Is Rob Bell An Evangelical? Part II

In part I of “Is Rob Bell An Evangelical” we examined the upward component of evangelicalism along with some key doctrines evangelicals have traditionally embraced.

We now examine the inward and outward components.

The Inward

Historically, evangelicals have been a strictly disciplined people. To master oneself was the greatest battle. Inward disciplines like solitude, prayer, fasting, meditation, spiritual reflection and silence became trademarks of early evangelicals – a buffet for the soul.

The momentum generated by the awakenings on both sides of the Atlantic continued through the 18th century, lost some steam at the end of the 18th century, and then was rekindled in the early 19th century by a generation of Christians that reacted against the spiritual complacency of their parents (forgive my over-simplification).

If you want a more detailed synopsis, I invite you to wade through Owen Chadwick’s two volumes on the Victorian Church. Chadwick is a marvelous historian and captures the mood of the Victorian age.

If you want a cliff notes version of evangelicalism, Ian Bradley’s The Call To Seriousness does well to describe the spiritual disciplines and the attitudes of the evangelicals in Victorian England (at least within the Church of England).

Discipline was the name of the game (though they didn’t play too many games). Skipping church was anathema. Sleeping in was a punishable offense. In many ways, evangelicals of the 19th century look a lot like the Celtic monks of the 6th and 7th centuries.

The monks on the island of Iona, for instance, woke up before sunrise to recite the Psalms with rocks in their mouths. The 20-somethings “younger evangelicals” of the 1830s woke up in similar fashion and literally broke the ice in their bathtubs to read the Scriptures in the cold water. Both groups of Christians thought that if the body was disciplined the soul would follow.

Bell avoids what evangelicals traditionally understood as the Day of Judgment. They thought that every moment, every thought and action must be carefully considered and never wasted. A squandered life cannot be tolerated in God’s kingdom. Christianity is a call to seriousness and action.

Many think that current evangelicals can hardly be characterized by austerity and seriousness. But Bell is challenging that. “We’re rediscovering Christianity as an Eastern religion, as a way of life,” Bell says in “The Emergent Mystic”. Historic evangelicals would have appreciated his reaction against a compartmentalized Christianity, a kind of “cheap grace,” as Bonhoeffer called it, a grace that isn’t worth much because it doesn’t cost much.

Disciplines like “Breath Prayers” are encouraged by Bell. “Central to the Christian tradition,” he says, “. . . have been disciplines of meditation, reflection, silence, and breathing. It was understood that to be a healthy person, to be fully connected with God, and fully centered you would spend significant parts of your day in silence–breathing, meditating–praying allowing the Spirit of God to transform you and touch you” (from an audio sermon on “Breathing” dated 5/29/05).

So yes, I believe Bell fits into an historical evangelical paradigm if we consider the great amount of energy he spends helping others cultivate the interior life through spiritual discipline.

The Outward

Evangelicals have always been an outwardly-focused people. On the cutting edge of social reform, evangelicals sought to be the hands and feet of Christ in a catatonic society.

When Jonathan Edwards was kicked out of his church he took his wife and children and moved to the Stockbridge Indian community to live and minister to the Moravians. Edwards was concerned with the marginalized and disenfranchised of New England and saw himself as a pastor/missionary (not unlike David Brainerd, whose biography Edwards wrote).

It’s about incarnation. Because Christ came down “in the flesh” we become flesh for others. Francis Shaefffer once said that Jesus gives the world the right to judge whether or not we are Christians by the observable love we show one another. And when it comes to the outward component of evangelicalism, I believe Bell would have us rekindle what Edwards, William Booth, William Wilberforce (see Amazing Grace) and Anthony Ashley Cooper demonstrated in their activistic endeavors. Christ associated with the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the outcasts, and so must we.

In the 19th century, evangelicals believed that God cared about the rights of factory owners, the health of chimney sweepers, and the daily struggles of the working class individual. That’s one reason Charles Spurgeon taught London’s illiterate how to read and write, started an orphanage, a pastor’s college, and gave away large sums of money to those in need.

Modern organizations like Children’s Hopechest and Nea Zoi continue in the evangelical tradition, fighting against homelessness, abuse, sex trafficking, slavery, prostitution, rape, and murder. And if Bell meant what he said to the Boston Globe – that evangelical means “extending to the poor generosity and kindness” – then I should think he can be rightly be categorized as an evangelical.

What to do with Bell

Everyone has a context. To really understand someone we must examine their environment, the struggles they find themselves in, and most importantly what and who they are reacting against.

Most religious personalities and movements can be defined by reaction – St. Augustine against Pelagius, Martin Luther against Romanism, Seperatists against the Established Church, and so forth.

Bell is no exception. To understand Bellianism one must acknowledge his background. Some people try (without success) at categorizing him and find it frustrating because like many emerging/emergents he often resists definition. For them, it’s like nailing theological jello to the wall.

Others appreciate the questions Bell is hammering: What should a church look like in the 21st century? What does it mean to be the body of Christ in our culture? How can we show the love of God to our enemies? These are good questions – necessary questions – and I tilt my hat to all those who are asking them in search of honest, thoughtful answers.

So what do people think of Rob Bell?

Most people fall into one of two groups: conservative evangelicals mildly tolerate his clever avoidance of key evangelical doctrines like that of the atonement, judgment, hell, and others. Liberals would enjoy less gospel and more social in the “social gospel” he advocates through NOOMA, books, and other venues. But both groups must come to terms with the fact that Rob Bell is a leading figure in the development of American Christianity. “I’m convinced,” Bell reflects, “that I am not doing anything new, I am hoping that I’m in a long tradition.”

A Word of Challenge

As a younger evangelical myself, I would challenge Bell, if he wants to claim an evangelical identity, to:

• Maintain the convictions and doctrines we have traditionally held precious. Examine them in the light of the Scriptures.
• React against our condition, not our tradition.
• Take all of Jesus seriously. Not just his words about the here and now, but also the next life – heaven, hell.
• Don’t be afraid of offending people with a Christ who claimed to be “the only way”. As you know, Christianity has rarely been an historically popular way of life. Jesus is offensive. Don’t be afraid of preaching about a jealous God who loves his bride, the church.
• Faithfulness is more important than success.
• Decrease. There’s not a lot of it going around in current American evangelicalism. John said, “I must decrease, Christ must increase” (John 3:30). Focus less on self-image and more on God’s image. Extend his kingdom. What is God doing in Africa, Asia, South America? What kind of Christianity are they embracing? How can we encourage them? What can we learn from them?

Traditionally, evangelicals have been a praying people. As Bell’s shadow extends and as his celebrity-persona enlarges, ours should be a task of prayer. That God would give him strength and courage to reflect his light and truth in a dark and disillusioned society.

Resources

• Read interview with Mark Galli earlier this year, as Rob Bell discusses his book Jesus Wants to Save Christians, perhaps his most theologically stable work thus far.

• David Lloyd Jones, What is an Evangelical?

• The Evangelical Alliance definition of Evangelicalism

• Rob Bell, “Everything is Spiritual:”

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