Mars, Venus, and unintentional dismounts

Rob Bell is from Mars, Baptists are from Venus.

When I first came to college two years ago, I was sent off with a strict warning by my conservative Baptist father to stay far away from Mars Hill. For those of you who don't know, Mars Hill is a church in the area that is pastored by fairly well known author and speaker Rob Bell. Baptists don't like Rob Bell, so it follows that they uphold a severe dislike of his church as well.

Rob Bell has made some controversial statements. He questions what is really at the heart of the Christian faith. He doesn't always take a stance on issues that are the center of many of the modern church's debates. He mentions salvation and grace, but is highly vague on how we accept that. In research I've done, I've often seen the name "Rob Bell" and the word "blasphemy" in the same sentence.

Back to two years ago. I didn't trust anyone who quoted Bell, attended Mars, or even reflected positive attitudes toward either of them. It was one of those, "Oh, you go to church there" kind of things. My Baptist horse was a very high one.

I took horse riding lessons for six years. I was pretty decent, but I was always terrified of falling off. I wasn't scared that it would hurt, but to me that was the biggest mistake I could possibly make, so I dreaded it. My instructor, Bridget, always told me, though, that it takes ten falls to make a good rider. Unfortunately, I only made it to three before I quit because it was too expensive. Another thing Bridget used to say is that falling wasn't a fall--it was an "unintentional dismount."

I met a few people at school here who made me reconsider my assumptions that Mars Hill housed the devil disguised as a caucasian man with spiffy glasses, but there was one person in particular who definitely was the cause of an unintentional dismount from my Baptist horse. It was someone I had gotten to know, someone who challenged me, someone who--dare I say it?--I trusted. Then, a variation on the typical response: "What?! You go to church there?!"

Disbelief followed, then a few deep breaths, a couple calm debates, and finally, my agreement to give it a chance. I read two of his books and am on the third. I listened to a couple of the church's sermon podcasts. I've been to two services there.

And that's exactly what I think--Rob Bell is from Mars, and Baptists are from Venus. That doesn't make one better than the other. Yeah, Bell and the church's other pastor, Shane Hipps, have made some statements that I definitely don't agree with, but they're nothing that is integral to my faith. To me, it seems like, for preaching, they have their own agenda and simply pull in a few verses to offer it weak support. But, crazy as I know it sounds, Baptists aren't right about everything, either. Bell's books have made some excellent points and I've found parts of them highly compelling. While I'm far more comfortable on my home planet, it's proven that the conditions on Mars are far more suited to human life than Venus. Imagine that--a habitat more welcoming than that of the Baptists? Who would've thought. Overall, I think both places have fascinating aspects and both have a specific role, and the members of each could learn a lot from each other about how to live and what to believe. Mars isn't for me, but I think I'll continue my weekly interplanetary travel for the next month just to remember the significance of my unintentional dismount.