Jesus Wants to Save Christians - Bell & Golden

I just finished Rob Bell and Don Golden’s book, Jesus Wants to Save Christians and found it to be very helpful and challenging. Here are a few excerpts from their book:

The writer, or writers, of Genesis keeps returning to (an) eastward metaphor, insisting that something has gone terribly wrong with humanity, and that from the very beginning humans are moving in the wrong direction. (13)

At the height of their power, Israel misconstrued God’s blessing as favoritism and entitlement. They became indifferent to God and to their priestly calling to bring liberation to others.

There’s a word for this. A word for what happens when you still have the power and the wealth and the influence, and yet in some profound way you’ve blown it because you’ve forgotten why you were given it in the first place.

The word is exile.

Exile is when you forget your story.

Exile isn’t just about location; exile is about the state of your soul.

Exile is when you fail to convert your blessing into blessings for others.

Exile is when you find yourself a stranger to the purposes of God. (45)

The descendants of Solomon find themselves enslaved in Babylon. They once had the palace and the temple and slaves and the thriving economy and the massive military.

And then, exile.

They used to be on top. They used to have power. They used to rule. But then, nothing. They blew it.

And they weep. They cry out. In Babylon.

And what happens when people cry out? In Egypt, the cry kick-started redemption. In Egypt they cried out in their slavery, and God heard their cry and did something about it.

When the system works for us, when we have the power and choice, when we’re ruling Jerusalem, when we have no needs to speak of, who needs to cry out?

Crying reminds us of our dependence on God

Weeping leads us to reconnect with God. (52-53)