Another warning: If you are planning on seeing Rob Bell on his current tour, you may NOT want to read this as it summarizes his teaching.
I went to see Rob Bell speak at the Electric Factory on Monday night as part of his “the gods aren’t angry” tour. First off, I should note that all the net proceeds of this speaking tour are going to the microfinance program that Mars Hill is supporting in Burundi. So, the first thing that impressed me is that there was no fluff on this speaking tour. It was stripped down and raw. It was basically Rob on a stage with a headset microphone and a small stone altar set. No high tech video or music. This all equals more money for Burundi.
Rob is an amazing communicator. He held the sold out audience’s attention without any distractions for about an hour and forty-five minutes without any notes. Some music prefaced Rob’s stage entrance, but the music was quickly silenced as he immediately began teaching.
I came to this event having heard Rob teach at Mars Hill numerous times as well as having watched most of his NOOMA DVD’s. Rob catches a fair amount of criticism in many Christian circles for not presenting the whole gospel message clearly; particularly for emphasizing too heavily social justice and not enough of Jesus. I respectfully disagree (I can say that since this is my blog). What I know is this: God has used and continues to use Rob in amazing ways and unconventional methods to reach those who would not otherwise know Jesus. Rob’s teachings in the NOOMA series along with his books, Velvet Elvis and Sex God have influenced me heavily in my walk and have drawn me closer to God by kindling my passion for God and His Word. God has shown me, through Rob, the value of historical and cultural context and the layers that it peels away from God’s Word when understood more fully.
Back to Rob’s teaching…he began speaking about the early caveman and cavewoman and how through plants growing, hunting animals for food and their own reproduction, they recognized that there was some force at work behind everything. He continued to explain that humans began to associate this force or power with gods. He went through a rather thorough explanation of gods in various cultures (Sumerian and Greek to name a few) and how humans began to offer sacrifices to these gods in order to please them. The idea was that this would ensure the gods were happy. When there was no rain, they offered sacrifices to please the gods to bring rain, when there was an abundant season of crops, three times as much as usual, they would offer more sacrifices to the gods. Since they never really knew what would appease the gods, they kept offering more and more. Rob tracked this process through its development into worshippers of Baal cutting themselves to show their devotion, the sacrifice of children to Molech, etc.
It was at this point that Rob made a great statement about the Bible. He stressed how the early Jewish Torah grew out of oral tales from the people. It did not just mysteriously drop out of the sky. He went on to explain how Abram (or Abraham) grew up in the midst of Sumerian culture and was exposed to this process of worshipping many gods. He is approached by the One True God who tells him to leave his family and his land and go into the land that God will show him (Genesis 12). Rob talked about the significance of this in that Abraham was not only being called out of his culture and land, but out of his world view into a new way, a new world view with a God who is intimately involved with His people, not distant. The previous cultures had always reacted to the effects of their gods, whereas in the case of this God, He walked with and among His people.
Rob went on to explain how the Jewish people were given Torah and directions for offering sacrifices to God. Rob suggested that God did not institute the sacrifice for His sake, quoting various passages from Psalm 50, Micah and Hebrews, but for the people so they could deal with the guilt that grew out of their sin and disobedience. It was as if God knew they had this tendency to work to please Him, so He instituted this sacrificial system to deal with it, so they could make the sacrifice and walk away forgiven. The problem was that this did not work to remove their guilt.
He talked about God’s command to Abraham to “take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you,” Genesis 22:2. Rob suggested that Abraham was not shocked by this request because this is what other gods at the time would have been given. It would not have been unusual for a god to expect someone to sacrifice their child. However, this God is different. He does not accept the sacrifice. At the last minute, with Abraham’s hand raised with the knife to slaughter his son, God commands him to stop and provides a ram to be sacrificed on Isaac’s behalf. God proves that He is different and we see again that he does not need the sacrifice and we sense that he is looking for more; trust and faith.
Rob talked about how when the Sadducees came on the scene and began to corrupt the sacrificial system by using it to get rich and elevate themselves, God speaks out against this corrupted system through Jesus. Up until Jesus’ coming, the focus of the Jewish people is on the Temple worship and the sacrifices. But Jesus arrives and says, “I tell you something greater than the temple is here.” Matthew 12:6 and he uses whip cords to drive the money changers out of the temple, John 2:15 and says “destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up” John 2:19. Rob said that this was symbolic of Jesus leading and drawing the people into a new world view, into a new way.
Rob talked about how the author of Hebrews says “Jesus appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Hebrews 9:26. Rob explained that God reconciled all of creation back to Himself through Jesus and we can trust in Him and therefore be confident that God is not angry but God is love. He talked about how we are told that the entire sacrificial system in Torah was a shadowy example or picture of what was to come in the true sacrifice that Jesus made once for all.
