Thoughts about "Love Wins" Part 2

The disagreements that I have about the Rob Bell's new book are not minor. They are major. Would I therefore advise others to not read the book? No way. The reasons why I would never discourage people from reading a book like this will be the subject of this second post.

First though, I have to comment on why I am asking the question. Before the book was released, there were a number of tweets, blogs and magazine articles that were dismissive, of not just the book, but of Rob Bell as a person. When the book was released, many people's suspicions were confirmed. At least one report surfaced of a pastor loosing his position, in part, because of his support of Bell's writing. Many other churches have strongly discouraged staff from quoting anything from the new book or saying anything positive about it in tweets and facebook statuses. It's because of these reactions and others to the book, that I ask the question this post answers. 

 Why I would never discourage others from reading this book:

1). I have no right to tell you what to think.
I can tell you what I believe scripture teaches in my best understanding of it. But only you can decide what to do with that. The point of having a brain is to think. But to think takes work and most of us don't want to do this so we formulate our opinions from fragments of other people's reactionary rants. This is potentially hazardous to our spiritual (& intellectual) development. I listed the problems that I had with the book in my first post. Please, do not take my conclusions or anyone's conclusions as yours, unless after your own study, reflection and prayer, you land at the same places.

2. Informed Dialogue is crucial to discovering truth.
One of the many quotes I agree with from the book is in the preface in which Bell writes about "...the beauty of the historic, orthodox Christian faith. It's a deep, wide, diverse stream that's been flowing for thousands of years, carrying a staggering variety of voices, perspectives and experiences." You do not have to scratch deep to see the truth in this statement. Calvinism, Arminianism, Catholicism, Pentecostalism, Anabaptist and other forms of Christian belief have major, not minor differences on Hell, Salvation, Tribulation and our life in this world. Yet, today, can a member of the Baptists simply dismiss a member of Assemblies of God or can an Assembly of God member dismiss a Catholic brother or sister? Sadly, this has been done throughout church history but at what price to the body of Christ and His purposes on this earth?

There is not one group that can say they alone understand the full truth of the scriptures. On this side of eternity, we know only in part (1 Co 13:12). As evidenced by the plethora of different doctrines in churches that we consider today to be Christian, there is much in the Bible that is simply not as crystal clear as the dogma would have us to believe. What has been most beneficial through the ages to our theology is open conversation and debate about those areas that are not crystal clear.

Sadly, we have crossed a line somewhere in which the conversation itself is discouraged. When did a nod concerning one thought or an idea of a person become synonymous with agreement on all things that a person stands for? Really? When did this happen? Do not pastors quote St. Francis of Assisi,  St. Augustine, Martin Luther or Charles Finney, just to name a few? Are they aware of their thoughts on hell or heaven or salvation? I submit to you that many of those that are considered to now be the most influential in church history had some very heretical ideas. Yet today, they are quoted from the pulpits while staff members get fired for quoting Bell. "Love Wins" hopefully causes people to get back into their Bibles, study it for themselves and talk about it with others and this is valuable. We used to have the ability to chew the meat and spit out the bones. Now leaders think it is their responsibility to put their hands in the mouths of those they are to serve and pull out the bones because the person eating is incapable to telling the difference between the two.

3. There is subtle danger of "knowing" we are right.
As I said in #1, my job as a pastor is, in part, to tell you what I believe the scriptures teach. In one sense, it is not a matter of ME being right at all but rather striving to make sure I get the scriptures right. I am not God's lawyer and I do not need to defend Him (what a terrible job I would do at that anyway). I am not insecure by Bell's writings. It is not my ways or my truth that is being considered and questioned but Gods. When we remove our ego and insecurity and need to always be right out of the equation, we can more easily make it about God and have an honest struggle through sections of His word.

In our reactionary age, I see this happening less and less. In its stead, I see entire movements of Christianity springing up which are closed to any discussion beyond what they consider to be THE RIGHT interpretation of scripture. An interpretation, by the way, that they have arrived at by 2000 years of other people's discussions.

There is an incredibly judgmental and divisive spirit in the church today. Self-proclaimed janitors who believe they are sent to clean up theology's messes in a way that can easily damage the purposes of God for His body. They do not understand that the manner in which they try to stay true to the Bible ignores huge chunks of the Bible that speak of how we are to interact with one another and so, they invalidate their scriptural integrity.

A key element for theological discussions to be healthy and beneficial is humility and speech seasoned with grace. Those who already "know" have nothing else to learn. And this is sad because a disciple of Jesus never arrives but is always the pupil.


In addition to these points, as I have stated in my previous post, there are sections of the book that I whole heartily agree with. I think Bell gets some thing really wrong in my understanding of what the scripture teaches. There are some things that he gets right. Probably just like you and me.

"...knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know." - 1 Co 8:1-2