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Rob Bell on faith, suffering, and Christians

E-mail|Link|Comments () Posted by Michael Paulson September 26, 2009 10:55 AM

Rob Bell is one of the hottest names in contemporary evangelical life. He is the founding pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, but is better known for his books, and especially, for his road show, which combines preaching with performance art, and is much-talked among folks trying to discern what’s next for American evangelicalism. He is currently touring in conjunction with a book, “Drops Like Stars: A Few Thoughts on Creativity and Suffering,’’ and last weekend he appeared at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston. I caught up with Bell by telephone in Ottawa to ask him about what he’s up to.

Q: What does it mean to you to be an evangelical?
A: I take issue with the word to a certain degree, so I make a distinction between a capital ‘E’ and a small ‘e.’ I was in the Caribbean in 2004, watching the election returns with a group of friends, and when Fox News, in a state of delirious joy, announced that evangelicals had helped sway the election, I realized, this word has really been hijacked. I find the word troubling, because it has come in America to mean politically to the right, almost, at times, anti-intellectual. For many, the word has nothing to do with a spiritual context.

Q: OK, how would you describe what it is that you believe?
A: I embrace the term evangelical, if by that we mean a belief that we together can actually work for change in the world, caring for the environment, extending to the poor generosity and kindness, a hopeful outlook. That's a beautiful sort of thing.

Q: Is religion a part of that?
A: At the heart of the Christian story is resurrection, the belief that this word is good, and that, as a follower of Jesus, a belief that God hasn’t abandoned the world, but is actively at work in the world. Even in the midst of what can look like despair and destruction there is a new creation present.

Q: You’re sometimes described as an evangelical rock star, and portrayed as a kind of evangelical celebrity. What do you make of that?
A: It's a little unnerving, to say the least. Celebrity seems totally at odds with authentic community and honest, real sorts of relationships.

Q: But you come out of the rock world?
A: I was in a band. Some friends and I had a band. We were convinced we were the next great saviors of rock music.

Q: Do you preach, or perform?
A: I came up through your standard go-to-seminary path, served as an apprentice pastor, did weddings and funerals and hospital visits, but I always veered toward creating things. I was always setting stuff on fire, building things, bringing in piles of dirt. And I started to realize that there’s a dimension to the sermon in which it’s a kind of performance art. Over the years, I’ve realized that I have as much in common with the performance artist, the standup comedian, the screenwriter, as I do with the theologian. I’m in an odd world where I make things and share them with people.

Q: Presumably your events have a different goal than those of a stand-up comedian?
A: At the heart of the historic Christian story has been an insistence that every individual matters. So I think, for a lot of people, just hearing you matters. There are great causes of our day, and we can each take a small role and do something about that.

Q: But what is the purpose of your tours?
A: One is that, when you work really hard to create something, a book or a film or a sermon, it’s just pure joy to share it with people. Tonight I’m in Ottawa, and I’ll go up and for two hours take people on a journey through the content of the book. It’s the joy of the communal gathering, taking these ideas and turning them loose. At the most basic level, it’s just great fun.

Q: What is this tour about?
A: Give me the right music and lighting and setting, and you can do almost anything. What’s far more interesting is when people are presented with ideas and begin to reshape the way you see the world. This tour, I’m walking people through suffering and creativity. How many people, if you ask them to talk about defining moments in their lives, mention really hard things? People rarely say, ‘Well, I went on vacation…’ These moments in our lives that are the most traumatic, that we would do anything to avoid, end up in retrospect being the moments that shape us. My goal is to create an experience that opens people up. There is no altar call. No one comes down and checks a box.

Q: Why do you perform in entertainment venues?
A: I'm most comfortable in clubs and theaters. That's where I feel most at home. And I don’t believe the church is a building – it’s a group of people who have gathered around the resurrection. I don’t even buy the idea that a pile of bricks somewhere is a church. There may be more church going on at the punk rock club anyway. And people will say things like that – ‘We were at a crap dive, and I had a strange feeling that I was experiencing the divine.’’

