Is it the glasses? The hairline? (While most people spend lots of time and money on their hair, Buddhist monks and nuns shave their heads. They are no longer concerned with outward beauty, but with developing their spiritual lives. The shaven head is a reminder that the monks and nuns have renounced the home life and are a part of the Sangha). The teaching of breathing and meditative contemplative prayer? Who knows.
Lets take a deeper look at his most recent interview, and see if we can find some answers together:
Sipping herb tea in a Wealthy Street coffee shop, Rob Bell wonders what would happen if he asked everyone there whether they have been directly or indirectly affected by cancer.
Most likely, a random group of people quickly would feel a bond of shared suffering, he imagines.
“The solidarity of people standing (together) who have been affected by cancer, there’s something divine in that — being present with one another in their suffering,” Bell said from a cozy corner of The Sparrows. “That is apparently the story of the Bible: God saying, ‘I know how you feel.’”
Rob, where is that in scripture? What verses teach us that God is present because of shared suffering? Where does the Bible tell us that the story of the Bible is “I know how you feel”. Rob Bell, the story of the Bible, the message of the Bible is about God, His holiness, and man’s wickedness, and God’s love and mercy despite our lawlessness, manifested in Christ Jesus who came to pay the penalty for our sin. And while suffering is a part of our experience, it is only divine if one is Born again, for God tells us that all things are for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purposes.
Rob’s observations remind me of the very thing that drove Sidharta out of his royal life to discover how to end suffering.
“Enough people have written ‘why this?’ “I’m interested in ‘what now?’ — all the fascinating observations there are on the other side of suffering.”
Forget about the fascinating observations, how about a theological view of suffering? How about what the Bible teaches about both the ‘why this’ and the ‘what now’? Why is there suffering? (sin) What is the why this? (we are a part of a fallen race, where there is sickness as a direct result of sin, and death, as a direct result of sin, but God’s mercy sometimes uses suffering to help us understand our need for Him) and the What now? (is all about repentance, all about throwing ourselves on the mercy of God, and trusting Him for the result).
“It’s interesting to meet somebody who’s just found out they have cancer,” Bell said. “They’re rarely saying things like, ‘Now I’m going to get that plastic surgery I’ve always wanted.’ They say things like, ‘I need to make amends. I need family, friends, relationships.’ “
How about I need God?!?!?!
“There is a creative impulse that is birthed by suffering. So-and-so loses their job and it’s awful and it’s gut-wrenching. But, for the first time, a whole new future opens up. They begin to imagine things they never did before. Maybe, sometimes, it takes suffering to get the other stuff out of the way, so you can get at the greatness that’s inside you.”
There is nothing great inside us! Romans 3:9-18
“None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.”18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Here Rob quotes Marianne Williamson again: (Instead of referencing the Bible….)
‘our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond all measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us the most.’ We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, famous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just some of us; it’s in everyone. And, as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. And as we’re liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. (190,191, A Course in Miracles)
Rob Bell, in a sermon:
There is a greatness [in mankind]. The writer here [of Psalm 8] uses the word “glory and honor” that resides in every single human being. Fragile and yet filled with the potential for glory and honor. I love how Nelson Mandela puts it in one of his writings. He says, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.”
And then he concludes by saying, “Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. We were born to manifest the glory—put on display, to show—the glory of God that is within us.” He says, “you may be a dirt clod, but there is greatness and power and glory that resides in every singe human being.”
(Week 330 05/29/05, audio sermon 12:27-13:28, transcription on file)
Rob Bell believes new age authors about human potential revealed in suffering more than he believes the Bible that the only real potential inside of man is that He is desperately wicked, and that he has a fallen nature that is predisposed to sin and to death!!! How far he has fallen in all of his vain philosophies! It reminds me also of the teachings of Buddha, as far as the reason and the purpose in suffering; about Karma, about the stripping away of all the external things that get in the way… and human potential, by right thoughts, deeds, and actions we can attain Nirvana (or for Rob we can bring the ‘Kingdom of God’ to this earth)
When the Buddha gave his first sermon in the Deer Park, he began the ‘Turning of the Dharma Wheel’. He chose the beautiful symbol of the wheel with its eight spokes to represent the Noble Eightfold Path. The Buddha’s teaching goes round and round like a great wheel that never stops, leading to the central point of the wheel, the only point which is fixed, Nirvana. The eight spokes on the wheel represent the eight parts of the Noble Eightfold Path. Just as every spoke is needed for the wheel to keep turning, we need to follow each step of the path.
1. Right View. The right way to think about life is to see the world through the eyes of the Buddha–with wisdom and compassion.
2. Right Thought. We are what we think. Clear and kind thoughts build good, strong characters.
3. Right Speech. By speaking kind and helpful words, we are respected and trusted by everyone.
4. Right Conduct. No matter what we say, others know us from the way we behave. Before we criticize others, we should first see what we do ourselves.
5. Right Livelihood. This means choosing a job that does not hurt others. The Buddha said, “Do not earn your living by harming others. Do not seek happiness by making others unhappy.”
6. Right Effort. A worthwhile life means doing our best at all times and having good will toward others. This also means not wasting effort on things that harm ourselves and others.
7. Right Mindfulness. This means being aware of our thoughts, words, and deeds.
8. Right Concentration. Focus on one thought or object at a time. By doing this, we can be quiet and attain true peace of mind.
Following the Noble Eightfold Path can be compared to cultivating a garden, but in Buddhism one cultivates one’s wisdom. The mind is the ground and thoughts are seeds. Deeds are ways one cares for the garden. Our faults are weeds. Pulling them out is like weeding a garden. The harvest is real and lasting happiness.
“The Hebrew/Christian perspective has always been far less about why did God cause this and where was God, and much more about incarnation,” he said. “Apparently, God’s in this mess as well, up to something.”
Yes Rob, He is. Soon He will judge the world in righteousness. He will cast all those who are disobedient and lawless into the lake of fire. All those who have not have their sin paid for by Christ through repentance and faith in Him alone will experience the wrath of God for an eternity.
I urge you Rob Bell, to get back to the Bible, and cast aside your studies of Borg, Williamson, and others who are leading you away from our one true Source- God- as revealed in nature, in the Bible, and in the Logos- Jesus Christ. There is a way that seems right to a man, Rob Bell, but in its end is death.
Added Bonus: Is Brian McLaren Joining Rob Bell? Or is it vice versa?
