The gods aren’t angry

Last night Lori and I were in Chicago at the Vic Theatre to catch the first night of Rob Bell’s “The gods Aren’t Angry” speaking tour.

The crowd of about 500 people – in the sold out theatre – was buzzed and waited excitedly for an hour before Bell took the stage. As I waited, and all throughout the evening, I wondered how many present were in some way associated with a community of faith and how many were just curious seekers. I don’t have an answer to that question, but I sure would be curious to know.

Bell is a masterful storyteller who adeptly relates the truths of the gospel in fresh and compelling ways by weaving together the scriptures, anthropology, theology, and tales of contemporary experience. This is not a “the bible says and you must believe” presentation, instead it is a “what do we know from our human experience and how does the bible and our faith relate to that” presentation.

Bell starts out by explaining how sacrificial systems arose within human cultures as a way to appease the forces of nature (the gods) that rule life. He then explores the innovative thoughts and ideas of early Judaism which revise and challenge the sacrificial systems of the surrounding cultures with an understanding of a God who could be known personally.

Bell then explores the New Testament scriptures, namely the book of Hebrews, to explain how Jesus does away once and for all with the entire sacrificial system. One key point is that the sacrifices were never for God in the first place, but for us, as an appeasement of our consciences.

The real challenge that Bell presents is the way, in spite of all the advances of modern society, that we still go around trying to appease the gods, even the Christian God, with endless sacrifices. He also shows how our modern day rituals mimic the basic rituals of primitive religious systems. Young girls cut themselves for attention, much as the priests of Baal cut themselves. A young man ’sacrifices’ by working himself to the bones so that he can appease the felt demands of his in-laws to provide a certain level of wealth for his wife.

Bell wrapped up his talk by saying the way of Christ is a way of freedom, one in which we no longer need sacrifice and ritual to earn or receive God’s favor. Through Christ, God’s favor is already there; our job is to simply live into it and to appropriate the life giving rituals and practices that will help us to do that.

For those who think emergent expressions of faith are just ‘theology light,’ I’d argue that Bell’s talk was a fresh presentation of the ‘reformed’ faith through and through. If people in our culture are going to understand the gospel, it’s got to be presented in ways that are relevant and compelling, and from my vantage point I think Rob Bell did just that last night.