Velvet Elvis for President

This catchy title comes from two books that I recently finished. The first I finished about a month ago. It is "Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell. Rob appears to be an interesting character. He seems to be very knowledgeable in Jewish history and rabbinical law. This intrigued me. Just a couple things I have with Rob is that he feels the Bible was written to a different people group, the Hebrew people. He makes it seem as if you can't completely understand what God has for you (through the Bible) unless you have a full grasp of Hebrew lifestyle, history and culture. I may be reading this into the book, but it certainly struck me. I believe that God also had US in mind also when the authors penned the text. I also believe that the text has been preserved for us and that it's just as meaningful to us as it was to the original recipients.
Rob seems like a very likable person, and if we didn't talk Theology, we'd probably get along great. He may be a bit philosophical and quirky for me. Some quotes from the book that I liked:

• "The thought of the word church and the word marketing in the same sentence makes me sick." (pg99)

• "Christian is a great noun and a poor adjective." (pg84)

• "It is one thing to be forgiven; it is another thing to become more and more and more and more the person God made you to be." (pg108)

• "It is one thing to be saved. To believe in Jesus. It is another thing to be healed. It is possible to be saved and miserable. It is possible to be saved and not be a healthy, whole, life-giving person. It is possible for the cross to have done something for a person but not in them. What happened to me is that I realized I believed in Jesus and thought of myself as "saved" and "redeemed" and "reborn", yet massive areas of my life were unaffected. I learned that salvation is for ALL of me. I learned that Jesus wants to heal my soul - now." (pg110)

If I had to pick one passage to sum up the book itself, it would probably be: "To keep reforming...theology; the belief about God, Jesus, the Bible, salvation, the future. We must keep reforming the way the Christian faith is defined, lived and explained." (pg12)
I only buy into this in as much as the church has strayed from Christ's original purpose. If we reform just to reform, I believe we continue to distance her from her Groom. If we reform just to bring more people in through the doors, then we, once again, have bypassed her purpose. I do agree that the church is in great need of re-form. To find her original form.
The book was a fun read. I personally don't think the Bible is as hard to understand than he makes it out to be; but I also realize that we will never fully comprehend the great depth of the scripture. The Holy Spirit is a sufficient teacher to open our hearts to passages. There's nothing wrong with wrestling with the scripture, but when a teacher like Rob airs out his doubts about passages, he doesn't understand the damage and disservice he does to the scripture. Rob has a huge following. Many would take anything he says without comparing it to the light of the scripture. That's the dangerous part. On the other hand, many would not even read a word Rob Bell writes because of something they may have heard about him. I'm somewhere in the middle. I found a lot of his thoughts in his book that I disagreed with. I also found some parts in his book that really challenged me. I could not be an attendee at his church, but I may read more of his work. To sum it up, I'll quote another passage from his book about his book; "Test it. Probe it. Do that to this book. Don't swallow it uncritically. Think about it. Wrestle with it. Just because I'm a Christian and I'm trying to articulate a Christian world-view doesn't mean I've got it nailed." (pg 87) Anyone who reads, watches or listens to Bell or any other preacher/teacher of the gospel needs to keep this in mind.

The second book I just finished last night is "Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals" co-authored by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw. Another interesting read. This is a book I had no intentions of reading, but I saw it displayed on the "New Books" shelf at the library. The title actually drew me in. Shane and crew definitely fit the radical label. Not entirely in a bad way. He wrote a lot of things in the book that challenged me also. The most that I got out of the book is "how are we living out the gospel"? Honestly. We hear about taking care of the sick, the poor, the imprisoned. But what are we doing about it? Now there's much more to the book than what I just stated. Much of it that, once again, I thought he took much liberty in his construing of scriptures. But the challenging parts are truly that, challenging. In an over-indulging society, we have really neglected many of the commands and examples of Christ to go to and meet the needs of the needy. Even if it means getting dirty or going without a meal. I'm guilty! But it's not enough for me to just admit my guilt, how will I change? I can't say right now. I don't know right now.
A few quotes I enjoyed from the book:

• "Laws enforced by the sword control behavior but cannot change hearts, no matter how sharp the sword is. The redemption of the cross does what laws and bullets and bombs can never do - bring transformation of evildoers and enemies." quote from Greg Boyd, Myth of a Christian Nation
• "Another practice is to avoid the language of hype. "Engaging culture" is a big goal for Christians these days. And the best way to do this, so the logic goes, is with the style of the culture at large. We'll need some websites to change the world, and so we'll need some catchy titles, phrases, and images to create "a movement." And of course any good movement has T-shirts, hip words, bumper stickers and slogans (oh yes, and wrist bands).

I don't believe Shane is doing what he's doing to try to start a cool new movement. I think Shane is living out the gospel as Shane understands the gospel. I certainly can't fault him for that. I don't know if I would go to the extremes that Shane goes to, such as the protests and such. I think we need to avoid governmental and state conflict. Shane seems to enjoy it. And some of his antics are certainly humorous. He strikes me as very anti-establishment. He also seems to draw much from the Catholic Church. I'm not sure what his background is. This book will not tell you how to vote this election year, though.
The book goes through the history of God's people. From Adam and Eve through the Hebrew people and God's deliverance from Egypt to His people demanding a king. He tries to establish an understanding of the start of mans establishment. And how we put our faith in trust in these establishments. He speaks a lot to this. About where we put our faith in trust.
I enjoyed the book. I may also read more of his work.
With both books, I don't think I would ever give them to a knew convert or to someone who wants to know more about the gospel. I think that these books need to be read, once again, in the light of the scripture. I think that these books may confuse and/or frustrate someone not well grounded in their faith. They were both interesting, quick reads. Both were challenging at times. I don't know if I got enough out of them to hold a Bible study based on them. I feel I would do more skipping and correcting than actually teaching. Just remember to read and listen to all things in comparison to scripture. If it doesn't measure up, then don't let it "re-form" your theology and doctrine. Take what's good and pass on the rest.
I may post more on my thoughts of these books as time passes and things come to mind. God bless.