Q: How did you get interested in suffering?
A: As a pastor, you get invited into the most poignant moments of people’s lives. Whether it's a wedding or a funeral or a hospital visit, you get invited into the center of the event, whether or not you know the people. So I repeatedly found myself literally in the front row of the most visceral, traumatic sorts of moments in people’s lives. And then, just doing lectures at a creativity forum and a writing festival, and talking about how art comes to be, there was a connection between these two halves of my life – all these connections between suffering and art-making.

Q: What have you learned from thinking about suffering?
A: For a lot of people, dominant questions center around, ‘Why is this happening? Why me? Why now?’ Unfortunately, the religious voice often enters into the discussion at an inappropriate time – ‘God just planned this.’ Really? Your God planned this, not mine. Maybe there's great wisdom in holding our tongue. The religious voice starts talking when it should probably be quiet. And there is a human response to suffering that often involves anger and hurt. That's totally normal and OK. My dad’s dad died when my dad was 8, and the culture in which he lived said, ‘We will not grieve, because that would be questioning God.’ People have all of this stuff in there, brewing and bubbling, and yet oftentimes people are handed this framework that doesn’t allow them to be human.

Q: Do people now just come up to you to talk about their own pain?
A: Yes, it opens up all sorts of things for people. In our church, we have all sorts of people who are really good at this. Generally, I am not the answer to people's problems. What people need are a community of friends, trusted people they can work this through with. I'll often just say, “Do you have people you can wrestle through this with? And, if you don't, can we hook you up with people? Whatever you're struggling with, we would love to introduce you to somebody, because there's somebody who's been through this.’’

Q: I’m struck by the fact that I don’t hear a lot of explicitly religious language, or mentions of Jesus, from you.
A: I think we have enough religious people who are going around trying to convert people. My guard is up when somebody is trying to convert me to their thing. Are you talking to me because you actually are interested in this subject, because you care about me as a human, or am I one more possible conversion that will make you feel good about your religiosity? I don’t have any embarrassment about my religion, and it’s not that I'm too cool, but I would hope that the Jesus message would come through, hopefully through a full humanity. If you have something to say, whether you're religious or not, if it is truly Christian and Jesus-centered, then it will help and be interesting and compelling to people, regardless of their world view. But I’m not just interested in talking to Christians. I'm interested in what does it mean to be fully human.

Q: Do you think of Boston as different from other parts of the country, because there are fewer evangelicals?
A: People have said, when you go out East, get ready! But, honestly, the Boston audiences are as expressive and enthusiastic as any, and strikingly so. They're even louder, literally just actually louder, every time we've been to Boston. I don’t alter what I'm saying in any city. And in the Bible Belt, a lot of people in the Bible Belt have very conservative fundamentalist voices in their head, so they're listening to me, and I 'm realizing at the same time they have all these other religious voices in their head commenting on what I'm saying, whereas in cultures that are less churched, there is much more freedom to listen and engage. So if anything the resonance is stronger in the cities.

(Photo, by Jim Frost, shows Rob Bell on tour.)

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32 comments so far...

Michael, I agree with you. I, too, am struck by the lack of comments about Jesus. He was at the Seeds of Compassion event a few years ago. While the Dalai Lama seemed to have no problems with uttering the name of Buddha, Bell did not once say the name of Jesus. He is subtle about talking about "resurrection" instead of "the resurrection," which makes me suspicious about his position on this basic Christian belief.

I think his response about why he does not talk much about Jesus is a cope out. The Gospel message is relevant to all of humanity, but only if the Gospel is actually preached. If he leaves out the central message of our faith and then says that he has something special to offer, well, I am not really sure what he things that may be.

Thank you for this very informative interview!

Posted by Aaron Gardner September 27, 09 06:10 PM

ANOTHER FALSE PROPHET LIBERAL cHRISTIAN

Posted by tHE pATRIOT September 28, 09 11:45 PM

dude's a regular prophet of the living God

Posted by sam September 29, 09 12:41 AM

Aaron, the response to the third question began with, "At the heart of the Christian story is resurrection, the belief that this word is good, and that, as a follower of Jesus, a belief that God hasn’t abandoned the world, but is actively at work in the world." He was up-front about Jesus right away. But Rob's definition of the gospel is far bigger than "believe this set of doctrines, pray this prayer, and you get to go to heaven when you die". Rob is preaching the full, rich good news of the kingdom of God that Jesus preached, not a get-out-of-hell-free card synopsis invented almost two millenia later. Check out Brian McLaren's "The Secret Message of Jesus" (don't be put off by the title) and you'll have a better understanding of what I mean. The good news is much better than you think, and Rob is doing his part to proclaim it.

