I just may be the only blogger and Christian writer—especially of those who write on theology—who has not written a single word on Rob Bell, Universalism, Hell, and “Love Wins.” Don’t get me wrong, I have been chomping at the bit and lapping up the controversy. But fairly early on after Justin Taylor posted his article condemning Bell as a Universalist and the subsequent barrage of buckshot made at phantoms of heresy did I decide that I would wait to hear from Bell. I heard this cry on so many blogs and articles, “Wait for Bell!” But what followed on the heels of such calls for patience were various treatments and speculations of Rob Bell’s work and of his supposed heretical theology. All the topics which circulate around this controversy need to be discussed but many now have mud on their faces, having insisted that Bell was a universalist when in fact it is apparent that he is not.

And while there are dozens of things that need to be written on, I did not want a single blog dealing with Rob Bell or any related topic written on this site until his interview (which just so happens was broadcast last night). Indeed, what could I possibly add to the literally thousands of blogs and millions of comments condemning and praising Bell as a saint and as a devil. The whole issue is terribly ironic since the western Christian church has proven itself to be exactly what Bell says we need to free ourselves from. That sectarianism and hatred of one another must end. This was not what Christ intended for the body of Christ.

The Sermon Series

Several years ago Rob Bell launched a sermon series entitled “Love Wins,” a rethinking and re-treatment of the cross and what it means for the Christian. What Bell called his congregants to was to look beyond this idea that the cross is merely this sort of get-out-of-hell card, readying people for soul-evacuation when Christ comes to destroy the earth and the unrighteous. We are missing the point if all we see is the “eternal” redemption and salvation. This salvation and love is here, present among us. It is to be lived out now. In his introductory sermon to “Love Wins,” he said,

“If the cross is just about getting you out of Hell and into Heaven, than we’ve missed the cosmic significance of it. The cross is God’s way of pushing the way the universe works into an entirely new realm. Jesus overcame death so now the universe functions in a different way. It is not like it use to be because God defeated evil.”

Christ had choices. He could have burst off the cross and slaughtered all of them with his justified wrath. But He chose love and He continues to do so through the Church. “The cross, then,” Bell says, “is God’s way of saying ‘love wins’.”

And now we stand here in the same position with the ability to make choices. Love always wins. When we are hurt, abused, harmed, and harassed—love wins.

This call for the Church to support and love the community around them with unconditional love is much in line with what Christ taught—radical service and love even in the face of evil and oppression.

With these now ironic words, Bell closed his sermon:

“You’re going to get slapped. You’re going to get beaten. You’re  going to get mocked. You’re going to get spit on and you’re going to be betrayed. And you’re going to have friends who put the knife in your back. You’re going to get criticized.”

But through all of this we need to speak to each other and speak it a lot. Love wins.

The irony is that with the publishing of his book, millions have balked condemnations, called him unthinkable things, and some even declared “Bell will see that Hell is a real place when he goes there.” It is unfortunate that the Church, the body of Christ and His representatives on earth, could not show a little more love.

The Interview

Love Wins released last night and along with it, Bell delivered a great talk in which he was not only interviewed but also answered the questions of those present and those streaming the live event online. In his introductory talk, Bell shared his heart on who God was to him. God is love. Jesus came to show us this love and to extend this love to others. This was the “good news.” Christians, however, have forgotten this calling though they are called to take up this mantle of radical love. We have lost the plot. It is about love.

Bell went on later to explain that, though God is many other attributes, we have tended to—in many circles—emphasis his wrath rather than his love.

Here, I think Bell has some incredible insight. The fact that God even created us and then came down to redeem us and renew us is love beyond comprehension.

And this love exists in how we within the Church treat one another.

When pressed to make an authoritative statement on what exactly happens when the soul leaves the body and whether it sleeps or awaits a new body in heaven, Bell simply states that there is much speculation on such topics but warned that we should avoid turning our speculations into dogmas. He said,

“We should not turn our speculation into dogma. And I think we have seen a lot of that which is why people say this person is there and this person is there. This is how this unfolds. It’s like, we have no video evidence. So I think it is very important for people of faith to, yes, I believe in heaven. Yes I believe it’s real. Yes I believe it is somehow intermingled with this reality. And yet separate in some sense from this reality and how exactly all that works out, I don’t know. but I know within each of us there are very profound longings and I think they are longings for something, like C.S. Lewis, ‘We don’t really long for something that doesn’t exist.’ And then beyond that there is a point at which we are in mystery and speculation and lets enjoy that sort of speculation but when someone drives their stake in and says. ‘No it’s this.’ I’m like ‘ehhhh.’ Great, that is what you think.”

