Sometimes I wish that the Christian faith was easier. I don't mean that I wish it was less work or that I wish it demanded less of me, instead I mean that I wish it was less controversial. I wish that it was easier to know what work to do or what demands to meet. Do you know what I mean?
As you know I love Donald Miller and Rob Bell. Of the two I think I like Donald Miller more because he teaches with narrative. I like the way that you can be laughing at his stories or you can be crying at his stories or maybe even getting angry at his stories and then all at once like a bell on a microwave oven it is done, and you have something brand new, something you never really saw coming.
Now I like Rob Bell too. Mostly I like Rob Bell because I have thought many of the things that he has said. It is almost like we are in a boat together and he is describing the shore that we both see. Now I am not sure that I agree with everything that they both say, but I agree with their direction. You see, it seems to me that they both want to go into the room with me.
When I say that they want to go into the room with me, I don’t mean anything weird or nothin’. No, nothing like that at all… I just mean that they want to go into the room that God is in with me. (Remember, this is just to make a point so don’t go sayin’ that I believe God is only in a certain room. I am just trying to make a point.) You see, I feel like many religious leaders don't want me to go into the room that God is in. They want to go in there and then come back and tell me what they have found. I think it is because they don’t want me to get God wrong or anything. Maybe they are just trying to protect God’s image from guys like me. Who knows what heresies I could get into if I didn’t have the proper permission to go in there?
I guess that it is great to protect God like that and all, but it doesn't seem very scriptural. It seems to me like they are trying to be a priest rather than a shepherd, but it also seems to me that Jesus is our high priest and we don’t really need someone else to do that kind of thing for us anymore.
Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that any of the people that are acting like a priest instead of shepherd even know that this is what they are doing. I think that they are trying to be a shepherd, but something has just gone wrong. Maybe they have control issues or something, but one thing I know for sure is that I want to go into that room. You see, I want to know Him for who He is and I really don’t think that hearsay will ever get me there. It even seems to me that God created me to go into that room with Him.
Now here is where the controversial thing comes in. I recently read an introduction to a book that seemed like it was telling me that they had to tell me what the truth was that was in that room. I felt like if I disagreed with anything that they said about the God that was in that room, then I would be really, really bad. I felt like if I did not agree with them, then I would be contributing to the downfall of Christendom. I don’t think that this guy meant it this way, or maybe he did, but I know that I felt all yucky inside.
You see, this guy called out Rob Bell in particular. He said that Rob Bell was a leader of this religious movement called the “emerging church.” He said that this movement was dangerous, and that it could cause real a problem for Christianity because this movement was saying that truth was not knowable. I didn’t even know what the emerging church was, let alone that it was preaching a bunch of lies.
You know, I never really thought that Rob Bell was saying anything like truth was unknowable. I thought that he was saying that it is important to understand what the writers of the Bible were trying to say at the time that the Bible was written. I thought that he was saying that there is no way to get around interpretation, and that as a believer I must be careful to understand the intent and purpose of what was written, so that I could then apply the scripture to the time that I live in now. If I am wrong please let me know, but if you do comment on this please do not bring up page 26 unless you then bring up the pages after it as well, deal?
You know, I do believe that we can know the truth. In fact, I think that Bell would agree with that. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” and I know Jesus, so yeah, truth is knowable. But maybe the truth is bigger, more beautiful, more profound, more amazing than I will ever be able to know completely. This thought does not scare me. No, I take comfort in it. Please understand that nothing scares me more than a God I can know completely, and nothing delights me more than the prospect of exploring the nature of God and His truth for Eternity and still having places to search. Can you imagine the adventure of such a thing? I can’t.
Now I know that this is probably not what this guy meant. He was probably talking about doctrine. But even here he has to understand that doctrine is meant to lead us to God, not to fence us off from Him. To be fair I know that there are some things that are essential for proper belief, but I never felt like they were threatened in Bell’s work. Now remember our deal, ok?
As you know I love Donald Miller and Rob Bell. Of the two I think I like Donald Miller more because he teaches with narrative. I like the way that you can be laughing at his stories or you can be crying at his stories or maybe even getting angry at his stories and then all at once like a bell on a microwave oven it is done, and you have something brand new, something you never really saw coming.
Now I like Rob Bell too. Mostly I like Rob Bell because I have thought many of the things that he has said. It is almost like we are in a boat together and he is describing the shore that we both see. Now I am not sure that I agree with everything that they both say, but I agree with their direction. You see, it seems to me that they both want to go into the room with me.
When I say that they want to go into the room with me, I don’t mean anything weird or nothin’. No, nothing like that at all… I just mean that they want to go into the room that God is in with me. (Remember, this is just to make a point so don’t go sayin’ that I believe God is only in a certain room. I am just trying to make a point.) You see, I feel like many religious leaders don't want me to go into the room that God is in. They want to go in there and then come back and tell me what they have found. I think it is because they don’t want me to get God wrong or anything. Maybe they are just trying to protect God’s image from guys like me. Who knows what heresies I could get into if I didn’t have the proper permission to go in there?
