Why should I not like Rob Bell?

Somebody give me a substantiated reason (Direct quotes of Bell or his books, etc.), because from what I’ve seen lately on the web leads me to conclude that he’s a young pastor attempting to preach truth to a culture that has deaf ears to the usual way Evangelical Christians attempt such.

Caveat: I am not endorsing Rob Bell for anything. I have not read his books, or really listened to his preaching in any depth. So, don’t hear what I’m not saying. I am hoping to read Velvit Elvis and Sex God over the break (Dec.-Jan.), and I’ve subscribed to his podcast, so that I can develop my own opinion over the next couple of months. What I have gathered from the recent articles and few clips from Youtube though seems to be pretty good stuff. I really hope the criticism is not centered on his style, or approach, in preaching, but is actually based on something that could really be considered important.

I know he’s been getting some press lately (click here for the Times article) and it seems that alot of people object to him (check out Justin Taylor’s post over at Between Two Worlds and the comments generated). I’m really curious to know why there are such strong objections to someone who seems to be a brother in Christ, and what it is that makes people want to label him a “heretic” - a very strong label, that so far, seems to be without substance.

Recomended Links:

Ben Witherington’s thoughts on Rob Bell stuff - Sex God, Nooma videos: click here

Anthony Bradley has some thoughts, here.

So does Jared Lee (here).

Wiki on Bell, here.

Great Question

Why do we give some of these guys (like Rob Bell, Joel Osteen, Mark Driscoll) such a hard time (and I am in this boat), when they seem to be the only ones at least and trying and in some ways successfully “engaging the culture” we live in? The original question posed by Anthony was:

Question: how come people who claim to have the best theology to deal with transforming and reaching “the culture” seem the be the most ill-equipped, uncreative, and unsuccessful at actually speaking to “the culture?”

I would have to say that I think Driscoll stands outside of Anthony’s critique - at least to some degree.  I included him because he takes alot of hits (at least it seems) from some of his Reformed brothers and sisters.  Thoughts, comments, suggestions?Check out the original post over at Anthony Bradley’s blog.