Guarding His Flock Ministries

The Quantum Spirituality of Rob Bell: A review of “Love Wins”

Rob Bell, Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived (New York, NY: Harper One, 2011) xi + 198 pages, Acknowledgments and Further Reading. The back cover blurb first states and then incredulously asks: “God loves us. God offers us everlasting life by grace, freely, through no merit on our part. Unless you do not respond the right way. Then God will torture you forever. In hell.” Huh?

Recommended by a who’s who of emergent leaders, Rob Bell’s book Love Wins has, as it is calculated to do, stirred-up controversy. Recently, Time ran a front cover story on it. [1] Eugene H. Peterson lauds the book as being born out of a “thoroughly biblical imagination,” and a book “without a trace of soft sentimentality and without compromising an inch of evangelical conviction in its proclamation of the good news that is most truly for all.” (Front Cover Flap). Open theist Greg Boyd calls the book, “bold, prophetic, and a poetic masterpiece.” (Back Cover Flap). Andy Crouch sees Bell as “a central figure for his generation.” (Back Cover).
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From immanence to idolatry.

“I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.” Isaiah 6:1-3, KJV

In the Old City of Jerusalem, I stood reverently before the massive stones that comprise the base and foundation of the mount upon which the Jewish temple once stood. Standing before the Western, or Wailing, Wall, I noticed little slips of paper tucked in the crevices between the giant-hand-hewn stones. Wondering what the papers were, I reached in with my fingers and pulled one out. The handwriting on the paper began “G-d.” I later found out that devout Jews hold the name of God, or the Lord, so sacred that they, out of respect for Him, refuse to spell His name in a profane (i.e., common) way. Omitting the letter “o,” they write “G-d” or “L-rd.” I fear that, within the pale of contemporary Christianity such respect, or reverence, for God has been, or is being, lost. God has become “cuddly” common to us. In this spirit, we turn to address the subject of God’s nearness.

God’s “immanence” is opposite from His “transcendence.” Both of these categories of thought about God attempt to describe His relationship to His world; to nature, to nations, to people, to the animal kingdom, and so on. Theologians employ the terms to describe both God’s involvement with and distance from His created universe. The Bible pictures God as being both near and far from His creation. Not only is God with us, He is also above us. As the transcendent One, He is distant. As the immanent One, He is near.

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“Adjusted Living in a Maladjusted World.”

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. The Lord to Joshua, Joshua 1:8, KJV

In his book Life with God, Richard Foster describes Spiritual Disciplines as activities Christians engage in so that they might become the athletae dei, the athletes of God. Foster pairs some of the disciplines to be, “fasting and prayers, study and service, submission and solitude, confession and worship, meditation and silence . . .” [1] Note the author’s association of “meditation” with “silence”—it’s as if the one equates to the other—and superficially, at least, the pair do seem to be associated. But biblically, are they?

To answer to the question, we must go to the Old Testament where, especially in the book of Psalms, meditation is portrayed as a path to quality living, both spiritual and material. For example, the first Psalm exclaims, “How blessed is the man who . . . [delights] in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night . . . And . . . whatever he does . . . prospers” (Psalm 1:1-3; See 119:15, 23, etc.). In that meditation appears to be such an important avenue to divine blessing, it would be well to understand from a biblical perspective what the activity is, and its relation, if any, to silence.
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The Mysticism “Lite” of Rick Warren [1]

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.” 1 Corinthians 2:12-13, NASB

Before dealing with the idea that God gives “impressions,” let me confess that I am not per se opposed to them. Like A.J. Gordon (1836-1985), founder of Gordon College, I believe the Holy Spirit of God “may beget within us emotions too deep for expression, as when ‘The Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered’ (Rom. 8:26).” [2]

