Mars Hill Conference “Isn’t She Beautiful” Notes

A couple of notes on these, well, notes; first of all all of the highlighted portions are there because I used each of them in one of the blogs on Isn’t She Beautiful that I wrote. Each color refers to a different post as I went through each day…yeah, I’m a dork. Get over it. Secondly, there is a reason that the notes for the session on Narrative Theology and the session on elders is a bit short. The breakout sessions were poor.

The speaker for Narrative Theology probably could have really opened my eyes to some thing when it comes to this form of theology – I’m a big fan already, but when Bell speaks highly of someone I expect quite a bit. Unfortunately what he delivered was both much too dumbed-down (probably to reach for the lowest common denominator) and too specific (he chose to focus on Genesis 1-3 specifically) which you will probably be able to tell from the notes. We left after the first 20 minutes or so – if someone stayed for all of it and disagrees with me for some reason I will reconsider my stance. Right now I am wondering why a session which could have been really amazing was seemingly reduced.

I am keeping in mind, however, that I am a bit more familiar with the topic than most probably were at the conference. In any case…

The elders session was equally disappointing. I was expecting to see quite a bit – detailed background into the church for one, not to mention some glances into how the church is run behind the scenes. This wasn’t the case. We were given a shallow presentation and a few (noteworthy, for sure) facts sprinkled here and there. There was a noticable murkiness to the answers the two available elders gave, though part of me wondered how much they really had to tell. I was more than disappointed to see one of them show up in sweats…

But maybe I’m being too critical. I only want to give some explanation into why there are so many notes for Bell’s speaches (as if that should need any explanation) and why there is so little for others.

On a related note, does anyone else think that Rob may be a one man army, as far as the church’s success? I’m beginning to wonder…

Rob Bell brought that nipping into question last weekend. He gave it a name and a face. He said “turn around and chase that down.”

Bell didn’t say a whole lot that was shocking to me (or many others). What he did do is reaffirm and strengthen ideas that had already sprung up in my mind. He gave us tangible examples of what we’ve dreamt of. That’s why it was such a powerful couple of days.

I want to seek out and work toward a holistic salvation that reaches to the ends of the earth, a salvation that doesn’t end with my personal experience of it. I want to see God’s power through social justice, ending poverty and famine, and curing disease. I don’t want to settle for anything less.

Bell’s advice for someone currently established in a church that is “sick” and more self-serving than anything else was: leave. One person said (in a half joking manner, I’m sure) that they would do more effective ministry at their local bar. Bell said go there.

These are the kinds of things I was thinking about on the drive back.

These are the kinds of things I will be thinking about for a long time. In that sense these aren’t final thoughts on the content of the trip: if anything they are a beginning.

Rob Bell, your words had an effect on me. Their effect may not be fully realized for some time, but something is at work. Thank you.

Something I need to remember is that I’m not yet in the position to move on a lot of the things moving my spirit right now. It’s frustrating, but in the end I’m going to bend to modern times and methods and push through “the system.” By the system I mean college and (probably) graduate school. The best thing I can do right now is push forward. The nice part, however, is that I can be preparing from this point forward with my goal in mind.

I’m not the only one struggling through these thoughts and decisions right now. Dave Crow posted his notes earlier this week too. There are even notes up on a Mars Hill member’s blog. I’m sure there are dozens of people talking about this in dozens of blogs right now.

The point is this isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. In a sense I’m sure Bell knew what he was doing with this conference. He was making history, believe it or not.

Oh, and I know one more thing. I won’t be missing a single Bell conference or speaking tour from now on. His next book, Sex God, comes out this March. His next speaking tour will be this fall; it’s called The Gods Aren’t Angry. Take my advice: be there.

p.s. I ended up with 43 pages of typed notes. Rock on.

The questions were all submitted by those attending the conference, and answered by both Rob and Don Golden.

What if the pastor you work with may be working for the other side?

Resist and he will flee.

How do we stay away from the breakdowns that seem to accompany church leadership?

This answer is deeply connected to things like feeding the soul and rhythm and patterns in your life. First is the issue of sustainability. You can do anything for six months and almost anything for a year – but the scriptures don’t give short bursts as the measure of maturity. Very few pastors think of their work as a marathon; most have been taught to think of production and not discipleship.

How many signed up for a revolution and ended up running a spiritual business?

It is important to withdraw and take time to replenish your soul. The greater the crowds are in Jesus’ ministry the more often you see him withdrawing and spending time alone. This is the picture we are given of a mature ministry. The greater the responsibility is the greater the eucharist and thus the greater we must withdraw to be replenished.

