The Elephant in the Room
This fall finds us celebrating our 14th year as a faith community.
We launched as a campus of Williamson’s Chapel Sept. 10, 2010, and here we are. Truthfully, this season feels like a new beginning.
If you’ve been a part of West for over the past 10 years, think about what it would look like if we were doing EVERYTHING the exact same ways as 14 years ago. As “cutting edge” as we were then, many of the things we were offering would be extinct today. Or we would be.
One of the things that has enabled West to be successful over the years as a “new church start” is our willingness and ability to pivot. To constantly be trying to understand our context, the folks we are trying to reach with this message of God and God’s great love as revealed through Jesus Christ.
It was one of our early years on Easter and as someone was leaving they said, “Can you believe Rob Bell? What a heretic. He is going to burn in hell.”
Now, even on a bad day, that’s not something I’d think, much less say.
I started reading about Rob Bell. Which ultimately led me to his book, “What We Talk About When We Talk About God.”
Rob Bell’s journey from being the founding pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church to becoming the author of What We Talk About When We Talk About God reflects his evolving approach to faith and spirituality.
Evolving faith and spirituality.
Why does that have to be the “elephant in the room?”
Bell founded Mars Hill Bible Church in 1999, quickly growing it into one of the largest and most influential megachurches in the U.S. His innovative preaching style, which often challenged traditional evangelical perspectives, resonated with many but also began to stir controversy.
In 2011, Bell published Love Wins, a book that questioned the traditional Christian doctrine of hell and suggested a more inclusive view of salvation. The book sparked significant backlash, particularly from conservative Christian circles, who accused Bell of promoting universalism and heresy. The controversy led Bell to leave Mars Hill later that year to pursue a broader platform for his ideas.
After leaving Mars Hill, Bell focused on writing, speaking, and engaging with wider cultural and spiritual issues. In 2013, he published What We Talk About When We Talk About God, which continues his exploration of a more expansive, inclusive understanding of God. The book challenges traditional doctrines and encourages readers to embrace the mystery and complexity of the divine in modern life.
Bell’s journey reflects his shift from a traditional pastoral role to becoming a voice for progressive Christianity, emphasizing a more open, questioning, and culturally relevant approach to faith.
Here we are. Fourteen years later.
A safe space for all people wherever they are in their faith.
Some who have held onto their faith convictions for 80+ years. Some who are trying to figure out what “God” even means, but know that West offers that safe space. And then there are the rest of us somewhere in the middle.
Bell writes, “What I experienced, over a long period of time, was a gradual awakening to a new perspective on God – specifically the God Jesus talked about. I came to see that there were depths and dimensions to the ancient Hebrew traditions and to the Christian Tradition which grew out of that, that spoke directly to my questions and struggles in coming to terms with how to conceive of who God is –
And what God is –
And why that even matters –
And what that has to do with life in this world, here and now.”
I invite you to follow along with this series.
In fact, read the book. It’s fascinating.
Share it with a friend that struggles with God, the “elephant in the room that we are afraid to talk about.”
Believe it or not, folks are willing to talk about God. And if we’ll be open to what those conversations entail, who knows where things will go.