Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith (2005)

In Velvet Elvis, Rob Bell provides some extraordinary insight into God's word and the Christian life. Of particular interest to me was Bell's insight into certain terms found in Scripture. For example "yoke" was a word used to describe a rabbi's interpretation of how to live the Torah. Every rabbi had his own yoke, or understanding/interpretation of the Torah. It was a tradition that Jews would follow after a certain rabbi's yoke because they believed his interpretation was the closest to what God originally intended. This explains why Jesus once said His yoke is easy (Matthew 11:30). Furthermore, Bell gives us insight into the formation of what would eventually become the canon of Scripture as we know it. Even before councils were convened, the early church had begun gathering books (even by oral tradition) they felt were inspired of God. In fact, Peter affirms Paul's writings as having the same inspiration as the rest of Scripture (2 Peter 3:16), implying there were others being written that did not fit into this criteria of inspiration. As in his book, "Love Wins", Bell assures us that it is okay to read Scripture and not understand it, even questioning it, and possibly having doubt just as the early church did. They, like us, are all a part of the story in God's grand plan to redeem and reconcile the world to himself. Bell also makes the claim that all truth belongs to God. And, it's not just found in Christianity. You may find some truth in other things, including other faiths. But what we ought to do is claim it for God, because it belongs to Him. I also liked the chapter about the environment. Bell makes the biblical case that all things will someday be renewed and reconciled. And, he is right. We shouldn't be working against it, but with it, just as Adam did in the original garden.

I have read two Rob Bell books and haven't read a bad one yet. Bell challenges me and makes me think. On several occasions I had to open up my Bible as a result of reading through this book. And, if a book causes you to think and meditate on Scripture, then I believe it has served its purpose well. I highly recommend Velvet Elvis to anyone who wants to be challenged in their faith.

Below are some of my favorite quotes extracted from this book:

The Christian faith is alive only when it is listening, morphing, innovating, letting go of whatever has gotten in the way of Jesus and embracing whatever will help us be more and more the people God wants us to be.

Doctrine is a wonderful servant and a horrible master.

God is bigger than any religion. God is bigger than any worldview. God is bigger than the Christian faith.

Questions bring freedom. Freedom that I don't have to be God and I don't have to pretend that I have it all figured out. I can let God be God.

If you study the Bible and it doesn't lead you to wonder and awe, then you haven't studied the Bible.

The Bible tells a story. A story that isn't over. A story that is still being told. A story that we have a part to play in."

If it is true, if it is beautiful, if it is honorable, if it is right, then claim it. Because it is from God. And you belong to God.

The issue isn't so much taking Jesus to people who don't have him, but going to a place and pointing out to the people there the creative, life-giving God who is already present in their midst. It is searching for the things they have already affirmed as real and beautiful and true and then telling them who you believe is the source of all that. "I am here to tell you where I think it comes from..."

The thought of the word "church" and the word "marketing" in the same sentence makes me sick.

God isn't just interested in the covering over our sins; God wants to make us into the people we were originally created to be. It is not just the removal of what's being held against us; it is God pulling us into the people He originally had in mind when He made us.

So this old nature of mine, the one that was constantly pulling me down and causing me to live in ways I wasn't created to live... has died. And, no matter how many times that old nature raises its ugly head and pretends to be alive, it is dead.

It is not that we are perfect now or that we will never have to struggle. Or that the old person won't come back from time to time. It's that this new way of life involves a constant, conscious decision to keep dying to the old so that we can live in the new.

For Jesus, eternal life wasn't a state of being for the future that we would enter into somewhere else; it is a quality of life that starts now.

When I sin and the old person comes back from the dead for a few moments... I admit it. I confess it. I thank God I am forgiven. I make amends with anyone who has been affected by my actions. And then I move on.

For Jesus, heaven and hell were present realities. Ways of living we can enter into here and now. He talked very little of the life beyond this one because he understood that the life beyond this one is a continuation of the kinds of choices we make here and now.

For Jesus, this new kind of life in Him is not about escaping this world but about making it a better place, here and now. The goal for Jesus isn't to get into heaven. the goal is to get heaven here.

Why blame the dark for being dark? It is far more helpful to ask why the light isn't as bright as it could be?

It is when the church gives itself away in radical acts of service and compassion, expecting nothing in return, that the way of Jesus is most vividly put on display. ( )

An easy reading way to convey non-institutional Christianity. Generally I agree with what he says, though I'd alter his heaven talk abit to convey a renewal more than a restoration throughout, and not just at the end. I really like the contextual readings of Jesus' work and teachings. A few good insights there.

I did find the book lacking in its discussion that we are called to be who God meant for us to be. Bell goes into detail about forgiveness of your vices, but he gives little guidance about how to find out who we really are --other than to go see a therapist. He glosses over this part in his own story, too. Disappointing.

But still worth reading. (A good book to use for small group discussion, too.) ( )

pretty interesting case for returning christianity to real christians ( )

Rob Bell definitely brings a fresh, casual voice to Christian philosophy. He advocates an approach that is less dogmatic and 'fundamentalist' by, oddly enough, trying to get back to the fundamental attitudes of Christianity. It's not good ol' Christian values that matter, exactly - it's looking at the values Jesus promoted and then applying them to the modern church family.

At heart, I'm surprisingly traditional, so i didn't agree with everything Bell proposed. But there's plenty of room in the Christian faith for debate, right? I'm not sure I would come to many of the conclusions that Bell has drawn, but I wouldn't say he's wrong. It's interesting.

I would very much like to read this book with a small group so that I could discuss it with other people! I mean, I can kinda do that on LT or Bookcrossing but it isn't the same...

I would also like to re-read the book again without the great big time gaps that I had with this one. I think it would be far more powerful if I'd gotten the message in a concentrated dose rather than sporadically over several months. ( )

Harper One appears to be doing a reprint of Rob Bell’s works, and sent me a nice little stack of books. So I’m beginning with Bell’s Cinderella work, Velvet Elvis, published back in 2005. I had actually never read it before. Had heard it talked about, but never turned the cover. It turns out to be a good book, but I really didn’t enjoy it as much as I did Bell’s latest, Love Wins. I’ll review that one shortly.

Velvet Elvis is written in a style exactly like I expect the young mega-church pastor to preach: friendly and colloquial, somewhat meandering, common-sensical. I don’t quite get the “Velvet Elvis” part, so let’s ignore the title and just say his is common-sense Christianity. It’s not terribly controversial (it’s actually more conservative than I expected), and it’s not theologically probing, but it’s clear Bell can think for himself … or rather, he can unthink some of the stray ideas that have led many Christians away from simply living a Christian life. I absolutely love this observation early in the book about what happens when you try to follow Jesus:

Over time when you purposefully try to live the way of Jesus, you start noticing something deeper going on. You begin realizing the reason this is the best way to live is that it is rooted in profound truths about how the world is. You find yourself living more and more in tune with ultimate reality. You are more and more in sync with how the universe is at its deepest levels.

What is Bell talking about? He’s talking about what it means to be a disciple of a first-century Rabbi who sees potential in each of us, and calls us to live like him. He’s talking about what happens when you quit pushing your religion on your neighbors and dwell like Christians among them. He’s talking about what happens when you view God’s dream for mankind as one of him coming down to make his home with us, rather than us peering into the heavens with a forlorn hope of rapturous escape. He’s talking about compassion, goodness, simplicity, all the things that can make this world a better place for all of us. ( )