We must embrace our limits to reach our potential. Just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should. What’s the healthiest pattern in your life?

Here is the key to this: do this with your spouse and family. Make expectations known. Take your calendar and show it to those you report to. “Here is what you want me to do, here is what I’ve been doing. The problem is I’m being pulled into this and this.”

Your kids don’t care about the size of your steeple. Your wife doesn’t care. They want you fully present, rested, and healthy. They don’t want you giving your best energies to the church and giving them what’s left over. You have a pastor’s heart, that’s what got you into this. But you need to learn to control that valve. You need to learn to say no. You need to learn to say no like Jesus or you will burn out.

What’s with not having a church sign?

You found us. (throws paper away)

It’s just a gathering place. It’s not a church. It’s a building. We even tell kids, it’s not a church, it’s an old mall, run! We want to equip you so that you can leave, because the action is not here – the action is out there. Theologically, the understanding is that every Christian has a context already: already has friends, coworkers, neighborhood, etc. They already have a context – the issue is this person needs to be trained and equipped to have radar for what God is up to in the world they’re already in.

What happens is the church can send people the message that the real action is in the building. Sundays, Mondays, and Wendesdays are all time they don’t spend in the world. So then churches have to have special training sessions to teach people how to be relevant. Sometimes what can happen is the church can actually be at odds with the community, because all the people who would be changing the community are extracted out of the very community they are supposed to be blessing.

How do we have church services that end with a giant “Go”!

If you can resolve this sermon in an hour and fifteen minutes then this sermon didn’t do its job. It should equip you so that the only way you can resolve the message is to go and work it out. It can’t be a self contained message. We once had people stand up and face outside, away from the center, and said “Who, this week, are you going to go and bless?” Now go do it.

How can you help us with steeple envy?

The person who teaches and the person who leads are usually different kinds of people – it may be best to separate those roles.

Dan recommends not knowing anything about the church; in other words approach the idea with ignorance. Ask

• Who is Jesus among you?
• Why did He come to town?
• How are you going to organize yourself in response?
• What does it mean to have Jesus today in this world?

I’m a pastor in an affluent community. Personally we don’t know any poor or homeless. How do we connect and serve besides sending checks?

First, shake in your boots. Recognize that God came for the weak and if you don’t have the names of poor people, if you don’t know people who need you or could benefit from you, how could you know Jesus? You need to get saved by finding people that you can help.

What would it be like if a church in America, with all of its resources, viewed its role and responsibility the same way African churches do? What if our life became the church too?

Recognize and then go find Christ where he is always found, among the weak.

I am a Christian education director at a church, in seminary. If I survive, I hope to be a pastor. However my pastor has taken it upon himself to mentor me. He often says to keep my opinions quiet and “survive the system”. I don’t believe this is worth my time or the kingdom’s – what should I do? What do you do if your church represents the exact antithesis of what we’re talking about today? When is it time to stay and push reluctant Christians and when is it time to leave? Is there a value in staying at a church and working to fix it from the inside out?

You can’t take people where they don’t want to go. Not everybody is restless. For some people it works how it is. When we try and drag them where they don’t want to go we end up exerting lots of energy to bring them where they have no desire to go. They aren’t ready. The old thing still works for them.

Sometimes the best way to respect people is to let them have their desires. This is a very seeker insensitive approach, but it is something we see countless times throughout the ministry of Jesus.

Whatever you’re interested in doing, start it in your living room. If you can’t get something started in your living room, even just a book group, I hope you don’t get a building.

If you need to leave the church to find your faith then do it. Working out your salvation is more important than working out a role in Church, inc.

That’s it? The best we can do is some other life? Is this really just fire insurance? Is this our message to the world? That’s despair. No wonder we have to use words like relevant, the message is all about another world.

I need help today.

Rob Bell, Isn’t She Beautiful?

Bell brought to light some questions that I think we all have; he questioned the nature of salvation itself. In many of the churches we are a part of, questioning something like that would result in either blank stares or being asked to leave. Those sorts of things aren’t allowed to be questioned.

This weekend they were.

He took us through around 30+ scripture verses talking about salvation. It was intense and very cool. In the end it seemed that to take the modernist approach to the scriptures would mean there were at least a dozen ways of “receiving salvation”. Bell said:

Salvation is a free gift given by God, there’s nothing you can do to get it. So all you have to do is…wait, that doesn’t work.

