Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Rob Bell's redefinition of ‘evangelical.' What do you think?

Rob Bell's interview with the Boston Globe during his current speaking tour (it is short; read it here) is rather disturbing, not just in what it includes, but what it leaves out. In the interview, he expressly repudiates efforts to convert others and only embraces the term "evangelical" if it involves environmental issues and poverty; Jesus and the gospel are not mentioned.

We often find evangelicals not caring enough about the pain and injustice in this world, but the solution is not to ignore the coming of the new heavens and earth, the judgment to be faced before then, the necessity of the coming of Jesus to change things, and the clear warning of the Bible that not everyone will enter that blessed state. Perhaps there is much more that Bell said that was not recorded, but this interview as presented is very disturbing. I hope Rob will issue a clarification and expansion.

Oh, and by the way, I came up the same way he did, but it didn't feel nearly as bad as he seems to feel about it. Perhaps my calling really is more akin to performance art than preaching, but I'm not convinced yet (read the article to see what I'm referring to).

I want to believe that Bell is being outrageous for effect, but I can't tell if he is, or if it is something more.

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1 comment:

Average Joe said...

Craig, I think it is something more. Your link led to a shortened version. I found this link to the original interview which exposes more of his views on Church Doctrine. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles_of_faith/2009/09/rob_bell.html