The thing about hell & Rob Bell

The Twitterverse was buzzing yesterday afternoon with thoughts on Rob Bell. Rob Bell was a Trending Topic... until the Oscars came on (and man was that awful! Social Network should have won more. Christian Bale forgot his wife's name, Anne Hathaway was terrible, they cut some people off after 15 seconds and let others ramble for 15 minutes and James Franco- quadruple F would be a generous grade... but i i digress...)

Justin Taylor wrote this post calling out Rob Bell.
Many people did not like it
Ironically, they judge others for judging.
Interestingly, some hide behind a veneer of humility, while arrogantly claiming their interpretation is correct and others are not.
i would say this post was done well. The blogger showed some gentleness and instruction.
Kevin DeYoung's post was pretty good... but i'm still gonna write


Theology is important. It is not petty. And it is not trivial.
And Doctrine is not a matter of mere opinion. It is something we should fight over - for it is what we believe about God.


i believe John Piper, Josh Haris, Justin Taylor, Kevin DeYoung and others - are standing up for truth. Their aim is to protect the flock.

When someone stands up for God, they will be put down- often by their own people.
When David stood up to Goliath, the fiercest opposition came from the people of Israel and his own brothers. David had faith God, stood up for the character of God, and got berated by people.


Still i agree that perhaps Justin Taylor could have waited for the book to come out or done a better job prefacing his statements on the blog.
Even if he says he will retract afterwards if he is found to be mistaken, that is not a good approach. Slander is not something can be recovered from very quickly.

He is critiquing the video and not the book. So, i think that is fair.

However, i don't think Bell's stance is as clear as he or Kevin DeYoung say it is.

After reading some of Bell's other works, i find that his actual belief and teaching is very unclear. He play devil's advocate. His approach is to get the reader/viewer to think for themselves.


Rob Bell if you read this, let me say this:

i appreciate your penetrating questions. i like how you make us think. However, as a pastor/teacher you have a responsibility. You have responsibility to make your teaching clear and to make your teaching accurate.
Your goal should not be to sell books or generate interest or create a buzz.
Your goal should not be to help people feel comfortable going to church.
Your goal should not be to make people feel good.
Your goal should be worship in spirit and truth. Your goal should be to exalt Christ and the Gospel.

i like that you examine faith.
but i also think you tread on dangerous waters and ride on a slippery slope.
While our understanding of God and His Word are ever expanding, there are truths that need to be foundational- for everyone.
The Gospel needs to be protected.

When i worked with college students at the University of Michigan, i always loved working with those who came from your church. They were leaders. They were active in ministry. They knew your Word and wanted to know it more.
i didn't care so much for your nooma videos, but others loved it. And honestly, the way you take every day things and relate it to our faith & walk is something i do all the time. So, i liked it.

When friends were reading  Velvet Elvis and raving about it, i took a look. i loved the first chapter... but it went downhill from there for me.

Are you a universilist or an inclusivist? i don't know. But i wouldn't be surprised.
You are an influential person and a leader. The Bible says you will face stricter judgment... so act accordingly.


i don't know where Bell's going with this, but i like some questions and thoughts he brings up
   
         Then there is the question behind the questions. The real question [is], “What is God like?”, because millions and millions of people were taught that the primary message, the center of the gospel of Jesus, is that God is going to send you to hell unless you believe in Jesus. And so what gets subtly sort of caught and taught is that Jesus rescues you from God. But would kind of God is that, that we would need to be rescued from this God? How could that God ever be good? How could that God ever be trusted? And how could that ever be good news?

Jesus rescues you from God
We need to make sure our teaching is clear. Jesus rescues us from the penalty of our sin. He does in certain terms rescue us from the wrath of God. We cannot diminish the wrath of God in any sort. However, we also should not view God as our enemy. Nor should we view Jesus as separate from God.

The truth is this:
1. Hell is spoken of often in the Bible, especially by Christ. Hell is going to be a terrible place
2. God is wrathful. We don't like to hear it, neither did the people like it when Jeremiah spoke for God. He is holy. He hates sin. He is wrathful.
3. We need a Savior. And Jesus is that Savior
4. Those who have Christ have eternal life. Those who don't have Christ will be thrown into the lake of fire.

To diminish any aspect of God's character is an insult and idolatry.
To diminish Christ's work & role in our salvation is wrong and not worship.


Further, some say hell is simply dogma or based on tradition.
These days in America (yes i emphasize America) what is new is considered best. What is novel is what should be followed. While tradition can be problematic, it is not a problem in itself. Only when the tradition gets elevated above God Himself. We are wise to heed the teachings of tradition. Certainly it is not infallible. Only God's Word is infallible, but it helps us in our understanding of Scripture.


i can wish no one goes to hell. but that doesn't stop me from warning people of it.

