No comparison: This was my favorite part of the day. That ringing bell signaled my release from the mundane into the glorious. Every recess, from First Grade through Sixth, I raced from the classroom to the soccer field. Well, on this day, I never made it to the field. En route to the big game, my sprinting sidestep to avoid Alicia collided with her sidestep to trip me. I was airborne for what seemed like half of recess. Finally, though, I had to come down. I stood, ready to rejoin the race to the game. But before long, a concerned classmate noted the blood freely flowing down my leg. Whether it was my insensitivity to pain or, more likely, the adrenaline, I didn't feel the jagged fall-breaking rock break my skin.
After attempting to cure the cut in the bathroom--and after the school thug offered to suck the intruding rocks out of my gaping knee with a straw--I realized I could not heal myself, and this wound could not go undressed. The school nurse will know what to do!
Sure enough, my worries were quickly eased as I sat under the comforting care of this professional. After all, healing was her business, and she got right to work. Her best butterfly bandage did the trick. I had missed the game, but I wouldn't tomorrow. Thank you very kindly, nice nurse. All better. And best of all, the solution was painless.
When I got up to return to class, my bent knee broke the butterfly. Her healing didn't hold. My wound was deep, and her consolation was shallow. What I needed was more costly and less comfortable comfort.Jeremiah wasn't given a popular message. For hundreds of years, God's chosen people were committing atrocious injustice against one another and, worse, they gave their hearts and bodies to other gods, committing adultery in the high places, cheating on their faithful, loving husband, Yahweh. In his mercy and because of his love, Yahweh provided a way through sacrifice for sinners to dwell with the holy, but he was personally affected by the unfaithfulness of his people. And God's anger would not be stayed forever. God sent Jeremiah to warn the people to repent and return to Yahweh, for his wrath was about to bring the punishment they deserved: Exile, loss of God's presence and their promised land. But I'll let Jeremiah and Yahweh tell it (from Jer 6):
Yahweh: Flee for safety, O people of Benjamin, from the midst of Jerusalem! For disaster looms out of the north, and great destruction. The lovely and delicately bred I will destroy, the daughter of Zion. This is the city that must be punished; there is nothing but oppression within her. As a well keeps its water fresh, so she keeps fresh her evil; violence and destruction are heard within her; sickness and wounds are ever before me. Be warned, O Jerusalem, lest I turn from you in disgust, lest I make you a desolation, an uninhabited land."
Jeremiah: To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, they cannot listen; behold, the word of the LORD is to them an object of scorn; they take no pleasure in it. Therefore I am full of the wrath of the LORD; I am weary of holding it in.
Yahweh: "Pour it out upon the children in the street, and upon the gatherings of young men, also; both husband and wife shall be taken, the elderly and the very aged. Their houses shall be turned over to others, their fields and wives together, for I will stretch out my hand against the inhabitants of the land. For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown.
Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.' I set watchmen over you, saying, 'Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet!'
But they said, 'We will not pay attention.' Therefore hear, O nations, and know, O congregation, what will happen to them. Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people, the fruit of their devices, because they have not paid attention to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it. What use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba, or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.
The people's sacrifices were unacceptable to Rob Bell too. Last week, some friends and I caught "The Gods Aren't Angry" tour at the Brown Theater in Louisville. From first applauded step on the stage to his last emotional appeal for audience peace, Bell masterfully communicated his message. Nearly a two-hour engagement, and the whole theater was engaged all the way (save maybe three dozing members of our group).
What Bell does so well is draw his hearer into his world. We walked with him through the fields of ancient civilizations. Bell showed us how people resolved to make sense of their world, and how they realized that the produce of their land and their relationship to other creatures--really the value of their life--were related somehow to a divine being they could not coerce or control. As these sincerely seeking people searched for god, they didn't have to look far to see truly magnificent powers they couldn't coerce or control. So they made the sun and moon and stars and rain and seas their gods. Bell took us to the altars where people offered sacrifices to these gods in hopes that the people would be blessed with better crops, submissive game, and peace with rival tribes. For all their searching, the people never found good reason for why they constantly were struggling against a cursed ground, cantankerous creatures, and embittered enemies. One thing is certain, though: The gods are angry. For their own good, the people did all they could to appease the gods' anger, however unwarranted.
