What Is Love...

I enjoy listening to music.   I enjoy it enough that every now and then I will go to a concert of a band that I really like.  The most recent of those was the David Crowder Band* final tour.  Of the 3 artists to perform first I had only listened to Chris August before the concert.  The third band to perform was Gungor.  I listened to them and found that I really enjoyed their sound and their lyrics for what I could make out.  After the concert I posted on Facebook that the concert was fantastic and that Gungor had found a new fan.  Shortly after this, I received an email from a friend to investigate the theology of Gungor regarding "Salvation."  This in turn led me to re-investigate a pastor/theologian Rob Bell.  For, it was his teaching that Gungor agreed with that I was cautioned.  Now while I had read some of his stuff before and not whole heartedly agreed with him, I felt that now was a good time to look at his newest book and not rely on everyone else's word.

So I picked up his new book entitled Love Wines: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and The Fate Of Every Person Who Ever Lived.  From the title, it seems like a book that I would like.  I mean here is a guy who refers to our relationship with Christ as a Divine Romance.  However, as I began to read it, I realized that this man has taken a leap of "faith" that I cannot follow because I know that there will be no solid ground for him to land upon.  His first big mistake came early on when he stated that the Christian life is not about having a personal relationship with Jesus.  He later goes on in classic Rob Bell style to state that while he believes in a literal place called 'hell' that it will be empty in eternity for everyone will get a continual call from God to join Him.  As a result, it doesn't matter in the long run what you believe about God here on earth.  Ultimately, the problem is that Bell has put his definition of love upon God. He has not sought out what God defines as 'love' as.  God's love is unconditional, but it has to be accepted.  God does not force His love upon us.

Moreover, Mr. Bell has made two other grave mistakes in his understanding of God.  The first is that he does not understand how to study God's word properly.  He continually takes verses and phrases about restoration out of context and applies them how he would like to see them.  The largest of all mistakes is that he places love as God's primary attribute that sums Him up.  I believe, along with many others, that God's primary attribute is Holiness.  Our God is holy!  He is separate from evil.  You are either for God or you are against Him.  Jesus made this very clear in the New Testament and it rings true throughout the pages of scripture.

So all of this to tell you two things.  The first is to stay away from Rob Bell's teachings.  I don't use this word lightly, but I believe the man to be a heretic.  He has traded the true gospel for a false gospel and is therefore anathema (Galatians 1:6-10). Nor, should you be surprised that he has a large following.  People have begun to follow this teaching because it sounds nice to their ears (2 Tim. 4:3).  However, there are many things that sound nice that I know to be false and harmful.

Secondly, it is important to look at the lyrics and beliefs that come out of bands that you listen to.  I was reminded that while it is important to do this for secular bands it is just as important to do this with bands that call on the name of the LORD.  I in good conscience now cannot support a band who aligns themselves with a who teaches like Rob Bell.

So in the end, what does this have to do with the idea "It's All About The Relationship?"  The answer is everything.  If were to listen to lies about my closest friend it distort my relationship with him and possibly destroy it all together.  Now, I believe once you have put faith in Christ His salvation is everlasting no matter what you do later in life.  That is the beauty of and unconditional covenant.  However, it will greatly diminish our relationship with God on earth and even worse than that keep others from coming to Him if we continue to speak falsehood of our greatest friend Jesus the Christ.