Rob Bell’s first visit to Toronto

Rob Bell came to Toronto, but Toronto did not come to see Rob Bell.

The author, Mars Hill pastor and sometimes-controversial "Emergent" theologian, began his presentation called "Drops like Stars" on thoughts about suffering and creativity with the usual "where's everybody from" kind of preamble people on tour often give.

Except the night got off to a weird start when he asked if people at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre were from Toronto, and he got a rousing "NO." Muffled shouts from the audience later indicated that many were from London, Waterloo, Barrie, Burlington, and assorted other suburban communities well outside the 416 area code and beyond.

(Earlier in the night, I was riding the streetcar down to Exhibition Place, and I was the only person on board... this explains why. I guess it also explains why most people on time for the 8pm start and why there weren't stragglers arriving all night long. I have a few thoughts on why that might be, like how the "Mars Hill" style -- born in a suburb of Michigan -- appeals primarily to suburbanites and not the sophisticated downtown intellectuals, or maybe the downtown core is simply and profoundly "un-churched," but I will leave those ideas for a future post.)

Rob Bell is a very gifted, talented speaker, and despite his presentation being nearly two hours long, he easily holds the audience's attention the entire time. I won't go into the content too much here. The QET wasn't sold out, but it was nearly full and I imagine next time he comes to town, he'll likely sell out a much larger venue. Bell was accompanied by a handful of hilarious slides and video on a giant screen, and even had his own U2-esque theme music that bookended the night: During his final story, I kind of thought it was an annoying ringtone going off at first. With no "worship" time or prayer time, I don't think it was intended to come off as a "church" type night.

The other strange thing I noticed, was during an audience participation moment, he looked at somebody and asked, "Are you taking notes? Cool, let me see!" Strange because, why wouldn't he think people would take notes, right?

...Did I mention that "Drops Like Stars" is also the name of Rob Bell's new book, and that this is the tour supporting that?

Before the presentation began I figured I would beat the line afterwards and pick up the amazingly designed hardcover version of the book.  After I bought a copy, one of the staff told me not to look at the end, because it would spoil tonight's presentation.

Weird, I thought.

After looking at the book on the TTC ride home, I can see why: The presentation isn't exactly an elaboration on the themes of the book; it's basically Rob Bell reciting the whole thing, nearly line-by-line, image-by-image. No wonder he was surprised someone was taking notes... if you bought the book or were planning to, you were wasting your time.

(I'll need a lot more time to expand upon a lot of the thoughts within the book itself, which is beautiful and engaging, but I'll meditate on it a while first.)

I was also surprised about how much the night seemed to be like a "motivational speaker" type event, and not quite a "Christianity" type event... there was discussion about Jesus and the cross, but not as much as there was about art theory, and quotes from famous authors of different stripes.

One of the criticisms that people have with Rob Bell and the emergent movement in general, is that sometimes it lacks a strong foundation in the Bible itself. "Drops like Stars" on the surface seems like it suffers the same fate... beyond a retelling of the prodigal son story at the beginning, and a smattering of other quotes, it seems like Rob Bell is building his thesis from more non-Biblical sources.

(Another quick diversion: Why is this a bad thing? Because most Christians believe that the Bible is directly inspired by God, that he is directly revealed through it, and regular study of it will give you bring you closer to him. Basing Christian ideas and theories on things outside of God's word is like building a house on a sandy beach, and it can trick believers into believing un-Biblical things. If you want to read more about some criticisms of the emergent movement, take a look at "Why We're Not Emergent By Two Guys Who Should Be," because they explain this kind of caution better than I can.)

The thing is, as a long-time Christian myself, I can tell that Rob Bell's message is a Christian one, and I'm confident that you can find explicit Biblical references to most, if not all, of the points he makes... it's just strange that he doesn't. For the "post-Christian," or the Christian sick of the modern-day church, I think this approach would appear refreshing -- and it is. But I wonder about people who don't know about Jesus... are they going to "get it" in the same way? Will they "get it" more? I don't think it will be as clear to those people who don't already have a fairly broad knowledge base.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable night, highlighted especially by the moments of audience participation. I was inspired, and it made me want to start creating new media type presentations for my own church. So if you are planning on seeing Rob Bell on the tour, by all means go... but if you haven't bought a ticket yet, save your money and buy the book.

Oh, and for those who were there or read the book, I'm Will Ferrell too.

(Photo of Rob Bell and "The Squirrel" by Gbrenna)