Rob Bell Thinks You're Boring
One of the things that has irked me over the past few years are pastors/church leaders doing things just for the shock value. I've been guilty of this but am trying to curtail the habit. We hold worship services that we think are edgy but often come off a hokey, forced, or awkward. It has been my experience that these events/blog posts/books are offered to attract an audience. While we might get an initial response that is bigger than we expected, like most attractional ministry, it isn't sustainable. Then we are left to the trap of more attraction-based ministry to out do ourselves.
It's been done. It's not edgy, radical, or innovative. It's boring.
In part 1 of my conversation with Rob Bell he described why Progressive Christianity has had trouble gaining traction: a lack of balls. This isn't suggesting that Progressive Christianity needs more men. Rather what Rob meant was that people need to take risks. This doesn't mean we are taking risks to just be catchy, edgy, or draw attention. Rather, we are taking risks to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with as many people as we can because we passionately believe the message of Love, Hope, and Reconciliation offered to us by Jesus is the most important thing we will do today and tomorrow.
In part 2, Rob went into detail about why being radical for the sake of being radical or radical as way of attracting people is boring.
Those who chose to be edgy or radical just because you want to boost likes, clicks, or see a slight up-tick in weekly attendance Rob says to you, "that's boring."
And since Rob said that, let me say this, stop doing it.
The Gospel is a message that has not lost its relevance. To doesn't need to be reworked into a plaid shirt, skinny jeans, progressive/conservative message. It is as simple as this: sharing the Good News that through Christ there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. It is a simple message that has lasted for more than two thousand years.
Because it has last this long, it is obvious to me that the Gospel does not need to be rebranded/repackaged into a new radical form of Christianity.
I have for you a bonus episode with Rob. This is the stuff I was going to delete but opted to share it with you because it involves laughter and authenticity.
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