Velvet Elvis HB: Repainting the Christian Faith [Hardcover]

If Rob Bell didn't exist I would have to invent him, as an imaginary friend, or something like that. You see, when you begin to wonder about whether the Christianity your church practices is really what God had in mind, when you start asking tough questions about your faith, you can quickly find yourself in a very lonely place. When about a year ago I came across the ideas of Rob Bell I had just about resigned myself to thinking I was the only one feeling like this - some kind of failure or freak. Rob's material helped me to see that my questions are not simply allowable, they are essential to an authentic Christian life.

Velvet Elvis is like a portal connecting the world Jesus walked with the world we walk. But Rob does so much more than demonstrate the depth of his commitment to studying ancient Jewish culture and history, he shows he is vitally connected to the here and now too. As the past and the present are brought together the future starts making spectacular sense. In many ways this is the book that Steve Chalke probably wanted to write but ended up with 'The Lost Message of Jesus' instead (which is good but not a patch on this). I really can't commend this book highly enough without resorting to superlatives but which one do I pick? Maybe the biggest complement I can pay is to say I think 'The King' would dig this book - I can just imagine him wobbling around the Jungle Lounge at Graceland turning the pages with frequent shouts of 'Uh-HUH!' (the book is absolutely nothing to do with Elvis by the way).

Before I leave you with a quote I need to give this book a health warning, or faith warning if you like. If you like your Christianity neat and tidy this will probably wreck your internal feng shui big time, so stay away! ;-)

"Central to the Christian experience is the art of questioning God. Not belligerent, arrogant questions that have no respect for our Maker, but naked, honest, vulnerable, raw questions arising out of the awe that comes from engaging the living God.

This type of questioning frees us. Frees us from having it all figured out. Frees us from having answers to everything. Frees us from having to be right. It allows us to have moments when we come to the end of our ability to comprehend. Moments when the silence is enough."

There's been a lot of talk about "Velvet Elvis" and this put me off for quite a while, I feared it would be another 'form over substance' book. And when I bought it this morning I wondered still. It's written in a trendy font with trendy coloured pages between the chapters, trendy blue highlight print colours, that kind of thing; the cover is the sort of shiny matte effect which shows your fingerprints instantly and a trendy spot varnish on the front. It was also a surprisingly short book for that much fuss (177 pages of text, extensive endnotes). But anyway I started reading and was instantly completely hooked. I read the entire book in one sitting and am writing this review now.

So what was so good about it? Well it reminded me a little in thought (although was completely different in execution) to Brian MacLaren's "A New Kind of Christian." The two books are approaching a similar subject from a completely different angle and with success in completely different ways. So what is that subject? It's how to relate to the gospel of Jesus in our postmodern world. I'm not sure Rob Bell ever actually uses the word "postmodern" in his book and in fact his is a far easier read on the braincells than MacLaren's (which required several days' thought between chapters). But that is not to denigrate this book in any way, I believe it's another very important addition to the discussion of the 21st century church.

On the last page Rob Bell sums up what he's been saying: "I am like you. I have seen plenty done in the name of God that I'm sure God doesn't want anything to do with. I have lots of reasons for bailing on the whole thing... But... I am not going to stop dreaming of a new kind of faith for the millions of us who need it. I am not going to stop dreaming of new kinds of communities that put the love of God and the brilliance of Jesus on display in honest, compelling ways. I am not going to stop dreaming of new ways to live lives of faith and creativity and meaning and significance."

The book is a fascinating meander through various parts of Christian belief and thought with a lot of reference to Jewish teaching and thought with many new insights to me (and I am a Biblical scholar). He writes in such a lighthearted style and yet presents some very deep thoughts and fascinating ideas about faith, Jesus' teaching and the nature of community and being a neighbour. I particularly appreciated his comparison of the church as trampoline or brick wall and his likening a lot of modern Christian teaching to a brick wall was incredibly aposite (i.e. there are a number of bricks you have to believe in to get in; if any brick is doubted then the whole edifice falls down, thus huge overreliance on doctrinal positions and the necessity of believing them to be a 'proper' Christian, one of my real betes-noirs about modern day evangelicalism). Bell highlights the real 'them and us' mentality that the label 'Christian' can cause as we force people to jump through particular doctrinal hoops which may well cause them to step away forever. He says, "being a Christian is about engaging the mind and heart more and more, not shutting them off or letting someone else think for you," and he explains a great deal about truth being from God, wherever we may find it.

I am sure there is a huge swathe of people from the more conservative fundamentalist wing of the church who hate this book and hate everything that Bell says. However for someone like me, teetering on the edge of giving the whole thing up as a bad job that clashes wildly with what I see as reality in the world in which I am living, "Velvet Elvis" is a reminder of the real meat of the gospel, of Jesus' mission, of his divinity and humanity and of our purpose here on earth, to bring heaven here to those around us by our deeds and our witness. Go and read it!

I have read through some of the previous reviews and been struck by the sense of alarm, and at times, panic induced by reading this book.
What concerns me most about that, is that it indicates that as a church (in the widest possible sense) we seem to have forgotten the art, nay the responsibility of studying, questionning and debating our beliefs.
It seems over the course of time we have been taught to simply accept whatever we are taught from the pulpit, without necessarily chewing it over a great deal. We simply swallow it wholesale. Literally. And without question.
I think a mark of maturity in a Christian is being able to reflect on new/very old ideas and perspectives, without feeling threatened or defensive.
Bell takes a look at some common and less common aspects of the Christian faith and puts them under the spotlight, asking some searching questions. I found the book to be exciting, challenging and thought-provoking.

Please, let's not turn off our God-given intellect when we walk into church and sit down.Let us instead ENGAGE with the issues facing the church and the society with which we are inextricably linked. Let us debate and discuss, and perhaps be brave enough to admit that sometimes our nice 'pat' answers aren't always enough.

If we can dare to be real and honest enough with our non-christian friends and workmates, so that they can see we are normal people, who have faith, rather than perfect, pious, 'untouchables', then perhaps Jesus might just become a little more accessible, and little less far away?