Love Wins

There is an author, readers, who I simply love. His name is Rob Bell. He writes about God and Christ and Love and Faith in the way I have thought of them for years but am unable to articulate. He has a new book out that has the majority of the American Christian Church up in arms. I have yet to finish it, but so far, I don't think it's quite the blasphemy everyone is claiming it is. I say this as someone with a better than average grasp of the Bible and what it says (I am by no means an expert, but I've read a lot of it and I know a lot of scriptures and I try to remember to keep things in the context they were intended).

That being said, he makes interesting points about what Heaven and Hell are, and how they are very much a part of our every day lives. His interpretation is that we bring the eternal into the present. Our actions, the way we treat people and perceive the world and the things we do--that all has an effect of creating more Heaven (a place where God's Will is done) or more Hell (a place where the opposite of God's Will is done) on Earth (a place where many wills are done).

He mentions the story of the Prodigal Son. For those of you unaware, the parable of the Prodigal Son is about a young man who goes to his father one day and asks for his inheritance before his father has died. Being gracious, the father grants him his wish and the son sets off. He quickly squanders all of his money drinking, partying, sleeping with prostitutes, and gambling and is forced to take a job as a pig feeder, where he is only able to eat the slops that the pigs leave behind. He realizes that his father is far kinder to his servants, so he sets off towards his home, hoping to beg for the lowest position, certain of his unworthiness. To his great surprise, his father welcomed him with open arms. He killed the fatted calf and threw a party for the son, much to the dismay of the boy's older brother. The older brother is outraged that his father would throw this huge party for his degenerate, low-life, inheritance-squandering brother, when he has "slaved for years" and never been given a measly little goat for a small party with his friends. In fact, he's so upset that he can't even say his name or call him his brother--he refers to him as "your son." The father replies, "We must celebrate." In his eyes, he has gotten his younger son back from the dead. Since I recently saw the after-effects of a parent who loses a child, I can say that a huge party would probably be the least of what Deana did if Kiefer came back from the dead. Bell then goes on to say "This makes what Jesus does in his story about the man with two sons particularly compelling. Jesus puts the older brother right there at the party, but...refusing to join in the celebration.
Hell is being at the party.
That's what makes it so hellish."

This resonated with me. I've been the older brother at the party. Most of high school was that for me. I was tired of being passed over for parts or stupid, meaningless awards at Thespian Banquet after slaving away, staying late, and generally being the un-sung peon of the drama club. I resented all of it, and the self-induced exclusion in the midst of the party, in the midst of the unity and the "heaven" of it all, I was in my own hell. I sentenced myself to the exclusion. This, I think, is key, and Bell goes on to say it later in the book: "His rule keeping and his law-abiding confidence in his own works has actually served to distance him from his father." This belief in our "goodness" as "Christians" separates us from other people and our Father. Some deep resentment blossoms in our hearts as we see people who have done nothing good ever in their lives welcomed into the arms of God with great celebration, even though we've been "slaving away" for years. The problem with that is this: resentment has no place in the heart of God. Resentment does not lead to unity with the Father. Resentment is being at the party, but refusing to participate. Resentment is staring at the delicious food, but being too angry to eat. Resentment is hearing joyous music but shaking too hard to be able to dance. Resentment is a scowl in the face of a smile. Resentment is separation from the perfect Love that keeps no record of wrongs.

So no, I don't think this book is blasphemy. I don't think it's a universalist manifesto. I don't think it's something produced by a false teacher. I think maybe, it's something that should have been written a long time ago.