Posted by Bob Young October 1, 09 06:54 AM

Bob, thanks for putting things in context. I am tired of peoples subjective understanding and reading into what is not present. Rob Bell has done more for the faith and I know God is pleased at what He see's!

Posted by Bob October 1, 09 09:03 AM

Michael, thanks for the interview and your very probing questions. Unfortunately, Rob worked hard at ducking most of them. You gave him a great opportunity, "OK, how would you describe what it is that you believe?" Open door, great opportunity, go for it Rob. And what we get is, "work for change in the world, caring for the environment, extending to the poor generosity and kindness, a hopeful outlook" that is the essence of your belief, Rob? That is what you believe? That is it? Sum up the essence of your belief? That would make a great out-take for Michael Jackson and Diana Ross and the "We Are the World" video. But the eye witnesses of Christ sure seem to find a foundation for their belief in the reality of a Person and His work which took place in time and space and forever altered human history, not subjective concepts of "change in the world" and "caring for the environment." Absolutely, the Christian faith in the person and work of Christ should be lived out in radical, life transforming ways - but it has to have a foundation rooted in the Person and His redemptive sacrifice. When Jesus asked the disciples what they believed and who they believed He was, they didn't say, "The Green Czar for environmental change." I understand their concept of messiah needed to expand . . . but it was at least rooted in a person . . . not an abstract concept.

Rob deflects the "celebrity" and "rock star" questions, but I find it sad and glaringly obvious of his reluctance to point people to "The Rock", "The Bright and Morning Star." When "John the B's" rock-star status was brought into question and the issue was raised, "Hey, crowds are down at your venues." John's response was, "He must increase and I must decrease." Rob, how about pointing people to "The Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world."

And when questioned about surely having a greater goal than a stand up comedian . . . it boils down to "you matter" and a lot of great "causes"? How about the purpose for which He chose us, "to proclaim the excellencies of HIM who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light."? But then you don't say much about HIM . . . neither darkness, nor light, nor calling. So maybe that doesn't fit with your goal. But it sure seems to fit with His.

And your purpose? On the most "basic level . . . just great fun." I'm all for fun Rob. But I hope you find more purpose in life than that.

How did the message and ministry get so far away from Jesus, the Apostle Paul, and the Apostles? Jesus was not afraid to call people to "follow me." Paul stood on the first Mars Hill and spoke of a day He would judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed whom He raised from the dead. Paul was not afraid to convert the people in Athens. The Apostles fervently sought to "persuade men."

Rob, (and Bob), no matter how "big you expand the gospel" (and I do believe that it is the good news of God bringing all the pieces of the universe back together again" - and I believe it must be lived out in sacrificial, loving, giving and gracious ways) - it has to be rooted in THE PERSON, who did a work in time and space. Leave Him out, leave His work out, and you have a gospel gutted of any eternal substance.

Posted by Jeff October 1, 09 12:45 PM

If you have God in a box, then Bell doesn't give the answers your looking for! If God for you is about exploration and journey, and having all the answers is not your top priority, but walking with God is in this life and the next... then Bell will appeal to you! I gave up have all the "right" answers years ago and have connected to the way Rob Bell conveys the message of the gospel. For some THE ressurection is important because they associate resurection with Jesus only... for me resurrection is about still happening... it happens everyday so THE resurrection is importnat but its nto the only one... at least if you believe Christianity it should not be the only one!

God in a box = you don't need Him
God out of the box and on a journey with you = you learn to trust Him daily

Peace
Tony

Posted by Tony October 1, 09 01:29 PM

Lets not forget, everybody, that Jeff and Aaron have God figured out. There is no need to continually discover new ways of discovering the undiscoverable. Jeff and Aaron already are perfect in there methods of conversion and understanding who Christ really is.

Don't waste times with these small minded helenistic Christians. They will always think they are more right than anybody they meet.

