Who has the answers?

This is Holy week, and the Church should be celebrating the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We should be rejoicing over the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords.  But instead the Church is rocked with tension between postmodern thinking pastors and traditional framed faith.  If you have seen the most recent front cover of TIME magazine you will encounter the title, “What if there’s no HELL?”

I just purchased the book, Love Wins, by Rob Bell. Here is a little video introduction you might enjoy.

This book has caused more than its share of turmoil in the Christian community.  Not only because of the position that it posits, but also because of the huge following that Bell has at his church Mars Hill in Grandville, Michigan, and his national following through his video series Nooma which now has 24 short, thought provoking DVD’s.  Robb has also written several well received books, Drops like Stars,Jesus wants to save Christians, Sex God, and Velvet Elvis.

As I have not finished reading the book yet I cannot share my personal thoughts.  And in fact I am not sure I should.  There has been at least one pastor fired for supporting Rob.  The truth is that as I mature I realize I have less answers and more questions.  I also acknowledge that both the Orthodox and more universalist/liberal traditions of understanding eternity and salvation have been handed down from the earliest religious communities.  As such my goal is not to stir the waters any more, but rather to ask, who is bold enough to say they have all the answers this side of seeing Jesus face to face?

Below is a couple opinions about Love Wins and the theology presented in Rob’s book.  The first (Support of Love Wins) is from Richard Mouw, the President of Fuller Theological Seminary who says, “I knew that the book was being widely criticized for having crossed the theological bridge from evangelical orthodoxy into universalism. Not true, I told the reporter. Rob Bell is calling us away from a stingy orthodoxy to a generous orthodoxy.”

Here is a (strong critic of Love Wins) written by Kevin DeYoung, Senior Pastor, University Reformed Church of East Lansing, Michigan, who says, “there are dozens of problems with Love Wins. The theology is heterodox. The history is inaccurate. The impact on souls is devastating.”

For me the question is not who is right and who is wrong;  it is not if grace or judgment is greater, it is not whether heaven and hell are “already but not yet”, it is not if love wins or looses.  For me the question is when will humanity stop arguing about things we cannot know for sure and start acting on the things we do.

(Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, mind, and love your neighbor as yourself!)

For then we can say,

“thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”