I love Rob Bell. And I especially love when Rob Bell releases a new book! And guess what? He’s releasing a new book at the end of March. And like all of Rob’s books (well, except that last one which was a beautiful waste of trees), Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived (HarperOne) is already creating lots of online buzz on blogs, Facebook, and Twitter (You probably saw some of it. But if not, here’s a recap from CT. And another one from my friend Jason Boyett). Some of the buzz is fantastic. And some of the buzz is predestining Bell to hell (<–That rhymes).

In light of Bell’s new book release, I thought I’d offer a few things that all of us (lovers & non-lovers of Bell’s P.O.V.) should remember… you know, so we can survive.

1) It’s just a book. A million of them come out every year.

2) It’s a book by Rob Bell. And lovers and non-lovers of Rob can agree on this: chances are, it will be printed in one of the most annoying fonts on earth and that font will make it nearly impossible to thoroughly enjoy reading Rob’s book. So while LOTS of people will read Rob’s book, it will be the reading part that gives us a headache.

3) You don’t have to read Rob’s book. But if you’re going to have an opinion about it, you do have to read it. You have to read all of it. It’s only fair. If you’re going to judge it/love it, have the decency to read it.

4) Just because Rob’s theology may be different from John Piper’s theology, that doesn’t make Rob a heretic. One of the key definitions of the word “heretic” is this: a person who holds religious beliefs in conflict with the dogma of the Roman Catholic Church. And while that definition isn’t is as popular as it was during The Crusades, a lot of American evangelicals would not be celebrating God in the way they celebrate God without heretics. Heck, Jesus was a heretic!… so yeah, heretics are pretty awesome in a lot of ways!

5) If Jonathan Edwards were to come back from the dead, he would probably think you are a heretic. For NUMEROUS reasons: Because you watch NFL or Grey’s Anatomy. Because you wear denim. Or because you don’t use the King James Version of the Bible. And because your eyes are currently reading my blog… “Heretic” is one of those words that people say without using history as a mirror of their own heresy….

6) What if the rumors are true, that Rob Bell believes in an empty Hell? Regardless of one’s theology about Hell, shouldn’t we all pray, hope, imagine the same? I mean, even those who believe in Hell, should hate that they believe in Hell. There’s nothing pretty about the theology of Hell. It sucks.

7) Rob’s theology could be right. I mean, you might believe otherwise. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t right. There is indeed scriptural support for various theological debates/ideas… You don’t have to end on the same page as Rob, but perhaps you could read his page with grace rather than fear and misunderstanding… and… that doesn’t make Rob bad or you bad… it just makes your theologies different.

8 ) Debate is good! Debate is rooted deeply in Christian history. Debate is one of the reasons we have Methodists and Presbyterians, Rick Warrens and John Pipers, fundamentalists and Pentecostals… and different is good as long as we don’t take our “differences” too seriously or start putting our “differences” up on pedestals. That’s when our differences turn ugly, mean-spirited, dogmatic, etc…

And lastly… 9) It’s just a book. One of a million… and it might actually be one of the few that are good, one that encourages people to discuss and debate and believe things about God…

And that can be a very good thing… (if you don’t mind headaches…)