Don't get me wrong, God doesn't need to be defended. I know this.
But I want to rack your brain for a second.
In the past five years of my life, I have become an avid follower of several spiritual leaders, both local and national. Rob Bell, Francis Chan, and Andy Stanley are some of the top ones. At some point in the game, I have defended each one of them (as if I am intellectually qualified to assess any of these men). Rob Bell and his forward thinking. Francis Chan on the Holy Spirit. Andy Stanley and his seeker-sensitive services. I respected these men. I wanted everyone to see the good they were doing.
But I didn't know them.
I don't believe in slandering the name of a leader in some sort of prideful dissection of their choices. Given that disclaimer, I ran into a brick wall of dilemma this week. A friend shared an article with me preluding to a new book by Rob Bell. In this review, and in an interview with Rob Bell, he expresses that Hell will probably be empty because the Love of God couldn't send someone to hell eternally for missing their opportunity of faith in Him on earth. My immediate instinct when I read the article was to begin to muster up reasons of why Rob Bell would come to this conclusion. As I was reviewing the reasons again this afternoon, my mind came to a
screeching halt.
Why, in the moment of that dilemma, was I so quick to defend Rob Bell? Why, considering my profession of utmost faith in God, was I not immediately mustering scripture to defend THE VERY GOD I AM LIVING FOR?
There are things that will not make sense to me. It would be foolish for a five year old to say to a 100 year old man that he would like to be explained the old man's rationalization process on an issue. In the same way (but at a much higher degree), how can I believe that my thoughts are even comparable to the God who created the universe (so complex that millions of scientists across history could spend centuries upon centuries learning and still not have a completed grasp on it's wonders)? How can I believe and profess that God created me--my anatomy, my way of thinking, my soul--and think that I would be able to comprehend all of His motives?
We cannot explain everything. We will blind ourselves to the Mysteries of God if we attempt to do so.
In the middle of a passage about a group of people who were manufacturing a false form of religion, Romans 1 states "Claiming to be wise, they became fools..."
I'm not saying Rob Bell is forming a cult. I'm simply asking why we are defending him--a thirty-something year old man--against the Word of God. A book that, (yes, I know your argument: was written by men. The Bible has been more researched and cross-referenced than ANY history book you have ever read. The words of the Bible are more meticulously solid, in proven research across thousands of years by thousands of brilliant men, than your history book discussing the events of the past 200 years of America. Really. Research it thoroughly and prove me wrong). Back to my point. The Bible has way more history and tenure than Rob Bell. We should be defending it's truths more passionately than his opinions, even if we simply look at historical and intellectual buy-in.
But so many of us aren't.
As I stated before, I don't know Rob Bell. But I know God. I can hold onto the non-retractable experiences I have had indicating his absolute realness. In my closeness and connection with Him, I should be more quick to be convinced by His Words than any modern-day leader. (And, to be honest, that is an understatement).
I am speaking to my generation. The current generation of young people, posing themselves as the future leaders of this world.
You have big hearts. You have hungry minds. But if you try to live-out a faith that discredits what Jesus Christ himself said, how can you say you believe in Him as the Savior of the World?
This is not a popular message. Not one that I've addressed before. And I know this will tick-off a vast majority of my friends, who I love and respect so much. However, I refuse to be blown about by the opinions of the next big leader, while professing that I have faith in an Everlasting, Omnipresent God. I will not say, in pride, that I have the right to know everything about God. (I desire to know Him more, and hold to the promise that one day I will know Him fully, although that in and of itself is somewhat incomprehensible). With all of the stupid decisions I have made in my life, with all of the "hind-sight is 20/20" moments, I can only imagine that "afterlife" with the Lord would provide far more insight than my mortal mind can comprehend in this life.
I will still search. I will still seek. I will still have questions. I will still experience moments of frustration. I will still experience moments of heartbreak and misunderstanding.
BUT: "My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," declares the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts..." (Isaiah 55: 8-9)
Selah.
