The Evangelical Drama Queens: Bell, Piper and Japan

I can’t even think of a witty remark or opening for this post, because I feel like I can’t even think straight.

I have read for the past few weeks, the saga that has unfolded around Rob Bell, his book “Love Wins” and the evangelical firestorm that ensued. From John Piper and his irresponsible tweeting (of which he is now a repeat offender) to Bill Kinnon’s hilarious Rob Sheen vs Charlie Bell mash up, to Greg Boyd, everyone has seemed to chime in. Of course the neo-calvinists were all too quick to compare Bell to McLaren and recount the theological tradegies of the now de funked Emergent Movement. My Google Reader has been full up and my Twitter lines were all garbled with Mr Bell for the past two weeks. For goodness sakes he got interviewed by Martin Bashir.

I gave up reading all about this about 5 days ago, so my apologies if this has already been said or suggested...but why is it that Rob Bell and his new book got more attention than a devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan? Why is it that we are more concerned about the correct theology and orthodoxy of a guy with black rimmed glasses then we are with thousands of people dying and hundreds of thousands being displaced in Japan?

I don’t get it. I just don’t get it.

I would love to offer some kind of cure all answer to fix what I feel is really a plague of misplaced priorities, but I don’t have any suggestions. I can’t toss stones while in a glass house. Every day I misplace my priorities on things that are of no eternal value. I get caught up in the daily living just like the rest of us.

I guess it was easier for the North American evangelical church to pontificate on justification, salvation, heaven/hell and all those other Theology 101 subjects then to offer suggestions as to why God allows such horrific suffering at the hands of Mother Nature. It appears it was easier to debate about whether Rob Bell is a Universalist then it was to offering some answers as to what now shall we do in light of this suffering.

By now, I just would have hoped we could do better, especially when the church of Japan is reeling under the enormous tragedy that has transpired. I actually read a review of "Love Wins" that stated "souls hang in the balance"....all the while I was thinking of the souls lost in the earthquake and tsunami and all the souls trying to recover in Japan after this unspeakable loss.

I will read “Love Wins” because I can appreciate what Rob Bell is doing and the questions he was asking. I have read every other book he has written and have found some great insight in those pages. I won’t read it because of the “brew ha ha” that has surrounded it’s arrival. And I won’t try to get a copy as soon as possible to review it and boost my blog stats.

I wish the church of North American wasn’t such a drama queen, but it is. It loves the drama just as much as the Jersey Shore crew. Oh we try to spin it, and slap some holy on it, but deep down its like we are all back in high school.

And all the while we bicker in the halls, pass notes in class, and snicker at our lockers, the world takes note...watching and waiting for the bride to finally graduate.