Love Wins: Part 1

I just finished up Rob Bell’s “Love Wins” this week. It took me a little while longer than I expected to finish it, but there are several reasons for that: 1. I was on vacation in Florida for several days and we were way too busy to get in any reading time. 2. There’s a lot to think about when reading this book. I couldn’t just fly through it because it would’ve overloaded my brain with things to think about. I also had to be careful when I read this book, because I normally read right before I go to bed, but I couldn’t always do that with this book. On the occasions that I did, I’d end up keeping myself awake thinking about everything I’d just read and then I wouldn’t get any sleep. And 3. Rob Bell obviously writes like he talks. The text is stream of consciousness and does not abide by normal grammatical rules. I would often have to read through a sentence or paragraph two or three times before fully grasping its meaning. I found that reading out loud helped in following along.

But now that I am done, I can honestly say how much I really enjoyed the book and how much it challenged me. Bell brings up a number of questions and issues that had me nearly shouting out loud, “I’ve been wondering that, too!” I didn't realize quite how much it impacted me until I sat down to write this blog and I filled up page after page of thoughts, so I've broken it down into what I believe will be four posts. 

The first issue reading this book brought up in my mind is how disappointed I am in the Christian community for their early dismissal of the book, even before it was released. I find this book to be much more of a conversation than a lecture. I don’t feel that Bell ever took the approach of, “Christian theology as we know it is wrong and I’m right and here’s why.” He’s merely bringing up a conversation that’s been had before and will be had again. It’s very disappointing to me that so many Christian figures jumped to conclusions and called Bell a heretic for his thoughts when they hadn’t even heard what he had to say.  To simply dismiss the book is not the right way to go about it. Join in the conversation, even if you disagree. Just because something is now considered to be religious axiom doesn’t mean it’s truth. Think of the number of issues that have been thought to be fact over the past 2000 years and have proven to be incorrect. You should know why you believe what you believe, not just take it at face value because it’s what you were taught in Sunday school. That’s why I believe these discussions are so important. Because you have to actually defend your beliefs rather than resort to, “Well, that’s what I’ve always been taught.”

A number of times Bell says that Jesus is not afraid of our questions or debate and I totally agree. That’s what Christianity in our day and age is all about. God no longer writes a list of “dos” and “don’ts” on stone tablets. He’s opened up the floor for conversation, which then leads to understanding. As Christians, I don’t believe that we were made to live in this box of tradition and theology. We’re meant to have a relationship with God and have that relationship determine our life and actions. I think we should be constantly questioning what we’re told about Jesus, because regardless of how devout the person is who’s teaching, they’re still human and they’re not perfect. It’s amazing how differently some passages in the Bible can read depending on what perspective you’re looking at them from. If you assume anything, you can find the scriptures to back it up, because there is so much that can be taken out of context.

I’m not one of those people who believes that whatever you believe is right if it’s right for you. There are some things that are truth and some things that aren’t. I do, however, believe that a lot of the principles for following Jesus is subjective. Just because something resonates with one person doesn’t mean it will have the same impact on everyone. I also believe that God uses other methods and even religions to speak his own truth. He’s not limited to the pages of the Bible. He speaks in and through everything. If you’re open, God will speak to you, but he doesn’t use the same language for everyone. To dismiss someone’s experience simply because it’s different than your own is to limit God.