Love Win[K]s

One of the dangers of generalizing something is that you remove most, if not all, of its power. It becomes so generic that it is no longer effective. And when people come in contact with it, it’s as if they’re anesthetized by its vagueness and broadness. In my opinion, this is largest danger lurking in Rob Bell’s newest book, Love Wins. It is dangerously nonspecific and subtly all-inclusive.

Frankly, the Gospel is generalized into “love,” hell into “mistrust,” heaven into “everything in its right place,”, and salvation into a “story.” Not that these words don’t have a place in God’s revelation language, but undoubtedly there is more. Much more! Specific words and concepts like regeneration, adoption, justification, judgment, eternal torment, the New Jerusalem, Lake of Fire, Great White Throne, and the eternal state seem conspicuously absent. Little wonder – it’s hard to be all-inclusive if you get too specific.

It is this unsaid-but-clearly-implied inclusiveness that has a number of trusted evangelical theologians squinting. And for good reason. If, in the end, “love” conquers all, doesn’t that mean you’re a universalist? Sure, he never comes right out and states his position as the universalist one, but the implication is rather strong: “In the end, you’ll finally give in. Then you’ll get in.”

Which begs the questions: Can people repent in hell? Or disbelieve in Heaven? Is it ever too late? Based on the interview with Adrian Warnock, Rob Bell believes it is never too late for someone to repent. Whether in the hell they have created for themselves now or the hell that may be waiting for them later, it is just a place of mistrust until they finally feel the pull of divine love and succumb to all its restorative, healing power.

Final judgment. Eternal punishment. Forever blessedness. These are specific ideas Rob doesn’t want to embrace, but he never comes right out and denies them. He just stays general enough that you can’t really determine what he does or doesn’t believe. Granted – after eight chapters, you’d think you’d know what he believes. But oddly, you don’t. And I’m not sure he knows yet either. In interview after interview, he consistently adds phrases like “It’s all we know right now” and “It’s the best we have so far,” indicating there may be information from God still on the way. This is why he is so general – he is afraid if more revelation shows up, he may be wrong. So keep it general; this way your chances of being right increase.

Expectedly, if you try to pin him down for an answer, as Adrian Warnock did in the interview on Premiere Radio, he becomes noticeably general. Falsely unassuming. Jabbingly questioning. He seems afraid to stand on revealed truth. We shouldn’t be surprised, though. Revealed truth is specific. Clear. Concrete. Absolute. And Rob is anything but that when it comes to his book, Love Wins.

Perhaps his fuzziness is actually the greatest evidence against him, the clearest demonstration that his stand is actually quite clear: You can’t trust the written Word or the risen Savior. No doubt that’s where you’re left dangling when all the wordiness is over. For in Rob’s world, it’s almost as if, in spite of the Scriptures or the Savior, God winks, disregarding everything he has said and done through his Son, and at the last minute pulls the proverbial curtain over the eyes of his followers and lets everybody in after all.

Come to think of it, maybe that’s a better title for his book: Love WinKs.

She Loves Me Because...

I’m not the easiest guy to love. In fact, most of the time I’m probably rather difficult to love. And though Julie would probably not admit that (okay, she might at times!), it is nonetheless true. She knows all my faults, idiosyncrasies, shortcomings, failures, and pet peeves. More realistically, she knows all the weak spots where, even in the middle of being sanctified by the Spirit, I show my human nature and sin.

Yet, she loves me anyway. Daily. Hourly. Unconditionally. Totally. Radically. Unreservedly. Loyally. What’s so amazing is that she actually likes to love me (the vast majority of the time), even though I’m not easy to love. Julie is the top-shelf model of obedience to the call of Jesus when he inspired Paul to write on at least two occasions, “Love your husband.” She does that perfectly.

It is becoming more and more apparent to me as we tie our knot deeper and longer that Julie loves me, not because of my worthiness, but because of God’s “Wordiness.” In other words, she doesn’t love me because I deserve it; she loves me because God commands it. Granted – I don’t think she looks at it like this or dichotomizes her feelings in this way. But a “below the water line” look testifies to God’s love in her life as a fundamental motivation for everything she does. And the benefit? I see her love in my life.
Why do I mention this? Well, first, because I’m grateful. I am deeply thankful for my wife. She is the epitome of Titus 2 and Proverbs 31, living out her God-given responsibility to create a God-centered home for our family.

But also because I’m hopeful. I have watched Julie’s love for me grow proportionately to her willingness to obey Christ uncompromisingly, and I'm convinced there is a direct relation between her ability to love me and her commitment to obey her Savior. That gives me hope in the face of things that Jesus calls me to do that are sometimes tough. Hard. Difficult. Practically and biblically, obedience in spite of my feelings will open the door to obedience that accompanies my feelings.
Essentially, it’s “Jesus-first” to Julie. He is more important than her hobbies or her husband. More important than her feelings or her family. More important than her likes and dislikes, opinions, preferences, and personal tastes. And because he is more important, what he says is most important. So when he says, “Love your husband,” she’s in! Thank you, Jesus, and thank you, Julie!