Grace in our Debates

I know I’m at least week late on this, but that’s alright. I don’t want to weigh on any of the debates. I want to talk about the debating. I’ve been thinking a lot about the way debating that has been going on in our nation and I want to comment on how debating happens, especially among fellow believers.

While reading What We Talk About When We Talk About God, I was struck by his chapter on the paradox of talking about God. The paradox of God is essentially the fact that we cannot fully know him or describe him and yet we must. It’s hard to live in this paradox. We want answers to our questions. Bell writes,  “Take faith, for example. For many people in our world, the opposite of faith is doubt. The goal, then, within this understanding, is to eliminate doubt.” Many of us want to eliminate doubt. We want it all spelled out for us so that we know what is right and what is wrong. This desire for right and wrong plays greatly into debates that involve theology and morality and it’s this desire that I’ve been thinking about.

People want answers. People were raised to have specific answers for specific questions. Some people, for various reasons, change their mind and choose to believe something else. Whatever we believe, the point is this: we are all trying to do our best to come up with the right answers. When you put the right answers in the context in religion, then the right answers become a big deal. The right answers, for many people, have eternal consequences. Some people are fearful of having the wrong answers and others are concerned that everyone else has the wrong answer.

For that reason, I think that it is important for us to enter debates with grace. It doesn’t matter what side you’re on, you need to be graceful. When discussing matters of faith or morality, people have taken that side because they genuinely think that it is right and they are arguing that side and often it’s because they believe it potentially has eternal importance. When we argue over what religion is right, hopefully at some level it’s because there is genuine concern for the other persons eternal destination. The same can go with what is or is not sinful. If I genuinely believe that you are doing something to endanger your eternal salvation, the right thing should be correction.

I know that many are just rude about their beliefs, and that’s just wrong. I think that those people need to be graceful as well. The point is, have grace when you debate. I think we need to understand that part of the reason for the debate is a genuine concern over you life and salvation. If someone thinks that you’re wrong and your life is in danger, then be grateful for their concern and try to debate kindly with them.

Most of us are just people trying to do our best. If we didn't genuinely think our beliefs were right, then why would we hold them? Be gracious, listen, and disagree in love.

Here are a couple of things that I would recommend that relate to this topic:

Video response from Penn Jillette after being given a Bible (I know it’s an old video, but he has good things to say).

Blog from Donald Miller about Religious Legalism. It’s not the same as what I’ve written here, but it certainly speaks to the same issue.

Brief Reflection on Maundy Thursday and Love

In light of my recent post on Christian leadership, I decided that today is an appropriate day to again reflect on the how the church behaves differently than the world. On the church's calendar, today is Maundy Thursday. This day derives its name from the Latin word that is the root of our word mandate. It's called this because of Jesus' words in John, "a new command I give to you" or a new "mandate." This mandate comes after his washing of the disciples feet. Jesus is displaying that his style of leadership is built on love and service, not on power. With this "new mandate," Jesus instructs his disciples to do the same to one another and then says that this is how the world will know that they are his disciples, by their love (John 13:34-35)

The love that Jesus speaks of here is not a feeling, but a lifestyle of putting others before yourself and treating others as you would want to be treated. This is love that Jesus shows us by laying down his life on the cross. This is love is more than just a singular action or a feeling, it is a virtue or a "a certain quality of character" as C.S. Lewis describes virtue in Mere Christianity. Our God is love, it is a part of his nature, and here Jesus commands us to make love apart of our character as well. So, while we typically spend this week think about what Jesus did for the world, today we are reminded of what He has asked us to do as well. We are to make love one of our defining characteristics like Christ did. As Paul wrote in Colossians 3, we are to clothe ourselves with love which binds all other virtues together in perfect unity.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." (John 15:9-13 NIV)

