I started reading this book back in May when Pastor Brian read exerpts from it during a Bible study class. I knew from the minute that I bought the book that I was in for a controversial read. Honestly, that was part of the draw for me. I typically do not think of religion, faith, and spirituality in the same light as others, so I thought that maybe I could seriously get something out of this book. Now that I have finished it, I just don't see what the controversy was all about. Maybe I am misguided and I will fully admit that I am clueless when it comes to the goings on mentioned in the Bible, but I just don't get what all the fuss was about.
OK, so maybe the idea of Heaven and Hell not being actual places but more states of mind ruffled some feathers. For me, this was not a new idea. My religion professor, Dr. Cain--a retired Baptist minister turned Religion professor--first introduced this idea to me back in the early 1990's. For me, this idea made a world of sense. I am a black and white kind of person and I am very reality based. The idea of a place beyond the clouds or below the Earth's surface was more than my concrete mind could fathom. If they were really places, why hadn't anyone found them yet? Why couldn't I go there and be with my dad and all of the other family I had lost? These were all questions no one could answer until Dr. Cain stepped in. But beyond that idea, what am I missing that is upsetting the Christian community? Why is Rob Bell being protested? If you are reading this and you have a thought, PLEASE post a comment. I'd seriously like to know what all of the fuss is about.
Furthermore, I am also baffled at the number of people who have totally rebuked his ideas of love, God, and Jesus. It seems to me that he, in book form, just elaborated upon exactly the same ideas presented to me in VBS when I was in Elementary School: accept Jesus into your heart and God loves you unconditionally. Again, maybe this all goes back to the Heaven/Hell debate as he does venture out to say that we should accept God's love and take Jesus into our hearts because it's the right thing to do and NOT because we are using this love to get us into Heaven. As someone who is 39 and who has not ever been baptized, I find his ideas refreshing. I am sure, however, that someone who has been raised in a church and who has followed the "rules" of the Bible would be outraged to think that upon death, I might just be allowed into Heaven because God does not turn his back on his children and that he can get what he wants. I am sure that this entire idea is outrageous. But, from my point of view it is no more outrageous to believe this than to believe that someone who had committed murder, but who had taken Jesus into his heart in prison would be allowed to spend eternity in Heaven. It all goes back to the idea that has been rolling around in my head since I was about 7 or 8: why is it not enough for good people who do good things to get into Heaven? And, what stops bad people who do bad things to turn the other cheek at the last minute and find Christ? Rob Bell recognizes this issue, speaks to it, and I guess has ruffled some feathers. But not mine.
The one idea that I will take away from this book, other than the idea that I might not rot in Hell for all of eternity because God might just get what he wants in the end, is that the Bible was written a long time ago. Because of that, we need to be careful about how we read it. While it is a religious text with great meaning and value, it is also a primary historical document. Words need to be read and interpreted historically and with the meaning they held then, not their 2011 meaning. Rob Bell was right to point this out, too, in his book. Perhaps that accounts for more ruffled feathers.
I liked reading this book. It was quick, it was certainly heavy and made you think and reflect, but it was written in such a way that you could understand the points being made. You might not agree with them, but you can certainly understand them. I am sorry that it made some people angry, angry enough to protest. But, for people like me--people who struggle with God, Jesus, Heaven and Hell on a daily basis--it gave us some hope that things might just be OK. And, that we might be OK. Maybe it's OK to question and to dig deeper, to not always accept things because it's what we've been taught or because it's the way it's always been. I know there are people who are reading this and are disagreeing with me completely, but if I am willing to take the risk to write it, or more importantly to believe it, then what's the big deal?
In the spirit of Rob Bell, here's a quick story...my mother is not a terribly religious woman. She was adopted at age 5, married right out of high school, a mother and a widow at age 25. By the time she was 36, she had married again and had a second child, my sister. Her new husband was a bi-polar manic depressive man who liked to drink way too much. She hasn't stepped in a church (except for the occassional funeral) since 1981 when she was married for the second time. She was, however, baptized and has encouraged me to do so "just in case." She's hopeful that one day she will be reunited in Heaven with my dad, but she's not sure it will ever really happen. She's got enough proof that Hell does exist here on Earth and that the person who delivered her from that living Hell was neither Jesus nor God, but herself. But, just in case, she's ready to go and to take her place in Heaven. While I find this story to be disturbing, and can only assume Rob Bell would, too, I know that there are others who would read it and rejoice. Here's a woman who has looked adversity in the face, come out on top, and is ready to meet up with her loved ones in Heaven. I find it all a bit too convenient and insincere.
Just like my mother, I have not been a terribly religious person (although the career aptitude test I took in High School suggested that I be a Religious Educator, isn't that funny?) and I still fall short of being a good model for my girls. I question too much, I believe too little, but in light of the fact that I lived what my mother lived all those years, it's easy to see why I might question and doubt. So, again I ask those people out there, what the big deal is? Why are you not accepting of my doubts or Rob Bell's alternative views of Heaven and Hell? If what the Bible says is true, then I'm the one taking the chance, not you. Truthfully, I am hoping that Love Wins. I am hoping that God won't turn his back on his children in the end. I am hoping that one day, before my time comes to leave this Earth, that I will feel his love as others have and will take Jesus and God into my heart. But I am not there yet. I will continue to learn, and will continue to question and to reflect with open eyes, an open mind, and an open heart.
Thank you, Rob Bell, for giving me a lot to think about. Thank you for giving me that hope that, in the end, Love will win.
Dodie, I somewhat agree with you. The Bible was written by man not God himself. So wouldn't it be safe to say that was written was interpertaion and what we read is interpertation. I think we all remember the game telephone as children(the game where 1 person whispered in anothers ear and then it got passed around and by the time it got to the last person it was all messed up) Well I feel that's how reading the Bible can be. There are so many versions written and re-written over the years.
ReplyDeleteLook at all the people that go to church every Sunday and follow the said "rules" in public but behind closed doors are the most judgmental. And how can one that preaches beliefe damn another for not believing the exact same way? I'm pretty sure it says not to judge another in the Bible. I'm also pretty sure that it says God loves ALL his children.
I am going to end with this thought... For those of us that have children, Is there ANYTHING your child can/could do that would make you damn them FOREVER and want them to burn in a fire for eternity? (As a mother myself there is NOTHING that my daughter could do)Now with that being said, God being the all mightey do you think there is a greater difference between God and his children or us and ours. I am guessing God!