Good Grief...
My cousin (of sorts) is a pastor in another state... and he uses Facebook as a way to stay in touch with his congregation. Today, his status message was about Rob Bell... it linked me to an article that made me want to throw up. Not that anything was new information... just that his message isn't being discerned as alarming. Here's a couple of quotes that REALLY got me:
Q: OK, how would you describe what it is that you believe?
A: I embrace the term evangelical, if by that we mean a belief that we together can actually work for change in the world, caring for the environment, extending to the poor generosity and kindness, a hopeful outlook. That's a beautiful sort of thing.
THAT is the definition of "evangelical"??? Does he REALIZE what the root word is? Evangelize.
e⋅van⋅ge⋅lize
-verb (used with object)
1. to preach the gospel to.
2. to convert to Christianity.
Where, in his description of what he BELIEVES, is the message of Christ? Cause I mean, if I were going to "sum up" my beliefs? You can BET that Jesus, the cross and the ressurection would be key elements. In fact, I might even go old school and quote the Apostles Creed. Why re-invent the wheel when a great summary is already in place?
Here's the other part that bothered me:
Q: I’m struck by the fact that I don’t hear a lot of explicitly religious language, or mentions of Jesus, from you.
A: I think we have enough religious people who are going around trying to convert people. My guard is up when somebody is trying to convert me to their thing. Are you talking to me because you actually are interested in this subject, because you care about me as a human, or am I one more possible conversion that will make you feel good about your religiosity? I don’t have any embarrassment about my religion, and it’s not that I'm too cool, but I would hope that the Jesus message would come through, hopefully through a full humanity. If you have something to say, whether you're religious or not, if it is truly Christian and Jesus-centered, then it will help and be interesting and compelling to people, regardless of their world view. But I’m not just interested in talking to Christians. I'm interested in what does it mean to be fully human.
I... have no words. "THERE ARE ENOUGH RELIGIOUS PEOPLE GOING AROUND TRYING TO CONVERT PEOPLE"???? Can there EVER be enough??? And why word it in such a way that it sounds as if it's a NEGATIVE thing? Has he somehow missed that fact that we are CALLED to covert? Does he READ Matthew? Or is that not "fully human" enough for him? It's just a book... what can it tell us that his experiences with people can't? The "Jesus message" comes through when we SHARE JESUS... and that, my friend, is the GOSPEL.
Q: OK, how would you describe what it is that you believe?
A: I embrace the term evangelical, if by that we mean a belief that we together can actually work for change in the world, caring for the environment, extending to the poor generosity and kindness, a hopeful outlook. That's a beautiful sort of thing.
THAT is the definition of "evangelical"??? Does he REALIZE what the root word is? Evangelize.
e⋅van⋅ge⋅lize
-verb (used with object)
1. to preach the gospel to.
2. to convert to Christianity.
Where, in his description of what he BELIEVES, is the message of Christ? Cause I mean, if I were going to "sum up" my beliefs? You can BET that Jesus, the cross and the ressurection would be key elements. In fact, I might even go old school and quote the Apostles Creed. Why re-invent the wheel when a great summary is already in place?
Here's the other part that bothered me:
Q: I’m struck by the fact that I don’t hear a lot of explicitly religious language, or mentions of Jesus, from you.
A: I think we have enough religious people who are going around trying to convert people. My guard is up when somebody is trying to convert me to their thing. Are you talking to me because you actually are interested in this subject, because you care about me as a human, or am I one more possible conversion that will make you feel good about your religiosity? I don’t have any embarrassment about my religion, and it’s not that I'm too cool, but I would hope that the Jesus message would come through, hopefully through a full humanity. If you have something to say, whether you're religious or not, if it is truly Christian and Jesus-centered, then it will help and be interesting and compelling to people, regardless of their world view. But I’m not just interested in talking to Christians. I'm interested in what does it mean to be fully human.
I... have no words. "THERE ARE ENOUGH RELIGIOUS PEOPLE GOING AROUND TRYING TO CONVERT PEOPLE"???? Can there EVER be enough??? And why word it in such a way that it sounds as if it's a NEGATIVE thing? Has he somehow missed that fact that we are CALLED to covert? Does he READ Matthew? Or is that not "fully human" enough for him? It's just a book... what can it tell us that his experiences with people can't? The "Jesus message" comes through when we SHARE JESUS... and that, my friend, is the GOSPEL.