Rob Bell Review

Fellow blogger Justin Buzzard in San Francisco attended Rob Bell's recent tour, the gods aren't angry, and posted a thoughtful, discerning review of the night. For those who don't know who Rob Bell is, he is the pastor of a large church here in Grand Rapids called Mars Hill. I used to go hear Rob speak in the old days and really enjoyed him. Some of his early messages really challenged me. I went on a mission trip with his church. But ever since he published his first book, Velvet Elvis, I've had some serious concerns about his message.

Justin gets to the real meat of his concern with Rob's message here:

Though Rob spoke articulately and personally about the guilty, shameful, inadequate feelings we all have and the false ways we go about dealing with those feelings, Rob never articulated humanity's sin problem. As Rob told the story of the Bible, he left out a central plotline. He left out a central doctrine. He left out the plotline of the Fall, the doctrine of sin, the tragedy of humanity's severe separation from God due to the distance between God's holiness and our sin. As Rob sought to convey the message of the Bible, even the climax of the Bible--Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, he failed to articulate the truth of the human condition, the complexity and depth of what's wrong with the human heart--where all of our guilty, shameful, inadequate feelings come from: our separation from a loving, holy God due to our massive sin problem.

It's evident to me that Rob Bell highly values study of the Scriptures. But it was at this point in the message that I began to feel that Rob and I read different Bibles, or at least that we read the same Bible very differently. The big idea of "the god's aren't angry" tour is that the God of the Bible isn't angry and, therefore, we're all okay, everybody is okay--we're all okay with God. Well, as I read my Bible I simply don't see this. My Bible tells of a God who rightfully remains angry, angry over sin. My Bible tells of a God who is so holy, glorious, just, and loving that he hates sin and is committed to doing away with sin. As I look around at a sinful, broken world, I find my only hope in the fact that my God is indeed angry at sin and has promised to do something about it.

I'll admit, I've pretty much stopped listening / reading / concerning myself with Rob Bell anymore. He is an excellent communicator, and I've certainly learned some interesting things from his preaching. But good preaching isn't just about good communication and telling people things they might not know about the cultural background of the Bible. It's all about the gospel. And on this, I agree with Justin--Rob Bell misses the point entirely.