I was surprised at how much of the time I found myself agreeing with Rob Bell. His central theme—that we can't continue to talk to people about faith and do things the same old way—is true. The way my parents talked about faith, entered into worship, and told others about God really just don't work in today's world. That said, I think Rob Bell starts out with a truth, but in taking his repainting of the Christian faith to the upmost extreme, he gets on some theological shaky ground. He suggests that his book is not about "dressing up" church or faith, but challenging it and rethinking it. I would challenge all believers to test their faith and strive to challenge themselves, but Rob Bell talks about rethinking and reformatting theology. . . .and there are some points of theology that can't be changed! They just are. I'm not talking about thinking over the things you once believed about God and have now discovered are totally inaccurate descriptions of His character, unbiblical, or simply your projections onto Him. I'm talking about the points of the gospel message, truths about God's character, Jesus' role in salvation, and so forth. Also Bell seems to be positing that heaven will be on earth. I agree with him that the kingdom of God begins in the lives of believers at salvation. The kingdom of God is here and now and later, but Scripture says that Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us. According to the Bible, there will be a new heaven and a new earth. . . .
Bell's voice is an interesting one in all the thinkers calling out from the emerging church in today's world. But it's also proof that taking the emerging church's pick-and-choose theology to its natural end leaves you on shaky theological ground a lot of the time.