"When people say that the authority of Scripture or the centrality of Jesus is in question, actually it's their social, economic and political system that has been built in the name of Jesus that's being threatened. Generally lurking below some of the more venomous, vitriolic criticism is somebody who's created a facade that's not working...But I love everybody and you're next! That's how I respond to criticism."

-Rob Bell, about Mark Driscoll, John Piper, Jeff and Aaron.

Posted by Ben October 1, 09 02:58 PM

Tony,
This is not about "God in a box" or "God out of a box," but whether or not one is being pointed to God at all in the person of His Son Jesus Christ. There is only one name given under Heaven whereby a person can be saved and when we shy away, pull back, or are seemingly reluctant to even mention His name - then one has to question, "Where is the Jesus of the gospel?" Certainly none of us on this earth has all the right answers (I certainly don't) . . . but you do believe there are answers . . . don't you? Or, has Rob and others led us down a path of "always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Tim. 3:7)?

Posted by Jeff October 1, 09 03:03 PM

Ben,
Having God all figured out is certainly something I never claimed, nor do I think that. I will spend all eternity discovering, learning and enjoying that. Nor do I claim personal perfection in any form.

But by attacking me or Aaron, you are only attempting to deflect attention from the real questions that are being raised. Throw stones if you wish, but it doesn't change the issues. It is a clever tactic, but a sad one. I think it is the same one that they used of that guy that we don't like to talk about (but I will whisper his name . . . "Jesus"). When they didn't like the message . . . just crucify the messenger. Let's deal with the questions and issues.

Since you raised the question, where does Scripture fit in your paradigm?

Posted by Jeff October 1, 09 03:48 PM

Jeff,
Thank you for being faithful to God's Word and the glorious person and work of Jesus Christ and bringing Him back into this conversation.
It could not have been said better.

Posted by Jakob October 1, 09 11:46 PM

Scripture is a very central part of my paradigm. But I realize that if I have my nose buried in Scripture with no eye to the world around me, I have no way of understanding the world around me.

I'm not deflecting anything. And neither is Bell. I'm sorry he didn't use the right article in front of "resurrection". I guess he just assumes people know what he is talking about.

You've clearly never heard Bell speak. And you've certainly never heard him give the message about following Rabbi Jesus so closely that the dust he kicks up gets on you.

Why don't you listen to his entire speaking record, and read his entire body of literature before you even utter his name again.

Posted by Ben October 2, 09 01:39 AM

Sad but true... the reason such a talking heads like Bell are roaming this poor country is the ignorance of the people. Ignorance even of the fundamentals of the faith is more abundant in this country than subsidized corn. For you Bell like stage performers and you their fans the Gospel is not what you make out of it. The Gospel is what it makes out of you...

SDG,

Posted by Milhamah October 2, 09 01:59 AM

Rob Bell claims to be a minister of God. As such, his job is already laid out for him by God. Under inspiration, the Apostle Paul told Timothy:

2 Timothy 4:1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:
2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,
4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

Rob Bell has discovered that it is easier to preach like "performance art" and "stand-up comedy" than to reprove, rebuke, and exhort people about their sins. Every generation since Paul has had these kinds of guys who hear the call to scratch people's itching ears instead of telling them the truth of the Gospel. Like all the others, he will some day stand before the Judge with all the people he duped into a false understanding of the truth.

Nothing to see here, folks. Move along. . .

Posted by Keith October 2, 09 06:31 AM

Ben,

" before you even utter his name again."??
Good thing guys like you are out there to protect his holy name. He should give you backstage passes to his next show. Back in the old days, God's people did not utter his name, they considered it too holy. Once God came to earth, His holiness did not change, but our access to him did because of the work that Christ did on the cross. People cannot "go on a journey" with him unless they turn away from path they are currently travelling. Please don't act like there is something holy about Rob's name . It is completely nauseating. I just hope for your sake, Bell never breaks out the Kool-Aid.

Posted by Rob October 2, 09 09:10 AM

I am discouraged to hear that Rob Bell is not interested in conversion. What is he doing then? Why preach the message of Christ if you are uninterested in the glory of the Father and the furthering of His kingdom? I am desparate for my friends and family to know the gospel.

