Rob Bell has been in a media storm for the last 4 years because he offended a lot of evangelical theologians with his book, “Love Wins”. He then raised the bar with his affirmation of homosexual marriage and now, he has a TV program and won’t go away. Is Bell a forerunner Christian or a lousy theologian who just wants to love everybody?
Bell appeared about a year ago on the UK radio program, “Unbelievable?” where a very skilled, Andrew Wilson, cornered him on his position on homosexual marriage. The questions posed to Bell were: “Is it sin in God’s eyes for people to engage in same-sex relations, and/or does the Evangelical Church understand Scripture in your view when it includes same-sex relations as part of Jesus’ and Paul’s denouncing of sexual immorality?” Bell seemed unable to collect his thoughts and mount a defense of his position. He either froze or chose not to participate in a theological debate in defense of himself.
As I watched the ‘crucifixion’, I could see love would not win this battle. It was going to go down to defeat. Death was unavoidable, surely appointed.
Many people deserted “love” and Bell that day, they were offended. He didn’t pass the scrutiny of theologians with Scripture in hand. In spite of “love” giving itself up to defeat, the question remains, is Bell on solid theological ground? I think so! I wished he would have said……..
It is not the Body of Christ’s “job” to pass judgement on the world or other believers; our job, as believers, is to love each other and the world. Furthermore, if Christ is the head of the Church, by what authority do theologians act as prosecutors for, protectors of, and gatekeepers into God’s Kingdom? If Mr. Wilson believes it’s his “call” to determine sin or exclude or include people from the church based on their sexual practices, he has greatly exceeded his role as a member of Christ’s Body. Wilson was very respectful, sincere, and kind, but none-the-less focused on determining the legitimacy of Bell’s position based on Scripture.
In a New Testament context, pointing out or determining what is sin is clearly the role of the Holy Spirit and that’s a personal matter between the person and God. The problem is that the so-called Church is more like any earthly institution rather than the Body of Christ because there is so much competition for who will be the “head”. From that position, they determine who is “in” and who is “out”. All things considered, it seems pretty ridiculous to me. There are small (in faith) people in high places who feel they need to protect and defend the Church as if it were their own. We all know how carnal that is; God is more than capable of ruling and purifying His church – he doesn’t need our meddling.
Nobody is going to win “points” with God for saving the Body of Christ or the world from same-sex marriage. When it comes time to ‘cash in your chips’ the only thing that will matter is, did you love? And on that point, I think Bell had the high ground – he just couldn’t or wouldn’t prove it on that day.
P.S. What if God allowed this huge stumbling block (like He did with Jesus) and is using death to bring life (like He did with Jesus) back to a very religious and ineffective church?
See the interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF9uo_P0nNI
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