Rob Bell and the Couch

In an earlier post I described an experience I had in our youth group meeting a few weeks ago when a student realized just how influential factors in her life were in the process of her reading and understanding the Bible and thinking about God.  The example I used was that of a couch: we see the world in a certain way because our culture has couches.  Yeah, that sounds strange but I'm not going to rehash the whole post here.  You can read it for yourself, and you should if you want to understand anything else I'm going to say in this post, as I'll refer to the couch from time to time.

In the mean time, Rob Bell has recently endorsed homosexuality as a biblically viable way of life, and has recently engaged in a debate with a Brit named Andrew Wilson (see video below).  I have no idea who Wilson is, but he is posed against Bell on the topic, and believes that the Bible condemns homosexuality (as it does with all deviant forms of sexual behavior, such as lust, adultery, fornication, promiscuity, etc.).  The two go at it on this particular issue for about 20 minutes.

I must say that it's not a particularly entertaining bit, nor is there much of any positive nature to take from it.  Rob Bell is so incredibly vague in his answers that there isn't much takeaway.  And his use of vulgarity isn't much appreciated either (warning: Rob lets slip a "BS" in the middle there somewhere).

But there is a very important part of this debate that has to do with my couch story that I began with.  Around 11:30 in the video, Bell appeals to his experience with gay friends, and says that same-sex relationships are not sinful, and are, in fact, part of how life is and how the church is.  His challenger responds by calling Bell on his appeal to anecdotal evidence and instead asserts that God gets to define what is OK and what is sinful, and that he tells us so in the Bible.

Bell comes back by basically stating that Wilson's view of same-sex relationships is based on his own interpretation of scripture, and is therefore flawed and invalid.  Wilson says it's not just his interpretation of one or two passages of scripture, but also the whole "sweep" of scripture that informs his opinion.  And Bell comes back again with another question: "Your interpretation of the 'sweep' of scripture?"

What Rob Bell is basically doing is saying that Andrew Wilson can't get an objective view of what the Bible says about homosexuality because of the couch he's sitting on.  In other words, Bell would posit that Wilson can't know what the Bible says about homosexuality because of all of the influences that are constantly pushing and pulling him one way or another.  What is astonishingly ironic about this is statement is that Bell doesn't realize that he's in the same boat.  That is, if Wilson can't get an objective handle on what the Bible says about homosexuality so that he knows it is condemned, how does Bell assume he has such an objective means by which to declare it righteous?  To put it in my couch language, if Wilson's knowledge about couches has skewed his understanding of homosexuality, hasn't Bell's couch skewed his view as well?

Don't get me wrong: I affirm the reality that we are pushed and pulled in all kinds of different directions as a result of being linear, cultural beings.  Things affect us.  We change based on our environment.  Our ideas and thinking are shaped by the people and events around us.  Even the way we read and understand the Bible is affected by these influences.  I get it.  But the question we're asking here is this: do those variables preclude us from being able to grasp objective truth?  Wilson would say no; Bell would say yes.  To which I would follow up by asking, "How do you know that Rob?  Is it true that a person can't know truth?  If it is, then your argument is invalid.

Rob Bell is basically stating that his position is right.  If you disagree with him, he will say that you are wrong because you have been influenced by your culture and your opinion is shaped by those influences.  Rob, if we're going to play this game, we all have play by the same rules.  If my view is flawed by my influences, so is yours.  Let's at least be honest.  If we have to play this game your way, then at least abide by your own rules.

The Supremacy of Christ

This is worth 19 minutes of your time.  Seriously.

A Couch Makes All the Difference

 A few weeks ago in our youth group Sunday School class we were talking about how the different influences in our lives shape and form the way we think about God, the gospel, and the way we read scripture.  The kids went through some exercises to try and identify the things in their lives that have shaped their thinking and reading of the Bible.  As the kids sorted through things like their family influences, the way they think about money, their parents, etc., I would constantly follow up on their reflection with this question: "And do you think that is going to influence the way you read the Bible?" The answer was always "Yes," to the point where one of the students said, "You keep asking that question, and the answer's always 'yes.'"

"That's the point," said I.  "If nothing else, it's important to realize how everything in your life shapes and influences the way you think about God and read the Bible."

"Evertyhing?" said another student.  "Not everything.  This couch doesn't influence the way I think about God and read the Bible."

"Oh, but it does," I said.  "Compare your experience of living your whole life sitting on couches to someone who lives in a culture where couches don't exist.  The two of you would have a drastically different worldview.  One sits down whenever she wants to, and always knows there's a soft, comfortable place to sit.  The other doesn't have this luxury, and always has to sit on the floor.  Your worldview is going to be different than hers.  Yours includes the existence of couches.  The other's doesn't.  The simple existence of a couch is enough to shape your worldview and influence the way you see the world."

