I’m writing this from my hotel room. I’m on my last night of vacation with my wife, Misty. Our little guy, C3, is with Oma & Pa in NM having a great time... now back to the point. With these few days off, I have had a great time reading Timothy Keller’s book “The Reason for God” and talking through the chapters with Misty. Another big thing that happened this week, that has Misty and I talking, is all the fuss over Rob Bell’s new book “Love Wins” and the current promo video his publisher is using to promote it. Both what I’m reading in the book and what I’m reading on the net are hitting close to home for me. In fact it has me thinking in a way that I’m not sure I could explain on this blog..... but trust me, I’ll try.....
Last year I got a call from a buddy who I worked for as a leader for a local church youth group. It was midday on a Saturday and he asked if I could speak and fill in for him that night. He had a personal emergency he had to take care of and I was the only available leader on such a short notice. Well kinda, that Saturday it was a drill weekend and I was down in Coronado playing Navy. I told him that I would do what I could and that I would show up. Long story short, I was able to get off a bit early and run home to change and work on a speaking idea. I spoke on the idea of all the chaos and noise around us and how we allow it to block out God, who is the very person who can mute it. Along with that topic, I was able to find a Nooma Video, by Rob Bell, on youtube that closely covered what I was talking about. Later that night after youth group was over, I had a chance to reflect on the past few hours and I came to one easy conclusion... God was there... Not that he had been absent before but with the little planning that happened and everything following, it was a rad message that I wish I could have had on tape. I felt I was more moved and it hit home for me more then the students. None of it was me, I give all the credit to God for that night.
A few days later, my buddy calls me and lets me know that a parent was upset that I had used a video by Rob Bell. When asked what his objections were, the parent couldn’t name any that he personally had but pointed to a website by a Calvary Chapel pastor. This pastor is known to be very vocal and open about his dislike of Mr. Bell, his books and his videos. This parent went as far as to have his son call into the local Calvary radio show and ask if my actions on showing the video were appropriate! What’s worse is that the communication between my buddy and the parent hit a brick wall. The parent went to the head leadership of the church and gave them an ultimatum. The parent said to stop showing and referencing Rob Bell (unless it was against Rob) or he was going to pull his son out of the group. Well you guessed it, the church gave in. I was told that I could no longer use the Nooma videos. How could this happen? The parent was a total poser in the literal sense. He never read and or watched a video by Bell. All he was going off was, this other pastor who clearly has it out for Bell. When pressed, the parent couldn’t come up with one fact that he for himself found that justified his negative opinion. On the other side, my church let me down. It broke me to see them act not on the side of truth but what looked like self preservation. Neither of the head pastors, who I know well, reached out to me and discussed their views. Needless to say, my family is no longer a part of that church nor will we ever be a part of a Calvary Chapel.
In Chapter 5 of Timothy Keller’s book, Keller is asking the question, “How can a loving God send people to hell?” The worst part of that question involves Christians. For some reason we think we have the right to publicly state who is going and not going to hell. Keller handles this by writing “ Today’s outspoken believer may be tomorrow's apostate, and today’s outspoken unbeliever may be tomorrow’s convert. We must not make settled, final decisions about anyones’s spiritual state or fate.” With the promo of Rob’s new book, there has been a few blogs and pastors, to include John Piper, who have hung Bell out to dry. Let me be clear about one thing.......It’s a promo...... the book won’t be out till the end of March...... And yet, so called Christians feel that it’s open season on Bell, or whoever they feel doesn’t meet their expectations. They dam people like Bell and try to force their repentance. Who the Hell do you think you are? Can you be any further from Christs message? Are you not knocking holes in the wall by swinging that plank in your eye?
Headline......... Hey little Christian, God didn’t place you on this earth for your expert opinion on calling out other men of God in the name of western religious justice. What balls...... If you think your that good, it’s time to find a tree and start over. You missed the point.......
