Infighting Within The Church: The Two Sides of the Coin
I know I’m fashionably late to this blog. Anyone who blogs and reads either Rob Bell or John Piper has jumped into this conversation a month ago and promptly forgotten about it.
I however have not.
Let me start by clearly stating this blog is not intended to support or demean either man or their ministry. It’s strictly commentary on the situation surrounding these two real or imagined.
Rob Bell recently released a book called “Love Wins” that talks about the realities of heaven and hell and what he considers to be inaccurate earthly views that have become the common belief of the Big C Church pertaining to these two subjects. I have read the book and did not find it to be nearly as controversial as others. The reason being that if you have read N.T. Wright’s book “Surprised by Hope”, you’ve read a more scholarly attempt at writing about the same subject and nothing in “Love Wins” will surprise you.
Shocking? Not so much…
So why is John Piper tweeting dismissively about Rob Bell’s book and character?
Here’s what it comes down to. N.T. Wright is considered one of the best theologians in the world and his books are full of deep thoughts and explanations all backed up with scholarly references or specific interpretations of the Bible. Rob Bell is a modern guy at an innovative church in Michigan who is already at the center of debate in many church culture circles. So who will make bigger waves writing about misconceptions on heaven and hell? Rob Bell or N.T. Wright?
Most people would pick Rob Bell (as would I) because he’s a much more well known target already at the center of controversy.
Here’s a fun fact, N.T. Wright and John Piper have had their scholarly disagreements aired publicly with the difference being Piper has chosen to respond with blog posts and books countering many of N.T. Wright’s arguments concerning the meaning of Justification as written by Paul in the New Testament. Why? Because it’s harder to create a stir with someone as well respected as N.T. Wright in the theological community.
Rob Bell is the easy target, N.T. Wright is not.
So what’s the point? What’s right or wrong with the recent public spat?
One side of the coin….
Public debate about theology is good for the Body of Christ because it forces us to study the Word, discuss it, defend it, and live it. It also presents opportunity for people that have never heard these thoughts or processes to receive new information and digest it and take part in the conversation as well.
The other side of the coin…
When it goes beyond debate to arguing, name calling, and overall mean spirited comments, it makes the Big C Church look like a bunch of buffoons who attack each other over theological differences.
John Piper is very relevant to public conversation on the Spirit of God. His writing about the glory of God and it’s importance in our lives affected me deeply as a young twenty something. I can point to “Don’t Waste Your Life” as one of the books that helped me see the importance of God’s glory and evangelism in my walk.
What’s sad about the current situation is by ripping Rob Bell and doing so very publicly, he has turned off a large portion of the Big C Church that NEED to read and hear what he says about the Glory of God and its importance.
These statements have also caused arguments amongst the Body, and this practice is what bothers me most.
What good is it doing to rip each other’s theology apart? Why is it funny that websites have been created to sell “Team Bell” and “Team Piper” shirts? To me, it’s not funny. It’s sad.
God is not being glorified and genuine conversation about thoughts arising in scripture get lost in the commentary.
The night before Jesus died, He prayed in the garden that:
“For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (John 17: 19-21)
He prayed we would be sanctified in truth and that we would all be One. Why? So that the world may believe that Jesus was sent by God?
So…how does this infighting help bind us together as one so the world may believe that Jesus was sent by God?
Simple…it doesn’t.
