Sunday, February 27, 2011

Love Wins.

Twitter and the Blogosphere are up in arms today about a new book by one of my favorite authors, Rob Bell. The book is called “Love Wins” and he’s released a video promo to go with the book.

John Piper and Josh Harris, also authors, have publicly criticized the notion behind the video.

Pastor/Author Mark Driscoll has subtly made comments about the book/video.

Justin Taylor, who I never heard of before this made a great comment on his blog about this video and book.

My friend Travis has made a comment about the comments regarding the book and video.

Someone on my facebook commented, “wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

Someone else mentioned the narrow gate and the deception that would lead people astray.

And some people, myself included, have said, “I want to read the book first.”

So, I preface my thoughts with that, I want to read the book first.

However, the video is worth talking about. Yes, some of the questions that Bell is asking are rhetorical, and I wouldn’t argue that some of the questions he’s asking are meant to have “yes” answers and some are meant to have “no” answers.

The age-old question that we’ve been talking about for centuries is this: what happens to us when we die?

The Bible makes it clear. There is a heaven. There is a hell.

Some people will go to heaven, most will not. There is no in-between here. There isn’t a third, middle-ground eternity. Either you’re in, or you’re out.

The problem is that this type of thought has come under fire as non-inclusive, divisive and hate-filled. Because, how can a God who loves everyone send people to hell? This is a question that Bell asks in his video, and one that is echoed by throngs of people who don’t want to believe that they could possibly be heading for eternity in a place of torture.

Can I just put it bluntly? If everyone gets to go to heaven, if nobody has to go to hell, then Jesus death was for nothing. The sacrifice that Christ made on the Cross is useless without that fact.

We live in a world that is bathed in sin. We see it every single day. Every single one of us is born into a hopeless, sinful existence. Every single person.

But God’s grace is so much that we don’t have to receive what we deserve.

God’s love always wins. And God’s grace always wins.

But Jesus is extremely clear, not everyone who thinks they have received God’s grace has actually received it.

There are thousands, millions of people on this planet who are believing a lie.

Rob Bell, you’ve always come at us like you were painting Christianity with a different brush. This was a movement that I’ve always been for. We don’t need to look the same as we did 50, 100, 1000 years ago. We just don’t.

But the Bible is truth, friend. Jesus, Peter, Paul and the Church Fathers all told us these things. There is a heaven. There is a hell. Some make it to heaven. Most don’t.

It’s the harsh reality of the condition of sin.

Do. Not. Compromise.

We do not need to compromise the truth. If the book is anything like the video, Rob, I’m out. I hope I’m wrong and that the points in the video are meant to stir up conversation and get people talking about the book so that when people read it you point people in the right direction.

Galatians 1:8 - “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned.”

Let’s be cautious in what we accept and we we tolerate from Christian leaders. Sin is always sin. But, God’s grace is so much bigger than all our sin.

(God’s) love (always) wins.

1 comments:

Shawn said...

I have the feeling that the book is not about heaven or hell at all. At least not the after we die heaven or hell. Note the comment, "eternal life begins now..."