Regarding the Spirit restricting Paul and Timothy to preach in Asia and Bithynia, Wayne Grudem writes: “The Holy Spirit must . . . have communicated his direct guidance to them in some specific way, whether through words heard audibly or in the mind, or through strong subjective impressions of a lack of the Holy Spirit’s presence and blessing as they attempted to travel to these different areas.” [3] On the point of the Spirit’s subjective impression upon Paul not to go to Asia and Bithynia (Acts 16:6-7), we can note the impression became objective when in a vision a man appeared unto Paul “and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us” (Acts 16:9). A subjective impression, if indeed there was one, was confirmed by an objective word. This incident in Paul’s ministry illustrates that believers are “taught by the Spirit” who combines “spiritual thoughts with spiritual words” (1 Corinthians 2:13, NASB).

So we Christian believers should know the Holy Spirit can speak to us. Therefore, we need to be careful (metaphorically speaking) not to throw the “spiritual baby” out with the mystical bath (By using this figure, I am not suggesting there’s any sense in which mysticism, soft or hard, cleans spirituality up. In fact, the reverse is the case.) But absent the Spirit’s authentication by the Word of Scripture, thoughts can be self-originated, and it becomes vacuous to mystically confess, The Lord told me . . . Well, maybe He did, or maybe He didn’t. Who knows . . . all of which leads me to address Rick Warren’s idea that God speaks to people via impressions. [4]
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A Meditation on 1 Peter 1:3-12.

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28, KJV

Have you ever heard anyone declare, “Life stinks!”? The Scripture says life is “perishable” (1 Corinthians 15:42, NASB). Perishable things spoil and in spoiling, can stink, the smell of rotted chicken or cauliflower being proof to the point. Even for Christians, life can become messy. Because sometimes we desire to use God rather than worship Him, we tend to doubt Him when life begins to spoil. Why me, God? This becomes the question many ask when they unexpectedly crash into the wall of hard times.

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On the possibility of peace for the Middle East.

“Even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.” Daniel 9:26b, NASB

Along with other Middle East terrorist groups like Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas remains dedicated to Israel’s extermination as a nation. Hamas, a reporter noted, has a “leadership unyielding, determined and increasingly confident of achieving their goal: the eradication of Israel as a Jewish state.” [1] Terrorist groups want “no” negotiations with Israel and will not be satisfied until all Israeli settlements are dismantled and four million displaced Palestinians, living in surrounding nations like Jordan, are granted a full right of return. After that, says one Hamas leader, “Jews could remain, living ‘in an Islamic state with Islamic law’.” [2]

As much as many in the West might want to pretend it isn’t happening, a Holy War is raging in the Middle East, a war that threatens the availability of oil and as a result, the stability of western economies which are dependent upon that oil. Fronted to be democratic revolutions of the people, Islamic extremists are using these political and military crises to enhance their influence in Syria, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, and to a lesser degree, Jordan. Maybe Saudi Arabia is next, and who knows where the current crisis in Syria will lead?

With the storming of US Embassies in Egypt and Libya, and the killing of our Ambassador to Libya and three other embassy workers a few days ago, we now know what the overthrow of  governments in the name of “democracy” will bring to that region of the world. In every crisis exists an opportunity, and the political revolutions taking place are the bad fruit of an Islamofacist conspiracy which has viewed most Arab regimes to have been too western in their orientation and hence, too tolerant of Israel’s existence as a nation. But our interest in the Middle East, along with that of our European allies, is motivated by the fear of how an interruption, or even cutoff, of the oil supply might impact western economies which are so dependent on it.
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A review of Bill Hybels’ book, “The Power of a Whisper”.

Bill Hybels, The Power of a Whisper: Hearing God, Having the Guts to Respond (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010) 260 pages, appendixes, notes. The back cover dust jacket bears the following promo: Learn to Hear from Heaven as You Navigate Life on Earth.

“How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.” Psalm 119:103-104, KJV.

