Middle of the Roadkill

I have a problem when it comes to agreeing with smart people. I have so few foundational, core beliefs and convictions that when theologians argue about certain "gray-area" topics, that I have yet to really understand, I find myself easily persuaded by whomever's opinion I have heard most recently. If I hear Marc Driscoll say something on Tuesday about free will that Timothy Keller contradicts on Friday, I will find myself all twisted up on Saturday as I feel lead to cross over from Driscoll's party to support Keller's campaign. Then on Sunday if I find myself around my peers discussing just such an issue as free will I am helpless but to lay down in the middle of the road as they wage war from both sides of the street. The most recent topic that has left me pondering which direction to go is the subject of Hell.

Obviously, there is no easy answer when it comes to the hot-button issue (cheesy pun intended). Is there a Hell, and if there is who goes there/what does it look like? I just read Rob Bell's book called Love Wins which guides readers to question their ideas of the traditional hell fire and brimstone theology in favor of a more post-modern approach to damnation. A lot of people took his approach to mean that he is a Universalist who believes that all people and all roads lead to Salvation. I don't believe he thinks that, but I could be wrong. He definitely does hold a kinda-sorta "new-age" vision of what Hell actually is that has definitely never been popularized before but definitely has scriptural support. Anyway, now I am reading Erasing Hell by Francis Chan, who's theology I have always loved. This book was in many ways written as a rebuttal to Bell's book. Chan's fear of the vision of Hell the Bible gives him is what inspires so much of his radical, "crazy love" based ministry. He says "we can't afford to be wrong on this one." I have to say, my ignorant self already agrees with him. But I digress.

This issue in particular has made be look inwardly at how I do theology in general, and how a lot of people come to form their beliefs. I believe Christianity in the West today has never been harder. There is an information overload and everybody who was ever able to speak or write has an ability to find a powerful voice in society. This has given birth to so many sects, denominations, and in the end an unimaginable number of different view points on everything God related. Some opinions are completely uninformed and easily ignored, yet there are so many studied, intellectual, wise people in the world, now and from generations past, who offer up completely opposing beliefs on everything from homosexuality to predestination to the End Times. So what's your average American Christian to do?

Most people that I have talked to about this just say "Well, keep studying and pray that God gives you the answers in time." But I have argued with Mormons (who I completely disagree with from years of my own study and prayer) who have told me "Look, I sincerely pray to God about this and that He show me the way if this religion is in anyway incorrect and I've felt no conviction from the Holy Spirit." What could I possibly say to that? They had been in the Church all their lives, done the 2 year mission, knew their Bible and yet they and I both stood at a crossroads of disagreement and God was telling neither of us "You are wrong."

I have no doubt both Francis Chan and Rob Bell love Jesus Christ with all their heart. I believe that John Calvin and Jacobus Arminius both loved Jesus Christ with all their heart, but they had completely different views when it came to Salvation. Maybe God wants us to disagree...I don't know. Maybe in the end all the quarreling is just supposed to show us how incredibly fascinating and complex our God is. The cliché line I hear is typically "Well, if we could figure out God then He wouldn't be God!" That is as true as it is annoying. I want answers, I want the truth, and I know every time I say that God is looking right back at me, while doing His best Jack Nicholson impression, saying "You can't handle the truth!" So in the meantime, I'll be in the middle of the road trying not to get run over by all those people who think they've found the answers.