Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life

Gil asked about Rob Bell:

I'm curious about this quote, from the review in the Kansas Post:
Bell also shakes up traditional evangelical beliefs. While calling Christ’s way “the best possible way to live,” Bell writes that Jesus did not claim one religion is better than another when he said he was “the way, the truth and the life.” Rather, he writes, “his way is the way to the depth of reality.”

I'm wondering what he means there?

I can't speak for Bell, but one thing I was looking for when exploring Bell was who he is connected with, while not foolproof, it can give a hint of where he is coming from. The one connection I found was Brian McLaren. McLaren said in his book A Generous Orthodoxy (fairly sure it was that book) that Jesus had no intent on setting up a religion. He came to be followed. Christianity developed as a religious movement, but McLaren suggest that a muslim wouldn't have to become a Christian to follow Jesus.

This certainly stretches past my comfort levels. But it has made me think. Being a Christian is being a follower of Christ. Being a part of the Christian religion is something else altogether. And I would agree that my initial and greatest goal for people would be that they begin to follow Christ. This is best done in the church.

To quote Brian McLaren, p 260, A Generous Orthodoxy, in chapter called Why I am Incarnational:

I must add, though , that I don't believe making disciples must equal making adherents to the Christian religion. It may be advisable in many (not all!) circumstances to help people become followers of Jesus and remain within their Buddhist, Hindu, or Jewish contexts. This will be hard, you say, and I agree. But frankly, it's not at all easy to be a follower of Jesus in many "Christian" religious contexts, either.

One place I have struggled with this is with a friend of mine who leans Catholic (he was raised Catholic and longs to return to Catholic). As we talk, he talks of the Catholic Church as THE authority for the church on earth. As a Protestant (or post-protestant as McLaren says, "I'm no longer protesting") I think, "I'm not under the authority of the Catholic Church." Denominations are so splintered and mainly because of their cultural contexts. McLaren is saying that our faith is lived out in a cultural context, which we call our church. What exactly does that have to look like? Most would answer, "No less than what our church looks like."

This may not have made as much sense as I hoped, but what gives me comfort not being part of the Authoritative Catholic church is that I am a follower of Christ, doing so in my own cultural context. It is hard to argue for the Biblical authority of the Churches of God General Conference any other way. (Or at least that I have considered.)

Rob Bell

I wanted to do a little background on some different names that are popping up in the emerging church circles. This is just internet search and some personal reading so these aren't meant to be full backgrounds. I just want to see where they are coming from and who they might be connected to.

Note he graduated from Wheaton and then Fuller.

From freep.com (whatever that is)

In Bell's envisioning of Christianity, he's also trying to bypass some of the feuds that have left many denominations deadlocked.

Women's ordination? No problem at Mars Hill. A third of the 15 associate pastors who work with Bell are women.

Homosexuality? Bell tells gay people the same thing he tells everyone who walks through the door. It's a powerfully affirming line that he repeated in his sermon on Sunday: "God loves you exactly as you are. Period."

The Rev. Brian McLaren, a pastor from Maryland who has become a national adviser to churches like Mars Hill, said: "Rob's one of the most courageous pastors in the country. What he's trying to do is move past the battle lines that have caused such polarization."

...

At the restaurant on Sunday night, Bell wiped a final bit of curry from his chin and said: "The bad thing about a lot of theology today is that it works like a box. The church draws a square box around itself and divides the world between people who are 'in' and 'out.' I don't think that's what Jesus intended. He saw the church as a journey we take together. That's what interests me: the exploration, the relationships, the excitement of trying to discover this together. All I'm doing is asking people to come along."

From Christianity Today

Ed Dobson says of Bell, "Rob is driven by a passion to teach the Bible, shaped by understanding the Bible in its context, then applying the Bible to where people live. At the core, he's about the Bible." It was with Dobson, at Calvary Church in Grand Rapids, that Bell served as associate pastor for three years before Calvary supported the launch of Bell's postmodern congregation. Today Bell is also heading Nooma (think pneuma), a ministry producing short dramatic videos of Bell's talks, shot MTV-style amid city streets, airports, and forests (www.nooma.com).

...

A preacher recently said to me that you cannot use history, because the more you learn about history, the more it will affect how you interpret the Scriptures. Yep. I hope so.

N.T. Wright says it this way, "Most people want to wake up in the morning with a general at the foot of their bed saying 'Go do this.' The problem is there's somebody at the foot of their bed saying, 'Once upon a time. . .'"

The "timeless truths" of Scripture emerge from real people in real places and a God who has all authority working in real time. So the more I know about the places and times, the more I understand God's authority.

Interview with Belief.net

He has a book coming out called Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith. Here is a review.

He has a series of videos that can be used in worship called Nooma.

Bottomline: I'm pretty interested in what Rob Bell is doing. I've listened to his sermons online and they sound pretty good to me, but I'd really like to see what church looks like to them. I'm planning at some point soon going to Michigan and seeing firsthand.

Maxwell's New Book

I've seen this book advertised in Wired and Fast Company with the caption "Get Rich Quick." Is this where John Maxwell is headed?