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Rob Bell: I Don’t Google My Name

Orginally published on Tuesday, January 08, 2008 at 9:08 AM
by Todd Rhoades

How does Rob Bell handle success and the controversy that surrounds him? "I don't Google my name," he says, and tells a reporter that he really doesn't pay much attention to his critics. He does, in a recent interview, respond to some of the things his critics are saying...

On the “emergent” Rob Bell:
When asked whether he is an emergent church leader or claims any affiliation with the movement, Bell simply said, “No.” Discussing the role of the emergent church movement, he said he understood it to be “simply a conversation asking, ‘What does it mean to be the people of Jesus?’” Addressing anyone who is critical of such a movement, Bell said, “I wonder whether that person is a Christian. That seems like a conversation they ought to have.”

On Who the Real Pharisees Are:
Bell had much stronger words for those who are “scared” by those who offer a new approach to theology, calling them “the original Pharisees.” “They’re obsessed with absolutely minutiae issues surrounding, ‘What words do you use to define the Bible?’” he said. “They absolutely obsess about people who, in their minds, don’t use the exact proper definitive language they’ve agreed upon somewhere.” And Bell insisted he is not worried about offending “fundamentalists,” adding that each time he does so, “there are a thousand people who are now listening.”

What are your thoughts?

(You can read more of the article here...)


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  There are 8 Comments:

  • Posted by Peter Hamm
    Tuesday, January 08, 2008 at 10:52 AM

    I like his responses. The criticisms I’ve read of Rob do NOT jive with what I’ve read in his books or heard him say.

    So those people must be, as far as I can tell, mistaken at best.

  • Posted by
    Tuesday, January 08, 2008 at 10:55 AM

    He’s right on.  Do you have a link or reference for this interview?

  • Posted by
    Tuesday, January 08, 2008 at 11:14 AM

    Whoops… sorry about that… I’ve added the link to the article above…

    Todd

  • Posted by
    Tuesday, January 08, 2008 at 11:16 AM

    Thanks, Todd!

  • Posted by Derek
    Tuesday, January 08, 2008 at 2:12 PM

    I like Rob and I have found most of his critics to be way off base. I also agree that my understand of “emergent” is that it is a conversation within evangelicalism about theology (thinking about God) and missiology (doing God’s work in the world).

    People who are obsessed with defining who is emergent and who isn’t are missing the point. I don’t think Rob Bell or Mark Driscoll are concerned with what label they receive. They are just trying to be good missionaries where they are. A part of being a good missionary is asking questions about Scripture and culture and where the two intersect.

    I have felt like that in my spiritual journey over the last five years or so. I am not trying to keep up with the latest fads or trying to fit into the newest way of doing ministry. I am just trying to be faithful to the Scriptures within the context God has placed me.

    And I have googled my name....egocentric I know! God forgive me.

    g&p;Derek

  • Posted by Brian
    Wednesday, January 09, 2008 at 12:32 PM

    I heart NOOMA

  • Posted by wonderingfellow
    Wednesday, January 09, 2008 at 1:04 PM

    It’s difficult to not base our opinions on the people that we like.  I really like what Rob Bell has to say in so many instances.  I fear that sometimes I like his coolness factor too much though and I realize that we mustn’t base our theology on someone’s coolness and maybe not even on what we like that they once said. 

    I think Rob Bell is innovative and lately I’ve based a lot of what I think God has been saying to me on what I have heard Rob Bell say.  I’ve not based it only on what he has said. So when I hear criticism of Rob it shakes me somewhat in my beliefs. So there is part of me that wishes that I or someone could play 10 questions with Rob.  Not to glorify him but to know where his theology comes from.  What are some of the answers to those who said he leans too much on Jewish teaching and what about the critics who compare his theology to Brian McLaren who isn’t as cool and who I find offensive.

    If anything the current round of criticism has made me realize that we have to weigh everything against scripture.

    At the risk of sounding just religious, it gets more difficult to know what we should and do believe when we get our eyes off of our Heavenly Father/His Word and spend our time letting others tell us what we should believe.

    I think Rob Bell is a great guy and an excellent communicator, but I hope that I will not put what he says above my own discovering through study of what scripture says.  And I feel pretty sure that Rob Bell and any good teacher would say the same.

  • Posted by
    Friday, December 26, 2008 at 4:55 PM

    every five hundred years their is a major movement in christianity and that 500 years is up, Rob Bell will start it.

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