Grieved by this...

This will be the only blog post I do regarding Rob Bell and his book, "Love Wins." I do not know if Bell is specifically advocating Universalism. I personally know several pastors who would argue that they would "like to believe that ultimately God wins and all people are saved in eternity." Interestingly enough, these pastors are also quick to NOT use the word "universalism." One pastor put it this way: "Some people say I am a Universalist. I do not know what that word means." What? Don't know what it means? An amazing statement from a person who I know to be one of the most intelligent people around.
      My friends at Leadership ConneXtions have done two posts in the last few days about Bell and his views. Click here to read them. These are helpful reference points and I won't reiterate them here.
       I have three comments about this topic of heaven, hell, and the fate of people.
First, I find that the theological issue is hugely charged with emotional appeal, angst and manipulation. Rob Bell's publisher, HarperOne, did a magnificent PR job in a 3-minute video tugging hard at people's emotions when Bell said, "Ghandi's in hell? Really? And someone knows this for sure?" At that moment the background music intensifies, Bell freezes and stares intently at the camera. Wow, it is powerful cinema indeed! And I am sure it increased pre-sale orders by thousands if not tens of thousands. In the end, for HarperOne this is a business.
Second, there is dramatic extremes in the conversation which I believe is plain wrong. On one side is the depiction that God saves only a very select few people and the vast majority of humanity is destined to eternal conscious torment. One pastor, who advocates salvation for all, depicted THIS God to me with this metaphor:
       "It is like a father who has a son and every day the father drags the son outside the house and behind the wood shed, takes a 2x4 to his head and beats the crap out of the son. And this happens ... every day ... for ever ... for eternity ... without end."
I am not sure if the person got this image from the Bible or from a book or if he heard someone use this illustration. But to be clear, I do not believe in this God either - one who gets sadistic pleasure out of punishing His creation. This is a gross distortion of God.
       On the other side is the depiction that "all roads lead to heaven" and that Jesus has little if anything to do with salvation. Often times conservative Evangelicals depict others as "liberals" who do not believe in the atonement and are just "wishy-washy" about salvation.
       To be sure, there ARE those type of Universalists out there. But there are also those who DO believe in the cross of Christ and his atonement and believe that because "God is making all things new" this means that all people will ultimately be saved.
Third, Evangelicals tend to have a difficult time with mystery. Conservative theological traditions which hold to a view that a literal hell exists seem to have a lot of clarity about who is in hell, how many people are in hell, and sometimes derive pleasure from this knowledge. 
       The reaction to these air-tight conclusions is more air-tight conclusions, although many people who believe in universal salvation are more subtle and coy about their beliefs. They use words such as, "it would appear" and "I suspect that" while being quite convinced that ALL people will ultimately be saved from an eternity of torment away from God. I find that people who have grown tired of traditional theologians' inability to live with mystery have also dispelled the mystery, in a different way.
       Perhaps we could learn from some of our brothers and sisters in the Orthodox Christian traditions who sometimes embrace the mysteries of God more readily than many Evangelicals.
So where do I end up on this issue of heaven and hell? Many people in my church here in Denver have asked this over the last few years. This is not a comprehensive statement of my beliefs, just around this issue.

• I believe in a true heaven and a hell, and I believe that Scripture teaches that each of these lasts for eternity (outside of time);
• I believe that it is only in and through the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth (Y'shua in Hebrew, 'Isa in Arabic) as the one and only promised Messiah that people "inherit eternal life." Jesus is the Lamb of God (the Christ, Lord) and God by His grace gives people the ability to come to faith in God through Jesus or to not do so. (I find that much of the debate in Calvinism and Arminianism over pre-destination and election is largely a waste of energy.)
• I believe there is much mystery in Scripture about the nature of eternal separation from God. I believe that images of fire, outer darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth are symbols and metaphors for desolation, ultimate isolation and aloneness. I have been greatly helped by C.S. Lewis' understanding of hell in "The Great Divorce" and elsewhere in his writing. I believe that ultimate separation from God is beyond imagination and far more grave than we care to admit.
• I do not know if heaven will be populated with the vast majority of people who have lived through the course of time, nor do I know if hell will be populated with the vasty majority of people who have lived through the course of time. The Bible tells us to "enter through the narrow gate" because wide is the way to destruction. It says that a "multitude" from every tribe, nation, and people will be in heaven and that the number is also limited (as represented by the number 144,000). I would argue that the Bible does not treat this as a puzzle to be solved, but rather as a mystery to live within.
• I believe that it is totally and absolutely God's deal to determine people's eternal destiny; God enlists people to be his "evangels" (messengers).
• And finally, I believe that we Evangelicals have gotten terribly distracted by this debate about who is in heaven and who is not. My church here in Denver has split and splintered over this very issue, resulting in unnecessary pain in many people's lives. We Evangelicals have gotten away from our primary calling as "God's sent ones" to announce Jesus' Kingdom by focusing so much energy and attention on what is ultimately a tremendous mystery. It's time to return to being messengers who announce the Kingdom of God.