I just finished Rob Bell’s new book, that highly controversial one, called Love Wins. This is the part where I’m probably supposed to rip the guy a new one, and call him a heretic and a blasphemer and a false teacher and all that. That he’s headed straight for hell. That’s not what this blog is about.

Sure, his book is full of errors and misconceptions about God’s love. He has certainly strayed far from the faith of the apostles. But more than anything, I came away from the book feeling frustrated. He never really definitively states his position about heaven or hell or salvation or anything. He asks a lot of questions but fails to give real answers. That more than anything is what I found disappointing.

I am also challenged and sobered in regard to my own faith. There’s no guarantee that I can coast through life and maintain my beliefs. There’s no sure bet that I am safe from any kind of theological error if I am passive about my faith.

We as fallen human beings don’t naturally drift toward discipline and purity of heart and sound doctrine. If anything, we drift away from these things. That’s why the Bible calls us to work out (and not for) our salvation and to make sure our calling. It calls us to not accept what we hear from anyone, but test the spirits and see if these things are so, like the Bereans did in Acts.

It would be very easy to bash Rob Bell and throw him under the bus. But it’s harder to admit that tendancy toward error is in me, too. It’s scary to think that apart from the grace of God, there’s nothing I’m not capable of doing or saying or believing.

The best cure against heresy and error is to live the truth in such a way that it makes God look as big and great as He is. Not small through hate and meanness and one-upsmanship. But big enough to disagree with someone and still love them, to still pray for someone whose beliefs aren’t biblical.

So the takeaway is to guard your heart and make sure you know what God actually says by living and breathing and eating and drinking His Word. Add a dash (or a more likely a heaping helping) of humility and grace and prayer. Then embrace all of the truth of God, not just what is socially palatable or easy to digest, but all of it. And most of all, learn to love well, because in the end love does actually win.