I guess that it is great to protect God like that and all, but it doesn't seem very scriptural. It seems to me like they are trying to be a priest rather than a shepherd, but it also seems to me that Jesus is our high priest and we don’t really need someone else to do that kind of thing for us anymore.
Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that any of the people that are acting like a priest instead of shepherd even know that this is what they are doing. I think that they are trying to be a shepherd, but something has just gone wrong. Maybe they have control issues or something, but one thing I know for sure is that I want to go into that room. You see, I want to know Him for who He is and I really don’t think that hearsay will ever get me there. It even seems to me that God created me to go into that room with Him.
Now here is where the controversial thing comes in. I recently read an introduction to a book that seemed like it was telling me that they had to tell me what the truth was that was in that room. I felt like if I disagreed with anything that they said about the God that was in that room, then I would be really, really bad. I felt like if I did not agree with them, then I would be contributing to the downfall of Christendom. I don’t think that this guy meant it this way, or maybe he did, but I know that I felt all yucky inside.
You see, this guy called out Rob Bell in particular. He said that Rob Bell was a leader of this religious movement called the “emerging church.” He said that this movement was dangerous, and that it could cause real a problem for Christianity because this movement was saying that truth was not knowable. I didn’t even know what the emerging church was, let alone that it was preaching a bunch of lies.
You know, I never really thought that Rob Bell was saying anything like truth was unknowable. I thought that he was saying that it is important to understand what the writers of the Bible were trying to say at the time that the Bible was written. I thought that he was saying that there is no way to get around interpretation, and that as a believer I must be careful to understand the intent and purpose of what was written, so that I could then apply the scripture to the time that I live in now. If I am wrong please let me know, but if you do comment on this please do not bring up page 26 unless you then bring up the pages after it as well, deal?
You know, I do believe that we can know the truth. In fact, I think that Bell would agree with that. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” and I know Jesus, so yeah, truth is knowable. But maybe the truth is bigger, more beautiful, more profound, more amazing than I will ever be able to know completely. This thought does not scare me. No, I take comfort in it. Please understand that nothing scares me more than a God I can know completely, and nothing delights me more than the prospect of exploring the nature of God and His truth for Eternity and still having places to search. Can you imagine the adventure of such a thing? I can’t.
Now I know that this is probably not what this guy meant. He was probably talking about doctrine. But even here he has to understand that doctrine is meant to lead us to God, not to fence us off from Him. To be fair I know that there are some things that are essential for proper belief, but I never felt like they were threatened in Bell’s work. Now remember our deal, ok?
3 comments:
Its interesting Trent. As a Baptist Bible Belter, I grew up believing that so-called “liberal Christians” did not believe in God. Their openness to the idea that each Biblical writer’s specific culture and back ground may have influenced, even the words that God was giving them, seemed like heresy. Today I understand things a little differently.
First of all, it’s a misnomer that post-modernists don’t believe in absolute truth. They do. They just don’t believe that any one person could possibly know what it is. They see it as very arrogant to claim that you do. As a child of the post-modern age, I don’t entirely agree with this idea, but I do relate to it. Every day I discover a new box that we’ve tried to put God in. In fact, I even discover the boxes I’VE put God in, after having just taken Him out of somebody else’s. It’s easy to do that. Even those of us who consider ourselves to be the most adventurous have some areas of our lives that we need to remain safe. Spirituality is often one of those. And so we choose to keep God within certain boundaries. It’s the only way that we can understand and sometimes even accept Him. And, after all, who among us is really willing to embrace something that we don’t understand? Very few.
The older I get, the less I have figured out but the more in awe I am of God. The universe is 6000 years old you say? Wow! The universe is billions of years old YOU say! HOLY CRAP! God is even more awe inspiring that I realized! See, it makes sense to me that I can’t know or understand all of the mysteries of God, or the universe, or even life. That’s what makes Him God and me just some guy. Otherwise, God wouldn’t be God, he’d just be some spiritual being with a few more tricks than me.
On a not-so-side-note, in the last five hundred years or so, the church has decided that we're all dispensationalists, that the son did not, in fact, rotate around the earth, and that slavery really wasn’t something that could be supported with scripture. I wonder what the next five hundred years will teach us?
I agree with tim. I to have been putting God into little boxes. One of the songs that my church sings is I put my jesus in a little black box and take him out when I need him.
It seems that everywhere we go there is something new and amazing, that we should grab so it seems. I did not grow up in the baptist home so called at least but Yeah enough about this.
It is some good stuff
im not gonna lie, i had no idea that there was any movement or label like the "emerging church" i just dont always keep up with that stuff, my focus is always on how i can grow, what i dont understand, and how can i help others, and i guess i was out of the loop. i like rob bell as well, he is reaching our generation, and doing a good job of it.
satisfaction... thats the box i put god in sometimes. i learn something new, some really cool truth, and i use that as an excuse to not search for a few days. i suck. this was a good, good post. i have to struggle to understand sometimes but i like that.
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