Rob Bell opens his book, Love Wins, with his understanding of Jesus' message, the Gospel (Good News): Jesus proclaimed "the love of God ... for everybody, everywhere."
One's understanding of the message of the Gospel makes a difference. It is a window into the missio dei (the work of God in creation). It makes a difference for the content and method of evangelism (communicating the message). It impacts discipleship (how one lives out following Jesus). And that's the beginning. With respect to redemption/salvation, is there any difference between the communion of saints and the ones saved? What does it mean to be "saved"? Is salvation the message of Jesus? Has afterlife evangelism become too anthropocentric?
Rob Bell explicates his purposes for writing the book:
- To reclaim the plot of the Jesus story;
- To embrace and wrestle with the big questions of faith;
- To bring forth the wide, diverse stream of voices and perspectives from Christian tradition to bear on the questions in this book.
The first chapter gives real world context to the questions posed by these theological concepts. The result is that he sets the stage for us to wrestle with developing what is called practical theologies of the mission of God in creation and all the questions involved in this work.
