Response to Rob Bell article on Relevant

Posted to my Facebook page on December 22, 2014 at 11:31am

I've not seen this show, but I did read the article linked here. The following is a quote from the article: "During the second segment, Bell dug further into his illustration by discussing the cross of Jesus Christ, and why it is the ultimate metaphor for the “reconciliation of all things.” His message was simple: The cross is such a culturally enduring symbol because it is a representation of what God did for us in order for people to be able to be reconciled to His perfect love[...]"

My question would then be: How can you talk about reconciliation and the cross and not talk about sin and hell? What's the point of having a Savior if there's no sin or hell to be saved from? Being saved from a messy past or a poor current situation here on earth isn't the complete answer! What did God do for us with that cross that Rob so (seemingly) trivially pointed to? He sent His Son to die for our sins so we'd have everlasting life! (John 3:16 {everlasting life being the opposite of everlasting death, which is where we would be going without Him}) Yes, love is good, because God is love. Yes, love (God) wins. But you cannot only highlight a single part of the Gospel. When you do that it ceases to be the Gospel because it ceases to be delivered in wholeness. The greatest love of all is that although we sinned, God still loved us in our sin, and sent His Son to take our sins upon Himself and die for that sin, so we could spend eternity with God. THAT is the greatest love. THAT is what people really NEED to hear. THAT is the point of the cross.

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/culture/-rob-bell-show-premiere-was-about-cross