Posted by Discouraged October 2, 09 11:34 AM

keith,

Keep in mind that scripture in Timothy is meant for the local church and it's leadership. Paul was not implying and never treated anyone who was outside of the church (the body of Christ) in the manner you suggest followers of Jesus are to treat people, rebuking, reproving, judging, etc... Read Acts... Paul understood the religious climate in his day and certainly didn't walk up to someone not worshipping Jesus and rebuke them!

Jeff,
I am not implying that answers are not available nor that we should ever stop asking questions... I am saying the opposite... we should ALWAYS ask questions, and never be satisfied with simple answers. When you are satisfied with your answers, then you have it figured out and God is in a box... then when something happens outside of your box, then it can't be God... BUT what if it IS, and God was never in your box in the first place? I’m just asking!

Jesus alone is the answer, but that doesn't exactly work for the girl just raped and brutalized by a man who claimed to be a Christian, It doesn't work for the couple who lost 2 babies to miscarriages, and then by some miracle got pregnant after being told it will never happen, only to watch the baby die during birth because the cord was wrapped around it's neck... the simple answers in the box don't work for many other real life situations... so we have to come up with some other way to proclaim and then LIVE the gospel… Trusting in Jesus! You can talk the talk, but the authoritative scripture is pretty clear, if you talk it without walking it, then your full of it (James 1 and 4)

So I am not suggesting we can't answer questions, I just know way to many Christians who have stopped asking questions, because they think they have all the answers, and when someone like Rob Bell starts asking questions those guys get all nervous... and some people responding to this article seem to fit that profile! "Don't ask questions, Christianity is far to neat and clean for questions that have no simple answers?"

I have found that when I ask difficult questions of God and seek the answers through worship, prayer, and study of the word, weather I find the answer or not... I find Jesus and trusting in Him without the answers is FAITH. Believing something that you think can be proven is NOT faith! Faith is trusting in Jesus, even when you feel like he isn’t around!

Posted by Tony Simoncini October 2, 09 12:37 PM

love wins...

Posted by lucas delong October 2, 09 04:41 PM

I've seen a video by Rob Bell about letting go of anger and bitterness. It was the same in that video as it was in the article; no Jesus. It's great principles to teach, just like Rob's mission of reaching out to others and taking care of the environment, etc.. But it's not scripture. Christianity is not about doing the right thing by others or even ourselves. It's about doing what God asks of us. There are things He asks of us that are uniquely our charge and there are things that He asks of us as a body.
There are many spiritual leaders out there who try to avoid being abrasive so as to get people to come closer until they are comfortable enough to listen. Rob seems to be taking that path. There are MANY people who have come to salvation because there was someone gentle and patient enough who was slowly but surely telling them and showing them more about Jesus. But Rob is no younglife leader or social worker. He is a pastor. Pastors are supposed to be teaching scripture and shepherding their flock. Rob doesn't seem to be doing much of that.
I'm not perfect. I shy away from saying Jesus' name sometimes out of fear. But His name is the only way that people are going to actually KNOW the truth and find comfort. Jesus is the focus and this article doesn't have anything to do with Him.
Rob Bell's focus is suffering, yet not once does he say that what people need is God. They don't need to be happy with God or guilty for being sad, but they NEED God. They need Him much more than a shoulder to cry on.
This article would have been ten times better had Rob, just once, acknowledged that God gave him the ability to do the things he does and reach the people he does. It's not on Rob's strength or skill that he is this famous evangelist.

Posted by Jackie October 2, 09 06:03 PM

Any "Preacher" Who Either by Comission and/or Omission Refuses
to Declare Unpopular Biblical Doctrines is a False Prophet
*
Bell Is Correct on One Thing However, and That Is a Scholarly Evaluation of the Old and New Testaments from a Jewish Frame of Reference would Not
Conclude a Westernized Puritan Dogma

Posted by Scot S di Vincenzo October 3, 09 05:19 AM

"Jesus alone is the answer, but that doesn't exactly work for the girl just raped . . ."

Tony-

You just summed up the problem with Rob Bell and those that agree with him - they believe Jesus isn't enough.