Self-determined sacrifices were offered to self-made statues of the gods the people could not coerce or control but to whom they wanted to relate. And though they found relief in offering the gods sacrifices, that relief was fleeting. Therefore, greater sacrifices were made, till the people cut themselves to give their own blood for appeasement. They even started offering their beloved firstborn to satisfy the irrationally angry, supremely powerful gods. But they weren't satisfied. The gods' anger seemed unquenchable, so the people's mysterious sense of guilt endured.
Bell then took us to the Bible to find hope for this desperate situation. He showed us Abraham, an idolator, who, according to Bell, for the first time in the history of the world, was spoken to by a Divine. Before, people could only guess who the gods were. It was astonishing for a Divine to actually stoop down to relate to a person. What's more astonishing was what the Divine said to Abraham. "Leave your father's household, and come to a land that I will give you. And I will bless you." When the Divine told Abraham to leave his father's household, Bell explained, he was telling Abraham to leave his father's worldview, specifically his misunderstanding that the gods were angry with people and must be appeased with sacrifices.
Even though Abraham's Divine was unlike the angry pagan gods, Bell said the Divine still set up a sacrificial system. But over the years, the priests in charge of the Temple services became solely focused on turning a profit. So, when a man somehow related to the Divine, shows up, he drives the greedy out of the Temple with a whip. More, Jesus announced that he would tear down the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Though the religious leaders thought him crazy for suggesting such speedy building, this Jesus was becoming more popular, so his threats to tear down their place of business was a threat that could not go unpunished. The religious leaders resolved to kill Jesus. And though this Jesus had performed amazing miracles and was clearly powerful, he went silently to his death. All the while the watchers wondered why this great man with great power did not object at this scandalous conviction and unjust death sentence. Heightening the audience's confusion, Jesus prays for forgiveness for his murderers even as they are murdering.
Bell relieved his hearers with an explanation of Jesus' final moments. To model his extravagant love and to make clear the truth that the Divine is not angry like the pagan gods, Jesus had to be different. He had to be counter-cultural. Everyone would expect Jesus to exhibit his power and lash out at the corrupt religious leaders and bloodthirsty executioners. But Jesus didn't, and he achieved his aim: To show people the love of God, that the old way of doing things was wrong and over, and that those who want to know the Divine will live loving, counter-cultural lives like Jesus.
Bell then helped the audience to know how they may live the way the Divine intends. Let people know that the culmination of the ages has come in the reconciliation of all things that Jesus achieved. It is done. No one has to feel guilty about anything anymore. That's the old way, and it was derived from perceptions of false gods anyway. The Divine is not like them. He is not angry. He is love. Therefore, show love to people. Let them know they don't have to live the old routine of guilt and appeasement and more guilt.
We show the love of the Divine when we buy groceries for people who need it. Bell even told a story of a friend whose other friends bought her a house when she could no longer pay the mortgage of her old one.
Bell told tragic stories too. A young lady he was talking to told him that she slit her wrists to dull the painful guilt she carried. "Why?" Bell asked. "Where would this girl--who lives in the most technologically advanced culture in the history of the world, who lives thousands of years and thousands of miles from those confused ancient people who spilled their blood in guilt--where did she get this idea that she was guilty and had to cut herself?"
Bell's presentation climaxed with his revelation. Carrying the burden of guilt and pressure, one of Bell's friends told him one day, "You don't have to live like this." Bell quickly said, "Yeah, I know..." "No, Rob, you don't have to live like this. You don't have to live like this. You don't have to live
like this. You
don't have to live like this.
You don't have to live like this. You don't
have to live like this. You don't have to live like this."
"Repentance," Bell closed, "is awakening to the reality that the culmination of the ages has come, and reconciliation has been made. You don't have to live like this. You don't have to live
like this. You
don't have to live like this.
You don't have to live like this. You don't
have to live like this. You don't have to live like this."
Ovation rang when Bell finished. Nearly a theater full of patrons left seemingly satisfied and, perhaps, encouraged. But I wonder what they were encouraged to do. What I couldn't stop thinking about during Bell's performance was: Why did Jesus have to die? Specifically, why did he have to die the death he did? Could God in his infinite wisdom not have come up with a solution for giving people an extravagant exhibition of his love without his Son having to be betrayed, tortured, and murdered? And if Bell's explanation doesn't explain why Jesus died the way he did, it certainly doesn't tell why he lived the life he did.
