Regardless, Love Wins. « Caught In the Middle

I just finished reading Love Wins by Rob Bell this evening. One of the things I've always loved about Rob Bell is the way he encourages people to engage in a discussion. He's well known for being "controversial", but that's because he's not afraid to ask big questions about topics that we as Christians are often taught to accept on faith. I'm not discounting the role that faith plays in Christianity… but neither do I believe that asking questions about the character and mysteries of God somehow makes one a weaker Christian. I love that Rob Bell encourages people to ask these questions and wrestle with their faith, because doing so brings it to life.

I've asked many of the questions addressed in this book myself. Questions like "What is heaven/hell like?" and "Just how long is eternity really?" I didn't begin reading this book with the expectation that Mr. Bell would answer these questions for me. Of course I was interested to hear his opinions on the subject, and that's exactly what I took away from this book. His opinions. Some more educated than others; some enlightening and some to be disregarded. But this isn't going to be one of those blogs or reviews that points out every flaw in logic and theology the author makes, or lists every Biblical reference included in the text and explains how the author misinterpreted the original Hebrew/Greek translation. I'm not interested in all of that. I'm not a theologian. And I think that the people who spend their time criticizing in this way are missing the entire point.

I listened to Rob Bell speak about this book a few weeks ago at a book signing at Belmont University. He made an excellent observation that night.. he said that most Christians are very concerned about where people are going to end up when they die, but very few of them are concerned about the millions of people going to bed hungry tonight. In his book he repeatedly highlights the idea that Jesus' entire 3 year ministry on this earth was dedicated to establishing the Kingdom of Heaven on earth now. Jesus' ministry was about serving people; meeting people on their level and showing them God's love. Somewhere along the line Christianity became more about growing church attendance than bringing heaven to earth the way that Jesus intended.

I'm going to rabbit trail a little here. I recently saw a post that someone was thinking of writing a rebuttal titled "Love Fails". It may have been just for kicks, but this bothered me for a number of reasons. First of all, it reminded me how divided we are, when we should be united by our belief in Jesus Christ and his gospel. Secondly, love fails? Love saved us. Regardless of your beliefs on heaven and hell and the afterlife, the basis of the Christian faith is love. God sent His Son because of love. "And the greatest of these is love." If there is anything uncontroversial about this book, it's the title.

Circling back now… this was the point that I took away from this book: our focus has been misdirected. While we are busy debating theological matters that will not be revealed until Jesus comes back, many people are suffering in hell on earth NOW. I don't know what heaven or hell will be like in the next life, but I see people in hell every day in this one. So instead of "What will heaven be like?", the question I'm deciding to focus on now is "What can I do to bring a little piece of heaven to earth, today?"

Tagged: Christianity, God, heaven, hell, Love, Love Wins, questions, Rob Bell, theology Like