Posted by Mike October 7, 09 08:44 AM

Best book on this subject? "Truth War" by John MacArthur. Whether you agree with it or not, it's a good read. It showed me that guys like Bell are really like the gnostics back in the day, trying to make everything mystical and denying even basic foundations of the faith. Bell said that the Bible is not a product of divine fiat. If that were true Rob, then how do you know which parts of the Bible are true and which parts are lies?

I definitely don't have God figured out but God DID give us certain basic facts about himself which we shouldn't deny in the name of journey or experience. I just want to hear this guy, who claims to be a Christian, say that he believes that Jesus is God in the flesh and that he believes Jesus died, was buried and that He resurrected. Is that too much to ask from a follower of Jesus?

Posted by Mike October 8, 09 12:20 PM

2 corintians 11:3 But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

if one is in the word Of God one can easily reconize a conterfeit -
rob is a false prophet!

Posted by alcides October 8, 09 08:53 PM

Mike,

Way to take me out of context (big shocker)... like those that accuse Rob Bell of heresy! But this is often how you guy interpret the bible as well, out of context! Anyway! Try not to find the 4 words thrown together you disagree with and then try your best to make an argument that isn’t even there! I never implied Jesus is not in Himself enough for someone!

My point in the entire post, which you failed to either read or understand is when speaking to the women who is suffering and dealing with rape,,, the simple answer of "don't worry honey, Jesus loves you"... isn’t enough! We must do more as the body than offer simple answers to life’s more difficult questions!
Maybe you should have kept reading : )

"The simple answers in the box don't work for many other real life situations... so we have to come up with some other way to proclaim and then LIVE the gospel… Trusting in Jesus! You can talk the talk, but the authoritative scripture is pretty clear, if you talk it without walking it, then you’re full of it (James 1 and 4)"

Your over generalization and gross mischaracterization of me and anyone who thinks this way is elementary and laughable. If you choose to take things out of context, you will never get to the truth...

And if you would quit taking little pieces of what someone says and actually listen to the whole body of work, your dreams would come true! You said,

"I just want to hear this guy, who claims to be a Christian, say that he believes that Jesus is God in the flesh and that he believes Jesus died, was buried and that He resurrected. Is that too much to ask from a follower of Jesus?"

I just saw the Drops Like Stars Tour in Atlanta this Wednesday and most of these Orthodox Christian Perspectives were discussed... listen a Podcast or a few sermons instead of throwing stones at someone you obviously don't even consistently listen to... The incarnation of Jesus, His death, burial and resurrection are preached and prayed about often... maybe you need to consider that the incarnation and the resurrection is something Jesus is calling YOU to, rather than just intellectually aspiring to know God! If you’re not incarnating Jesus through the Holy Spirit, then you again are missing the point!
Peace
Tony

Posted by Tony October 9, 09 01:25 PM

Man, people should calm down just a little. This was the BOSTON GLOBE. It wasn't a theological debate, it wasn't a seminary paper. It was the FREAKIN BOSTON GLOBE.

Rob was engaging this interviewer at a different level. He wasn't talking to a theologian.

Not saying Rob is Jesus, but I think I noticed Jesus doing similar things somewhere once.

Posted by GRod October 9, 09 06:38 PM

Just like ol'Bobby Schuller from a generation past, this cat spews compassionate, God-as-a-big-cosmic-teddy-bear-who-loves-you stuff to the masses and they eat it up. Style over substance. Then question the substance and he says "legalist! pharisee!". Yikes. He is so far off the reservation it scares me. No, the people who think he's brilliant scare me.

Posted by The ol'Chrisser October 10, 09 04:28 PM

Rob Bell is an idiot and it is unbelievable that people are buying his crap. He is just a religious clown from Barnum and Bailey who is stealing people's money by teaching what others want to hear. Read the Bible to get a true description of Bell, especially 1 Timothy 6:3-10; 2 Timothy 3:1-4:8.

Posted by Kev October 15, 09 02:25 PM

Wouldn't want a liberal Christian, now would we, America?
Because Jesus wasn't an extremely liberal figure in His time, was He?
Oh that's right, he was extremely liberal. Silly of me.

Posted by Blaine October 20, 09 05:47 PM

Blaine,

Not the type of liberal you are talking about.

