blogs. Justin Taylor, a top Christian blogger, had a new post called "Rob Bell: Universalist?" I showed the post to my wife, sent a link to the post to a friend and continued with my chores.
When I checked back later that day, I discovered that this single post had caused a firestorm. Hundreds of people had commented on the post. "Rob Bell" was a trending topic on Twitter. CNN and The New York Times carried the story. As I write this almost a month later, the controversy has not yet abated.
Why all the fuss? Rob Bell, a megachurch pastor in Grand Rapids, has written a new book called Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived
First, the whole controversy has revealed some serious tensions. Some of these are theological: what do we believe about heaven and hell? But there's an underlying question that's even more foundational: is theology even important? Just this morning I read this on Twitter: "Stop with debates re: heaven/hell and focus on real hell going in Yemen, Egypt, Libya, Japan, Palestine, etc." As someone who believes that theology is important, I need to realize that some Christians don't see it as important at all.
It's also revealed tensions between various groups. The so-called young, restless and Reformed crowd - those who tend to like pastors such as John Piper and Tim Keller - were the most outspoken against the book. Others seemed exasperated by this group. One commentator says, "You are witnessing something big right now. You are witnessing a new split in Protestant Evangelicalism...This may be the future of Evangelicalism - and we may all be witnessing the tipping point." I have no idea if he's right or not, but something big seems to be going on.
This controversy also reveals some challenges for us. The first challenge is for pastors. I'm only just now realizing how much influence the Internet has on the people within my church. I used to think that I had to teach how to be discerning on Facebook and MySpace; I now realize that I need to teach discernment in reading Christian blogs and listening to sermon podcasts. I still sometimes hear what a TV preacher has been saying; I'm increasingly hearing what some pastor said on YouTube or Twitter. I'm influenced too. It's causing me to reflect on the challenges of forming disciples when the Internet is forming people far more than we realize.
The second challenge is how to speak into the charged environment of online theological debates. I've felt a little like an adult in a Charlie Brown TV special: I open my mouth to speak, but all that comes out is an unintelligible sound. The debate has been noisy and polarized, and many of the voices have been shrill. The answer is not silence, at least in the long term. We need to know when to remain silent, but when we speak, we'd better know how to say something that's not shrill and that's not just more noise.
I have a feeling that Rob Bell's new book will be quickly forgotten, and that we'll move on to new books and fresh debates. But I also have a feeling that something's changed. As pastors and church leaders, we need to learn how to live in a world in which evangelicalism appears to be split; in which the online voices speak louder than ours; and in which it's increasingly harder to say anything that doesn't just add to the noise.
But I also believe that personal presence is more powerful than online presence; that your voice in your context will still be heard; and that God will still prevail, even in this new and crazy online world.
Reader Comments (4)
Good article Darryl. I agree both sides are guilty of noise making. Hopefully any theological split can be bridged in relational integrity. Bless you
Agreed. Just shared this with a friend who had asked me about Bell's book, and as always, you are the voice of calm in the storm. Thanks!
I think we need to speak up and name heresy when we see it rather than worry about who's offended. I don't mean we should call stuff that isn't heresy heresy but if someone declares a position that contradicts clear Scripture on a basic Bible doctrine like hell then the heresy alarm should sound, and Bible truth should be preached by pastures.
Sometimes splits are unavoidable. Christ divides. He is a stumbling stone and a rock of offense. The problem with Rob Bell's book is that it creates an assumption that there is somehow an gray area on the issue of condemnation. In a subsequent interview, Bell opined that God would be unjust to condemn those who do not accept Christ. Bell says, "“If, billions and billions and billions of people, God is going to torture them in hell forever – people who never heard about Jesus are going to suffer in eternal agony because they didn’t believe in theJesus they never heard of – then at that point we will have far bigger problems than a book from a pastor from Grand Rapid. . . "There are several problematical assumptions in this statement, not the least of which is a denial of responsibility for sin. The largest assumption, though, may be the "never heard about Jesus" one. Putting aside for a moment our ethnocentric idea that Christ is not preached elsewhere, Paul writes in Romans that,"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — havebeen clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse."This much is true - the world does have much bigger problems than a book from a pastor in Grand Rapids. "Without excuse" is pretty clear. Also clear is the character of God toward those who diligently seek him. Those who seek God will ultimately hear of Christ. ("You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart" Jeremiah 29:13). This has been proven time and again throughout history in places in the world we would never dream of.Jesus said that "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." I don't see how this is even a "theological" issue. It is one of basic truth. Either Jesus spokethe Truth, or He is irrelevant. How can we make an accommodation or maintain identity with those that teach that irrelevancy? Paul was extremely harsh with anyone who sought to undermine the basic message of the gospel, writing that "As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!" Galatians 1:9. What Bell is saying is certainly contrary to the core of the gospel I received. I see no middle ground here. I can't even call Bell's position "Christian." My only option is to treat him as one who does not know Christ and needs Him in his life.With regard to being "noise," if the internet is the new marketplace, the acropolis, Jerusalem on Pentecost, then I think we need to have faith that our voices will in fact be heard above the noise if we say what is True. We need to rely, not on argument, but in presentation of who Christ is and the evidence we have in our own lives of the changes Christ has made in us. Success, if it is to be found, will come not because we are more logical, more erudite, or more emotionally compelling, but because the Holy Spirit inhabits those Truths. I doubt the internet is any more noisy than Corinth was when Paul came in fear and trembling, resolved to know nothing but "Christ and Him crucified." That worked out pretty well.