Catalyst 6: Rob Bell part 1

From 6/2//06

Wow - this was an incredibly rich interview...and it was only part 1! Looking forward to part 2...

Sabbath. Rob Bell, like Eugene Peterson, is a big proponent of practicing Sabbath. It took him a while to get there though. Sabbath would be Saturday afternoon as he works all Sunday. At first he recalled being bored out of his mind come 4pm. Soon he realized it was because his body was so used to creating that to take a break meant a period of withdrawal. which brings up something he said that I loved: Sabbath is a day when we don't create. It's so obvious! God rested from creation on this day. And this is incredibly counter-cultural. We are constantly baited to consume products that help us get more done faster. We are told our value is from "creating". And so for us to break from "creating" is to tell the world, "I feel I am loved and valued for who I am, not by what I create." Powerful stuff...

Translation. Bell is lover of history so naturally I really engage with his teaching. He spoke at length about how a Messianic-Jewish friend helped reveal the world of the NT through the lens of the OT in elucidating fashion. Further, Bell pointed out that scripture is meant to be read in community. "The fact that we can read the Bible ourselves is a 500 year old luxury that has existed since the printing press." Again, this is obvious, but he reminds us that the majority of the "you"'s in scripture are plural. When Paul wrote his letters there was an expectation that the community was receiving it as a group and offering their own thoughts as they heard it.

This got me thinking about the possibility of having a bible study group that was more focused on simply reading and reacting. That is, reading through scripture together and letting that guide the time versus coming to the meeting with prepared questions. There seems to be place for both.

Pastoring. One of the biggest lessons Bell has learned is to say "no". The interviewer mentioned that some are saying that we're better known by what we say "no" to than by what we agree to. This certainly challenging but it's lesson I feel I am continually learning. On the Church in general he says "there is nothing more beautiful than the local church." Though the sermons at Mars Hill are podcast, they are specifically not filmed or broadcast so that there won't be those "telecommuting" to church. He said he would be grieved if his work ended other churches. It was interesting to hear him state a philosophy so clearly counter to North Point's. Not that NP want's to close churches down, or even that they have, but they intentionally broadcast to attendees who are not in the building.

I'll have to think about this more but one thought about the NP model is that their whole mission is to get people who don't go to church to go to church. That said, if that's who is watching, they are not taking from other churches. Also, this might be a way for folks who are afraid of church to check it out from a safe distance. On the other hand, I'm sure there are several out there who have substituted NP TV for being involved face to face with other believers.