This week one of my Seminary professors, Dr. John Byron, wonders in his blog why the church isn’t having a conversation about homosexuality. Too often we hear pastors and other members of the church saying that they are “for” or “against”, “pro” or “con,’ but how often are we actually talking about the problem and searching for what is right? Surely the Bible has something to say and can inform us as we wrestle with a difficult problem, or have we given up on the authority of scripture? I find it especially odd that Methodists, who claim to be the people of ‘Holy Conferencing’, are so quick to draw lines in the sand before having a real, genuine, and honest conversation in pursuit of the truth.
Christian
Christian Conflict Resolution……An Unfortunate Contradiction In Terms
The following article was written on Facebook by my friend Darrell Ritchie and is reprinted here with his kind permission. Darrell’s descriptions coincide very well with my own experience. My only disagreement would be that I think there are four steps described in scripture with walking away actually being the fourth step. This way we are reminded that we need to try three times in three different ways, before we give up on a relationship with another Christian brother or sister. I have been guilty of this and have had others walk away from me but God’s not finished with me yet and I’m still trying to do better.
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Christian Conflict Resolution……An Unfortunate Contradiction In Terms
By Darrell Ritchie (on Wednesday, April 25, 2012 at 8:06am ·
You know, I never cease to be amazed by the average Christian’s inability to resolve conflict. It is almost as though many of us check our courage at the door when we accept Christ and from that moment forward we opt to avoid anything resembling confrontation, instead choosing to run like a river when the snow melts whenever something happens between us and one of our fellow Christians that might actually require some work on our part.
And yes, I think I am qualified to speak on this subject, having been raised in the church, having been a Christian most of my life, and having spent over twenty years in music ministry where I have often had the dubious privilege of seeing and hearing a lot of things that I probably shouldn’t as the result of being the guest artist in a given church.
What is it that makes us so incapable of handling conflict? Disagreements? Issues? In the vast majority of cases I see where Christians have an issue with somebody, the single most common response is to simply cut ties with that person altogether and walk away. Of course I’m still waiting on somebody to demonstrate to me where that is Scripturally sound, but I digress.
In my time on the road, I have seen people turned out by their Christian brothers over decisions they have made that crossed the line into sin. These people instantly became like lepers to their church, or depending on their level of visibility, to the Christian community as a whole. Now nobody is excusing or endorsing sin, but are these actions really in line with the Savior who sat down and had dinner with sinners (Matt 9: 10)? Or the one who told the woman caught in adultery “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more”? (John 8: 1-11).
I have also seen minor issues destroy marriages, ministries, and relationships, simply because one party or both were too filled with pride to be able to say, “Hey, I was wrong. Can you forgive me?” Or the other party was unwilling to grant the forgiveness requested of them. Or both.
So what is the Scriptural admonishment for handling conflicts? Matthew 18: 15-17 is very clear on the matter: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”
Are you listening? Yes, there is a time when you cut your ties and walk away, but only after taking the two previous steps. Firstly, we have an issue with someone; we go to them and bring it to light. Hopefully they hear us, the issue is resolved, and the relationship is restored. If they do not listen, we aren’t off the hook just yet….we go back to them a second attempt, this time bringing witnesses. If that doesn’t fly, we bring the issue before the church, and if they still refuse to listen, at that point, and only that point, are we granted permission to walk away from them and don’t look back.
Unfortunately, we are far too often guilty of skipping right over the first two verses and going right to the last part. For whatever reason we are either unable to take the necessary steps toward reconciliation (which is pretty bad), or we are unwilling (which is inexcusable).
How we as Christians treat each other is a powerful testimony before the world. What does it say about us when, instead of seeking healing and restoration, that we choose to go our separate ways in bitterness and resentment? How does it make us look when minor disagreements or issues prove beyond our ability to overcome and heal? And what does it tell the rest of the world when the example set is that everything will be okay just as long as you say and do everything correctly? Who in their right mind would want to be a part of any body of believers that lived by that kind of deal?
We need to be willing to confront, to hear, and to do the right thing. It may be hard to go to somebody and tell them you messed up, but do it anyway. It is the right thing to do. I firmly believe that in most cases, the other party will be all too willing to listen, and that is the point where restoration begins. Then again, they may not hear you, but you can walk away knowing you did the right thing, and you’ll be surprised at how much lighter the load is.
