Christianity Today recently interviewed Rob Bell, the pastor responsible for taking emergent Christianity to the New Jerusalem of North American neo-Calvinism. Among the different questions and answers was this exchange:
You say, “Jesus wants to save us from making the Good News about another world and not this one.” What do you mean?
The story is about God’s intentions to bring about a new heaven and a new earth, and the story begins here with shalom—shalom between each other and with our Maker and with the earth. The story line is that God intends to bring about a new creation, this place, this new heaven and earth here. And that Jesus’ resurrection is the beginning, essentially, of the future; this great Resurrection has rushed into the present.
The evacuation theology that says, “figure out the ticket, say the right prayer, get the right formula, and then we’ll go somewhere else” is lethal to Jesus, who endlessly speaks of the renewal of all things.
All well and good, but how is this good news to people with no earthly hope? If I’m dying of aids or cancer, I probably don’t give a rip about the renewal of all things. I want to know if my sins are forgiven, and when I die, if am I going to see Jesus or not.
Yes, and I would say that central to that new creation is the problem with the first creation—death. The Resurrection is about God dealing with the death problem. And central to this giant cosmic hope is a very intimate, yes, you can trust this Jesus. You can trust this new creation. You can trust being with him when you die, when you leave this life, however you want to put it. Yes, there is an intensely personal dimension to this giant story that you and I get to be a part of.
And neo-Calvinists wonder why two-kingdom folks are worried about blurring distinctions between creation and redemption, between Christ’s Lordship as creator and his rule as mediator, between this world and the world to come?
This is not to say that neo-Calvinists are saying the same thing as Rob Bell. But what is the difference substantially, that Bell hasn’t met enough Dutch folk to be able to pronounce Dooeyweerd?
Old Life 
Jesus wants to save me from Rob Bell
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It’s an already/not yet problem.
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Again, too much “not yet” in their “already.” Although Rob Bell doesn’t seem to have any “not yet” at all. He could probably write a book on this subject and call it “Your best life now.” Oh wait a minute, that’s already been written. Well, maybe Bell and Osteen can write a book together.
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Nicholas,
Wouldn’t it be too much “already” in one’s “not yet”?
My 2K peso suffers a really bad exchange rate here in Bell-ville, and it’s not much higher as one moves out into more tutored neocalvinism (Grandville is a suburb of Grand Rapids). And it all renders 2K “too much not yet.”
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Behold I saw the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem, flourishing from Grand Rapids
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I could have sworn I saw Byron Center.
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And, lo, there was no buying and selling of booze on the Sabbath for there was no discerning of Sabbath forest for teetotaling trees; until the year 2007 during the reign of Plantinga when shalom came upon the earth and booze could be bought and sold on the Sabbath, and they went about saying “peace and security and shalom be yours.”
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Are they actually serving adult beverages now at Church of the Servant?
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Every week. At least they get frequency right, as well as the content of the cup (er, vial). I know they say to pick your battles, but I’m still setting my face like flint toward the former.
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The emergent movement will collapse under its own weight. Hyper-pietism that it is, it’s bound to burn out quicker than the more regular sorts of pietism.
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And they have no need of Nooma DVD’s or Generous Orthodoxy, for Rob is there at the centre bestowing emerging goodness on all. And there shall be no more crying, because their tear ducts have dried up from sitting through long worship services in air conditioned rooms.
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Nick,
The Bellittes meet in the Grandville Mall, which seems a really fitting place for warmed over evangelicalism–points for not divorcing content from form. He is generous, though, those “Big God” and “Love Wins” bumper stickers are on every other car.
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Zrim,
I meant “too much ‘not yet’ in their ‘already’.” Seems to me that they want too much eschatological consummation in their already paradigm. The Scripture places especially the transformative element of culture and environment (i.e. the new heavens and new earth) in the realm of “not yet.” Hence, neo-Calvinists and post-millennialists often place too much of the “not yet” in their “already” scheme.
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