Rob then told some powerful modern stories of people who still, in our technologically advanced world and society, live to please God by doing this and that, the same way people thousands of years ago were making sacrifices to appease the gods, not certain of what would work, and constantly offering more and more. He also mentioned a person he knew who was going to church to fulfill a quota again to appease God.
He then went back to the subject of sacrifice and spoke about how just when we think that Jesus has completely eliminated the need for sacrifice, Paul calls us to be living sacrifices. Rob spoke about how this calls us to live out in flesh and blood our trust in the reconciliation and hope of Jesus so we can be an example for those with so much hurt and despair that they just cannot believe in this idea of hope in Jesus.
Rob closed amazingly and powerfully with three stories of hope and love in an attempt to further display and communicate God’s love for us.
I had prayed before I went to the event that God would use Rob mightily and boldly to proclaim the gospel and that He would speak through Rob to me. God faithfully and graciously answered those prayers. As I mentioned earlier, I have heard and seen many criticisms of Rob regarding not preaching the blood of Jesus enough or not presenting the whole gospel. I think Rob counters those claims with this tour. What I love about Rob’s teaching method is that he uses a down-to-earth, humble style backed with thorough research and training which makes people more and more curious about this Jesus and what it means to trust and follow Him. I like that he has chosen venues that would not be used on a typical teaching tour. This goes back to Craig Groeschel’s quote from my earlier post, “If we are going to reach the unreached, we are going to have to do things that have not been done before.”
So while I have been disappointed to see the negative criticisms of Rob and his teachings, some going so far as to label him a heretic, I was encouraged to witness first hand those reached through the Holy Spirit as God uses Rob. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Looking back through the history of the Church, many who paved the way were called heretics in their day. I do, however, encourage everyone not to follow teachings blindly and to always check them against God’s Word. I pray that more will come to know the One True God through His Son, Jesus Christ as a result of this teaching tour.
Thanks for taking the time to read this (if you made it all the way through). While I did not touch on every ounce of Rob’s teaching, I tried pretty hard. This was as much for me to remember it by as it is for you.
By the way, I laugh every time I see the photo below. With the shadows and the looks on our faces, it’s a classic.
8 comments:
I am glad that you made the long post... since we weren't able to be there I was glad to get a good overview of what he talked about! I am sure you already know that I am super jealous!!!
About the picture, you are right about the shadows making the picture... it actually kind of makes me think of some scary duo from some sort of axe murder flick... sorry!!
Later!
great notes, i'll be linking to it from my site.. http://solarcrash.com thanks so much!
Glad the notes were helpful, Lon. Thanks for stopping by.
Let me start by saying that I have tried to read or listen to everything Bell has done over the last two years, including his weekly sermons. But recently, as if from a lightening strike, I have done a u-turn. Look, I appreciate Bell's view of grace, of self-sacrifice, of railing against the sin of indifference to the plights of others, especially the poor. He walks the walk too. Bell has raised up the importance of understanding the Judaism around Christianity. This is valuable stuff.
But I am growing more concerned about his bizarre interpretations of scripture. I want to say right up front - I have not heard this latest talk, but after reading your notes, let me pose a few thoughts for you to consider -- and please straighten me out if I am wrong.
1) What if the story of man started with Adam instead of cavemen. What if Adam communicated the sacrificial system to Cain and Abel as Genesis says. What if other sacrificial systems in Baal and other religions were Satan's way of perverting truth as revealed to Adam -- like satan still does today. What if THESE systems came second, as Scripture says.
2) Many (especially Jews) believe that Job was written before the writings of Moses. How did Job know how to honor God? Could there still have been a remnant of followers that would trace back to Noah and Adam. Might they have been around when Abraham was alive? Might Abraham have been one of them, much like God chose Mary who was devote?
2) Romans says that Abraham was a man of great faith. If he was just trudging along toward sacrificing Issac, thinking this was just like all the other religions with child sacrifices -- why did it take great faith in God? All I know is what you posted, but Bell seems to have a unique view on Abraham -- counter to Paul's. I wonder what support he has, other than supposition?
Now if these three points have merit, what is left of Bell's talk?
Please dont take these next questions as aggressive -- I sincerely want to know: Can you tell me in this talk if Bell ever mentioned the Deity of Christ? Did he ever mention the Holy Spirit? Did you get anything that sound like a Gospel presentation? I hope that you did because I really want a reason to trust Bell again, but as I am going back through Velvet Elvis, Nooma's, Everything is Spiritual and his sermons...I am getting more concerned.
Thanks for the space -- sorry about the long post.
Mike,
I appreciate your post and I think we are actually close in thinking rather than far.
A few notes:
1) I think the fact that the form of worship that God introduced to the "first" family is important for anyone to know. when I was searching, I asked a pretty simple question: which was first? seems like if God was to communicate, He would not do it as an afterthought. I am convinced that, as you follow Hebrews, you see a religion passed through Adam, Noah and on to Abraham. The fact that God deemed on sacrifice as acceptable vs. Cain's speaks to a system of process and heart. I get nervous when anyone preaches to a crowd -- but I am not trying to be too hard on Rob Bell in saying that.
