What is Rob attempting to accomplish in writing Love Wins? While I do believe him when he says he did not see the firestorm coming, I cannot believe that he did not think some of his comments would cause a stir. He is far too intelligent for that. He may have underestimated it however. That is an error I have made myself a time or two.
This week on his weekly message at his church he came the closest I have heard him come to rebutting his attackers. In the introduction to his sermon he repeatedly thanked his congregation for their support and apologized for any distraction the media circus had caused. During the brief section of commentary he gave a litany of things he does and does not believe including denying being a Universalist, affirming resurrection, believing in miracles, and several other things that escape me at the moment. He did make one comment that drew quite an applause from his audience. He said “I also believe it is a good idea to only discuss books that you have actually read."
It is hard to disagree with that last statement.
There were warning signs in advance of the media blitz, but the intensity definitely increased with the release of the promo video via Facebook and other media outlets. To be perfectly honest, I began to anticipate the book, if for no other purpose to see what it actually said. This led me to watch many of the interviews especially the hour-long online event that was highly publicized.
Herein is my first comment/criticism of the handling of the situation. In every interview Rob consistently avoided directly answering many questions. He would say something like, “That is a great question,” then tell a story or go in another direction and usually never answer the question. I believe this was all part of the hype for the book. I also believe it is one element of how Rob operates. If you have ever listened to his messages or viewed his videos you know questions are a key element in his teaching style. I do not have a problem that. I actually have for many years done exactly the same thing and found it extremely effective in connecting with my audience. In these instances however I think Rob would have been better served to provide some clear cut direct answers to individuals with honest and sincere questions. (For persons whom simply wanted to engage in theological debate for the purpose of espousing their opinion as opposed to his, I would have simply declined.)
In Love Wins Rob forces us to look at some difficult issues. For many of those issues I fear we have simply assumed what Scripture said or assumed what we think Scripture means by what it says. Furthermore, I do not think it is a bad thing to question your beliefs even if you end up believing the same thing. In many ways that is how we come to articulate what we truly believe. I further think forcing some of this discussion is part of Rob's way of calling us to question our dualism and look anew at what it really means to be a Christian.
Beginning with my next entry I will comment on some of the statements and theological questions raised in the book. But I want to end the second introductory entry by saying that it appears to me that one of Rob's purposes with this book was to push some of these very issues to the front burner of Christian discussion. For too long we have lived with an escapist mentality and many have avoided truly engaging our culture and the problems found therein. Many of these issues we can actually do something about. In talking about heaven and hell and other topics in “here and now terms” it can help to pull the curtain back on some of that thought.
More to come . . .
