Posted on October 7, 2009 - by Brett

Rob Bell – Drops Like Stars

(photo from http://www.facebook.com/therealrobbell)

I watch a lot of Nooma videos hosted by Rob Bell and I love the way he speaks and the way he presents his content. I had the opportunity last night to hear him speak for 2 hours about going through suffering. Here are some of the notes I took on the event:

There are insulators in place in our lives. If you are at a concert hall, see people dressed very well, hear an orchestra playing, see performers wearing outfits for dancing, you’re handed a schedule of the night, then you know you’re at a ballet. If someone handed you a squirrel, it throws off the insulators that tell you, you’re at a ballet.

When fundamental insulators get tweaked, it creates a disruption in your life. When things are comfortable in your life and you have everything in the same schedule, if one thing becomes different then it creates a disruption. The art of the disruption is the fact that you wouldn’t want your worst enemy going through what you are going through but yet you also wouldn’t trade it for the world.

In the movie “Old School” starring Will Farrell, it depicts a character that lives in a typical suburban area living a normal life. Here’s a quote from the movie:

Frank: I told my wife I wouldn’t drink tonight. Besides, I got a big day tomorrow. You guys have a great time.
College Student: A big day? Doing what?
Frank: Well, um, actually a pretty nice little Saturday, we’re going to go to Home Depot. Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don’t know, I don’t know if we’ll have enough time.

The movie goes on to show a boring guy trying to find something to liven up his life. In some strange way, being so comfortable and free of suffering makes us bored. Personally, I started listening to harder music, watching mixed martial arts and some other things after I stopped working in the ministry full-time. If you do not find suffering, you might find yourself miserable.

A man named Scott use to be a high roller promoting nightclubs and fashion events. He was paid to be seen drinking a certain type of drink. Financially, he was set but he was still spiritually empty. Money cannot buy true long-lasting happiness, only happiness for the moment. He volunteered for Mercy Ships which went over to Africa with some doctors to help the sick. While he was in Africa, he saw that unclean water was most of the cause of the sickness. He started charity:water that dedicates 100% of the proceeds to getting villages in Africa clean drinking water. This is a man that found suffering and found a way to help suppress it. Suffering produces solidarity where success and riches do not.

During the first century, the Romans perfected the torturing device used to get their point across. The cross was a way to torture people while keeping them alive for the longest amount of time possible. To conquer cities, they would go and knock on doors and tell people to profess Caesar is lord. If they stood up for what they believed and replied, “No, Caesar is not lord” then they were hung on a cross at the entrance of the city to let everyone know what happens when you don’t profess Caesar is lord. The cross was well known throughout the land during these times as a device for suffering. It’s known as a fashion statement today.

When Jesus was hung on the cross, making a stand against the Romans, the people could relate the suffering He was going through while he was on the cross. The cross was God’s way of saying, “I know how you feel.” God came into this world and felt the suffering that the people felt and screamed alongside us. He understands what we go through.

I own a guitar but I can’t say that I’m really that good. When I hear my friend Caleb play my guitar, the thought runs through my head, “I can’t believe that guitar can make that sound!” I own the guitar but Caleb can possess the guitar. We can own numerous things but we may not possess them. Sometimes we are possessed by ownership. We can possess things but not own them. Rob tells a story of a city in Africa that is full of sickness that he is visiting when he overhears music and a lot of people singing. He goes up the staircase to this room to find people singing their hearts out praising God. Rob asked someone, “What’s going on here?” The man replies, “They do this during lunch everyday.” These people barely own anything but they possess everything. Life comes in possession.

In a sculpting class, there were two groups with two different assignments. One was asked to sculpt as many great sculptures in a certain amount of time that they can. The other group was instructed to sculpt one great sculpture in the same time frame. When time was up, the first group had some pieces that weren’t so good but they had a lot that were excellent. The second group couldn’t mold and make one good piece and ended up with a pile of clay. When trying to master one piece, it doesn’t work. You must fail to succeed. What every artist must learn is that even the failed pieces are essential.

We choose the way we look at the situations in our life and the way we go through them. One day it was raining and Rob’s daughter kept saying, “Stars, stars, stars…” Rob asked, “What are you talking about?” She continued, “Stars, stars, when the rain hits the ground it forms a star. The rain drops like stars.” We choose the way we perceve and handle the suffering in our life.