It was fun to see a wave of understanding wash over the students I was with.

What does a couch have to do with the Bible?  Nothing, directly, but it's a good example of how we are shaped and formed in ways that we don't even realize.  Things that we have taken for granted - that we don't even realize exist because we've become so used to them - play a huge role in our understanding of who God is and what he is like, and in our comprehension of his word to us - even couches.

It's like the old story of two young fish swimming up the stream and they come across an older fish who says to them, "Hey boys, how's the water?"  The two young fish go swimming a little further, and then one says to the other, "What's water?"

In the same way that a fish doesn't realize he's swimming in water because it's so common to him, we don't realize we're sitting on couches, driving cars, eating three meals a day, living in a house, having indoor plumbing, drinking clean water, using the internet, exercising religious freedom, talking on a cell phone, listening to music, watching TV, enjoying close family relationships, eating at McDonald's, going to school, going to work, wearing clean clothes, playing video games, running on a treadmill, mowing the lawn, playing baseball, or any number of other things. 

All of these things influence the way we see the world, and influence the way we think about God and understand the Bible.  But for the most part, we just don't realize it.  

Having kids brings a whole new appreciation for the ways in which we are formed.  My kids are picking up all kinds of influences in nothing more than the little things that I don't even notice, such as, couches.  Or candy.  Or whatever.  It's amazing what kids pick up, and it's probably even more amazing (and scary) when you think about what kids pick up that the don't even realize they're picking up.  

The main goal of practicing good biblical hermeneutics is to have a knowledge of those things we are bringing to the text when we read it.  In other words, when we read the Bible, we need to remember all of the ways we have been formed and do our best to not allow those things to skew our understanding of the Bible.  This is a losing battle, to be sure, and try as we might we will never be able to complete separate ourselves from all of the influences that dominate our worldviews.

In seminary I learned that the big word for this is self-differentiation - the ability to step outside of oneself and see oneself in truth.  That is, how things really are, and why we think the ways we do, and to see those things in our lives that have shaped us and formed us through our experiences.  If you take all of these influences, you can, I think, easily be discouraged into thinking that everything in your life is skewed by your biased view of the world.  This is true and admittedly it doesn't offer a very true and honest appraisal of life.  

But the Christian can find hope in the reality that God plans and ordains our experiences, and is even sovereign over the ways those experiences form us.  So are we influenced by couches?  Yes, but no more or less than God intends for us to be.  There are also some things that God has put in our path in order for us to be formed or shaped in a certain way that is good for us.  To be sure, some of the things that have influenced us are good, and some of the presuppositions we bring to our thinking and reading of the Bible are good (such as the presupposition that the Bible is God's word and that everything in it is true).  

So in a sense, as we think about the ways we have been formed and are influenced by the world and everything around us, and as we endeavor to shed those things as we seek to worship God in spirit and in truth, we also need to realize that God has given us those experiences uniquely and sovereingly.  

In other words, we can praise God for the couch as we think about how it has shaped our worldview.  

Reflections on the Children Desiring God Conference

Every two years Children Desiring God holds a national conference that draws attendees from all over the world.  People come to learn and be encouraged by speakers and seminar presenters, all driven by a desire for the glory of God to be passed on to subsequent generations.  There are plenary sessions and seminars covering dozens of topics.  Unfortunately I'm only allowed to attend four seminars, although I would have liked to be able attend them all.  The seminars I attended today were very informative, and I have one more to go to tomorrow which I'm looking forward to.

Anyway, here are a just a few brief reflections from this day at the CDG conference.

1. Being 1 of 2000 people singing worship songs is an amazing experience.  Each day of the conference begins with music and a plenary session.  It's phenomenal to hear 2000 conference attenders singing to the same Lord with passion and conviction.  It makes me think of this albeit on a much smaller scale.  It's something everyone should experience this side of heaven, because once you get to heaven it'll be all you know, except infinitely better.

2. The church is an amazing thing.  If you're not a part of the church (i.e., not a Christian) you'll never know what it's like to walk into a room full of 2000 people and feel rather at home.  I didn't know anyone else at the conference personally (flying solo this time around) and yet there's an automatic identification with everyone else, if for no other reason than that we were united under the banner of Christ.  We were there because we love him, we love people, and we want to see his name made great in our times and places.  Is there any other entity on earth that can boast such a reality?  I can't think of any.  What a marvelous testimony to the world, when people from different backgrounds, countries, and experiences can have nothing in common, but yet have everything in common.

