Scott Armstrong, The Rabbi's Dust, Part 1

Rob Bell, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has released a series of videos on the Christian life, covering a variety of subjects.  There's this one video called "Dust" which I liked so much the first time I saw it, I decided to buy it for myself. 

I've seen it like eight times now but something happened to me today when I watched it again.  Maybe it was the fact that I was using the video to introduce a section of Scripture for a Bible study I lead and therefore I studied everything a little more closely.  Or maybe it just took me that many times to figure it out...

The video is about the call to discipleship.  Bell starts out telling us that every Jewish boy and girl started memorizing at age six the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament (yeah, that means Leviticus!), and then only the best of them went on to memorize the rest of the Old Testament by age fourteen.  It turns out, as Bell points out, that only the best of the best Jewish boys were good enough to go on from there to apply to become a disciple of a rabbi and even then many of them were still rejected by the rabbi as not having what it takes.  And what did the rejects do?  They did what all the others who failed as well were doing: working.  Working for their dads, working in a trade of some sort, being blue collar.

And here's the thing: you wanted to follow a rabbi because in that society, rabbis were greatly honored and you wanted to be able to follow a rabbi and believe what he believed and, most importantly, do what the rabbi does.

There was this saying among the sages: "May you be covered in your rabbi's dust."  If you were the best of the best of the best and a rabbi took you into His flock to be schooled in his "yoke", or teachings, then you literally and physically followed closely behind your rabbi as he traveled from one town to the next, teaching.  And as you walked behind the rabbi, he would kick up dust and you would become caked in it and so following your rabbi closely came to symbolize your commitment and zeal.

And then Bell points out the one thing that is all "wrong", upside down and strange about the rabbi Jesus.  He skipped the seminaries, and places of power and goes straight to the fishing docks and factories. Jesus begins calling blue collar "joes" to drop what they were doing and follow Him.  Simon Peter, and the Zebedee brothers, to name just a few, were fishermen and Jesus simply comes up to them and say, "Follow me and be my disciples."

These blue collar "joes" had long since given up being smart enough and sharp enough to follow a rabbi.  They were holding down steady jobs, living for the weekends, when Jesus swings by and says, "I want you to follow me." 

Can you imagine?  Can you imagine being society's reject and then being wanted by a great rabbi?  I mean, these guys didn't even apply to follow a rabbi, Jesus came looking for them!

And you know what?  The text (all the Gospels tell the story) says they would throw down their nets or whatever their trade was and start following Jesus.  No hesitation, no need to think about it or get back to Jesus at a later date.  They wanted to be like this rabbi and follow him.

Did they have any idea that this rabbi would be different, that he would continue to teach them an "upside down theology", where the first would be last and last first, where the "least of these" would be made great in the kingdom of God (just look at the Beatitudes, Matthew 5-7, with fresh eyes), where God would shame the the "wise" and strong" with the "foolish and weak" things of this world (1 Corinthians 1:27)? 

Comments

[Brian]

Scott,

Awesome post. You said in fewer words what I also felt when I heard the same teaching that Bell has repeated in Dust.

If you thought that teaching was good, check out where Bell learned it: http://www.followtherabbi.com

Cheers,

Brian

[Brian]

Also, I have posted an experience I had with the teacher who taught Bell about being covered in the dust of the Rabbi:

http://www.everysquareinch.com/index.php/2006/02/17/mikveh

Staying Dusty,

Brian

[Tim Sharpe]

I thought this concept was quite eye-opening as well. I wonder, however, if it's completely historically accurate. I've never heard of the practice outside of Bell's video. Have you done any research into it?

[Scott Armstrong]

Tim, thanks for your comment. One of the earlier "commenters" mentioned a great website, followtherabbi.com. The primary researcher at that site is Ray Vanderlaan who has been researching he "Jewishness" of Jesus (and our faith) for many years. In my opinion, it is solid. In evangelical circles, we do not spend enough time considering the Jewish context of the Scriptures and that is our loss--we miss so much because of it (Jewish scholarship is a recent interest to most evangelicals). What Bell and others are doing is to bring that to the surface. I also recommend Kenneth Bailey's various books, the best being "The Poet and the Peasant." Bailey, a professor at a Christian seminary in the Middle East, writes beautifully of how knowing the Jewish cntext of our faith changes our appreciation of the Bible (he focuses on the Gospels). Again, thanks for raising the question. scott

[ed girard]

I am shocked you haven't heard or listened to any of Ray VanderLaan's material. His web site is "follow the rabbi"
Mr. Bell obviously is borrowing the story directly from Mr. VanderLaan. I heard his lecture in the chicago land area, And bought his CD 2 years ago.Just think as Christian's we need to give credit where it is due. Too many kids pirating Christian music and all, sad to say even my own minister often quotes another book or video but never mentions where he got the lesson. Is this common in christian circles to borrow someone elses revelation or hard research with it sharing that information?

[Scott Armstrong]

Ed,

Thanks for your thoughts. Believe it or not, there are quite a few people out there who are familar with Van der Laan's material! It sounds like you love Van der Laan's work--no one wonder it is hard for you to believe many of us are in the dark concerning him! I had heard the name before and knew Israel was his specialty but didn't know Bell's stories reflect Van der Laan's work. After I submitted my story, someone else told me this is Van der Laan's angle and to check out the site, which I have now done (and I love it--now one of my favorites).

you raise a great question concerning plagiarism and when to cite nor not cite other works. I am not yet decided on the issue, whether Bell should cite Ray's work or not. I think in order to answer that question, you have to ask, "How common are Ray's teachings?" Now, in evangelical circles, I don't think it's common at all but that doesn't mean that it isn't common research.

You obviously are a big fan of Van Der Laan's work and I suspect it was his work where you first heard this story but can you be sure this information was not public knowledge privy to anyone looking for it? I don't personally know Bell but having read his book and heard other messages of his, the Hebrew scriptures and Jewish culture are a passion of his--is it possible that the things Bell brought up were found through his own work? I honestly don't know but I don't want to yet assume he borrowed this solely from Van Der Laan.

The other question is, "When doing research, when do you cite the author?" Clearly, we don't do it all the time. All of us, in public conversation, will say things like, "Did you know 80% of such and such kind of people do such and such?" Someone performed research (e.g, survey) and produced a paper but such work is considered "public domain" and we do not normally cite in public conversation.

All that to say, I don't know from my end this issue of stealing someone's work is as conclusive as you see it but I certainly would acknowledge it is possible. If this was "unique" work belonging solely to Van Der Laan, then I think good ethics and taste would suggest he should mention Van Der Laan.

As a pastor, whenever I suspect something is original and unique work, I generally cite.

Some of my thoughts. Great points you brought up--perhaps others will join the discussion on this.

[Pam Buchanan]

When I saw the video it brought scripture home to me with a whole new perspective. It has me sharing my faith with other people in a different way. I think that is the point of the video, is the people that it reaches,and then what they do with what they where touched with. Whether they pass it on and touch someone elses life or not. Isn't that what Jesus meant by I will make you fisher of men.

[emily thomassen]

I had RVL for a high school Bible teacher for two years and when I lived in Michigan, I attended Mars Hill, the church started by Rob Bell. Both of these Rabbis have helped me develop a passion for exploring the Jewish roots of Christianity in an attempt to become more dusty. I appretiate what you had to say about the topic. I feel the same passion for this subject of discipleship. Its great to come across a site like this.

[Steve Pulis]

Is there a specific book that can be referenced to support the dust of the rabbi teaching. I have gone to the website www.followtherabbi.com but I am looking for a book to credit as a source.

Please email [email protected]

Thanks.