Sixteen years ago a psychologist noted our culture’s shift to mystical spirituality, a shift which involved people hearing “a distinct ‘inner voice’,” a voice that from time to time gives “the listener advice and counsel.” [1] Perhaps the Christian shibboleth The Lord told me . . ., evidences the shift. But amazingly, what characterized the mysticism of the New Age/New Consciousness movement fifteen years ago is now emerging amongst mainstream evangelicals. In their attempt to keep in step with the culture and in the process becoming culturized (Contra Romans 12:2; 1 John 2:15-17.), the phenomenon of hearing God speak in a personal way has become quite chic in pan-evangelical Christendom. [2]
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A Critical Review of Tony Campolo and Mary Albert Darling’s book, God of Intimacy and Action: Reconnecting Ancient Spiritual Practices, Evangelism, and Justice (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2007): 210 pages, notes, index.

“This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” Galatians 3:2-3, NASB

Tony Campolo and Mary Albert Darling have recently co-authored a book titled, The God of Intimacy and Action. The “intimacy” to which they refer is experiencing closeness to God by engaging ancient spiritual and mystical practices, while the “action” refers to evangelism and advocacy of causes on behalf of the less fortunate in society. In the authors’ view, mystical intimacy stimulates and facilitates Christian advocacy. Private spiritual experiences enhance public societal engagement. Through practicing spiritual disciplines of ancient Catholicism, mystical experiences, according to the authors’ thesis, become essential for and foundational to the engagement of social justice for all. As to the possible downside of mystical intimacy, the authors seemingly write of “action” to mute criticism that engaging in mystical practices leads devotees, as typically has been the case, to disengage from society and retreat into monasteries. According to the authors, mystical experiences should not have that effect.
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God’s gift, every “seed,” and Marijuana.

“And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” Emphasis Added, Genesis 1:29, KJV

Advocates of marijuana have long cited a passage in Genesis that seemingly, if stretched beyond the bounds of sound interpretation, gives God’s endorsement to the recreational use of this drug. God announced in the creation narrative, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you” (Genesis 1:29). Alluding to this Genesis verse, Timothy Leary (1920-1996), psychologist and psychedelic, reportedly remarked, “They’ve outlawed the number one vegetable on the planet.”[1] So in light of the way and purpose for which drug advocates employ this biblical reference, it becomes necessary to investigate to see whether this passage endorses marijuana use or, for that matter, the use of other consciousness altering drugs derived from plants on this planet (i.e., peyote, grain alcohol, heroin, tobacco, etc.).

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A Critique of Rob Bell’s Pan-Spiritual Worldview.

Some have wandered away from . . . a sincere faith and turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm. (1 Timothy 1:5-7, NIV)

Among emergent church leaders there exists a growing trend to merge the secular with the sacred, the unspiritual with the spiritual. By emergent evangelicals, reality (Everything that Is) is increasingly becoming viewed to Be one gargantuan and monistic whole. For example, Rob Bell has stated that “everyone is spiritual.” He says,

Maybe you’ve heard somebody say, “I’m just not into spiritual things.” Are you . . . are you a human being? Yea! Too late! The issue is not whether you’re a spiritual being, or you have a spirituality. The issue is whether your eyes are open and you’re aware of it. You cannot deny what is central to your make-up as a human being. In the Hebrew language there is no word for spiritual. If you would have said to Jesus, “Jesus, how’s your spiritual life?” What? What do you mean? Because to label one area spiritual is to label areas not spiritual. It’s absolutely foreign to the world of the Scriptures. It’s absolutely foreign to the worldview of Jesus. The assumption is that you are a fusion of two realms. And a human being occupies a totally unique place in the universe . . . Everything we do, we do as an integrated being–one-hundred percent physical, one-hundred percent spiritual.

To prove his everyone/everything-is-spiritual templet, Bell quotes Colossians 3:17 where Paul states, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus . . .” He then concludes,

What were they saying? Every act is a spiritual act. It’s whether or not you’re aware of the implications of what you’re doing. [1]
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