Why It Doesn’t Matter if Rob Bell is a Universalist

Posted by Chris on Mar 1, 2011 in Church |
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So apparently Rob Bell has a new book out, and a bunch of people think he’s jumped the shark.  Maybe he has.  Maybe he hasn’t.  But why does anyone care?

Two thoughts:

1.  Rob Bell only has one judge, and he’s probably not a blogger.

“Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.” Romans 14:4

2.  Let’s review what exactly the Great Commission calls us to do:

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. ” Matthew 28:19

We often use this as a rallying cry to go out and rescue people from false gods that are taking them to hell.  But is that what Jesus is saying?  The word disciple simply means a learner, specifically one who is learning to obey the way of life taught by Jesus.

It’s not that hell isn’t important.  I can think of at least six times Jesus brought it up.

But according to Jesus our job is to teach people to obey Jesus.

Why care what some else may or may not believe about hell?  We’ve got a job to do.

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  • Samuel Jones

    It’s easy for me to understand why you would be sympathetic to guys like Rob Bell and Brian MacLaren. You’ve also come from a hard-nosed fundamentalist background and have had to loosen your grip on certain things, too. To be fair, a lot of people will probably be quick with personal attacks and condemnation rather than addressing his truth claims, which we can agree is wrong. I do have to disagree with your two assertions here.

    What prominent teachers believe/are teaching does matter, because truth matters. Also, there is a difference between discerning beliefs and judging based on behaviors. Romans 14 is about behaviors. Compare Galatians 1:7-9 and Hebrews 5:14.

    Is Matthew 28:19 obedience only about behavior? If so Gandhi’s community of Sermon on the Mount following non-believers got it right more so than most of us. If on the other hand there might have been commands to obey about believing Christ and the things he said about himself and eternity (John 6:28-29), even the things he said about Hell, then is a Universalist a disciple of Christ, or just someone who is a fan of some of the things Jesus said?

    If someone is just a fan of some things that Jesus said, that doesn’t mean we need to throw rocks, or even tomatoes, but I think it’s an over-reaction in the opposite direction to say we should not care. If he is just a partial fan, it changes how we pray for him, and whether he is welcome to teach in my church. Some of the harshest things said in the New Testament are said of false teachers. It follows that we should try and recognize them, and pray for them all the harder. To ‘not care’ about their teaching or relationship with God is American cultural tolerance, not Christian love. There’s a big difference.

  • http://chrismorton.info Chris

    Those are some great points. I have a lot more to say about this, which I’ll be posting later in the week. My main point can be summarized as “we need to spend less time defaming those we disagree with, and more time teaching people to do what Jesus said.” The problem is our inherited false dichotomy of belief and action. All sins being equal, it’s just as bad to teach “there is no hell” as it is to disparage people in a unChristlike way. I think David Fitch nailed the real problem here.

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