Described by TIME Magazine as "one of the most influential Christian leaders in the country," Rob Bell recently sat down with Oprah to explore his latest book, What We Talk About When We Talk About God.
In one of Oprah's favorite passages from the book, Bell writes, "When we talk about God, we're talking about that sense you have -- however stifled, faint, or repressed it is -- that hope is real, that things are headed somewhere, and that that somewhere is good."
In the above clip from "Super Soul Sunday," Oprah asks Bell to explain why he believes that we, as society, are headed somewhere good.
Bell, the founding pastor at Mars Hills Bible Church, answers with a story from a TED Conference he attended last year. He says the audience was asked to raise their hand if they are religious, and Bell estimates only 2 percent of the audience raised their hands. "A couple days later a guy named Bryan Stevenson talks," he says. "He's this lawyer, he works in the South with young men who have been on the wrong end of the justice system and he gave this talk about justice."
Stevenson received a standing ovation during his talk, during which he said: "I've come to TED because I believe that many of you understand that the moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice. That we cannot be full evolved human beings until we care about human rights and basic dignity. That all of our survival is tied to the survival of everyone."
Bell found the crowd's response telling. "So this is sort of the nexus of technology and design and education and innovation," Bell says. "This is the crowd. And 2 percent would say, 'Yeah, I'm religious.' And yet, a guy talks about the moral arc of the universe and they go, 'Yes!'"
"People just don't call it religion," Oprah says. "You're talking about the moral arc of the universe bending towards justice -- that is what your spiritual life, your life, is supposed to be about."
Bell, agreeing, explains his faith boils down to this: "There is something within me that tells me there's a reason to keep going. Even if that's all you have, you have something pretty big there."
"Super Soul Sunday" airs Sundays at 11 a.m. ET on OWN.