Experiencing Rob Bell

This weekend, for Father’s Day, my wife got me and her tickets to Rob Bell’s tour stop in Tulsa on his How To Be Here Experience. Not even knowing that Bell was making a stop in Tulsa, I was so excited to get the tickets and experience this. (She’s great, isn’t she?!)

fc5df-robbellI saw Rob in person last year, when he was here in Tulsa on his Everything is Spiritual Tour. The show was amazing and inspiring and thought-provoking and a thousand other things. I wrote about it here.

I’m a huge fan of this guy. At first, when my then-girlfriend (now wife) Arianna showed me a Nooma video, I had never heard of Rob Bell, and I was suspicious and unimpressed. It seemed like the same, hipster-youth director, evangelical thing I had tried to hard to get away from. No thanks.

But he grew on me. This is mostly thanks to Ari, who loves Rob as much as I do. For her, Rob had opened up new vistas of possibility and questioning with her faith. She talks about the Nooma video entitled Lump, in which the phrase “There’s nothing you could ever do to make me love you less” features prominently. For a young woman whose lived experience of Christianity was the all-too-typical story of trying (and feeling like failing) at pleasing a angry, distant deity poised to banish her for all eternity, the idea of an uncompromising, never-ending, all enveloping love was a revelation as profound as any thing one can imagine. To be able to be in relation with God not in order to initiate the proper bribe to stay in God’s good graces, but instead to be in a relationship of unconditional love, was a life-shifting moment for Ari.

All that to say, Rob Bell was kind of a big deal to Arianna. And so, as a result of her evident passion and his effect on her, Rob grew on me.

9a001-love-winsWhat flipped me, as it did to so many, in both directions, was Love Wins. The idea of a major evangelical leader through off the shackles of hell and substitutionary atonement and a negative Christology was huge, obviously. We bought Love Wins not long after it came out, and on a two-day road trip to Vegas to help my parents move into their new home, Ari read the book aloud in the car.

What a book. If you haven’t read it yet, well, do so.

For me, it was a life-altering kind of read. I credit it now with launching me into a trajectory towards a life of ministry. Although not necessarily imparting any new ideas or theology on me (I had already embraced universalism at this point), to hear it coming from such an inspiring and articulate person, not to mention in the context of him exploding this book onto the evangelical scene, was just really meaningful for me. And, at this point, Rob had my full attention.13434832_10209479319880481_7519660248721995900_n

I watched more Nooma. I listened to his talks and sermons and interviews, and added his Tumblr blog to my regular reading list. And in doing so, I found a person and an intellect and a personality so compelling and inspiring to me. That is really what Rob Bell represents to me. Whenever I watch him or read him or listen to him, I feel filled up creatively. I feel he is someone similar to me in background and worldview, and his enthusiasm and passion for living and creating and being just really inspires. I always go away from his output ready to contribute my own art to the world.

13501615_10209479318920457_6188870997027672000_nThat is what I am left with after Saturday. This experience was a whole new animal in terms of style and presentation. Whereas last year’s event was held at the Brady Theater here, a traditional auditorium with rows of seats and a stage, this year’s tour is much more intimate. Held at the historic Cain’s Ballroom, the set up was about 150-200 chairs set up in rows around a central bar chair. The total diameter of this square of performance space was no more than 30 feet. Rob held forth from the middle, walking circles, engaging all four sides, interacting with the people around him.

And it wasn’t just the set up. The show was scheduled to run from 10am until 6pm. I know, right?

13427760_10209479320400494_3436725249951786974_nThere are few people I could listen to for that long. Rob Bell is one of those people. Rob mostly held to the structure of his newest book (also titled How to Be Here), but this wasn’t just a speech or talk. It was a wide-ranging, free-flowing conversation. Rob would expound on a topic from the book, and then ask us in the room “what do you think?” And we were free to share anything: observations, questions, criticisms, ideas. Any topic was open. We could respond to each other. This was honestly a conversation, facilitated by Rob Bell himself.

