I was mildly amused reading Keith’s last post about how Rob Bell has a new book and then the link to Denny Burk in which the latter devotes an entire blog post to explaining that Rob Bell is irrelevant (which is why he needs an entire post, right). What’s amusing to me about all that is how Bell and Burk seem so similar. It’s almost comical that they even bear a passing resemblance, if not brothers they could certainly be first cousins. It strikes me that Bell and Burk (and Burk’s Reformed proxies at New St. Andrew’s) are contesting for the same, shrinking group of people: those with at least some memory or connection to Protestant Christianity particularly of an evangelical flavour. I blogged about this some years ago here. It seems unlikely that that growing group of people who have grown up with no memory of church, no association with it, not even a perfunctory Easter visit to anchor them would ever just pick up Rob Bell’s book about God-talk or anything that come out of the Gospel Coalition and/or Canon Press or any other Reformed mouthpiece. I think is what Fitch has been on about for a while now.
http://drewgihart.com/2011/03/25/evangelical-split-piper-imperialism-a-search-for-postcolonial-christian-expression/
Drew G. I. Hart wrote a few years ago that the kinds of scuffles that Rob Bell and John Piper end up in look very much like white guys battling over who will win the checkbooks of white people who make donations.
Wow, that was impressive.
Unfortunately, I read ‘postcolonial’ in the title and lost another bout with narcolepsy!
Wenatchee, I’ve read most of Piper’s stuff over the years (I know you have to). I don’t see how you can say that what Piper is doing looks like he is trying to win over check books. There may be complaints to be made about Piper, but that can’t be one of them. The man cheerfully gives away most of what he makes and has encouraged his congregation to do so as well for years … at personal cost to his ministry as well. (Consider how folks like James Macdonald have treated David Platt, who has been defended by Piper).
Piper might not be trying to get people to write checks, but I do think that there are at least a few Reformed types who would like that very much. I read it as being more about control, when Piper can use three words to banish someone from the evangelical tribe, that is power, even if he’s wearing $10 slacks living in a bungalow while doing it.
Brooks, the piece is worth reading even if you like Piper. “Farewell Rob Bell” seemed unfortunately silly to me because what I read of Piper’s work and heard of him made it hard to believe he ever considered Rob Bell on the same team to begin with.
Did I miss something? How is Burk related to NSA?
@ Jacob: I’m confused. Could you restate your question?!?
@Wenatchee: I’ll check it out.
@Dan: I still think it’s imputing ill motives to otherwise exemplary characters, like Piper. Although I wil concede that for some Reformed guys (we won’t mention who), it could be about that.