Rob Bell is the pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandeville, Michigan. He just released his new book, Love Wins, which I’ve read.
The Dalai Lama will be speaking at the University of Arkansas on May 11th. I live across the street from the campus and help to pastor The Church at Arkansas whose mission is to reach the campus community with the good news of Jesus Christ.
At the risk of over-simplifying their messages…
Rob Bell believes everyone will eventually be reconciled to God, without exception. There will not be an eternal punishment for sin. If you aren’t reconciled to God in this life, then you will eventually be after physical death. God’s love will win out over God’s wrath.
The Dalai Lama is a Buddhist. Speaking about Buddhism, Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Zen master, said, “Do not be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or ideology, even Buddhist ones. Buddhist systems of thought are guiding means; they are not absolute truth.”
So what? Why does any of this matter?
Well, ideas matter. What we believe or don’t believe is important. I know the prevailing value of our day is “tolerance”, but some things are true and some aren’t true.
For example, the house I live in is white. It either is the case that I live in a house with a white exterior or it is not the case that I live in a house with a white exterior.
It’s intellectually dishonest and logically incorrect to say, “Well, you believe your house is white, but I believe your house is red. It might be white for you, but to me it’s red.”
In other words, we can’t all define our own truth. Truth is absolute, not relative. Imagine saying to the bank, “I know you say my checking account is out of funds, but to me it’s not, so I’m going to keep writing checks.” That wouldn’t work for very long, would it?
Or picture yourself in the passenger seat of a car as you head toward a busy intersection. The light is red, but your friend who’s driving doesn’t appear to be slowing down. When you frantically call attention to the light, your friend says, “Oh, don’t worry, to me it’s green.”
Again, some things are true and some are not true. We need to know which are which. Especially, when it’s a matter of life or death. And even more importantly when we’re talking about eternal life or death.
So when Rob Bell and the Dalai Lama begin to articulate their views, it’s important to determine whether or not what they are saying is true. If something is true, then let’s embrace it. If it’s false, then let’s reject it.
By the way, it’s possible to reject a belief without rejecting a person. I can disagree with Rob Bell, the Dalai Lama or whomever, but it doesn’t mean I must attack the person. I see way too much of that in politics. When one side doesn’t agree with the other, they not only attack the idea, but the person. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Of course, some will say there are many paths to God, that all religions are equal. I’ll agree with the latter half of that statement. I would define religion as “man’s attempt to reach God.” In that sense, yes, all religions are equal. They all fail.
On the other hand, what if God reached out to us because we were completely incapable of reaching out to Him? In that case, I would expect there to be one path to Him, the path that He made.
All of us need to keep our guard up when it comes to thoughts and ideas and the words that convey them. Some ideas sound so good and right. They just seem to make sense. They make us feel good. The Dalai Lama has said:
“Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.”
“The purpose of our lives is to be happy.”
“This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.”
In a world full of wars, natural disasters, violence, slavery and countless other acts of hatred–it can sound good to hear someone say the purpose of life is to help others or that we don’t need temples or complicated philosophies–we just need kindness.
But is it true? Is the purpose of life to help others? Can’t we all just get along and be kind to one another?
Or when Rob Bell says, “A staggering number of people have been taught that a select few Christians will spend forever in a peaceful, joyous place called heaven, while the rest of humanity spends forever in torment and punishment in hell with no chance for anything better…. This is misguided and toxic and ultimately subverts the contagious spread of Jesus’ message of love, peace, forgiveness, and joy that our world desperately needs to hear.”