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February 23, 2007

Rob Bell and Donald Miller....asking the right questions

In my work with college students it has been interesting to see what type of "Christian" writers and thinkers influence them. Though the list of people vary, there are usually a couple that are really influential at certain times in a ministry.

Over the last couple of years two of those people have been Donald Miller and Rob Bell. Their writings and videos have been very influential in the lives of my students, as well as myself. There is something intangible (authenticity, honesty, vulnerability) in the way they communicate that college students are hungry for.

I know that both of these speakers can be controversial at times as well. But as others have noted in other blog posts, and as my students have noted, these guys are asking the right questions and are authentic in their wrestling with their faith. That is something fresh that a lot of college students often feel is lacking in many churches or generations.

We had the opportunity to bring in Donald Miller to speak to our group in October 2005. It was a packed out night and Miller did something different than we usually do. He did a book reading (couple of chapters) of his then to be published book, To Own A Dragon. After doing the reading which was great, he did a Q and A and stayed long after to talk with students. Though some of his answers and comments riled students up (i.e. views on politics mainly), all the students respected him, and appreciated having a speaker who could stir it up and get them to wrestle with some things they usually don't wrestle with.

Rob Bell is very much like this. And as I mentioned in the previous post we are going to be hosting The Sex God Tour on the campus of UCLA along with some other sponsors. My students and myself are excited about this on many levels. One, because there are many things that Bell has said or done that have influenced us. Second, we appreciate some of the controversy he brings because it always causes great discussion, and he gets them to think about things they usually don't think about. And honestly, most Christian authors, pastors, writers are not talking honestly about sex, and that is something that the college community is really wanting to talk about.

I'm a big fan of both of these guys. But I also want to share with you a couple of blog entries by Ben Witherington III. In these posts, Witherington dialogues about seeing Bell on the Sex God Tour, as well as talking about what he both appreciates about Bell, and what he wishes Bell would do differently.

"Velvet Elvis and the King"--Has he Left the Building?

Rob Bell hits Lexington and a Packed-Out House

HT: Brent Thomas

Any thoughts?

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Posted by rhett at February 23, 2007 12:44 PM

Comments

I have also found that Miller and Bell strike a chord with my generation (I am 23). I used "Blue Like Jazz" for several book studies... I agree with your sentiment that these guys are "authentic in their wrestling with their faith" and they're honest. Also, there is a fine line between not sounding condescending and sounding watered-down and childish; Miller and Bell walk that line nicely.

Posted by: jakebouma [TypeKey Profile Page] at February 28, 2007 12:15 AM

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