One of my jobs as a pastor is to review and evaluate materials that can be taught in the church and home, determining whether or not they are consistent with our confessional beliefs as reformed baptists. As it pertains to student ministry, I very rarely use pre-produced curriculum in my teaching. As I see it, I am called to preach and teach and will do so. Therefore, I don’t put a lot of time into looking at things that would be used in any context outside of Sunday school or that some families may ask me to look at prior to their using it in family worship.
With that said, I have followed the NOOMA phenomenon for quite some time. I have had a lot of people mention to me (not at Ephesus Church) that they really enjoy the videos and the teaching style of Rob Bell, yet have never done a critical examination of what he is, and often more importantly, what he isn’t saying. I have sat in various circles that have praised Bell for his book Velvet Elvis or even his Kabbalah based NOOMA videos. One of the areas of typical American student ministry that fills me with righteous indignation is the blatant ignorance with which pastors and/or student ministry leaders will go about finding curriculum to provide to their students. I get a lot of mail and phone calls from so-called Christian companies that are attempting to sell me the next best thing for student ministry and sadly, I see many churches taking it and using it. Just like preaching pastors who download their sermons from the internet, these churches have bought into the idea that doing the hard work of preparing to teach the sufficient Word of God is not worth the time and effort that goes into it, freeing them up to plan more trips to the bowling alley. When they do this, they open the box of false doctrine and shallow theology. As long as it’s easy to use, captivating, and requires little effort to prepare, it’s used. This explains a lot of the popularity behind Bell and NOOMA. Uncritical, undiscerning minds don’t mind when a little mysticism slips in here, or the lack of gospel slips in there.
I am thankful for a 3 part series of articles by Greg Gilbert at IX Marks called “The Scoop’a on NOOMA.” He provides some great analysis on Bell, the NOOMA videos, and the lack of orthodox Christianity in both. If you have watched or plan on watching any of the NOOMA videos, please take some time to read these articles:
The Scoop’a on NOOMA — Part 1
The Scoop’a on NOOMA — Part 2
The Scoop’a on NOOMA — Part 3
Filed under: Culture, Doctrine, Ministry, Pastoral, Theology, Trends, student ministry
Wow Nick, thanks for passing this information along. I watched many of the small NOOMA clips on youtube. I don’t know why I keep getting amazed at the absence of the true gospel message in popular American churches (I use that noun loosely here) but this is another in a long decline of truth. I was totally blow away by the ignorance of “Bullhorn”. It makes me wonder if Bell ever read about the life of John the Baptist. Talk about your bullhorn guy.
Barry: Thanks for stopping by! Brother, I’ve been following NOOMA for a while now and am constantly shocked by the lack of gospel and the overabundance of mysticism — even more alarming, as I pointed out in the post, is the fact that so many “churches” and “pastors” are using this stuff as though nothing negative is at stake… The Gospel is at stake! Paul made very, very clear in his letter to the Galatians that there is no other gospel… unfortunately, Bell dances all over that statement and makes the gospel into a moral, social thing. Sad.
“Bullhorn” is crazy, and John the Baptist is what I too thought of when I saw that one. Go to Youtube and search for some of the parodies of that video, especially the one that was produced by Way of the Master. They do a great job pointing out the flaws in what he’s saying and how nothing in there aligns biblically. Good stuff. Thanks again for commenting.
Nick,
I have been a part of a community which loved Rob Bell’s stuff. I see the rise of and attraction to Bell’s (and the modern church’s) theological shallowness as part of a general pattern throughout history: skepticism gives way to orthodoxy then gives way to stoicism and back to orthodoxy than to skepticism again….The period of skepticism coincides with more hedonism and materialism. Perhap’s you see Francis Schaeffar as helping the church move to a more orthodox position which is being idealized throughout the nation in Piper and Sproul influenced congregations. Out of the orthodox position arises the mystical, stoic teachings of Rob Bell, the Eastern Oral Church’s tradition, etc. The teachers rely on the visual over and above the mind. Is it this simple? No. However, with mass communication being what it is, the patterns are less predictable, but nonetheless the pendulum continues to swing with Man’s never ending desire to figure “it” (the Trinity, faith, holiness) out.
The positive on the Bell end, I see, is the yearning for meaning and meaning embodied in stories and parables. Man is a narrative creature and Bell may swing and miss on some theological issues now, but perhaps in the long run, like Willow Creek, as the leaders dwell on this side of Biblical inerrancy, they will become more deep. What we can be sure to do is what I think you are doing well, Nick, is finding sources that combine the moving pathos of the visual medium with Word oriented and deeply theological instruction. Your current video series on Sunday nights seems to do both well…
Never heard of it before. Looks like it would be *unwise* to use it.
Ted: Great comments, and thank you for the encouragement. I think your analysis is right on – we are certainly in an age of Skepticism (hence the title of Tim Keller’s latest book!). I am amazed as I watch the rise of Eastern mystic practices creep into the Church, to include things like contemplative prayer and meditation, labyrinth walking, and “aesthetic worship” (painting, drawing, etc.). These are all elements of a skeptics faith, I believe, because they are looking for something more. It couldn’t possibly be that the elements of worship that have been regulated by God in His word could be all there is to it — singing, preaching, Scripture reading, prayer, and the sacraments just don’t do it for them, so they look all around for other means to satisfy their hedonistic desires, only to come up short when they realize God is not there.
Perhaps my remarks will be disregarded because I am a clergywoman but I need to respond to the concerns about the comment of “eastern mystic practices” creeping into “the Church.” The examples given of contemplative prayer and meditation, labyrinth walking and aesthetic worship are ancient Western Christian practices. Also, Jesus said to go into all the world baptizing and preaching the Word that all might be saved. If some of these practices or alternative styles of worship draw people to Christ, then I believe this is as “God regulated” (whatever that means) as what you describe as orthodox worship.
God’s Spirit is ever at work renewing and transforming our minds. Perhaps we may be generous in our orthodoxy to allow God to work as God sees fit.
If you don’t like the message of the Nooma series don’t use it in your church. But please don’t criticize it in such a way that it will limit others from accessing the Word of God and winning others for Christ.