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A Velveteen Portrait A Review of
Velvet Elvis – Repainting the Christian Faith
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Rob Bell, pastor of Mars Bible Hill Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, presages most of what Brian McLaren wrote in The Secret Message of Jesus, but without generating the level of controversy sure to follow McLaren's book. Velvet Elvis is Bell's version of how to live out the Christian message in a modern society that has grown tired of televangelists and the institutionalizing of Christianity. Some of the reason for that is Bell's decidedly non-confrontational style that takes us along his journey without telling us explicitly that it also needs to be our journey. Instead of concentrating on what is wrong with the current state of Christianity and how he has the answer to make it better, Bell tells us where he's coming from, what he's seen along the way and where he is today.
He introduces us to the book by referring to a black velvet painting of Elvis Presley in his basement. He uses the metaphor of painting to describe Christianity by saying, "What if, when he was done with his masterpiece, R. had announced there was no more need for anyone to paint, because he had just painted the ultimate painting?" (010) He points out that art is not about finding the ultimate painting but about "…exploring …arranging… shaping and forming and bringing in new perspectives." (010) He describes Christianity in the same terms and then takes us on a tour of his painting in the antithesis of an authoritative or declarative conclusion of what Christianity is supposed to be. Comparing painting to Christianity, he says:
Here's what often happens: Somebody comes along who has a fresh perspective on the Christian faith. People are inspired. A movement starts. Faith that was stale and dying is now alive. But then the pioneer of the movement – the painter – dies and the followers stop exploring. They mistakenly assume that their leader's words were the last ones on the subject, and they freeze their leader's words. They forget that as that innovator was doing his or her part to move things along, that person was merely taking part in the discussion that will go on forever. And so in their commitment to what so-and-so said and did, they end up freezing the faith. (013)
Most of the book is a celebration of the joy and verve that is so often missing from the legalistic experience of Christianity. Bell's first "movement" (since he has no chapters in the book) is about enjoying the experience of a relationship with God as a joyous abandon whose end is itself. One doesn't explain to children why they need to jump on a trampoline. The experience of jumping on a trampoline is all the justification it needs. In Bell's mind, our relationship with God is a joyous exuberance that needs no justification other than to experience. While the book lacks a theological rigor, it contains a passion often lacking in more scholarly works.
Bell continues to explore the experiences of Christians and demonstrates an impressive command of rabbinic and early Christian history. By taking the narrative and personalizing it the historic contexts, he shows us how many of the issues we face today were also common to the early church. Instead of an antiseptic treatment of the text as an object to be deciphered, Bell treats it as a story in which we are all engaged and still participating. He doesn't express interest in staking out a theological position and defending his territory against all comers but instead draws us into the Bible, its implications for our lives and how we might interpret it in practical terms. He eschews propositional pontification in favor of significant experiences that shape our spirituality and encounters with God. He doesn't try to explain evil in the world or treat the difficulties of life with a Pollyanna point of view but at the same time he doesn't take a stoic or Buddhist outlook toward suffering. Instead he describes a God who is involved and participating with us in the joys and sorrows of life in a real, present way. He also shows us how we can live out our experience with God in tangible, practical ways.
This book makes a great companion to McLaren's latest book and both are recommended reading for Christians who are dissatisfied with the constraints of legalism and fundamentalism. Velvet Elvis is more palatable to those who are uncomfortable with McLaren's unconventional beliefs, largely because Bell doesn't tackle the issues of Open Theism, Dispensationalism and eschatology. He doesn't focus on doctrine because to him, doctrine isn't the point. It helps us get to the point, which is to know and follow Jesus in our daily lives. Bell describes a positive approach to the very same issues McLaren discusses but in such a way that even the most rigid fundamentalist would not feel threatened by the ideas in Velvet Elvis.
by Rick Presley
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