Everything Is Spiritual: A Review

Monday night, my friends, brother-in-law and I, attended Rob Bell’s Everything Is Spiritual tour stop here in Nashville at Rocketown. For the past two years, I’ve been listening to Rob online thanks to Mars Hill Bible Church where he is the teaching pastor. I’ve also viewed several of his Nooma videos. His teaching brings fresh perspective to many of the scriptures that I have grown up with and last night was no exception.

To most folks, it must seem odd to buy tickets to hear a pastor speak at a club. And to a certain extent they would be correct. The atmosphere resembled a rock concert more than a lecture or sermon, and the audience was primarily in their 20s and 30s. Then without any fanfare or introduction, the lights were dimmed and Bell’s tall and lanky frame bounded out onto a nearly empty stage except for a long white board. He immediately launches into his extemporaneous monologue with the first phrase found in Genesis, “In the Beginning…”

From there, he led us through the Genesis 1 creation account, highlighting the poetic forms found within it and unpacking its contextual significance to its original audience. Bell’s style is unique; equal parts professor, pastor and comedian. And his content incorporated theology, hermeneutics, literature, history, astronomy, quantum physics, string theory, numerology, linguistics, philosophy, and pop culture. His intent was not to build a case against modern science. Instead he used science to illustrate the wonder of our Creator God and the complexity of His creation. He let scientific facts speak for themselves – pointing to just how “finely tuned” the universe and our very existence is.

Bell discusses perspective and borrows the metaphor of a two-dimensional world called “flatland”. How would “flatlanders” react if a three-dimensional object suddenly collided with their two-dimensional world? Would they have a vocabulary or worldview sufficient to describe and understand this intersection between the two worlds? Would some explain the phenomenon away as natural? Would others ascribe deeper significance to the event? Would competing world-views emerge to either deny or prove the existence of a three-dimensional reality?

He then shifted gears to emphasize how we as human beings are a fusion of the dust of this earth with the very breath of God. If God is spirit and we are created in His image, then we should recognize that we are equally spiritual as well as physical beings. Bell proclaims that all aspects of our lives our spiritual, and that we in the church, then, err just a much as the atheist, when we create labels such as secular vs. sacred and compartmentalize our lives into spiritual and physical. All of our lives (Everything) are inspired by God (Spiritual).

Bell’s talk lasted just under 2 hours, yet the time flew by. He kept his audience alert with his kinetic movements to and fro across the stage, entertained with his wit, and spellbound with the breadth of his knowledge. While his intellectual skills are undeniably impressive, his true giftedness is in the presentation of ideas. If you can catch the end of the tour, I highly recommend it. If not, checkout his Mars Hill sermons, the Nooma videos, and/or his book Velvet Elvis.