What if you’re on the other side and somebody comes to you and says, hey, I screwed up, I apologize, and will you forgive me? I don’t know about you, but that is one of the few situations in life that I don’t have to even pray about. We are commanded to forgive as Christ has forgiven us, and Christ doesn’t put conditions or trial periods or any other stipulations on forgiveness. When we repent and ask Him for forgiveness for our trespasses, He grants it freely, and tosses it as far as the east is from the west. Why then should we do any less when someone makes the same request of us?
It isn’t often talked about, but I wholeheartedly believe that the lack of conflict resolution is one of the biggest problems facing the church today. It is my prayer that more of us will develop the courage, the fortitude, to face these problems head on, coupled with the desire to see healing and restoration among our churches, marriages, and relationships.
I’ve said it before, and I close with it now….as Christians, we are all family, and at the end of the day we are going to be spending eternity together. With that little nugget in mind, how then do we defend the practice of holding grudges or ill will towards anybody else while we are here? What say you?
[Note: Darrell can be reached for musical engagements and other things at billydritchie@gmail.com or on Facebook by clicking here: Darrell Ritchie]
What’s the Big Deal About Sex?
Early this month a group of Secret Service Agents as well as military personnel (presumably male), were in Columbia as a part of President Barack Obama’s trip there for a multinational conference. As most of us have seen in the news, these individuals had a grand time partying with prostitutes after hours prior to the President’s arrival. Once they returned home, this exploded into a scandal of epic proportions. But so what? From the perspective of faith and the church, I could easily make a list of why this was not a good thing for these men to do, but I really wonder if Congress’ shock at the behavior of the Secret Service is only for show during an election year. After all, what’s the big deal about sex? Here are a few questions that are being raised:
Whose money did they spend? Congressman Peter King wants to know if the money these men spent was taxpayer per diem. So what if it was? Per Diem (literally, per day) is money paid to persons who are on special duty or special assignment. It is, simply, a paycheck. If these men were paid per diem, it is because they were working on a job where they earned it. If Congressman King believes that we the people have a right to control how someone spends a government paycheck then he is going to have an awful lot his fellow representatives looking over their collective shoulders.
They work for the government. So what? They were not ‘at work,’ it was after hours, they were on their own time. How often have we heard that what we do on our personal time is nobody’s business?
It’s illegal. No it isn’t. Prostitution might be illegal in most places here in the United States, but it isn’t in Columbia. Besides the financial transaction, this was simply an arrangement between consenting adults.
It’s immoral. What? We in the church have been told loudly and often that we shouldn’t force our moral values on others. In our modern culture, we are told, it is perfectly acceptable and normal for adults to determine their own morality. In that environment, who should judge whether the behavior of these men is immoral or not? Besides, in recent decades Congress seems to have made a hobby of turning a blind eye to the moral and sexual indiscretions of their peers. Judge not, lest ye be judged, right?
What these men did certainly violates many of the teaching of Christianity but with increasing regularity we are reminded that the United States is increasingly multi-cultural, multi-religious and increasingly non-religious. Even the President said “Whatever we once were, we are no longer just a Christian nation; we are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers.” (Barack Obama, June 28, 2006) And so again I ask, so what?
Certainly I realize that there are national security concerns that come with allowing our Secret Service personnel to cavort with prostitutes but historically, one major concern was that such behavior would result in blackmail. In this era of new morality, why is that a concern either? If these men are free to dictate their own morality and what they were doing was perfectly legal, then what leverage remains for blackmail?
I don’t doubt that there were rules in place both by the Secret Service and by the military and I don’t doubt that rules were broken. But if we, as an enlightened and liberated society, have refused to legislate morality and if we have cast off the bonds of propriety, allowing morals to be defined by every individual, then all that we have left to guide us are rules, and frankly, rules aren’t much to count on as the underpinning of an entire society.
I want to be clear, I don’t agree with what these men did. What they did was both wrong and stupid, but I say these things to make a point. It may indeed be true that we are no longer a Christian nation, but once we have cast off the lines that tie our culture to a fixed and immovable standard of decency and morality, the coastline can get pretty fuzzy.