(And no, it wasn’t eight hours straight. We took three breaks, including 90 minutes for lunch.)

13434925_10209479319160463_4704836330606620227_nI left feeling filled up, light, inspired, ready to create and love and learn and be here. In short, I felt like I always feel about experiencing Rob Bell, but instead of a 45 minute pod cast or 20 minute sermon or short blog, I got a whole days worth of fuel and energy.

If Rob brings his show near you, go. Don’t hesitate. Just go experience it. In the meantime, listen to his RobCast. Read his books, especially Love Wins and How To Be Here. Watch the Nooma videos. All of it is good stuff.13450872_10209479321440520_6868528861590669312_n

I have a lot more to say. Tomorrow, I’m gonna do a mini-review of How To Be Here, focusing mainly on the best part of the book to me: Finding your 1. I’ll explain tomorrow.

The Bookshelf: “Called to Community”

Intentional Christian community is a way of living that my wife and I have been interested almost as long as we have known each other. Some of our earliest experiences together were attending a talk by Shane Claiborne, one of the leaders of the New Monasticism movement, and visiting Dr. Elaine Heath’s New Spring Communities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for three days.

As a result of these experiences, and through reading and study, we’ve always had a goal of participating in intentional, missional Christian community. During our time in Tulsa, this goal has come closer and closer, as we have gotten involved with those pursuing the same here. Recently, we have begun looking at places to live in Turley, an unincorporated town just north of Tulsa that is hit hard by poverty and blight, and where the Third Way Foundation, led by UU Rev. Ron Robinson, has begun this missional model. Intentional living is finally within reach for us, the culmination of almost seven years of searching and discerning and hoping.

So receiving the latest book from Plough Publishing in the mail a few weeks ago was an unexpected, much appreciated surprise. Called to Community: The Life Jesus Wants for His People is a compliation of essays from a variety of Christian figures across the centuries. Divided into 52 chapters focused on specific topics (for instance, “Vocation”, “Transparency”, or “Money”), the book is designed for communal reading weekly for a year.calledtocommunityEN

Obviously, I didn’t go the weekly route; I read it straight through. In doing so, I came to understand that reading it slowly, topic by topic, is what I really would suggest; there is not a narrative theme, so it can start to bog down in a straight read, especially if you are running through chapters that don’t speak to you.

That said, I found Called to Community a great resource, one I intend to keep close at hand as we move into intentional community. The variety of voices represented here (ranging from Dorothy Day to John Perkins to Dietrich Bonhoeffer to Thomas Merton), writing from experience on the things any Christian community will run into are invaluable. So many new ideas and questions came to me as I read and contemplated our move.

If you are involved in a missional community, or if you are contemplating it, or if you just want to know how to maximize the sense of community in your local congregation or prayer group, Called to Community can be a priceless, and much used, resource on your shelf. Not necessarily as a single read, but as a collection you can call upon in a variety of situations as you navigate life with others. Give it a read.

Hope and Rage: Responding to Orlando

America has a problem.

Several problems, actually.

We have a problem with guns. We have a problem with Muslims. And we have a problem with LGBTQI+ people.

And this weekend, all three of those problems came together in an orgy of violence and hate-based reactions to that violence.

America has problems. Problems we can’t solve with a paradigm shift in how we understand and engage with the world.

***

13406774_1082534845153426_4820491155348874826_nI first heard the news out of Orlando early yesterday morning, after getting up to get ready to head for work at All Souls. Once I resolved to write about it, my first instincts were anger, frustration and vitriol towards those I know perpetuate these kinds of things in our society.

That was my instinct throughout the day, as news unfolded and the death toll rose about 50. Every time I opened Facebook, I saw the anguished, fearful and rage-filled reactions of my LGBT friends, and their many allies. And so anguish, fear and rage is what I continued to feel as well.

I felt (and feel) rage about the fact that, after hundreds and hundreds of deaths, this country still would rather worship the false god of the 2nd Amendment, and his consort, the false goddess of money, than respect and value the worth of human bodies. It fills me with rage that a small minority of special interests refuses to allow us to engage the very really problem of gun violence, a problem that only seems to exist in America.