Salvation is free, there’s nothing you can do to get it, all you have to do is…(shouts: Accept it! Receive it!)…Really? Because those sound like verbs.

Rob Bell, Isn’t She Beautiful

His point was that the nice neat and simple answers fall apart when you actually live. Not only that, but “if you only had the Bible to find out about salvation” (a nice little jab, I think) it would appear there are many different ways one can be given the kingdom. There are accounts of things being said (Luke 23), accounts of rebirth (John 3), forgiveness (Matthew6v14), belief (John11v25-32), salvation through the faith of friends (Matthew 9), and even an awkward exchange of questions (Acts 9). In the end Bell’s point was to show that there seems to be a number of different ways you can enter the kingdom. In fact it looks like God is willing to meet people right where they are. Is there a limit to salvation? Can we put a limit on God’s salvation? Are we doing a disservice when we say that “this is the one true way?” Oftentimes, I would say, we are saying the one true way is the way that we were taken in.

People stumble into the kingdom in all sorts of ways.

Now, the different theologies. He described destination theology and journey theology. Destination theology involves the “in” or “out” metaphor and language. The point is to get “in” and then bring other people “in”. (I have even talked about the exclusive nature of a Christian ‘club’ before…)

We are all very familiar with destination theology. Journey theology, however, is the understanding that salvation is a way of life that you enter into – one in which there isn’t a single destination. There are many moments of arrival along the way. There is the moment you were able to forgive, the moment you overcame self doubt, the moment you were able to trust again; and all of these things are a part of your holistic salvation.

Is that exciting or what?

Of course the cross is about personal salvation. That’s a big part of what this is all about. But it isn’t all. This thing is as wide as creation itself – the cross extends to the end of the earth, and that is what we’re all a part of. Again, it gets exciting to think about (just think of this practically, explaining this to a group of kids at a youth event) being a part of something cosmic, something that wants to bring about shalom, a peace, to the entire world.

Live the kind of life where God can dwell among us. Be weary of any form of spirituality that argues that the goal is escape. God has not given up on this world; he will not, and he wants to reclaim the whole thing. God is looking for partners. Be weary of any escapist theology that locates our home as anywhere else than what God has always called our home. Our home has been invaded but it will not last. The story does not begin with sin – it begins with shalom. Creation begins in Genesis 1 and 2, not Genesis 3.

Rob Bell, Isn’t She Beautiful?

This life isn’t about the next. It’s about this one. Bring salvation to this world. Bring the kingdom to this world. Stop thinking about heaven and hell as abstract things that we will someday encounter. Heaven and hell are here. We’ve all experienced tastes of heaven and we’ve all experienced hell before. Instead of looking forward to a day to come, we need to look around us and say “What can we do?” As Christians, as living eucharists to the world, what can we do?

Bell was giving us gold tonight. Pure gold.

Oh, and I have 25 pages of notes. 25.

There are two forms of creativity, Bell says. There is the kind that says “I’m so far outside the box.” And then there’s another kind which says “What box?”

When this creativity truly comes from the soul it’s addictive – you just want to be a part of it. It seems real. And it seems like the kind of creativity that doesn’t fit into a box (the second kind). Those are the kinds of creativity that get me fired up, those are the ones I bookmark. These are the ones that keep you up at night thinking about, dreaming up your own ideas.

A pastor is an artist. A pastor uses creativity in a special way, and that’s a lot of what Bell talked about tonight. It’s 1:00 o’clock in the morning and I’m still fired up about it. The art of tension, for instance, was what he described as being the reason we don’t have to resolve everything in a nice neat little sermon.

Sometimes we do people a great injustice by resolving things.

Rob Bell, “Isn’t She Beautiful?”

Jesus, for example, doesn’t end the story of the prodigal son in the way that Hollywood does it. It isn’t an evangelical approach. There is no nice neat little answer, there is no series of points delivered, and it really isn’t a conclusive ending. It just stops. Why? Well, for one it gives the reader the chance to put themselves into the story and do so from a variety of times and contexts within their life. It also places trust in the story that it has the ability to work through people on its own. But it is weird, since it isn’t the way we are used to thinking today.

Bell talked about the art of turning the edit button off; he used this to describe how we should search for ideas in all of God’s creation. Don’t limit God to working for you in a fifteen minute block of preparation time on a Tuesday afternoon. Get out and find God. And when you do find God don’t talk yourself out of nurturing your ideas. Most of Bell’s great ideas begin with “eh, what if?” The example he used was this conference. Six months ago he said “What if we held a pastor’s conference and the first morning presented a 2 hour talk on being a living Eucharist…”

He pointed out that abandonment is central to creativity. Anyone reading this who has truly tried being creative or innovative has faced some abandonment, I’m sure.

