The Man in the Sky, Pastor Rob, and Uncle Ben

Apr 062011

A pastor reflects on the intersection of The Invention of Lying, Love Wins, and The Sacredness of Questioning Everything

Ricky Gervais skewers popular concepts of God, heaven, and hell pretty effectively in his 2009 romantic comedy, The Invention of Lying. Mark Bellison (played by Gervais) lives in a world where lies do not exist. It is not a perfect world, but an honest one. In a financial pinch on a difficult day, Bellison tells a lie. He can’t name what has happened. He spoke something that…wasn’t. Eventually, his ability to lie gives him great notoriety, as he accidentally invents heaven while attempting to comfort his dying mother. In a world where every word spoken is taken at face value, Bellison is faced with a barrage of questions about this wonderful place people go after they die.

In a giant press conference that seems to include the entire world, Bellison lays out an elaborate lie, in effect, inventing a caricature of God. The “man in the sky” is responsible for all things, good and bad. He allows all people into heaven when they die, as long as they don’t do “three bad things.” If they do three bad things, they go to a terrible place to be tortured forever. Three strikes and you’re out. This entire premise, of God and eternal life being mere inventions, makes many people of faith uncomfortable.

Rob Bell also skewers popular concepts of God, heaven and hell in his 2011 book Love Wins. Bell challenges people of faith to look at their perceptions of God, heaven, and hell. He characterizes some perceptions as “misguided and toxic,” and is always challenging the reader to consider a different question or perspective. Ultimately, the reader is asked to face the possibility that some of the things currently held near and dear may not be as clear cut and biblically faithful as once thought.

Much has been made of Bell’s use (or misuse) of Scripture, his polemical tone, his writing style, and a panoply of other issues. The book has raised all sorts of questions about where Bell stands on this issue or that issue. Some of these discussions are fruitful, and some are not.

As it turns out, a British atheist skewering common perceptions of God, though frowned upon by the faithful, is nothing in comparison to a Pastor from Grand Rapids taking up the task. The caricature feels more personal, the critiques carry more weight, and the pastoral and theological implications are much more immediate. Much ink has been spilled attempting to advance, reverse and/or work through Bell’s maelstrom text.

David Dark’s 2009 book The Sacredness of Questioning Everything begins with a parable about a tiny town which is controlled and manipulated by “Uncle Ben.” Uncle Ben is a giant figure who dwells near a roaring basement furnace and demands love and loyalty from all the townspeople under threat of being thrown into the furnace forever. The people obey Uncle Ben, live as well as they can, and live in constant debilitating fear.

Gervais, Bell, and Dark each challenge the version of God as controlling giant who gathers people through promise of heaven, threat of hell, and the fear that comes from not knowing for sure where one stands with him.

They each have a stake in dismantling Uncle Ben. They each begin the dismantling process with the fundamental premise that it is okay to question one’s perception of God. It is okay to question God because nobody possesses God.

Nobody possesses God.

This is an important lesson for me as a pastor. When speaking of the God of the universe, it is never with privileged arrogance, but with measured humility. When speaking of the love of God, it is not about an argument won, but a gift received. When sharing the captivating story of the cosmic yet personal salvation and reconciliation offered in Jesus Christ, I share with an open hand, not defend with a clenched fist.

Let us walk with eyes and heart open to the sustaining gifts of life and breath, and let us always be seeking the self-revealing God who possesses all and is possessed by none.