I have to admit a small degree of jealousy of David Platt. I have preached this exact point myself. But somehow, it just sounds more compelling and powerful coming from him. Most of you probably read Provocations and Pantings (you should if you don’t) and have already viewed this, but I thought that I would copy this over here for those few of you who have not seen it at Timmy Brister’s site.
Here, David Platt asks a simple question. With all of the Rob Bell discussion that has gone on, do our actions really validate our belief that those without Christ will spend eternity in hell? Is it fair to say that we do not always act as if we believe what we believe?
Do We Really Believe What We’re Saying? from The Church at Brook Hills on Vimeo.
No, most of us don’t believe… I mean we do at least in what we say, but when it comes to how we act and live we don’t. We act as either practical atheists or practical universalists.
Yep
And to add to that, that’s one thing I admire about Platt–with his platform he quite loudly sounds the call that we need to live different and do more. And then he actually does it.
What’s sad is that we have to call that “Radical” when it should be normal, at least for Christ-followers…
Again, Yep.
“Intellectual universalism is dangerous…. Functional universalism is worse.”
If we really believed that the outcry against the lives of most in the church in America would be louder and stronger than the outcry against Rob Bell’s new book.
I’m not sure the two are exclusive. We do not have to choose one and ignore the other. That seems to be a false comparison.
We should boldy confront heresy like Rob Bell’s. We should also confront hypocrisy – claiming to believe in hell while living lives that belie that belief.
Both are important, Paul.
Dave, First, the quote is from Platt, not me. I did not take him to be presenting them as mutually exclusive nor did I interpret them that way in my comment. Thus the words “louder” and “stronger.” I certainly didn’t say that we should be silent about one and only address the other. Now, you may not agree that functional universalism is worse than intellectual universalism. All I’m saying is that if you do agree with Platt’s statement that it is, then it seems to me to be a disconnect that the evangelical world is all aflutter about Rob Bell’s… Read more »
I guess I would say that universalism of any form is contrary to the gospel. I’m guessing that if you pinned down Platt, he would admit that his statement that one is worse than the other was more rhetorical than mathematical. The only way in which, I suppose, you could say that functional universalism is worse is in its hypocrisy. To openly advocate universalims as Bell does is evil. To SAY you believe that lost people are going to hell but to do nothing about it is not only false, but also hypocritical – living against your own convictions. If… Read more »
Luke 18:9-14 ” 9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but… Read more »
Dave, I haven’t commented on Rob Bell’s book anywhere. Ever. Until this comment thread. I would argue that there is another reason functional universalism is dangerous (and, not speaking hyperbolically, more [allegedly, because I haven’t read it] dangerous than Rob Bell’s book): because intellectual universalism is so easy to dismiss. I mean, the internet was busy dismissing Rob Bell’s book before the ink was even dry. It’s the only book in the history of Amazon.com to ascend to #1 before it was even available to ship, and in large part because of a throng of evangelicals anxious to take it… Read more »
No real quarrels with any of that.
I can only imagine how much his heart must have pounded (and the heart of every preacher watching the video) to want the chance to open-air preach the gospel in that place where Pastor Platt was standing. Powerful video.