Heretic

So the internet is abuzz recently because Mark Driscoll called Rob Bell a heretic. I was not at the conference where this happened, but from what I understand it was because of Bell's book Velvet Elvis, in which Rob lays out a hypothetical situation wherein the virgin birth was conclusively disproved, and asks the question "could you still be a Christian?" Rob's point has nothing to do with the virgin birth. Indeed, on the very next page he affirms the virgin birth and his belief in it. But his point is lost because we want to jump on the sensational...

Why do we eat our own? The world is lost and dying without Christ, and we are more worried about attacking people who don't share our beliefs exactly when we should be rejoicing in the impact that is being made for the kingdom of God. The reason Rob chose the virgin birth was that he didn't want the issue to be trivial, he wanted to make his point that we can't hinge our faith entirely on one aspect of what we believe the bible says. He included ways the scripture could be read to not support the virgin birth, not to argue that point, but to make it clear that our faith is not one without basis, but one that we support with the revealed written word of God.

I like Driscoll. I like Rob Bell. Both men have done great things for the kingdom of God. We need more leaders like them who can take the word of God into a post-modern culture without getting mired in relevancy or bogged down by modern thinking. We also need to be united for the cause of Christ, not working to undermine the ministries of others.

The world is lost. Rather than drag this on, let's return the focus to sharing the love of Christ and proclaiming the gospel to those who need Him.

Joel