Die or Adapt

For those of you who haven't heard, Rob Bell publicly endorsed same-sex marriage this weekend.

Speaking at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco last Sunday, Bell said,

I am for marriage. I am for fidelity. I am for love, whether it's a man and woman, a woman and a woman, a man and a man … I think this is the world we are living in and we need to affirm people wherever they are.

I think we are witnessing the death of a particular subculture that doesn't work. I think there is a very narrow, politically intertwined, culturally ghettoized, Evangelical subculture that was told ‘we're gonna change the thing’ and they haven't. And they actually have turned away lots of people. And I think that when you’re in a part of a subculture that is dying, you make a lot more noise because it’s very painful. You sort of die or you adapt.

Those of us familiar with Bell are certainly not surprised that the controversial former pastor took such a stance at an Episcopal church in San Francisco. Nevertheless, I am convicted that such a bold proclamation needs to be answered with an equally bold proclamation: Same-sex marriage is not only unbiblical, but immoral, and ought not be endorsed by anyone who professes to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.

This ought to be so painfully obvious as to go without saying. Unfortunately, in this biblically illiterate day and age, this is no longer the case. However, the purpose of this blog is not to state the obvious, but to strategically persuade others of the truth.

If you simply want ranting, railing, and bewailing of the moral and cultural decline of the American Church, there has been plenty of this already and you will have no trouble finding Christian crybabies. Too many conservative Evangelicals are content to whine about Rob Bell's radical theology; not enough Christians are examining his teachings with a constructively critical mind, or responding strategically.

One of the few voices prophetically speaking to our generation is Dr. Michael Brown. In a recent article in Charisma Magazine, Dr. Brown made some insightful observations about Rob Bell.

Over the last few years Bell, a best-selling author and former megachurch pastor, has steadily distanced himself from the mainstream evangelical community. Known for asking provocative questions and challenging the status quo, he amassed a large following that has been drawn to his non-dogmatic approach—an approach I call a “celebration of ambiguity.”

To paraphrase this approach: Rather than the leader saying, “This is the way. It is proven and sure. Follow me,” the leader now says, “Who am I to know? How can anyone be sure? Isn’t it narrow and small-minded of us to be so inflexible and dogmatic?”

This is certainly the impression of Bell I got when I read his book Love Wins. John Piper and others vehemently condemned Love Wins because it supposedly preached universalism, but Bell never explicitly endorsed the doctrine in the book. At various points Bell sounded like a skeptic, an Evangelical pastor, a theological liberal, a fundamentalist who asked Jesus into his heart, an agnostic, or a biblical scholar, depending on what part of the book was being read. The most certain thing was that Bell was asking questions about the traditional view of the afterlife, and the only dogmas were vaguely Christian notions that God is love and love wins.

This weekend, however, Bell quite dogmatically denounced conservative Evangelicalism in general, and biblical teachings on marriage in particular. Like most lies, Bell's claims have a grain of truth in them. The Evangelical Church in America does seem to be on the wane. Traditional views are giving way to theological and political liberalism. But does the Church need to adapt or die? Well... he's half right.

He is right in the sense that the church needs to make some decisive changes; he is wrong that it ought to conform to the godless spirit of the age. You see, this dying subculture of Evangelicalism that he speaks of--he's the product of all the worst elements of this subculture taken to its logical conclusion. Rob Bell is the spiritual offspring of years of seeker friendly, ultra-positive, anti-intellectual, hipster,  megachurch Evangelical Christianity. Joel Osteen eventually turns into Rob Bell.

So if we are not to conform to this world, how ought we adapt to survive in post-Christian America? We are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Rob Bell's Christianity is a dying subculture because he is only presenting the old mainline liberal theology in an Evangelical wrapper. Mainline denominations have consistently been declining, even as they become more liberal and worldly. More biblically-based Pentecostal denominations are increasing in number. However, theological conservatism alone is not good enough. Remember, the megachurches and the mainlines were more conservative at one time. As I said,  must renew our minds.

If Rob Bell wants to celebrate ambiguity, biblical Christians must be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks... for a reason for the hope that is in us. In other words, it is not enough to know what we believe but why we believe it. Rob Bell's pseudo-intellectualism sounds clever in a biblically ignorant church taught that faith is blind.
Biblical faith is based on knowledge. Christians ought to know their God experientially (John 17:3). They ought to know the Scriptures and the power of God (Matthew 22:29). They ought to be able to proclaim and explain the gospel and the teachings of Jesus. Secondarily, they ought to be familiar with logic, and have at least a working knowledge of philosophy and science. They ought to be familiar with sound Christian responses to common anti-Christian objections. Renewing our minds in these ways will preserve the ever growing Church, not only from the non-Christian world, but false teachers like Rob Bell.