Bell pondered a most-interesting question: How is it that a 17-year-old girl living thousands of years and thousands of miles from those confused ancient people who spilled their blood in guilt...how is it that she too went to morbid lengths to relieve the guilt she felt? Why did she feel guilty? Why is it that people across time and space have always participated in rituals that include sacrifices for the purpose of appeasing the wrath they sense in a god? Just look at this week's news for another example. An Indian man killed two dogs, whose bodies he hung from a tree. Fifteen years later he still carries the guilt of his childhood offense and believes he is cursed. His astrologer's solution: Marry a dog.
So he did.Why do people from all time feel guilty and responsible? Is it true, like Bell suggests, that they are victims of false traditions and notions that the gods are angry? Or is it possible their sense of responsibility is real? Is it possible they actually are guilty?
Could it be that this is exactly what Paul spoke about in Romans 1?
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
The ancient people Bell introduced to us looked to the skies--the sun and moon and stars--and knew there was something divinely powerful out there, something or someone they could not coerce or control. They knew--and we know--God exists, and he deserves our obedience. But our foolish hearts are darkened. We know we're guilty, and we long to relieve our guilt. So we name our gods the sun and moon and stars and money and sex and feeling good about ourselves in the name of "love." We worship those things instead of our Creator.
Isn't it possible that Bell has misunderstood? That it's not that we unnecessarily feel guilty, but we feel guilty because we
are guilty. And we look to professionals who surely know better than we. We're delighted when they tell us, "Peace, peace," but there is no peace. Not in their prescriptions. The pagan priests' remedies never satisfied the gods' wrath or the people's guilt. The religious leaders of Jeremiah's day wrongly comforted the people, whose evil hearts were not cured by their outward obedience. The Indian man's astrologer will be shown a charlatan. And Bell's gift groceries will run out. My nurse's butterfly bandage didn't hold, and neither will Bell's.
There's truth to Bell's comments. Yahweh is not like the pagan Gods; they had no reason to be angry because they had no relationship to the people. But Yahweh does. Anyone trying to understand the plight of humanity and who God is will likely get confused if they start with Abraham, rather than Adam. We're wise to open the Bible to Genesis 1, not skip to Chapter 12. And we quickly learn that Abraham was not the first person in history to whom God stooped down to reveal himself.
In Genesis 1, we see the Creator at work. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, in fact all that exists (Gen 1:1-2). It is by royal fiat—not by manipulation of pre-existing material—that God creates. God commands, and light shines; an expanse separates the waters; the waters gather, and the land is set; vegetation sprouts and yields seed; the Sun, moon, and stars are established; sea creatures, flying birds, and livestock take their places (Gen 1:3-25). He will not have chaos, and all do his bidding.
On the sixth day, God creates humanity to be like himself, for man is created "in God's image." Without question, all God’s creative work culminates in his creation of man. Mankind is to have dominion on earth (Gen 1:26). Made male and female, mankind is commanded to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it (Gen 1:27-28). After all his decrees are executed, God the King reveals himself as God the Judge and declares his final evaluation, “It is very good” (Gen 1:31). On the seventh day, God rests from his work, having accomplished all he set out to do.
Yahweh gives man permission to eat of any tree in the garden, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:16-17). When Yahweh forbids man from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, it is telling that he does so with the promise of punishment for disobedience. And the punishment for sin is not a slap on the wrist, but death. That Yahweh takes sin seriously is evident in his demand of perfect obedience; just one sin is all it would take for man to be punished with death.
God gave man breath to live (Gen 2:7), food to eat (Gen 2:16), and a purpose for living (Gen 1:26-28). Just like the animals, man is a creature and, as such, is utterly dependent on his Creator. Utterly unique from the animals, though, man is made in God's image and, thus, is
uniquely responsible to live as God has intended. Man is responsible to God because he is related to God as his image. That is why God is just and right to cast Adam and Eve out of the Garden for their first sin of disobedience (Gen 3). Cursed ground, cantankerous creatures, and warring people are all explained in the curse Adam received because of his sin (Gen 3:14-19).
Notice though that God's judgment mingles with mercy. God sounds a promise of redemption: The seed of the woman would crush the head of the seed of the serpent (Gen 3:15). One of Eve’s sons would succeed where his father, Adam, failed. Yahweh makes clear that Adam and Eve’s hope for salvation is found in another.
The Scriptures show the true picture of humanity. It is not that people feel guilty but are not; every person after Adam is guilty because they have sinned (Gen 6:5). God takes sin personally because it is rebellion against his rightful rule as King of the universe, and God
is angry.
Adam and Eve wanted to decide for themselves what was right and wrong, and they disobeyed God's command (Gen 3:5). Likewise we pervert morality and determine for ourselves what's right and wrong. We come up with solutions for guilt and try to appease God by offering babies in sacrifice or cutting ourselves, hoping some blood will work, even if our hearts aren't in the right place.