Matthew 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to do away with or undo the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to do away with or undo but to complete and fulfill them." -Jesus

Matthew 5:19 "Whoever then breaks or does away with or relaxes these commandments and teaches men so shall be called least important in the kingdom of heaven, but he who practices them and teaches others to do so shall be called great in the kingdom of Heaven." -Jesus

Matthew 7:21-23 "Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works in Your name? And then I will say to them openly (publicly), I never knew you; depart from Me, you who act wickedly."

Posted by Michael October 22, 09 04:28 PM

To those who claim Bell doesn't mention Jesus or the Scriptures, I invite you to download some of his sermons on your Ipod. Go to marshill.org.

Every single one of them begin with Scripture and there are many references to historical Christianity, the text in original Greek, etc.

The bottom line is that your criticisms are way off-base.

Posted by MT October 23, 09 08:32 AM

GRod,
It may have only been the Boston Globe, but what better opportunity to share the message of Jesus in a way that people can understand? I recently read a secular interview between Bono and Michka Assayas. Bono (who obviously is not a pastor or minister) didn't shy away from questions about his faith, and instead proclaimed his faith boldly and clearly. If Bono isn't concerned about offending people, why does Rob Bell seam to be afraid to offend people?:

Assayas: "The Son of God who takes away the sins of the world. I wish I could believe in that."

Bono: "But I love the idea of the Sacrificial Lamb. I love the idea that God says: Look, you cretins, there are certain results to the way we are, to selfishness, and there's a mortality as part of your very sinful nature, and, let's face it, you're not living a very good life, are you? There are consequences to actions. The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. That's the point. It should keep us humbled… . It's not our own good works that get us through the gates of heaven."

Assayas: "That's a great idea, no denying it. Such great hope is wonderful, even though it's close to lunacy, in my view. Christ has his rank among the world's great thinkers. But Son of God, isn't that farfetched?"

Bono "No, it's not farfetched to me. Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: he was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius. But actually Christ doesn't allow you that. He doesn't let you off that hook. Christ says: No. I'm not saying I'm a teacher, don't call me teacher. I'm not saying I'm a prophet. I'm saying: "I'm the Messiah." I'm saying: "I am God incarnate." And people say: No, no, please, just be a prophet. A prophet, we can take. You're a bit eccentric. We've had John the Baptist eating locusts and wild honey, we can handle that. But don't mention the "M" word! Because, you know, we're gonna have to crucify you. And he goes: No, no. I know you're expecting me to come back with an army, and set you free from these creeps, but actually I am the Messiah. At this point, everyone starts staring at their shoes, and says: Oh, my God, he's gonna keep saying this. So what you're left with is: either Christ was who He said He was—the Messiah—or a complete nutcase. I mean, we're talking nutcase on the level of Charles Manson. This man was like some of the people we've been talking about earlier. This man was strapping himself to a bomb, and had "King of the Jews" on his head, and, as they were putting him up on the Cross, was going: OK, martyrdom, here we go. Bring on the pain! I can take it. I'm not joking here. The idea that the entire course of civilization for over half of the globe could have its fate changed and turned upside-down by a nutcase, for me, that's farfetched … "

Bono: "… [I]f only we could be a bit more like Him, the world would be transformed. …When I look at the Cross of Christ, what I see up there is all my s--- and everybody else's. So I ask myself a question a lot of people have asked: Who is this man? And was He who He said He was, or was He just a religious nut? And there it is, and that's the question. And no one can talk you into it or out of it."

Posted by Josh October 26, 09 02:10 AM

Majesty, Glory, Awe, ...Worship... Lord, King of kings, God Almighty!

Posted by Tish Witten November 12, 09 12:32 AM

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Michael Paulson covers religion for The Boston Globe. He shared in the Pulitzer Prize in 2003, won the Mike Berger, Templeton and Supple awards in 2008, and is a four-time winner of the Wilbur Award.
E-mail mpaulson@globe.com.

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Harvey Cox, the Hollis professor of divinity at Harvard University, marks his retirement by asserting a little-used right of his professorship -- to graze a cow in Harvard Yard. Photo, by Barry Chin of the Globe staff, taken on Sept. 10, 2009 in Cambridge, Mass.