How to be Secretly Incredible

Most people want to live incredible lives. We want to make an impact and change the world. Bob Goff is one of those people. He wants to make an impact on the world, and, in fact, he is making an impact in the world. In his book Love Does, he wants to show the reader how to be incredible. Even though the subtitle of the book is "Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World," this book does not offer the reader five easy steps or some other formula for success. Instead, Bob shares stories from his life. Some of the stories are humorous, some exciting, and others very moving. Each story relates to one main theme: Love Does. Bob writes this story to motivate his readers to take action. He wants you to go out and do something. So much so that he even includes his phone number at the end so that you can call him and talk about the ideas in the book. Love doesn't just plan things out, love is acted out. He writes, "Secretly incredible people just do things." Bob doesn't plan much. He knows what he wants to do and does it, and he doesn't let any worry or doubt stand in his way.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Bob writes in a very personal way like he wants you to be his friend. In fact, it becomes apparent that he knows no strangers, so much so, I've chosen not to refer to him as "Goff" even though that is proper for authors you don't know. It was certainly a very moving book and different than the typical inspirational Christian books I have read. He doesn't lay out a plan or steps. He just tells stories. He wants us to live. Bob believes that God wants Christians to do something. I suggest that you go and read this book. It's not a complicated read or even a deep read, but it's a good read. It straightforward and has a simple message: Do something. Through stories of his own life, Bob shows us that living an incredible life starts with doing something. In addition, simply by buying the book you will be on your way to doing something since all the proceeds go to Restore International's Leadership Academy in Gulu, Uganda and the Mentoring Project. Go buy the book, read it, and then do something.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Does Love Win?: A Review of Rob Bell's book Love Wins

There has been a lot of discussion around the internet about Rob Bell's new book Love Wins. Before this, I have been a supporter of Rob Bell. I have read all of his books (except drops like stars), seen most of the nooma videos, and watched two of his longer videos. And while I have not always agreed with him, I think that he's a great communicator and has brought some great insights to the table. That being said, while I try not involve myself in internet debates, but I felt that it was appropriate to share with the few people who read my blog about Love Wins and what Bell actually says in the book (You should check out my friend David's blog post about this as well).


There were a lot of people crying heresy and accusing Rob Bell of universalism. Those claims were based mostly off of the title and a book trailer. After actually reading the book, I believe that claims of Bell's flee from Orthodox Christianity have been greatly exaggerated.

So what does he say?
First, he plainly says that there is a heaven, a hell, a final judgment, a bodily resurrection and that there will be a new heaven and new earth. Is this Biblical? Yes. Second, he says that Jesus is the only one through which people receive salvation. Is this Biblical? Yes.

So far, so good.

He begins to stray from the pack in his discussion of who gets spend eternity with God and the permanency of hell.

He believes that because God is love, he would never be so exclusive as to make salvation dependent on human effort to spread the gospel. God works in ways that we don't know to save people who would never receive the gospel. It would be unloving for God to never give some people the chance to receive the grace that he so freely gives to all people if they will choose to follow.

Is this Biblical? Bell would say yes. I would say only God knows. God tells us to make disciples of all peoples and we should leave the rest up to God.

He also argues that the gates of New Jerusalem will not be shut and that there will still be opportunity for people to turn to Jesus after the final trumpet sounds

Is this Biblical? Sort of. The gates of New Jerusalem never shut, but I don't agree with Bell's interpretation. The verse says that the gates never shut because there is no night. My interpretation: God is in the city, he has banished the darkness (symbolic of evil) there is no more night (symbolic of evil), therefore there is no need to lock the gates, there is no need for security measures. New Jerusalem is safe because God has defeated evil once and for all.

So Heretic? Probably not. Stretching the interpretation of some scriptures? Yes. His interpretation, however, do not negate the saving power of Jesus and Jesus alone. Therefore, he's not a universalist either. If you need a label, he's an inclusivist. In his opinion there are people who will be saved (through Jesus) that we wouldn't expect.

Honestly, this is nothing new. There have been many Christians through the centuries to hold this. One of whom is C. S. Lewis. Although he never wrote a book specifically about this area of theology, one example is found in the Last Battle Lewis shows a Calormean entering Aslan's country who never followed Aslan. Aslan tells him that all the good he did for Tash, he actually did for Aslan. Another, although it's more like a parable than theology, is the story of the Great Divorce. A group of deceased ride a bus from Hell to Heaven and are given a chance to follow God even though they have already died and gone to Hell. These are both similar to Love Wins, but it should be remembered that these are both stories and not theological explanations.


Why did Bell write this book? Because he is so convicted by the fact that God is love, that he believes should show that love to all people. I think that most of us can get behind that. Christians should be known as a people of love because God is love. God loves people and in the end God's love rules the day. In other words, Love Wins.