Heaven is a real place. Where it is and what it looks like, Bell does not know. He certainly seemed ambivalent to the concept that heaven was a place with “golden streets and where everyone drives a Ferrari. I think that has more to do with a cartoon.” And though, according to Bell, Heaven is not a cartoon like place as these images imply, it is real. And so is Hell. When asked whether Hell was a real place, Bell stated,

“There is a Hell because we see Hell everyday. Yeah we can resist and we can reject what it means to be fully human and good and decent and compassionate. So yes, there is. And we have that choice now. And I assume we have that choice into the future. Yes.”

While somewhat cryptic, Bell’s understanding of Heaven and Hell is somewhat different from what is normally described by Christians. Heaven can be brought to earth. Hell can be brought to earth. And both are made in the here and now. Just as Heaven, the literal place, touches earth so too does Hell. These places are both separate and yet are very present in and among us. It is the job of the Christian, therefore, to not only help rescue people from this present Hell that they create through their choices but also for the Hell afterword. Being saved, in Bell’s mind, is not some soul-evacuation leaving one with little or no care for the Hell and Heaven here on earth. We have a choice. And so beautifully, Bell describes this choice to love when describing our freedom within this possibility of Hell.

“God is love and love demands freedom. And God gives us what we want.” And for someone who says, I want nothing to do with peace, joy, reconciliation, forgiveness, and generosity, then God lets that person make that choice. But God wants so much more for them.

At the heart of this book, I suspect Bell is responding to the neo-reformed movement and the sort of authoritative and dogmatic position that they have taken over the church, dictating absolutes and condemning the rest. It was people from this movement, namely Piper and Taylor, who began the condemnations of Bell as a heretic and universalist. But is he? A decidedly and emphatic no. He calls himself an evangelical orthodox Christian to the bone.

When pressed about this and asked, “Are you a universalist?” He responded, “No. If by Universalist we mean there is a giant cosmic arm that swoops everybody in at some point whether you want to be there or not.” Without question, Bell is widening the road to Heaven—but not outside of Christ. He is only calling into question the tendency of those who make Christianity and following Christ an exclusive “club.” He went on to say,

“I think grace and love always rattles people. As soon as you say that perhaps this particular club of people who have decided that they are the orthodox ones and you say ‘I think it might be a little wider than that’ you’re threatening whole systems. You’re threatening whole ways of thinking….Do I think I am an Evangelical Orthodox to the bone? Yes. And I actually think orthodoxy is a terribly wide, diverse stream. And I think that is the real question here. It is the endless religious sort of compulsion to say ‘You’re in. We’re in. You’re out.’ To constantly narrow it and all of that. And I think that the vibrant, real, historic Christian faith is wide and leaves lots and lots of room for lots of variant perspectives. And when people say, ‘how can you say that?’ I say well lots of people have said that and they are firmly within the sort of Jesus tribe. It’s very diverse and wide. And that’s okay. That’s actually part of the strength. That’s actually part of its life and vibrancy. That’s why it is so beautiful to me. And evangelical means ‘good news.’ It’s a pronouncement of good news. It should be a buoyant, joyous, hopeful thing. People who want nothing to so with Christians should say ‘The things you’re talking about and the way you’re living and moving in the world. That is. That is good news. And I think we need to reclaim that.”

Bell has a huge vision for the Church and for Christ here on the earth now. I for one am excited to read his book and become this church that is more interested in loving, serving, and giving radically than condemning, loathing, and looking down upon people while pointing to God’s wrath. Yes, indeed, God has wrath. But Christ came showing love and we should do the same. Love does not necessitate watering down truth but does require a compassionate, radical, serving way of life to those around us.

Be sure to check out the interview for yourself. Click here.

Related articles

• Rob Bell’s Love Wins: A Response (allsufficientgrace.wordpress.com)
• Rob Bell Explains his new book ‘Love Wins’ (onthebema.com)
• Some Questions for Rob Bell (toequipthesaints.com)
• Rob Bell Rejects the Gospel (slaughteringthesheep.wordpress.com)

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