2) your point is excellent. Why did he have to leave? One might be that a prophet is never honored in his own country as Jesus said. but I am speculating.
3)Yours was a very, very encouraging answer. I appreciate this response, because Hebrews 11 is absolutely critical to an appreciate for Abraham. He was counting on his son being resurrected (if necessary)-- and this is the faith that we are called to. Abraham was not trying to appease God, he was trusting -- and in my mind there is a vast difference. perhaps I read something into your summary that was never there...
Now if I implied that the whole talk was worthless, I apologize for that impression. Your summary speaks of a Grace message that more people need to hear. perhaps I did feel compelled to defend Abraham (I am laughing to myself as I type this...Abraham really needs my help). I agree with Rob's premise -- that people have not thought through their faith and internalized it enough. I think he said one time that your interpretation of the Bible is how you live your life. Bell is good at focusing on REAL faith.
I was not trying to be a legalist regarding Christ's Deity and the Holy Spirit - but I was hopeful that you would give an answer like you did -- that Rob mentioned Christ's deity. thanks.
Mike, I look forward to meeting you on the Big Day.
(PS...I would remove the @ from your email address and type (at), because crawlers go through pages like this and you will get spam like you would never believe!)
Alan,
Great dialogue. Looking forward to meeting you too. And thanks for the spamming advice, I had already received one. The only way I could edit the post was to delete it and repost it. Sorry everyone for the inconvenience.
(REPOSTED WITH EDITS FROM DECEMBER 18, 2007)
Alan, first thanks for checking out the blog and for your post. I appreciate your comments and look forward to some dialogue. I never want this all to be one sided. I'll respond to your items in the order you used:
1.) I agree with your suggestion about beginning with Adam rather than caveman. I found Rob's choice to begin this way unusual also. My personal opinion is that Rob did this intentionally to reach his audience on their playing field(which differs from the typical church crowd) those who have grown up being taught that we descended from some sort of cavemen, much the same way Paul relates to the people in Athens in Acts 17. To speak to your comment about Adam teaching Cain and Abel, God first taught Adam, as we are told indirectly that the first sacrifice recorded in scripture was made in order to cover literally and figuratively Adam and Eve's sin. Gen. 3:21
2.) Honestly, that's the first that I have heard of the dating of Job and the Torah, but that's interesting. I guess what you're suggesting is that Abraham was less influenced by the Sumerian culture than he was by his ancestors dating back to Noah and Adam. I do not disagree with this. But if that was the case and Abram's people were not influenced heavily by the other cultures around them, why would it be significant that God called Abram to leave "your country, your people and your father's household"? The story that precedes this tells of the people trying to build a tower to make a name for themselves (pride) which causes God to disperse them and confuse their language. Rather than man attempting on his own to avoid being scattered (or uniting together), God scatters them and picks a select man to bless the rest of the world through.
3.) I disagree. I don't think Rob was presenting a unique view of Abraham different from scripture. I think his intent was to give some more of the cultural background at the time. In fact, he emphasized the meaning of the sacrifice and the faith required by God's language, "your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love." Rob also spent a great deal of time in Hebrews discussing the importance of Abraham's faith and how this sacrifice and Isaac's walk strapped with the wood, symbolized Christ's coming sacrifice for us.
I take issue with the suggestion that just because a few points or disagreements may have merit, the entire talk is worthless. Rob said himself in Velvet Elvis, "We have to test everything. I thank God for anybody anywhere who is pointing people to the mysteries of God. But those people would all tell you to think long and hard about what they are saying and doing and creating. Test it. Probe it. Do that to this book. Don't swallow it uncritically. Think about it. Wrestle with it. Just because I'm a Christian and I'm trying to articulate a Christian worldview doesn't mean I've got it nailed. I'm contributing to the discussion. God has spoken, and the rest is commentary, right?"
I think that is the beauty of Rob's teachings. They lead us all into discussions such as these where we dig deeper into scripture to check things, wrestle with ideas and questions and hopefully in the end come out closer to God through our faith in Christ.
As for your last questions, without going on too much longer than I already have, yes, Rob touched on the deity of Christ. He did not make direct reference to the Holy Spirit. I don't think every pastor or teacher has always worked a direct reference to the Holy Spirit into each of their messages. A lot of it has to do with the audience and frame of reference. Paul for example preaches in Athens to those that have never heard of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit or scripture and uses a different method to reach them. Acts 17:16-31. He does not speak directly of the Spirit or even call Jesus by name, but his message draws those who the Spirit moves to learn more by asking Paul to come back so they can hear more and thus the conversation continues...
Alan, finally, tone can be misinterpreted in text so please do not take any of my responses as too agressive or defensive. I appreciate the discussion. If you would like to continue this more at length you can email me directly at mrlehratgmail.com.
Peace.
Post a Comment