Jesus to the World
As we begin the month of April, end the season of Lent, celebrate Easter, and begin the season of resurrection, I hope that we will take the time to remember. During Lent we were often asked to remember. We were asked to remember our sin, to remember Jesus trial, conviction, brutal beatings, crucifixion and ultimate humiliation and death on the cross. But this is different. As we celebrate spring and begin the season of resurrection, our focus changes. Now, instead of recalling the darkness, we change our focus to the light. All these things are good news. We remember that Jesus said he would be “lifted up” just as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the desert. We remember that Jesus’ death on the cross was the act that saved us, it was his sacrifice, his acceptance of a punishment that rightly belonged to us. But as amazing has his sacrifice was (and is), the story would be horribly tragic if it had ended there and that is why our focus now shifts.
Now, we shift our attention to the end of the story, or more correctly, to the beginning of the new story. As we celebrate the coming of spring we remember that the trees that once looked dead burst forth in new growth. We remember that the spring flowers that died last summer rise again from the earth and display their beauty to the world. In the same way, we remember that Easter is a story of a new beginning. Jesus took our punishment for sin when he died on the cross, but in three days what was once dead burst from the earth, rose again, and returned to life. It was through the resurrection that we know that God approved of Christ’s sacrifice. It was through the resurrection that we know that Jesus is the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, and it is through the resurrection that we know that a new age has begun. At the moment of resurrection we discover the end of the Passion story and the end of the Gospels but we also find the beginning of God’s new covenant with his people. It is at the moment of resurrection that we begin to anticipate the future work of the body of Christ and the creation of the church as we know it.
Lent and Easter, the Passion and the Resurrection, are two sides of one whole. During Lent we remember what Christ has done for us. At Easter we celebrate his victory over death and our invitation to eternal life but there is more to it than that. Easter is the end of the Gospel story and near the end of Jesus’ time on earth but it is just the beginning of ourstory, the story of the church and ourmission. Easter begins a turning point of history when Christ prepares his followers to take up his cross, to assume his mission on earth as their mission and to truly become the hands and feet of Jesus. The celebration of Easter is not only a call to remember and not only a call to follow Jesus Christ, but it is a call to be Jesus to the world.
On Easter Sunday we will shout, “He is risen!” but as we do so we will hear the risen Christ calling to us to take up his cross and to carry on with the work that he began.
Will we answer his call?
Will we beJesus to the world around us?
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Women in Ministry
Most likely, anyone reading this knows that the United Methodist Church (and many others) not only allows women to teach in church but also to be ordained as pastors and bishops. I have had many wonderful conversations about this subject with friends and colleagues from other denominations over the years but I have also been asked questions by folks from our own denomination and even from my own congregation. Today I found this neat 7 minute video by Dr. Ben Witherington III, who is a leading New Testament scholar and United Methodist. In this video from Asbury Seminary, Dr. Witherington sorts through much of the reasoning and theology without forcing you to resort to an hour-long lecture or to read a lot of books or attend a theology class. There is enough information here to satisfy most casual questions but also enough meat to keep you looking things up for a while if you are so inclined.
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Why I Stand With the Catholic Church
In recent weeks the President of the United States and his Administration announced that all employers would be required to provide health coverage that included coverage for birth control and abortifacients regardless of the employer’s religious affiliation. What this means is that religious institutions will be required by law to provide the means to do something that the parent religion considers to be a violation of conscience. The federal government has told the Catholic Church that its hospitals, its adoption services, and its other outreach branches, as well as Methodist Hospitals, Baptist Hospitals and Jewish and Muslim charity and community centers, that they must all provide this benefit to their employees regardless of whether or not this is a violation of the teachings of their religion. I want to be clear, I am not a Catholic but this is serious stuff and it is important for all of us regardless of religion.
I have heard friends say that the complaints against the government are just a power play by entrenched male power interests in the church to oppose necessary health provisions for women but I don’t think so. It was the Catholic Church (and a few other churches) who built charity hospitals to provide care to the poor when medical care was something only the wealthy could afford (did you ever wonder why so many hospitals have Saint something in their name or end in Methodist, Baptist, or Catholic Hospital?) It was the Catholic Church who built one of the biggest AIDS clinics in San Francisco when many hospitals were afraid to treat AIDS patients. The caring and compassion of the church, particularly in the field of medicine, has been repeatedly demonstrated.
