Rob Bell is everywhere. His interview is touted on the cover of Christianity Today. He is a speaker at large Christian conferences. When I went to BibleGateway.com to look up a Bible passage, the only ad on the page was for Rob Bell’s new book. Though Bell is critical of the evangelical mainstream, he has been embraced by a significant portion of that mainstream.

Rob Bell is one of the recognized leaders of the Emerging Church Movement. This movement engages the unrest in both Christians and non-Christians today, sometimes engaging them with biblical truth, and then, shockingly, with statements that sell that same truth up the river.

The Christianity Today interview gave Bell an uncritical platform. The interviewer said to Bell, “You’re essentially reframing the gospel—at least the gospel you inherited, the gospel we have known…in North America for the last couple hundred years.”

Bell’s answer: “I am leery of people who have very clear ideas of what they’re doing from outside of themselves:…If there is a God, some sort of Divine Being, Mind, Spirit and all of this is not just some random change thing, and history has some sort of movement to it, and you have a connection with Whatever—that is awesome.”

He goes on to say, “The Resurrection accounts are jumbled and don’t really line up with each other—I really relate to that. Yet something momentous has burst forth in the middle of history. You just have to have faith, and you get caught up in something.”

Citing a few quotations won’t do justice to anyone’s views. But the Emerging Church Movement, since it has become an influence in the visible church, deserves a very close look. We’re grateful to Pastor Rut Etheridge for providing an evaluation that will be helpful for us average Christians. This month we bring you the first of his four articles on the topic, with this article showing in basic terms what this movement is and why we should care.

Also in this issue is a review of #1 New York Times bestseller The Shack, which has sold 6 million copies. While the publisher says this book is not part of the Emerging Church Movement, it has been applauded by some in the Emerging Church for reasons that you’ll understand when you read the review.

We take many things for granted. One thing I take for granted is that I have a relatively safe place to go to work each day, and that if trouble does come, I have a strong police force available at the touch of a button. On Apr. 4, three of the Pittsburgh policemen who patrol our area of the city were killed in an ambush. We mention this as a reminder to all to pray for those who protect and serve us.

—Drew Gordon