Discussing the Bible

In Jesus’ world, it was assumed you had as much to learn from the discussion of the text as you did from the text itself. One person could never get too far in a twisted interpretation because the others were right there giving her insight and perspective she didn’t have on her own. Jesus said when he was talking about binding and loosing that ‘where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.’

Community, community, community. Together, with others, wrestling and searching and engaging the Bible as a group of people hungry to know God in order to follow God.

– Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis : 52.

 

Rabbis and Yokes

Different rabbis had different sets of rules, which were really different lists of what they forbade and what they permitted. A rabbi’s set of rules and lists, which was really that rabbi’s interpretation of how to live the Torah, was called that rabbi’s yoke. When you followed a certain rabbi, you were following him because you believed that rabbi’s set of interpretations were closest to what God intended through the Scriptures. And when you followed that rabbi, you were taking up that rabbi’s yoke.

One rabbi even said his yoke was easy.

– Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis : 47.

 

No amount of success can heal the soul

First, no amount of success can heal a person’s soul. In fact, success makes it worse… If you have issues around your identity, those issues will not go away if you “make it”. They will be there until they are hunted down and identified and dealt with. We often live under the illusion that when we reach that goal and complete our mission, those issues that churn on the inside will go away.

But it’s not true.

– Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis: 110.

 

Stealth acts of love

These are the kinds of people who change the world. They improvise and adapt and innovate and explore new ways to get things done. They don’t make a lot of noise, and they don’t draw a lot of attention to themselves.

– Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis: 168.

 

Some people aren’t going to become Christians like us

We have to rediscover love, period. Love that loves because it is what Jesus teaches us to do. We have to to surrender our agendas. Because some people aren’t going to become Christians like us no matter how hard we push. They just aren’t. And at some point we have to commit them to God, trusting that God loves them more than we ever could.

– Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis : 167.

 

Garden to a city

In Genesis 1 and 2, we are told of a garden, but in Revelation 21 and 22, we are told of a city. A city is more advanced, more complicated than a garden. If a garden is developed and managed and cared for, it is eventually going to turn into a city. If there was no sin or death, creation would still move forward because God doesn’t just want to reclaim things; God wants to seem them move forward.

– Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis : 161.

 

The Bible ends with God coming here

One of the most tragic things to ever happen to the gospel was the emergence of the message that Jesus takes us somewhere else if we believe in him. The Bible ends with God coming here. God, in the midst of people who can imagine nothing better, celebrating the life that we all share.

– Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis: 171.

 

Reclaiming innocence: believing in Christianity after being disillusioned

We can choose to reclaim our innocence together. We can insist that hope is real and that a group of people who love God and others really can change the world. We can reclaim our idealism and our belief and our confidence in the big ideas that stir us deep in our bones. We can commit all the more to being the kinds of people who are learning how to do what Jesus teaches us.

– Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis: p. 176.

 

Brick wall faith

It hit me while I was watching that for him faith isn’t like a trampoline; it’s a wall of bricks. Each of the core doctrines for him is like an individual brick that stacks on top of the others. If you pull one out, the whole wall starts to crumble. It appears quite strong and rigid, but if you begin to rethink or discuss even one brick, the whole thing is in danger. Like he said, no six-day creation equals no cross. Remove one, and the whole wall crumbles.

– Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis: repainting the Christian faith: p. 26