Heretic!
Heathen!
Wolf in Sheep’s clothing!
Is this what we talk about when we talk
about Rob Bell?
In case you have never heard of the man,
Rob Bell is the author of some pretty controversial, provocative, and thought
provoking books.
Book titles like:
Velvet Elvis
Jesus Came to Save Christians
Sex God
Love Wins
What We Talk About When We Talk About
God?
All books I have in my library (which
looks like child’s play compared to many others), all books I have personally
read.
Rob Bell was also the pastor of Mars
Hill Bible Church in Michigan and the writer and narrator of a series of
spiritual short films titled NOOMA.
Rob Bell has done great things in the
name of the Kingdom of God!
He questioned beliefs that many of us
hold onto so tightly today!
He challenged all of our sacred cows
(and by that I mean theology that we KNOW is true and right…sarcasm on the KNOW)!
But lately, however, Bell has come out
in “support” of same sex marriage, where he was quoted saying:
"I am for fidelity. I am for love,
whether it's a man and a woman, a woman and a woman, a man and a man. I think
the ship has sailed and I think that the church needs to just … this is the
world that we are living in and we need to affirm people wherever they are,"
I have struggled with this since reading
it all last week. It is clear in the Bible that marriage is God established (Genesis
& Ephesians just to name a couple) to be between 1 man and 1 woman. Science
proves that procreation can only happen between 1 man and 1 woman.
So what is Bell trying to say here?
That we need to condone sin?
That we should “give in” to the pressure
of culture…because that ship has sailed?
That we need to take sound doctrine and
truth, throwing them out with the bath water?
WHAT DO WE DO WITH IT?
Call him crazy and move on with our “perfect”
Christian lives? I think when we do that, we are ignoring the tension that has
been created.
Do we take to social media and the web
and blast the name Rob Bell? I think when we do that we are acting nothing like
Jesus!
So, what do we do?
I think we treat Rob the way God treats
Rob…with love and grace and mercy and patience.
But that seems impossible, doesn’t it?
When you read passages of scripture like Galatians 1: 6-10 and 2 Timothy 4: 3-4…
We are quick to judge. False Gospel,
sound doctrine!!
When we are driving our children around
and someone cuts us off, we are quick to give them a piece of our horn…or yet
our mind…maybe even let them know they are number one with our middle finger…
When we know of a family member or a
friend who needs a hand up, not a hand out, and we do nothing for them…because
we know it will be hard and messy and time consuming…
When we treat friends and family like
material belongings, just because we can, and fail to admit our mistakes and
shortcomings…
When we let grudges and beef continue to
go on for days and weeks and months without resolving them, because we are afraid
to look in the mirror and admit we may have blood on our hands…
What type of Gospel is that? It’s not
the Gospel of Jesus, that’s for sure!
What about when we go to church just to
consume and for the 6 other days out of the week, we don’t utter Jesus’ name
one bit. We don’t even serve our own spouse or children, but we sure as hell
serve on the coffee team at church…
What about when we trust in our 401K or
our retirement IRA more than we trust in God’s word, His true and Holy Bible
that he will provide for us…
What about when we take scripture and
twist it and turn it to strong arm people to believe in our points and our
agendas and OUR doctrines…
Is that any better or worse than what
people are attacking Rob Bell for?
You may be saying…But Grant, I do hold
restraint when someone cuts me off while I’m driving. I do meet the needs of as
many friends as I can. I try to “man up” to my mistakes. I do serve my church
and my family to the best of my ability. I don’t have a retirement plan, so I
am trusting God will take care of me. And I always take scripture into context.
To you I say what Jesus said in John 8:7…
Throw the first stone!
Just because we don’t have the platform
Bell has, doesn’t make ANY of us better or less of a sinner than Bell is!
It’s in situations and times like this
we need to show the love of God in ways that doesn’t make any damn sense
whatsoever to a person who has never felt Gods’ love!!
It’s in times like this we need to be on
our knees praying for our brothers and sisters instead of praying for our own
gains, our own agendas!
It’s in times and situations like this
we need to be the church…the inclusive church…
It’s in times like this we need to run
to Jesus and ask for wisdom and patience and love in the midst of the tension.
Maybe after reading this someone will
call me a heretic, heathen, wolf in sheep’s clothing.
To you, I invite you to listen and think
on the song “Fear” by Lecrae on his album Anomaly.
