Enough Already

I usually don't delve into theological debates here as the main focus is to try and provide a glimpse into the everyday life of a Navy chaplain. Those stories alone, many of which can't be told due to confidentiality, could take up many hours relating on a blog. However, this whole Rob Bell/Universalism/Is Hell Real debate is getting old, especially now that the collateral damage is hitting close to home.

For those that don't regularly follow theological debates that rage on the Internet all around you, I'll provide a bit of background. Rob Bell has written a book titled Love Wins that delves into the topic of hell. I haven't personally read the book yet and hadn't really intended to until it came out in paperback. But, picked up a copy today using a gift card so I wouldn't feel too bad about paying for a hard cover book (I stopped buying hard cover new releases while in seminary to cut back costs while I didn't have a steady job). Even before the book hit the shelves this past week people were blowing up the Internet with reviews of the book they hadn't yet read calling him a heretic and all kinds of other nice names we save for the people who rankle our theological leanings. Those who saw him as a spokesman for their theological positions disowned him, etc. Granted, I haven't yet read the book and even once I do I won't bother to post a review, as most people probably could care less what I think of the book.

What bothers me is the reaction. I hadn't really paid much attention to the lead up as I was out in the field serving my Marines and had more important things to worry about. And frankly, you could probably say I still have more pressing problems: an accelerated predeployment schedule, leaving for deployment training this week, getting Easter services prepped before we leave, working out the rough memorial service outline for deployment, counseling Marines until well after dark each day, cleaning the house and car, etc. However, a friend of mine got caught up in this whole hysteria and has paid a pretty steep price. He was a student pastor at a church in NC while attending seminary at Duke. He is in his last semester and was on track to get interviewed for provisional ordination in the Methodist church this month. Sometime during the lead up to the book's release, he wrote a piece for Emergent Village about what he lost and gained when he lost hell. His view of hell and mine are not the same, but that doesn't matter.

After he wrote that piece, he was released from his position as a student pastor. This isn't something that is done by the congregation alone. It takes the work of a senior clergy member, one who is supposed to mentor student pastors as well as provide assignments. I don't doubt that other factors came into play (my friend acknowledges as much). He was going to get a new congregation in less than three months anyways and will graduate from seminary in two months. I am a firm believer in firing pastors when they violate the trust and confidence we place in them as leaders, much the same as why military members suffer dearly when they break the rules. Maybe, it is the wide theological range of beliefs found in my own denomination that makes this so confusing to me. It does make me glad that my denomination allows some wiggle room in our "orthodoxy" to allow theological discussion and growth on a variety of issues. Where was the grace in this process? What about some serious discussions about beliefs before summarily dismissing someone who was leaving anyways? What lesson does that teach the congregation if their beliefs aren't "orthodox?" Now you have a congregation, and apparently a denomination that is afraid to discuss theological issues. I for one am crying out loud, enough already.