Wants to Save Christians is a wellchosen, provoking title which accurately hints at its central focus, which is that in many ways the churchand particularly the church in Americahas lost sight of what it means to live life in the way Jesus charged us.
Beyond this, however, Bell and Golden appear to have written a testimony intended for an audience beyond Christians: even simple contextual points that are familiar to most Christians are observed and their relevance explained.
This easytoread, thesisdriven book spends its first chapters looking at the repeating cycle of exile and redemption throughout the Bible, The repeating elements the authors draw our attention to are quite important to their purpose, which is in part to look at the whole narrative arc of the Bible as one unified and selfreferential story.
And they do a good job: an awareness of the intent of the writers of both the Old and New Testaments consistently shows the text is neither difficult nor timeconsuming and the book is worth the time it takes to be awakened to or reminded of the connections Bell and Golden emphasize and the significance of these connections regarding the divine plan for humanity.
The second thrust of the book focuses on the angle that the cycles of exile and redemption occur within the context of the power of “empire” over groups of oppressed peoples.
Currently, America fits quite obviously into the category of empire and, consequently, participates broadly in the oppression of many peoples and groups,
The church, however, has a message of redemption for these oppressed peoples and groups, This message cannot be delivered from the position of empire the only way to deliver this message is to become “weak,” to stand beside those who are oppressed, to live as Jesus lived, “broken and poured.
” We, the church, are Eucharist,
Jesus wants to save Christians is Rob Bell's he of the Noomas and Velvet Elvis third and probably most substantial book, coauthored with Don Golden from World Relief.
Its subtitle 'A Manifesto for the church in exile' neatly encapsulates the heart of the book, Church shouldn't be about empire and in the USA it is, Church should be about the mission of God which is
calling people and creation out of exile slavery to sin and into the new reality of God's purposes.
The book isn't long,pages and only slightly more words, As ever stylishly produced, the cover is definitely intriguing, There's lots of white space because Rob writes
in an interesting way,
that is supposed to make you pause
and realise how important
that last sentence really was.
Which after a while, gets a bit annoying and to my mind eventually just seems a bit pointless, Overplay your hand and a great writing device just seems to be a bit gimmicky, But these quibbles aside this book has greater substance than his previous two and will no doubt continue to polarise opinion, Republican Christians I imagine are not going to like his sincere questioning of America's use and misuse of power, Reformed Christians are not going to like the lack of wrath as Bell describes the atonement and so on, . .
Firstly, because the first section is telling the story of the Bible this feels a more deeply scriptural book, there's lots of scripture here.
This is good, we're engaging with the text, The arguments will be about interpretation,
There are some interesting connections made that I'm not sure about, do thesaved on Pentecost in Acts really mirror thekilled after the Golden Calf incident Was the gentile Luke really that clued in Not sure, but it's an interesting idea.
Bell seems to see Jesus as our great representative, so his blood reconciles, rescues and redeems, it does when we trust in it, save us from exile and slavery to sin.
But there's nothing here on justice, holiness etc, . .
The two dominant themes are exodus amp exile and Eucharist, The Church should be on an exodus to a new reality, calling people out of exile, The Church as the body of Christ should be broken and poured out for the poor and the needy of the world, Remember the poor and don't be seduced by the empire,
As a call to be involved in the needs of the world this book works well and on that level I commend it.
As a retelling and subverting of a story that gives churches rights and standing in the Empire, I applaud it, Sentences like “The authority that the church has in culture does not come from how right, cool, or loud it is, or how convinced it is of its doctrinal superiority” hit the mark and do so often.
But I just wonder if it's all been done better elsewhere, Shane Claiborne attacks empire with more verve and bite, NT Wright informs us of exile and exodus with greater depth and insight, Ron Sider calls us out on poverty with greater authority.
This is a good book, if you don't know that God cares for the poor or your teenagers are a bit too selfobsessed then give them this.
It's cool enough and punchy enough and short enough to work, But as a manifesto it lacks real depth there's not much on practical application here, no stories to get us thinking, no actions to follow other than to 'hear the cry of the oppressed and do something' which is helpful only to a point.
It could
have been
so much
more, Where was God when I lost my job Where was God when my father died Where was God when my son got sick One of the most cliched answer to this question is "where He was when His Son was crucified.
"
That answer is true, those who give it mean well, but it is often inappropriate and may come off as very insensitive.
In "Jesus Wants to Save Christians", Rob Bell calls Christians to live out the mission they have been saved for, He argues that the best and most effective way to live out the Christian mission is in the context of a church, We shine brightest in community,
God has ordained that His ministry to the world is primarily through His church, the church that He created and commissioned and empowered after the resurrection of Christ.
Where is God when it hurts God is in His church, using the human hands of its members to bind up the hurting wounds.
He has saved us and equipped us to reach out for the lost and the least and the oppressed,
Where is God when hunger strikes God is in the hearts of the Christian "haves" that lend their food to the starving.
God is in us, and working through us, His church, to challenge and change the world for His glory,
Although Bell addresses the role of the church in the world tangentially, his message hits home with impeccable precision, Jesus wants to save Christians, . . from complacency and apathy and aloofness to the great commission,
We have not just been saved for evacuation to heaven at such future day, we have been saved for the redemption of the whole creation beginning now.
The whole cosmos groans for the "church" to be revealed, for the Christians to BE what they claim to be,
This is a good read, All reservations about the current Rob Bell considered, Lots to think about! His best book yet, The whole thing blew my mind, page by page, Brilliant, Inspired, MindBlowing. Rob Bell asks the question others are afraid to, He really gets it. I think this is probably a lower rating than it deserves, but I read it directly after another book of his which was positively impacting.
Also, I am reading this many years and deep revelations for Mr, Bell after having written it, Good insights,though. I just think both he and I have moved farther down the path, I do wish I would have found this earlier in my journey I would have known I wasn't alone, .