While John Piper and others are not perfect. i don't always agree with them. i am glad for people who stand up for truth. Who do the unpopular thing, but shepherd their flock.

The thing about holiness

A few years ago when my friends blogged a lot, someone once wrote “Being a Christian doesn’t mean we have to be weird”

I’ve been thinking about that… and… I disagree.

You know, I used to love the stories how teenagers discovered that Church/youth groups/college groups were actually fun. It wasn’t weird at all.

In fact, I had that experience in college. It really helped me to see normal fun people in a group, and God used that to grow me.

But,… should this be our goal?

To be normal? To be fun? To be liked? To be accepted?

When I was at Michigan there was an article in the school paper about how Christians wanted to be accepted on campus.

It made me uneasy. We’re not looking for acceptance. We’re already accepted by God thru Christ. And if we’re going to follow Christ, He promises rejection and suffering. He suffered rejection and no servant is better than His master. If we are to follow Christ, we will be rejected.

But in our pursuits to be normal, aren’t we just fleeing rejection?

We are called to be holy as God is holy.

What does holy mean?

To be set apart.

To be set apart. To be other than. To be different.

What makes God Holy? He is different than the world. He acts in ways contrary to the world. He is pure & righteouess- not selfish & corrupted.

And if we are to be like God, we’ll be different than the world. And if we’re different than the world – isn’t that weird?

Isn’t this a small price to pay?

So, people think I’m strange. They don’t understand me. They don’t understand my choices.

If we are to be like God and be holy amongst a sinful, unholy world- we will be different. And some may feel uncomfortable. Many may make fun of us. We will be different.

We can’t be holy and be like the world.

The thing about Tolerance

America is all about tolerance.

The worst thing you can be in America is intolerant.

And the ultimate good seems to be tolerance… or so they say.

Of course, what they mean by tolerance isn’t tolerance – it is acceptance.

Accepting other people is great. Tolerating people should be acceptable… but it’s not in American culture. Tolerance is not tolerated. Only Acceptance is acceptible

While people say they are about tolerance & diversity, they only tolerate that which they agree with – which is not really tolerance is it?

There are certain things which become issues anyway…

1.     Things that are trendy & popular

2.     Things that don’t really affect them personally

3.     Things that oppose a Biblical world-view (or so it seems)

Sometimes though, the people who are proclaiming and fighting for tolerance are not acting tolerant at all – or at least not enough.

Around 9/11 there was a lot of hubbub about a Mosque going up at Ground Zero. For all those crying tolerance & understanding- were they really being understanding & sympathetic to those who lost loved ones there who were offended by it?

And then people said instead of a Mosque build a religious epicenter.

They think they are promoting tolerance.

But that is not tolerant at all.

The Muslims don’t want a multi-religious center! Don’t you know anything about Islam at all???!!!

They believe in ONE God. That is core to their belief. Say what you may about their belief on Jihad- they will agree there is only one God. And anyone else is an infidel.

(But Americans are too arrogant to actually look at what they believe r even say – b/c they are arrogant enough to think only Americans could/would think that way).

The recent recant of “Don’t ask Don’t tell” is also making airwaves. I don’t know for sure, but I thought initially this was established to protect gay men & women from being prejudiced against. This was saying someone’s sexual preference has no regard on their ability to do this job, so why is it important?

It seems like with gay rights, it is not about equal standing, but they get more rights.

But can’t we just treat each other like human beings?

The thing is, tolerance does not equal love.

This should be our real aim. Love. Equality is a result of love. If we aimed at love, equality, acceptance, tolerance would all be achieved.

Perhaps people set their aim too low!

However, some people don’t want love, they just want acceptance.

But

Is it loving to let a girl engage in anorexia? She wants to be accepted for what she does because it makes her feel good – but it is destroying her body and her psyche. Do we stop her?

How about an alcoholic. They like drinking, they enjoy it. Do we tell them to seek help?

Now, people may send religious freedom and sexual preference have nothing to do with this. And it is different, but for those who have faith in the Bible, we aim to help & love.

Tolerance in America has become a religion. To say all beliefs lead to the same path is to assert one’s belief of God & eternity. To say certain people deserve acceptance and kindness, while others deserve to be mocked, humiliated and hated shows one’s view of man. And to say all lifestyle choices are ok, show one’s view of right & wrong.

As Christians, we should aim to love. We should seek to understand and show kindness. We should not tolerate sin or anything that goes against God’s righteousness. We should not aim to be pleasing to man, but pleasing to God- while recognizing loving others pleases God.

And ultimately, we need to put the glory of God in Christ above all things – even if it is unpopular and not tolerated.