But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. - 2Peter 2: 1-3 (ESV)
He's back! Rob Bell, the former mega church pastor turned heretic who rocked Christianity with the ridiculous book "Love Wins" has re-emerged. While "Love Wins" eliminated the doctrine of hell - Bell apparently was not done trying to destroy the body of Christ. Bell has a new book now about how we talk about God. His promo video is all we need to know:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rG1CDec4qkg&feature=youtu.be
Bell opens the video by talking about how in his youth he drove an Oldsmobile car. He reflects about how perfect the car was for that time until he comes to the point where he says""but they don't make Oldsmobiles anymore." The only ones left will be considered relics of an era that has passed because the Oldsmobile couldn't keep up with the times. Having laid this foundation Bell then jumps off the doctrinal cliff again by saying that for an increasing number of people in this world - God is like Oldsmobile.
Say what? So God cannot keep up with the times? He will be considered a relic of an era that has passed? How can someone who considers themselves a Pastor even imagine such heresy? Bell is not done however. He says that for most people now the "tribal God" we have grown up with seems increasingly small, narrow, irrelevant and in some cases just plain mean. In some cases Bell opines that God at other times seems not that intelligent. Bell concludes from his pastoral experience that people are viewing their "spirituality" as central to who they are but that the perceptions of God they have encountered "aren't just failing them but in many cases are causing them harm."
Feeling he has hooked his audience, Bell moves in for the kill - "Will God be left behind like Oldsmobile?" Bell insists he doesn't think so because there are other ways, better ways to talk about God. As if that is the problem today. It has nothing to do with man, sin or repentance. It has to do with how we talk about God. Bell obviously has dismissed Scripture in his pursuit to scratch the itching ears of the world:
At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. - Matthew 24: 11-13 (NIV)
Yet according to Rob Bell when we see an increase in wickedness we are to change who God is to suit that wickedness instead of expecting people to change their destructive paths they find themselves on. This is nothing more than reinventing God to satisfy our sinful desires. Man has been doing it since the beginning of time. I mean seriously follow the logic of this man. He sees that for more and more people the God of the Bible just doesn't do it for them anymore. That the God of the Bible has somehow failed them and to the people He appears small and unintelligent. Instead of siding with God, his logic is we need to change God and how we talk about him in order to reach this rebellious generation. This is central to seeker-friendly and emergent church theories of growth.
While we may look at these words from Rob Bell as obviously heretical, realize that millions of people will read his books because people want to desperately believe they are going to heaven while continuing to live like hell. We also need to realize that many churches are essentially traveling down this road with Bell. When we choose to water down the Gospel, we are agreeing with Bell that God is somehow not meeting the needs of the people. When we compromise and allow the leaven of this world into the church we are agreeing with Bell that God will go the way of the Oldsmobile unless we do something to stop it. Do you see the arrogance in this? Rob Bell actually thinks that unless HE does something to change how we discuss God - then He will become obsolete.
God is not going the way of the Oldsmobile beloved. What is happening is exactly what Jesus said would happen. The love of most is growing cold as wickedness increases. While God does not want any to perish the reality is that many will. Many will look at God and say that they think His message is small, narrow or even unintelligent. The key verses today seem to be written specifically for this moment with Mr. Bell. He is a false teacher who is corrupting the church with a destructive heresy that compares God to a rusted out old car that no one wants anymore. By his own words Bell denies his former Master. The key verses explain to us however that many will follow these destructive heresies and by doing so the truth will be blasphemed.
Let us not lose sight that is what we are dealing with here. The blasphemy of Rob Bell is born out of greed. Greed for book sales. Greed for temporal relevance. In his greed he seeks to exploit the people of God with his lies. We need to protect ourselves with the Word of God and refuse to compromise the slightest letter of His Word. Because drastic heretics such as Rob Bell are not born overnight. They are corrupted one piece at a time. One compromise at a time. When we allow the small lumps of leaven into our walk or into our church it is only a matter of time before it spreads through the whole batch and one day you wake up comparing God to an obsolete car. Pray for Rob Bell that he wakes up and comes back to the only truth we can rely on in this world - the Word of God. Pray for his victims though because there will be many. They run the risk of eternal separation from God because they believed a charismatic speaker who made arguments based on human logic and high sounding nonsense. Pray and stand fast because the time is short and eternal lives are at stake.
Rev. Anthony.