AMARILLO, Texas (ABP) — Two Texas Baptist pastors weighed in on controversy over Rob Bell’s recent book questioning the traditional view of hell in a training session during the Oct. 24-26 annual meeting of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
During a G5 young leaders’ conference on the role of heaven and hell in evangelism, Howard Batson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Amarillo, Texas, described Bell, author of Love Wins, as a "master communicator" with a "passion to reach people with the story of Jesus." But he disputed Bell's most talked-about assertion that a loving God would not sentence his creation to eternal suffering in hell.
"The problem is, when you teach and preach false doctrine, it doesn't matter how noble your intentions or how eloquent your words," Batson said. "If our teachings are not based on the words of the Lord Jesus Christ and the writing and preaching of the apostles, they're a very dangerous theology."
Batson said Bell’s book uses "hermeneutical gymnastics" to mislead readers. By "simply asking questions," he said Bell twists passages of Scripture to send a new and alarming message: "That all that you learned about hell might not really be true after all."
"Bell implies that all people will eventually be saved — even if they reject the Lord's plan of salvation in this life — because 'God always gets what God wants,'" Batson said. "God will not fail in the end, and God doesn't want anyone to be lost."
Batson criticized Bell's lack of research and absence of any kind of "footnotes or endnotes" throughout the book.
"Bell simply rambles trying to make sense of the evangelical faith in which he was raised and the cultural diversity where he finds himself living," Batson said.
In an attempt to "rescue God from God's self," Bell creates his own image of God that is softer and more appealing to society, Batson said. But his claims fail the ultimate test of truth — the words of Christ.
"You will never turn a page in the gospel of Matthew that Jesus doesn't say something about hell or eternal punishment," Batson said. "How could Bell or anyone else seriously take the words of the writers or the evangelist and somehow edit away what the writers had to say, all the way to the end of the gospel of Matthew?"
Brent Gentzel, pastor of First Baptist Church in Kaufman, Texas, discusses the reality of hell at the G5 Conference, held in conjunction with the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting in Amarillo. (PHOTO/Robert Rogers)
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Affirming that statement, Brent Gentzel, pastor of First Baptist Church in Kaufman, Texas, outlined three points for Baptist leaders to follow when approaching the reality of hell.
First, leaders "should not try to be kinder than Jesus."
"Perhaps our desire to avoid speaking of judgment and hell is driven more by our desire to be liked and comfortable than it is by any true love for our neighbor," Gentzel proposed. "For if it is true that those who don't by faith acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are going to spend eternity, or even five minutes in hell, they need to know the stakes."
Second, leaders should "not try to be more seeker-sensitive than Paul." Gentzel pointed to a story in Acts 17, where Paul had the audacity to inform a group of philosophers — the "enlightened" — of their impending judgment. While many rejected his words, one man, Dionysius, trusted Christ as a result and went on to become a pastor.
Gentzel's third point served as a caution for all evangelistic efforts. "We should not preach cheap grace," he said.
"If your commitment to following Christ doesn't lead you to care for the poor, love the unborn, stand against injustice, use your talents for the kingdom of God, seek sexual purity and honor the Sabbath, you might not be a Christian," he said. "And hell might be your eternal destination."
For this reason, said, the necessity to preach the reality of eternal judgment is crucial.
"To leave that part of the story out of the narrative — or to choose to present a second hope that the Bible does not clearly present — does no favor to the lost," Gentzel said. "Above all things, may the judgment that is coming spur us to greater urgencies in the evangelistic work of our churches."
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Grace Gaddy writes for Texas Baptist communications