Finally (well not finally for the session – there was much more; what I mean is ‘finally’ to what I have to share here) there is the art of risk. In Bell’s situation, in mine, in many of the lives of emerging ministry leaders in this postmodern world, risk is a very real issue.

Sometimes I think preaching is like learning to play the violin in public.

Rob Bell, Isn’t She Beautiful?

Bell brought up the criticism that he faced after Velvet Elvis was published. If you haven’t read that book by the way, stop reading this and go do it right now. It’s better than anything you’ll find on my blog, trust me. Anyway he brought it up to say that he received a lot of negative criticism concerning his book, many of which showed up anonymously on Amazon.com. He received anonymous letters. People who had never met him said horrible things about him, his wife, and his sons. There were blogs about him. He was hurt.

So what is his advice? Don’t read anonymous letters or comments. Be careful what you expose yourself to. You don’t owe them your time (whoa, that was a big one). Oh, and don’t google yourself.

It was around this time that Rob put an e-mail he received from one of his friends on the screen and read it to us. It was encouraging him in spite of the nasty things he would hear from certain groups of people. And toward the end, just when the e-mail became most heartfelt, Rob choked up. He was losing it. He was trying really hard, but he was losing it. It was a part of the e-mail where his friend was telling him just how much he was doing in the world, and how it was worth more than he would ever know. As Rob struggled to get the last few lines out, applause broke out in the room. Before long he was given a standing ovation. All at once over 2,000 leaders from churches on all corners of the globe were standing on their feet and applauding the man in front of them as a spiritual inspiration, as a leader. They were saying thank you.

Rob wept.

It was a beautiful moment, and one that I’m glad I could be there to experience.

Rob made a final point before he was finished for the night, and it’s what I want to finish my night with too.

For every fundamentalist you offend there may be 1,000 people who say ‘ah, now I’m listening’…When you’re working to keep so many people happy, remember that there are those who need to hear what you’re saying.

Rob Bell, Isn’t She Beautiful?

Talk about being blown away.

To the exciting stuff: he discussed the idea of the “living Eucharist”. This idea stems first and foremost from the Eucharist that we are called to take part in by Christ Himself. The word, literally, means “thanks for gifts”. It is in the partaking of His body and His blood that we receive the Eucharist from God and are rejuvenated, literally reborn. I love how director David Fincher puts it in his movie – from Chuck Palahniuk’s book of the same name – called Fight Club:

This was my church. Every evening I died, and every evening I was born again. Babies don’t sleep this well.

(Narrator leaving a self-help group meeting, loosely copied from memory, emphasis mine)

In the church, then, we are referred to as Christ’s body – we are to, in turn, be a gift unto the world as Christ is a gift unto us all. We are to bring the Eucharist to them – to be a living Eucharist. We see this theme throughout various parts of scripture:

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

2 Corinthians 4:7-10 (emphasis mine, NASB)

We are the living Eucharist to the world, here to be broken and poured out for the sake of others. And this means there is a cost – the same way we benefit in life when Christ gives His body, His Eucharist to us, others gain when we give them ours. This is why, Bell suggests (and I agree) that those in ministry experience an exhaustion that isn’t graspable outside of ministerial work.

There is a supernatural weight to church leadership your friends who sell insurance don’t understand. Your work has an extra gauge on your dashboard. It is the weight of Eucharist. You carry a certain weight of the bride of Jesus. Unless you’ve carried it you don’t understand.

Rob Bell, “Isn’t She Beautiful?” (hastily copied by me)

When he drives home on Sundays after services he describes his bones as being tired. It’s a kind of exhaustion not many experience – and it’s because anytime someone says “I really got something from that” or “That really spoke to me” – someone gave. Someone had to give for them to gain.

When we give we must receive, otherwise we will burn out. Or we will waste the time of our congregation by slacking. Or we will figure we have “lost it”. This is why Sabbath is so important, especially for pastors. Bell describes pastors who don’t take any of their vacation time as stupid. He suggests giving the time to “the smart people”. He then went on to say how he regularly sets down rules (both as standards and guides for himself) about how he will have dinner with his family every night, how he will enjoy Sabbath every Saturday, and how his family comes before everything else. It was very inspiring.