What’s more, the consistency of the Catholic Church is well established. As a Protestant, I do not have a problem with birth control but draw the line at abortion and abortifacients because we believe that a child in the womb, a fertilized egg implanted and growing in the uterus, is a life. Somehow, those of Protestant faith believe that a fertilized egg is not necessarily a life, but once it has ‘taken root’ it becomes a life. This is a pretty fine line. The Catholic Church doesn’t try to split hairs and it never has, they believe that a fertilized egg is a human being, period. The position of the Catholic Church has never changed on this and although I do not agree, I have great respect for the consistency of their argument. Life is life.
For the government to say that the Catholic Church (and all other churches) must provide benefits that it believes are morally unconscionable is, to me, a clear violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. What if the government re-instituted the draft to support the military? In such a draft, undoubtedly, persons would be drafted that, for religious or moral reasons, choose not to carry a gun or to be placed in a situation where they might be required to kill another human being. For that reason, our nation has allowed these persons to become conscientious objectors, and we allow them to serve their country in another capacity. One of my uncles served in the Korean Conflict as a medic for that reason. If our government is allowed to force people of faith to provide birth control and abortion inducing drugs against their will, is it any stretch at all to imagine that conscientious objectors could be forced to carry a gun into combat? Can American Indians be prohibited from ceremonies that require the use of peyote? Could Muslims be prevented from making daily prayers during the workday? The principle is exactly the same. If religious objections are overruled for one, they can be overruled for anyone.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
– U.S. Constitution, 1st Amendment, Article 3.
If the government is permitted to prevent Catholics and others from exercising their religion, and their conscience, in this way, what other Constitutional rights will it find “inconvenient” tomorrow?
I am not a Catholic and though I respect the Catholic Church I often do not agree with it. My position on birth control is different than the one held by the Catholic Church. Even so, I think they are right and the government is wrong. I stand in support. Will you?
God Will Destroy the Fat Cats – A word about the Occupy Wall Street movement
As I prepare sermons each week, I download and read the scriptures called out in the Common Lectionary, a three year plan that walks us through most major teachings in the Bible. I don’t always use every selection but as I was reading these scriptures recently I was struck by a passage in Ezekiel that would, on the surface, seem to be a rallying place for the Occupy Wall Street movement and I was, frankly, surprised that it had not already been used to proclaim that ‘GOD WILL DESTROY THE FAT CATS’. On the surface, this seems to be the message but that didn’t seem quite right, and it bothered me. Before we go any farther, here is Ezekiel 34:16 (NIV)
I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
God says that he will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak but he will destroy the strong and the sleek. Many translations declare that God will destroy the strong and the fat. That certainly sounds like a condemnation of the Wall Street bankers, politicians in Washington, and most other ‘fat cats’ but, as I noted earlier, something about that bothered me and it didn’t take too long to figure out why. The Bible is full of sheep/shepherd imagery. God, kings and church leaders are often compared to shepherds and the people of God are likened to sheep under God’s care. This imagery is common because it was (and still is) a good picture of how we relate to God and most people who read the story understand how sheep (and shepherds) act. The problem that I have with this particular passage is that destroying strong sheep and fat sheep is not what shepherds would normally do. Most responsible shepherds want strong sheep and fat sheep. Breeding for these characteristics improves the flock as a whole and makes it both stronger and more valuable. It would be irresponsible for any shepherd to destroy his best breeding stock, so what is it that Ezekiel is trying to tell us?
As is often the case, the key to interpreting this is found not simply in reading to find what seems to agree with your cause, but in reading more of the passage to put things in context. Knowing the analogy, that a good and wise shepherd would not normally destroy his best breeding stock is a good start and ignites our curiosity to look deeper. If we keep reading from Ezekiel we discover these verses as well:
18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? 19Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?
And this:
See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, 22 I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another.
If we read what comes prior to verse 16, we discover that the entire section is a condemnation upon the leaders of God’s people, the shepherds who have neglected their duty to God and have scattered the sheep. It is these fat sheep that God condemns. Unlike some in the Occupy movement, God does not declare that wealth equates with evil, that all rick and powerful people are bad, or that they should be destroyed. God’s proclamation is that wealth and power are given along with a responsibility to care for those that have been entrusted to you. God condemns Israel’s leaders because they have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost and they have ruled harshly and brutally while enriching themselves.