I feel rage that this catastrophe will be used to create hate and fear towards our Muslim brothers and sisters, all of whom are love-filled, peaceful human beings, children of God like you and I. Instead of knowing that, elements of our society (led by a certain opportunistic, xenophobic presidential candidate) will use this as an opportunity to spread hate and Islamaphobia, casting the guilt of a small number of violent cretins who misuse the name of the Prophet (PBUH) to spread their medieval ideology onto an entire religion.

And it fills me with rage that again – AGAIN – our LGBTQI+ siblings have been targeted by regressives with violence, and have again become victims of hate just because of who they are. Again, they must be explicitly reminded they everyday they have to live in fear. But what really fills me with rage is that the very “leaders” and bigots who fan the flames of hate – who spend all their time bemoaning the supposed dangers of LGBT people marrying who they love, using the restroom and the dressing room, even just existing, those who use religion and “Common sense” to spread hate speech and state that LGBT people are somehow subhuman and unworthy of the same rights and privileges as other human beings – these folks will be taking to Twitter and Fox News to offer “thoughts and prayers” and talk about how we need “Biblical values” right now. These people have blood on their hands, and it is awfully rich of them to act anguished and upset now, when this is merely the logical outcome of their rhetoric and actions.

This is the rage I felt, and that I still feel.

***

IMG_20160612_190404Last night, I attended a beautiful Taize service at Trinity Episcopal Church here in Tulsa. It was just what my soul needed after the feelings evoked by Orlando. The quiet, the dark, the candles, the beautiful music – perfect.

And it was during the times of silence and prayer in that beautiful space, that I began to feel rage dissipate as the primary feeling I had. Instead, as I sat there, and I experienced the love of God, I felt a new feeling: hope.

I know that’s easy for me to feel, as a white male in Tulsa. I didn’t lose any loved ones yesterday. I didn’t have my community, my existence, attacked yesterday, and everyday for years and years.

But hope is what I feel now. Hope that maybe this time, this horrific, terrible, unspeakable event, will be the one that tips the scales.

I have hope that maybe the scale of this atrocity, perpetuated by a man who was on terrorist watch lists but still able to purchase guns, will wake us up to the absolute necessity of common sense rules around the purchase of guns, and a better sense of the culture of violence gun culture creates.

I have hope that it will be this that wakes people up to the fact that the rhetoric and language used by so many in this nation about LGBT people is unacceptable and dangerous. Maybe people’s hearts will be thawed as a result of the very human nature of this tragedy, by the images of bodies no different that yours and mine, cast down and lifeless. Maybe we can take a big step forward here in accepting our LGBT siblings for who they are, acknowledging their inherent worth for who they are.

And I have hope that maybe we will be strong enough and mature enough to not blame our Muslim brothers and sisters for the actions of this man, or the actions of ISIS or Al Qaeda or any other group or person who hijacks their faith for their own selfish reasons. I have hope that, as we watch American Muslims rally with us in support of peace, we will begin to see that they worship the same God the rest of us do, and that at the end of this life, they will join us in the next life just like everyone else. I have hope that we will see past the demagoguery and hate of those asking to lead us, that we will not succumb to racism, xenophobia, fascism, but instead we will rally together as a nation around love and hope.

***

In the face of the great tragedy and sickness we see in Orlando, I have hope. I have rage, but I also, overwhelmingly, have hope.

I have hope because, after leaving Taize last night, I saw images and words from the vigil held here last night at the Majestic club, of people of all walks of life and religions and backgrounds, coming together to support one another and demonstrate that, in the end, love wins. Hate and violence will always fail. Love and acceptance wins in the end, because God is love and we are walking images of that Love and that Love can’t lose.

So, grieve, hurt, cry, scream, rage. Recognize that we have big problems as a society. It’s right to do so, and you should. But have hope. The night is darkest before the dawn, but the dawn WILL come.