3. God has blessed the church with faithful, amazingly brilliant people.  One of the great things about attending a conference like this is just soaking up the wisdom of godly people who are in the process of going before you.  They have much wisdom and insight to share, and it behooves people like me to sit at their feet and learn.  David Michael, one of the main movers and shakers of CDG, was talking about some thinking he was doing regarding family ministry in his ministry context, and I was just blown away by the depth, yet simplicity, of some of the ideas he was sharing with our group.  Why hadn't I thought of that?  Another guy, Bruce Ware, led a seminar on leading children to know and love God by knowing and loving theology.  He led us through a simple formula he had adapted from scripture which was a simple, yet an astoundingly profound observation.  Thank God for the brains he has blessed people with, and their willingness to share their wisdom.

4. God's providence is an amazing thing.  One of the seminars I attended today was on including children with disabilities in the classroom.  It was led by a woman named Mary Horning.  Her oldest child was born with a rare syndrome (I can't remember the name of it), and she shared how this absolutely devastated her.  She shared quite a few of her struggles and ways that she has grown and learned to trust God throughout this process.  Her daughter is now 25 and has written a book on God's sovereignty in disability.  Mary then went on to lead a session on how to love like Jesus when ministering to people and families touched by disability.  It was not lost on me that when she gave birth to her disabled daughter, she probably never saw herself as leading seminars on loving like Jesus and facilitating disability ministry, blessing the people who were there listening.  But there she was.  Coincidence?  I think not.

5. I have much to learn, and a long ways to grow.  There is a tendency in ministry (at least with myself, and maybe this is true of all professions) to feel like you've arrived.  We get our degrees, do our studying, put in our time, and think we know it all.  It's a humbling thing to rub shoulders with people who can wipe the intellectual floor with me, not to mention with people who are so deeply passionate about the things of God it makes my faith look like a tiny pebble.  It's good to be humbled, and it's one of the ways that God uses people to encourage us and challenge us.  For example, David Michael was telling our group about a five month sabbatical he was given a couple years ago in which he had decided he would use to memorize the book of Ephesians.  Yes, memorize.  Put bluntly, memorizing Ephesians would not have been at the top of my list for a five month sabbatical.  But then I have to ask myself: why not?  That's a pretty remarkable thing.  I remember him reciting at at the last conference, word for word.

Thus & Such, Vol. 27

1. As an introvert, I appreciated this thoughtful reflection on introversion.  I can identify a lot with what the author writes: "But I need to remember why I'm wired that way [as an introvert].  It's good that I enjoy being an introvert, but my enjoyment is not the highest goal of my existence.  God's glory is.  And that often means doing things that are uncomfortable, unexpected, and desired, working against my wiring when necessary as a (hopefully) faithful bearer of Gods image in the world."

2. One area that I've been thinking about recently is about how parenthood changes parents.  So often parents are only concerned about forming their children through their parenting, but they often neglect the reality that they are also being formed by their parenting as well.  In fact, God uses parenting to make us more like Jesus.  "God uses parenthood to strip away our independence and the sin that keeps us from abiding in him.  My true need wasn't to find the perfect 'get your child to sleep' system or the best potty training program or even the top ten ways to get my kids to clean up after themselves, rather it was to see my desperate ned to rely on the grace of God."

3. In our house, children's Bibles are everywhere.  We have plenty of storybook Bibles that we use to teach our kids basic biblical stories and truth.  I've always been wary of these books though.  I don' want to trivialize the Bible, or present stories as fairy tales, which some of these books can often do.  I think our favorite children's Bible is the ESV Family Bible, which has magnificent illustrations, and includes the actual words of scripture, rather than an author's paraphrase.  Anyway, here's a very long and thorough article that addresses the positive and negative aspects of using children's Bibles to teach stories.  As the author points out, there are always parts of the Bible left out, and the author's view inserted in.  Not that that's necessarily bad, but it's at least something to be aware of.

4. "Great amounts of time get invested in helping young people negotiate the choppy waters of early adulthood, middle-aged people work their way through the challenges of marriage, family and career, and older persons figure out meaning late in life sometimes without much-loved spouses, declining health, and shrinking numbers of living peers.  Pastors and elders mistakenly think they must become masters of each stage of life, counsel people through every opportunity and difficulty, and be there in every circumstance.  But, actually, the Bible instructs the pastor to teach the congregation to be there for one another and does so by tying the generations together so that the built-in expertise of old age gets leveraged for every younger generation.  It's a beautiful thing."