Ask not to know for whom Bell tolls . . .

"Jesus Wants to Save Christians, a Manifesto for the Church in Exile" is the Rob Bell book I picked up as I gave up on writing at the end of the last post. I finished the book. I finished reading it that is, Rob had already finished writing it. It was a really quick read because Rob Bell writes as if he is in a sprint, or maybe a game of tag, or maybe like one of those guys that spins plates on sticks and keeps them all suspended at once. It is like running down-hill. His style causes one to read faster and faster as he tells a story that begins with Adam and Eve and moves to Revelation in about 180 pages. And,

many,

many,

of those pages,

have lines spaced

like this.

I enjoyed the book. Bell again tries to convey the urgency of the need for a functioning Body of Christ in the world. The footnotes alone are worth the purchase of the book. But the writing is engaging as well.

Bell addresses the ills of materialism and consumption. He is critical of the attempt and need to make Jesus "cool".

Then someone in our book reading bunch raised the question, if Bell is critical of consumption and trying to make Jesus cool, how does he justify the way cool production of the hip hardback book we all held in our hands, with the suggested retail price of around $20.00 permanently affixed to the back, and printed in a style in which the same text could have been printed on half the number of pages?

An

interesting

point.

But I think I understand. Bell's interpretation of the message is unique, condensed and sharp. But the message is not new. It has been spoken in every generation. God is looking for a Body to do His work in the world. A Body that will move, a body that will serve, a Body that will love. A Body that will keep its focus on God, rather than becoming self-centered and thus self-sustaining and ultimately self-destructing.

People like Rob Bell are blessed and cursed to be able to see the sickly state of our world, and the dire need for the Body of Christ to be worthy of its namesake.

And that blessing and curse comes with a sense of urgency that the rest of us don't have for some reason. That urgency drives Bell, and many other writers, preachers, and just ordinary Joes to keep trying. To present and re-present the message to every generation in hopes that the Body will one day

put the most recent study book aside,

turn off the meditation tapes,

blow out the candles,

get out of the recliner,

and go out into the world.

I pray that we may all become so blessed and so cursed.

.