Bell said one thing this morning that perfectly describes this specific burning I have felt for a time, and though I have tried at vocalizing it, it never quite came out the way I wanted it to. He first told the story of Simon the sorcerer from Acts chapter eight. His interactions with Philip regarding the spirit are interesting: go read it. Simon asks Philip how much it would cost him to gain the ability to bless people and heal and, generally speaking, bring the Holy Spirit to people. And Philip laughs in his face.

What’s the message of this story? What truth can we grab? It seems that this spirit – call it the Eucharist – can not be purchased. (Some of you who know me already know where I’m going.) The Eucharist, as Bell describes it, “must be wrestled with to discover what it would look like in your area; you already intuitively know.” Remember, the Eucharist is the giving of one’s self. When thought of this way, it does make sense why it can’t be commodified. It makes sense why it can’t be purchased on desperate pastor dot com. It makes sense why churches can’t take a model from a “working church” (whatever that means, usually just big) and apply it to their situation, in their town. It makes sense why those churches fail. It makes sense. It makes a lot of sense.

I don’t want to take the easy way out. I want to ask the hard questions and face the tough situations – what does it look like to be a living Eucharist? What would a church like that look like? What would it look like in my area?

If no one is broken open and no one is emptied out no one will be healed.

Rob Bell, “Isn’t She Beautiful?” (hastily copied by me)

I’ve mentioned Mars Hill many times before. I love the church. I love the pastor (Rob Bell), I love the theology they embrace (of the narrative taste) and the purposes they work toward (that of the global church and holistic redemption). I’ve enjoyed Bell ever since I first experienced a Nooma video (nooma is greek for spirit, by the way!) and even more once I read Velvet Elvis. It only makes sense that I would jump at the opportunity to come to their very first (as far as I know) pastor’s conference. The anticipation has risen since I first found out I would be able to go, and I’m really excited about hearing Bell speak in the morning.

Speaking of which, check out the itinerary for Monday and Tuesday. Go ahead, salivate. I know you want to.

Tonight Rob asked everyone that is going to the conference over the next two days to stand up. A good number did, I would say in the range of a few hundred people. If you take into account the two services earlier today from which he found the same response, there should be about 1200-1400 attending this conference. There are ministry leaders from nearby in Ohio, South Carolina, and as far as Los Angeles. There are also ministries represented from as far as Kenya and Sweden. This thing is rockin’.

After that welcome (and an enjoyable 30 minute worship experience – very cool) Rob gave a talk concerning Luke 17 and Matthew 6. Verses 7-10 from the Luke passage were especially interesting to Rob. He used these passages to discuss the idea of “entitlement” in regard to Christians. It’s actually really interesting, because the Luke passage contains a parable that I don’t think I’ve ever heard preached about before.

“Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come immediately and sit down to eat’?

“But will he not say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink’?

“He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he?

“So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’”

Luke 17: 7-10

This is saying that when you do good things for the sake of God don’t expect something from God. Do it because you are a servant. He also threw out an interesting challenge/idea (like Bell often does): work toward making what you want to do the same as what you should do. Maybe this is the reward that God intends for us when he says we will be rewarded when we give. It makes sense: imagine living the way God wants you to live because you honestly want to live that way. This is a reward in itself, is it not?

C.S. Lewis even says that we are to do good works because the reward we receive is eternal life; more specifically, only the good works we do will live on eternally. Everything else will be burned off in the fire. (Credit to discussion afterward with Tim Lloyd after the evening, can’t give Bell that one.)

And that was it. I love his style. Bell gave a couple ideas, gave some great insight (and the man is charming) and the message was over. He did interview a member of the church as a way to illustrate how God’s story is told through all of us, but it turned out not really being that inspiring. It was a nice story, but it went on too long and it was tough for me to find the direct connection between what he was talking about and the interview. (I wonder if this isn’t only my modernized-practical-application-of-scripture mentality that has been unwillingly programmed into my preferences. I plan to fight it if this is the case.)

One more thing: Tomorrow at 2 o’clock there is a Q&A session with Rob Bell and Dan Golden. Dan is apparently another pastor of Mars Hill’s. Tim and Trent and I have decided to be sure to have a set of intelligent, thought out, and worthwhile questions to ask (before any idiots jump in to screw the hour up – like what happened at the Donald Miller night) that we really want to know the answers to. We didn’t have the chance to sit down and talk tonight, but we probably will tomorrow morning. I know this is short notice, but I was wondering what anyone else thinks. What should we ask Rob Bell during the Q&A? What would you ask? There is another session for questions on Tuesday, so I should be able to catch all responses and have the chance to ask them.