One
of my biggest pet peeves is how quickly we, as Christians, write other
Christians off. The example I’ll specifically use to get my point across is Rob
Bell. Bell was an evangelical superstar. Between his Nooma video series, and
books such as Velvet Elvis, or Sex God, Bell was praised as being thought
provoking, engaging and a phenomenal communicator. With countless small groups,
youth groups, churches going through his work, Bell’s influence on the American
church was significant to say the least. However, when Bell came out with one
of the most controversial Christian books of the past couple decades everything
hit the fan. Those "thought provoking questions" were no longer considered,
because they made us uncomfortable. That incredible gift of communication was
disregarded, because he was attempting to communicate heresy. Therefore, the
Church had a book burning of all that is Rob Bell (Not literally of course…
Well, none that I’m aware of). Even
though, most people critiquing Rob Bell had never read his book, Love Wins.
Wendall Berry has a wonderful quote on this stating, “the first rule of the
criticism of books: you have to read them before you criticize them.”[1] Anything
that had been produced from the thoughts of Rob Bell became completely
irrelevant. Apparently, because he had different views on one aspect of
theology, nothing he ever said was worth listening to. I strongly oppose this
line of thinking.
There
are quite a few things I disagree with when it comes to Mark Driscoll. From his
attitude, and how he presents himself, to a couple major theological points.
But, I would consider myself foolish and ignorant to say I’m never going to
listen to anything he says based on
his views of women’s roles and leadership. This also boils down to a deeper
seeded problem we as Christians, including myself, struggle with, and that is
disagreeing theologically. We have to move away from our initial gut reaction
of “burn them at the stake,” when we find ourselves in theological contention
with others. Anthony Le Donne sums up what our approach should be, and it’s
more eloquent than what I have to say. In a discussion on if Jesus was a Zealot
he states, “I think there is quite a virtue in having scholars of all faiths,
of all backgrounds, in the conversation [of who Jesus was]. I think we can only
become more intelligent with more voices, and the diversity of voices involved.”[2]
Let
us learn from others. Let us learn from disagreement, and let us grow through
challenging positions.
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