The Charity of Clarity

Mike Wittmer:

I just watched Rob Bell’s hour long dialogue with British blogger and author, Adrian Warnock. The conversation is revealing on many levels, but what stands out most is how Rob refuses to own any position on the afterlife. His performance in this interview would lead one to believe that he wrote a book on the afterlife to tell us he doesn’t know about the afterlife. But of course, few if any readers of “Love Wins” believe this is the case. Millions of readers aren’t buying a book that merely gives a puzzled shrug at what happens after they die. They think it’s telling them something important. Something they like.

I’m not sure what to make of an author who doesn’t stand by the message of his own book. As the British questioners revealed, Rob is either being disingenuous in the interview or disingenuous in his book. I suspect it’s the former, but either way he’s violating a cardinal rule of communication–respect your audience. People don’t like to feel that they’re being toyed with, especially in matters as important as their eternal destiny.