The time I met Rob Bell

Our youth ministry used to camp at the Creation Festival each summer. Creation is the largest Christian music festival in the world, so they tend to draw Christian celebrities. You know, not really celebrities, except for in Christian circles. I guess you could call them “minor Christian celebrities.” They hit the Jackpot one year by getting the most major of the minor Christian celebrities, by coercing Rob Bell to speak there.

Behind the field of screaming teenagers is a vendor area. This is where they sell Christian paraphernalia. I dislike Christian paraphernalia more than I dislike minor Christian celebrities. They would sell t-shirts, for instance, with brand names that were changed just slightly to make them, well, Christian. Here is an example:

The most offensive one that I saw there was made to look like Mountain Dew. It was offensive because instead of saying “Do the Dew,” it said, “Do the Jew.” I’m not kidding. It really said that. (You can see other eye-rolling designs at this site.)

So I was leafing through piles of these kinds of T’s, and imagining which of them my students might be wearing later, when I looked up to see Rob Bell right in front of me. I must admit, I was a bit star-struck at first. I mean, it was Rob Bell, the most major of the minor Christian celebrities. He looked at me, and paused to let me say something first. All I could come up with was:

“Hey, you’re Rob Bell!”

He said yes, yes he was. Then I stumbled again, wondering how to engage him, and found myself saying:

“I really like your Noomas!”

I really like your Noomas? Really? That’s what I could come up with? (Nooma videos, of course, are Rob Bell’s bestselling videos, creatively done on a variety of issues, leading him to almost instantaneous major minor Christian celebrity.)

He said, “thanks” and then walked away.

I think if I were to bump into Rob Bell again, I would probably ask him about his new book “Love Wins.” I can’t imagine he wanted the kind of publicity, notoriety, and controversy that it brought him. Christian celebrity or not. I think I would ask him if he wanted a re-do.

(Wait, or is it, a re-dew?)