Disclaimer: I am a layperson. I am not a pastor, nor a pastor’s daughter, sister, or wife. I never attended seminary or studied religion. As such, the following discourse should be read from a layperson’s perspective.
As one who tends to form strong biases without even reading anything, I am not the best person to write balanced, fair reviews. But even before my small group began reading Love Wins, I knew it would be a difficult issue for me, one about which I felt compelled to write. I am not here to bash Mr. Bell’s latest best-seller, but rather to caution you, if you choose to read it, against taking it all to heart.
Upon finishing Chapter 1, “What about the flat tire?”, I was right where Rob wanted me: thinking and fuming (maybe he didn’t intend the fuming part; nevertheless I was). What god is he writing about? He must be mighty small to let a missionary’s flat tire keep His gospel from reaching all peoples! I say he had me where he wanted me because this was his intention, it seems: to get me to ask questions. So ask I did—Rob, what are you doing?
Throughout his book, Rob Bell cites Scripture to support the uncertainties behind his questions. There is danger in this, because 1) not everyone who reads this book will be familiar with the passages he paraphrases, 2) those who do recognize the passages may not know their context, and 3) in cherry picking some passages over others, one can very easily arrive at misguided conclusions, however well-intentioned.
So, what do I have to say about these? Read on…
- First: Not every reader has a background steeped in the knowledge of Scripture. I was blessed to grow up in a household that valued the Bible, and I have memorized several passages and read the entire Bible at least twice. So whenever Bell quotes a passage, I have at least a general idea of where it comes from and what else the passage says. All that aside, I still should have done again what I’m about to suggest: read the whole Bible before you read this book. And if you’ve read it all before, give it another cursory look. There’s a reason Bell’s church attracts crowds of over eleven thousand: he is a great speaker. I’ve seen a couple of his Nooma videos (those twenty-minute mini-sermons that are so popular) and he can draw you into whatever he’s saying and have you nodding in agreement in no time. I don’t mind that—he makes some great points and asks challenging questions—but he is not God. His words aren’t necessarily God-breathed and “profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness.” Consequently, you must know what the Scriptures say before you can know if Bell is being faithful to them.
- Second: Not every reader is a Biblical or historical scholar. (In other words, “Rob, I appreciate all the quotes and such, but for the love of humanity WHERE ARE YOUR FOOTNOTES?!”) Rob Bell seems to have done his research; after all, he sprinkles quotation marks almost as generously as he does the paragraph breaks. My problem with it is I want to know more. As I mentioned, I’m no star student when it comes to the Bible, and to facilitate my understanding I need to know where Bell is getting his material. Did he just make up this whole thing from his imagination? No, others have been asking the same questions he’s posing for years. But do you see my point? So my second encouragement to you is to look up the passages cited, check out the books he lists on the last page. See where his ideas are coming from.
- Third: By clinging to some Scriptures and ignoring others, we distort the overall message. For example (not in the book), you can’t just say “all sins will be forgiven” (Mk 3:28) and leave out “but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness” (Mk 3:29). It doesn’t work that way. The thing that frustrates me most about this book is that Rob seems to be trying to make it work that way. Might be the biases talking, but might not. Now, what you will find in Love Wins is that Rob never comes right out and says anything; he asks clever questions and implies his answer.
Ultimately, he leaves the tension still sharp in the air over this question of “Does everybody get to heaven?” You are free to leave it unanswered, as he (sort of) does. In fact, I encourage it. Why? Because I don’t know that Scripture fully answers it. Some mysteries are best left un”solved”–such as the date of Jesus’ return, the exact circumstances surrounding the “new heavens and new earth,” etc. My last caution is to test everything against the Scriptures. All of them, not just your favorites. And if all you find is ambiguity, then let that be your position. Please, I beg you, don’t go trying to fill all the intentional gaps in Scripture with your own reasoning. I don’t doubt God is powerful enough to do anything, but I’m not going to hold Him to my version of His story, either.
It would seem that I’m ready to have a Rob Bell bookburning here and now. But I’m not. In fact, I agree with many of his statements concerning social justice and the appropriateness of longing for all things to be reconciled to God. But Love Wins is not the Bible. I’ll stick to that Book for my source of Truth. As my small group leader commented during one of our discussions, “I like the conclusions I’m drawing from this book [Love Wins]. I just don’t know that Rob Bell is arriving at the same ones.”