Simply put, the strong and the fat are not condemned because they are strong and fat, but because they used their strength to abuse the weak instead of using it to care for them.
In my ministry I have had the good fortune to meet several people who have significant wealth, but many of them are also kind, compassionate and generous followers of Jesus Christ who treat their employees well and who use their wealth to care for others as well as the church. In these words of Ezekiel we do not find a broad condemnation of everyone with wealth and power, but only those who do not use what they have been given in a responsible way. This is not a condemnation of wealth and power, but a caution to all of us who lead others, whether as pastors, doctors, lawyers, employers, shop foremen, teachers, committee chairpersons or any other position of responsibility. God does not intend to destroy the ‘fat cats’ but he will do whatever he needs to do to protect his flock.
All of God’s people are expected to heal the sick, strengthen the weak, bind the wounds of the injured, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, and to lead with tenderness and compassion. If we fail to do that, then we are in serious trouble regardless of our relative wealth or power.
Are You Afraid?
Are you afraid?
Every day we open the newspaper or we turn on the radio or the television and we hear bad news. Our economy is not in great shape. Our government is spending more than it can afford. Unemployment is at near historic levels and showing no sign of getting better soon. We hear reports of doom and gloom almost constantly.
How has this constant barrage of bad news affected you?
As I have been reading reports from churches and other charities across the country the reports seem to share a common thread. Fear. After listening to the constant cries of disaster and doom people begin to grow afraid for their future. When people are afraid, they begin to act in ways that reflect their fear. When we are afraid, we become far more conservative financially, our worries for the future cause us to spend less, pay down credit cards and even save a little more in the bank. When we are afraid, sometimes without even being consciously aware of it, we pull back and prepare for a rainy day; we are, as a society, waiting for the other shoe to drop. This mentality is widespread. The stock markets react violently to even the tiniest piece of bad news and only hesitantly move forward when there is good news. Retail sales and other measures of consumer spending are not especially good at least partially because people are not confident of how things will be next month, or next year. People are afraid.
The funny thing is that most of us have no real reason to be afraid.
Most of us have the same jobs that we had last year and the year before that. Many of us have continued to get the same sorts of raises that we have always gotten. Except for what we seem to be spending on gasoline, our expenses are not significantly changed from what we have been accustomed to for a long time. Obviously there are exceptions. One of my brothers has been out of work for more than two years and he is not alone. Many folks are hurting. The rest of us however, are living pretty much the same lives that we were living before the recession began several years ago. For us, our fear has little or no basis in reality. We are afraid, only because the evening news seems to tell us that we should be and something about that is not right.
Why should we act as if we are afraid if we have no real reason to actually be afraid?
As Christians we have another, even better, reason to resist this kind of fear. Our fear seems to come from our worries about what the President or the Congress will or will not do. Our fear seems to come from our worries about the economy and other things far outside out control or understanding. Instead of allowing these worrisome times to make us afraid, we should remember who is in control. Psalm 20:7 reminds us that “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” And if we even momentarily considered putting our trust in our bank accounts or in our government, Job is there to remind us that “What they trust in is fragile what they rely on is a spider’s web. They lean on the web, but it gives way; they cling to it, but it does not hold.” Nahum 1:7 tells us that “The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him.” Just because we are people of faith, does not mean that we are immune to fear, but the when fear springs up inside of us we remember this: “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Psalm 56:3-4)
As followers of Jesus Christ we are called to put our trust in him and not in the fluctuations of economies and governments that we cannot control. All of these things are under his command and it is our job to trust in him. Daniel was literally thrown to the lions but we should remember that “when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.” (Daniel 6:23)
We hear bad news every day and honestly, I have begun to listen to the news less often because of it. I am not hiding from the truth, but I don’t need to be constantly beaten with it either. I hope that you will remember that we have no need to fear. Whenever we are tempted to be afraid, we need to ask ourselves a single important question…
Who do you trust?
