Nooma & Velvet Elvis

Am still feeling captivated by the NOOMA videos (or more precisely, #1 "Rain") and am trying to weigh up the whole "doing evangelism in a faithful yet relevant way".
As part of that weighing, I decided to have a look at Biblical critiques of Rob Bell's first book, "Velvet Elvis". The best I read was at Reformation 21. From the excerpts they quote, I have to say I agree with their conclusions: Rob Bell is clearly well-intentioned and seems well-taught. He's a great communicator and he says things in fresh ways. And so you really want to agree with him. But there are some serious errors in that book.
Pivotally, he seems to tie truth to experience rather than knowledge. And that seems to work itself (unsurprisingly) in tying our relationship with God to our experience of Him, rather than His revelation of himself to us in and through the Bible. For example,

Bell speaks of a time in his life when he was getting burned out trying to be a “super-pastor.” He reveals the advice of his counselor that helped him come to grips with the essence of his sin.

“He said, in what has become a pivotal moment in my journey, ‘Your job is the relentless pursuit of who God has made you to be. Anything else you do is sin and you need to repent of it’.” Velvet Elvis, 114

Once again this sounds appealing and may have good motives. Bell hopes to help people rid themselves of an idealized version of what they are supposed to be, accept who they are, and realize that this is an important part of accepting God’s grace.

Yet, the Bible speaks of sin and grace in so much more profound and accurate terms. Where does the Bible ever suggest that our primary calling is “the relentless pursuit of who God has made us to be”? Bell makes it sound as if the essence of godliness is self-realization. His “sin” was that he was trying to be a “super-pastor,” something that went contrary to his personal make-up. Apparently, he was too creative and spontaneous to fit that mould. His “repentance” was a matter of deciding to “kill super-pastor” and be true to himself.

Now I do believe that experience is a key part of God's work in us. But it seems to me that the flow must always be:

Bible ---> Head ---> Heart

and not the other way around. As a very good friend once said to me, once you lose the Bible as decisive authority, you cut the anchor chain. The ship might drift quickly, or it might drift slowly, but it will drift. Now from what I've seen, I think it's unlikely that Bell himself will drift far. But those who are brought up on his teaching or intentionally imitate him may well do.

So back to the NOOMA videos. Should we (as this month's issue of the Briefing suggests) never use them for anything other than critique? Well, I'm still not convinced on that front. Rain seems to me to be a great video to share with friends who've been going through hard times. It seems to say a lot of the things I would want to say, but often don't have the opportunity or the courage or the words. In many ways, it is echoing Jesus' call, "come to me all you who are weary and are heavy laden and you will find rest for your souls." Now I would really struggle to get many of these friends into church, or to read a Christian book on the subject. But it is so easy to watch a 10 minute video that's freely available on the internet. Yes it is true that if they liked it so much that they went and read all of Rob Bell's stuff they might put their trust in Jesus in a way that is less well anchored than you might want. But at least they'd have put their trust in Jesus! And the far more likely scenario is that it will make their minds start turning and asking questions.
Watch it for yourself and let me know what you think!