God and Jeremiah were angry because though the people were offering sacrifices, their hearts betrayed them because all the while they were worshipping other gods and treating people terribly. And the Bible says all are guilty. All have gone astray and sinned (Isa 53:5; Rom 3:23). But God's not only angry with sinners, he also loves them because they are his precious creatures (Rom 5:8). So he sent his Son to earth to become a man who could stand in place of man. Infinitely more than "somehow related" to God, Jesus is his Son, the God-man. And he lived life just like us, only Jesus did so without sin. He was tempted in every way, but he always obeyed (Heb 4:15).
Bell's right, Jesus did face false charges and was sentenced to death though he committed no crime. And Bell's right that Jesus' silence en route to execution is an extraordinary demonstration of his love for people. But it's a demonstration of Jesus' great love not just because he didn't retaliate against evil men. Jesus demonstrated his love in silence because he would not protest or try to stop the death that was demanded. Jesus had to die! This is why he lived. And he had to die because sin earns the death penalty, and Jesus came to stand in place of beloved sinners. Compared to all the priests before who sacrificed at the altar, Jesus brought a better sacrifice; he brought himself. The spotless lamb of God. Paul says Jesus—being hung on a tree—became a curse for the sinners for whom he died (Gal 3:10).
Signaling the sufficiency of Jesus' sacrifice (and that God's wrath was appeased), God raised Jesus from the dead.
Bell's right: Because of Jesus' death on the cross, the old ways of sacrifices to appease God's anger are gone. They're gone not because they never were valid but because Jesus has initiated a new covenant between God and man, and it's marked by forgiveness of sins (see Jer 31). The old way was replaced because the blood of bulls and goats could not bring forgiveness of sins (Heb 10:4). But the blood of the sinless Son of God does. Sins that bring guilt are the problem, even if Bell doesn't acknowledge it. People are guilty, and God is angry. The wrath of God is still aimed at those who have not repented and believed and obeyed Jesus (John 3:36). And that wrath is sure to reach them on the day of judgment, when they have no hope (Rev 6:16-17).
Jesus died then not just to exemplify love. Jesus died primarily to take the righteous wrath of God that was aimed at sinners (Rom 3:21-26). It is his substitutionary atonement that gives meaning to the loving display. Jesus faced the judgment, so sinners would not have to.
Bell has missed the mark with repentance, which he said is done when people wake up to the reality that they are not guilty. But the Bible defines repentance as realizing guilt and turning
away from sin and
to Jesus in faith.
Bell doesn't address sin, yet sin is exactly what Jesus came to address. Bell leads people to believe that no one is guilty and no one stands before an angry God. But the benefits of Jesus' sacrificial death are bestowed on those who give their lives to the Savior who spilled his blood and life for them. There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).
In Bell's "The Gods Aren't Angry" Tour, he doesn't suggest that anyone is justifiably separated from God. Bell's presentation leads the audience to believe no one is guilty and that all anyone has to do to be reconciled to God is wake to that reality and embrace Jesus. To get a fuller understanding of Bell's theology, stop by his church's Web site, and read
his Narrative Theology and his comments on the
New Exodus. There, Bell mentions the problem of sin, but I still get the sense that guilt and punishment are less than primary to the issues that Jesus addressed on his cross. For Bell, it seems that a liberated and more loving society is the end to which Jesus lived and died. But when Jesus' substitutionary punishment goes unmentioned or is just an afterthought, the proclaimer may comfort people all the way to the eternal judgment their unforgiven sins has earned them. Bell surely doesn't want that.
The Bible is clear: Out of your love for Jesus, do love people. Do feed the hungry, and clothe the naked, and provide for the poor (Matt 25). But do it because you were a great sinner saved by a great Savior! Our hearts are wicked from birth, and we can do no good thing till our hearts are changed by the wrath-appeasing blood of Jesus, whose substitutionary punishment we accept and then are able to do worthy things, for the glory of God and good of man (Gen 6:5; Jer 17:9; Heb 11:6).
If God is not angry--if we have done nothing wrong to earn God's anger--we don't need Jesus. Man
is cursed and gone astray (Gen 3; Isa 53). But you don't have to live like this (1 Pet 2:24). Repent of your sins, and believe in Jesus. And if you do, God is
not angry at you; he has nothing but love for you. And that is good news...