September 11, 2001 – 10 years later
Help us overcome, Lord, this evil which has descended
Help us understand, Lord, why so many lives too soon have ended
Help us heal, Lord, as we recover from the pain
Help us cope, Lord, show us sunshine after the rain
We put our trust in you, Lord, as you watch us from on high
Help us grieve, Lord, and hold us while we cry
Written by Jim Lane
Fair Oaks, CA , September 2001
This morning in church we remembered. Many in our congregation could remember exactly where they were and what they were doing on the day that Pearl Harbor was attacked and the same applies to the days that John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Ronald Reagan was shot, and Challenger exploded. Likewise we remember where we were ten years ago today during the events of September 11, 2001. Although we will likely never forget, I pray that God will continue to bring healing to all those who were wounded both physically, mentally and spiritually. Similarly, I pray that we will learn the right lessons of September 11th. There are many messages but I pray that we hear the messages taught to us in scripture, messages of love, forgiveness, healing and hope and not the messages that we sometimes hear that play to our baser instincts to hate, destroy and seek revenge and retribution.
This morning’s worship service began by reading together from the Psalms and remembering that we find strength in God’s tower and not in towers of our own making. The opening prayer was the one I have included above. It was written by a fellow rocketry hobbyist and an online friend, Jim Lane in 2001 after the events of September 11th. It sums up many of the feelings that we had then and feelings that have resurfaced this week as we remember. I include it here with his kind permission. Thank you Jim.
My message this morning was a story of remembrance but also a reminder that the thing that makes followers of Jesus Christ different is our calling to love and forgive our enemies. This is not an easy thing, in fact, it may well be one of the hardest things that we can do but Jesus tells us that our own forgiveness depends upon it.
Sunday’s message, September 11, 2011 – a service of remembrance and reminder.
Better Late Than Never – My take on Rob Bell’s “Love Wins” (Part 2)
As I said, Rob Bell asks some great questions and they are important, life or death questions but his approach to answering some of them is sloppy. I found that disappointing in someone who writes so well. When I say that Rob Bell’s approach is sloppy, here is what I mean: In seminary we were taught that we should always allow the text of scripture to speak for itself. We were taught how to properly interpret scripture, how to translate difficult words and to look at how that writer, or other Biblical writers used those words in similar contexts so that we could correctly discern the intended meaning. Beyond this, we were taught never to proof-text. Proof-texting happens when we decide what the Bible should say and then proceed to dig out Biblical texts that align with, and therefore seem to prove, our initial theories. Rob Bell may not be proof-texting in “Love Wins” but he seems to draw awfully close to that line. Bell begins his book with an entire chapter devoted to describing what he wants to find in the Bible and uses whatever texts that seem to agree with him and either ignoring or skipping over texts that present significant problems. Ben Witherington even finds occasions where Bell has grossly misinterpreted scriptures so that they agree with his arguments where the correct interpretations would stand in opposition to it.
Bell says that heaven and hell are real and that they exist here on earth. It’s a nice sentiment, but that’s not what Jesus said. Jesus said that heaven is in another place. Jesus said that hell is real. Rob Bell says that we can decide, after death, to accept Christ but Jesus says that a great chasm exists between heaven and hell and no one can bridge that gap. Bell thinks that if we can decide to choose Christ after our deaths then sooner or later nearly everyone will come to their senses, follow Jesus and enter into heaven. Jesus says that at the end of the age the weeds will be separated from the wheat and thrown into the fire. Jesus says that the weeds are the followers of the evil one and the wheat are the followers of God. I agree with Bell that some of the things in scripture are troublesome. Like Bell, I wish that billions of unbelievers would not be sentenced to punishment in hell, but I can’t just pretend that scripture doesn’t say what it says. We struggle with the texts of scripture. It isn’t easy and we do no one any favors when we take shortcuts.
If we have a high view of scripture, we believe that it says what it says. If we have this view, then we must define ourselves and our beliefs why what we discern from it. We cannot force what we wish to be true upon scripture.
In summary, “Love Wins” is very well-written and engaging but for all the good ideas and excellent questions contained in it, there is too much theology that is poorly thought out, too much off-target interpretation and too many places where the layman (because it is well written and engaging) is going to have difficulty discerning one from the other. For those reasons, I cannot recommend reading “love Wins” unless you have a copy of a reliable analysis (like Ben Witherington’s) alongside it to help you avoid the pitfalls along the way.
Pastor Partridge 