Rob Bell. Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. New York: HarperCollins, 2011.
Chapter 2: Here is the New There (pages 21-62)
1. Scare Tactics
Bell began the chapter by explaining that both he and his sister were afraid of a picture that hung on his grandmother’s wall. Across a chasm is stretched a cross that leads to Heaven. Under the cross the “ominous red and black realm that threatens to swallow up whoever takes a wrong step” (p. 21). In the book, Bell reacted against the imagery because of its scare tactics.
Observation: According to the Bible, Jesus’ future judgment of humans as well as the threat of Hell should be a motivation for sharing the Gospel with others:
5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 5:11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences. (2 Corinthians 5:10-11)
2. White Robes
“Think of the cultural images that are associated with heaven: harps and clouds and streets of gold, everybody dressed in white robes. (Does anybody look good in a white robe? Can you play sports in a white robe? How could it be heaven without sports? What about swimming? What if you spill food on the robe?)” (p. 24)
Observation: Although no Scripture mentions that we will strum harps, the Lord’s kingdom is described as glorious. His followers are clothed in white garments that represent purity (Revelation 3:4-5). Bell’s above quotation is an example of his tendency to ridicule images that do exist in the Bible.
3. The Location of Heaven
Bell used the illustration of a woman whose family is lost: “When she asks the pastor . . . if it’s true that, because they aren’t Christians none of her family will be there, she’s told that she’ll be having so much fun worshipping God that it won’t matter to her. Which is quite troubling and confusing, because the people she loves the most in the world do mater to her.” (p. 25)
Observation: Scripture clearly explains that those who do not trust in Jesus do not have a home in Heaven. The sadness of a situation does not negate its reality:
7:22 "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' 7:23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'" (Matthew 7:22-23)
4. The Lord’s Commandments
“What do you do when your donkey falls in a hole on the Sabbath? Rescuing your donkey would be work, and that would be breaking the Sabbath commandment to rest, but there were also commands to protect and preserve life, including the life of donkeys, so what happens when obeying one commandment requires you to break another?” (p. 28)
Observation: Bell’s suggestion is that God’s commandments contradict each other, but this is not the case. God’s commandments complement each other and are not arbitrary: The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. (Psalm 19:7)
5. Jesus’ Intention
“. . . Jesus doesn’t tell people how to ‘go to heaven.’ It wasn’t
what Jesus came to do.” (p. 30)
Observation: Untrue. Jesus came to give people eternal life: . . . I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10b)
6. Partnership
“. . . Jesus and the prophets lived with an awareness that God has been looking for partners sins the beginning, people who will take seriously their divine responsibility to care for the earth and each other in loving, sustainable ways.” (p. 36)
Observation: Notice Bell’s word order. Caring for the earth takes precedence over loving for others in his mind.
7. Water
“Around a billion people in the world today do not have access to clean water. People will have access to clean water in the age to come, and so working for clean-water access for all is participating now in the life of the age to come.” (p. 45)
Observation: Believers must be involved in the personal plights of others:
2:15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 2:16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? (James 2:15-16)
This, however, is not the primary purpose of a believer. First and foremost, we must share the Gospel, and we need to help provide for people’s physical needs because we love them and want to use our help as an example of Christ’s love for us.
8. Both, And!
“It often appears that those who talk the most about going to heaven when you die talk the least about bringing heaven to earth right now, as Jesus taught us to pray: ‘Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’ At the same time, it often appears that those who talk the most about relieving the suffering now talk the least about heaven when we die.” (p. 45)
Observation: Bell is incorrect to suggest that those who talk about Heaven do not care about what happens in the world today. Statistically, more conservative people, a bloc that includes believers, give four times more to charity than other groups.
9. Sanctification
“Much of the speculation about heaven—and, more important, the confusion—comes from the idea that in the blink of an eye we will automatically become totally different people who ‘know’ everything. But our heart, our character, our desires, our longings—those things take time.” (p. 51)
Observation: Bell ignores the fact that at the return of Christ, believers will be transformed and cleansed of sinful bodies:
15:52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 15:53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:52-53).
10. Good Works
Bell used the illustration of a single mother supporting her kids. The abusive father has abandoned the family and refuses to pay child support, yet the woman does an excellent job of raising her kids: “With what she has been given she has been faithful. She is a woman of character and substance. She never gives up. She is kind and loving even when she’s exhausted. She can be trusted. Is she the last who Jesus says will be first?” (p. 53)
Observation: Once more, salvation is not of works but grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).
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