753 The Power of Progress with Rob Bell

“PROGRESS IS THE SOUL OF THE UNIVERSE.” - DE CHARDIN What do you believe in? We all agree that certain things are wrong. We’re constantly redefining what it means to treat each other with compassion and respect. So what is it that’s inspiring us to change? You might think that it’s random. But maybe there is a force behind it all. For this Five Minute Friday, I revisited a conversation I had with author, speaker and former pastor Rob Bell where he talked about why he believes in God. Rob Bell is the author of ten books, including the New York Times Bestsellers What We Talk About When We Talk About God, The Zimzum of Love, Love Wins and What Is the Bible?. His podcast, called the RobCast, was named by iTunes Best of 2015. He’s been profiled in the New Yorker, toured with Oprah, and in 2011 Time Magazine named him one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. Rob reminds us that moving forward and leaving harmful practices behind is what it means to be human. Reflect with Rob about how far we’ve come and where we need to go in Episode 753. In This Episode You Will Learn: What Rob puts his faith in (2:00) About the changes that are happening in society (2:30) What topics Rob thinks we still need to change as a country (3:30) If Rob believes in God (4:30) Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy! Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Lewis Howes?

  This is Five Minute Friday.

• 0:10Lewis Howes?

  Rob Bell, for those that don't know him, he is Time Magazine's one of the most top 100 influential people in the world. He toured with Oprah for a summer all around the country, talking about leadership and spirituality and wellness and all these different topics. He's trusted by many. He built one of the largest churches in the country back in Michigan. And he's got his own podcast. He's got a number of books, a New York Times bestselling author. He's an incredible human being and an awesome guy. I go over and hang out at his place with him and his wife and his kids and we watch football on Sundays. And just an incredible human being.

• 0:51Lewis Howes?

  What do you say you put your faith in?

• 0:53Rob Bell?

  Well, some people would begin with, "I put my faith, I believe there's something happening in the universe. I don't believe we're alone." Some call it spirit, force, energy, being, God. And some of those words get loaded down for people with a bunch of associations. I think there's something unfolding here. How come we don't have practiced slavery? And yet, several generations ago, in this country, people had slaves. So why are there certain things that were culturally acceptable? A generation ago, there were establishments in America where there were two drinking fountains for people of two different skin colors.

• 1:33Lewis Howes?

  In the 60s, 70s?

• 1:35Rob Bell?

  Not that long ago. So what is happening? Think about restaurants now where all of their food is locally sourced. Think about non-GMO, think about organic. How come there's a growing awareness that we're doing some terrible things to our planet? Or think about triple bottom line with businesses. It's no longer enough just to make money. You have businesses saying, "Is this a good place to work? Are we good to human beings? Are we good to the earth? How come there's something within us that says, if you're an NBA owner and you say horribly racist things, you shouldn't be allowed to keep your NBA team?" Although those things were completely accepted Ten years ago. A generation ago by, in certain places in the country.

• 2:21Rob Bell?

  Yeah. So, I think, what would you call that? What is unfolding? That we all have a sense that we're so glad certain things aren't done anymore? And then, in the same breath that we say, "I'm so glad we don't do that primitive barbaric stuff." We also, right now, could all point to ten, or twenty, or fifty, or a thousand things that we think we have a long way to go in that area. Whether it's the pay of women in the business world, whether it's, you can go down the list of things where you're like, urban education should be better. Right.

• 2:54Rob Bell?

  Child labor, or in other countries or something. What is it within the human heart? That we have this awareness? The great Deschardin wrote, "Progress is the soul of the universe." So, what is it moving the whole thing forward? Even when we say Syria, ISIS, that's, that's bad, terrible, awful, brutal. How come we all have the sense that certain things are wrong and we should leave those things behind and move into a better future together? Right. And, uh, one of the words people use for that is "God." What do you call, what is moving this whole thing forward? Right. And whatever language you use for that, that's, that's fine. But to tell, to say, "There's nothing going on here."

• 3:38Rob Bell?

  "We're just randomly here," come on. Yeah, it's just something. It's too weird and mysterious and beautiful and inspiring.