Brian's Blog
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February 8, 2012
In three months, I'll be in DC. Why don't you come along?
There are only three more months until Children, Youth, and a New Kind of Christianity. For four days, ministers, activists, parents, theologians, teachers, and ministry leaders will gather together to explore how to nurture the faith of young people within fresh, progressive, missional, emerging Christian communities. Don't miss out on your chance to be part of the conversation. Register now at http://children-youth.com/register/
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Q & R: Concerned for my mind?
Here's the Q:
I am grateful for your influence in my spiritual formation. A New Kind of Christian opened for me an eventual exit from fundamentalism. Last year's January Adventure, the roadmap you gave in your synthesis of different spiritual evolution theories was healing, and I was greatly helped by your truly present listening and reflection in a mealtime conversation that touched on my leaving church ministry. At Wild Goose, I took you up on your offer last January to be in touch if there was a way you could be of assistance, and because of you had a very helpful, meaningful conversation with ... the Center for Action and Contemplation. Thank you so much for all of these, and for your catalytic work at this juncture in time.
I have another question, and I would be most grateful for any information or resources you might direct to me. I seem to have broken through into what you referred to as Level Four being. I've been undergoing a magnificent series of inversions, synchronicities and graces that have led me not only into a new integration with myself, but have overturned my life. I am letting go my things this week, and will be on a plane for Cambodia this Saturday. I didn't do this - it's astonishing how everything has come together for it. I have little idea what this will be yet, but I can't help but to follow.
I did go back and review my notes from your lecture and writing about Levels Three, Four, and the space of transition between, but I couldn't find what I need and was hoping you could help me with this: I'm not sure what to do with the "signals" I'm getting. It is like a hyperawareness, by which a regular occurance comes across to me as having superregular overtones. I have by trial and error learned over the last couple months that they are not literal, and they are not general - I think they are more like dream language, metaphorical and generally about the dreamer. But I'm not sure how to interpret them, or to what extent to follow them. I started following the synchronicities just as an experiment, but I've experienced such good through them that it's becoming more like a way of life via receptivity/openness. I would do the same here, but I don't know how to "read" what I'm getting. Does that make any sense? I'm hoping this is part of Level Four being, since it came at the same time. Otherwise I might be a little concerned for my mind.
I appreciate any advice you might give me, or any resource you might suggest in learning more about how to be in the world in this new way.
Here's the R:
Continue reading Q & R: Concerned for my mind?...
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February 6, 2012
Q & R: Tyranny of the church
Here's the Q:
I lived many years organizing my good works through the church. After all, the good things the church does are worthwhile, and being involved in the good works of the church is what believers are supposed to do. Quite suddenly I've recognized the subtle, seductive tyranny of that mindset. Jesus did not seem to take cues from the synagogues about what he should be doing. Of course there is nothing inherently wrong with groups of Christians (even inside a church) organizing something. But when those activities—take singing in the choir, for example—acquire a life of their own, predetermining our weekly and yearlong schedules, we can succumb to the temptation to say that we are "serving Christ" automatically by belonging to that activity. Even the ideas that "everyone has a ministry in the local church" and "there's a place for YOU to serve with us!" have a potential (maybe actual?) dark side in codifying what is being done with a sort of guaranteed spirituality, and in creating guilt among newcomers (or old attenders) who have not fit in. Do you think it is possible for a local church to avoid this kind of tyranny?
Here's the R:
Continue reading Q & R: Tyranny of the church...
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February 5, 2012
What is emergence?
Here's an example from nature ...
The intelligence of the whole is greater than that of any part.
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February 3, 2012
a book by a fellow evangelist
Doug Pagitt has written a new book on evangelism ...
http://www.amazon.com/Evangelism-Inventive-Age-Mission-Studies/dp/1451400942/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1328278354&sr=1-1I just started it, and I love it. I would hope it would stand alongside my book More Ready than You Realize to suggest what "a new evangelism" might look like.
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Hijacked
... is the title of a new book by some friends of mine. It addresses the misadventures of mis-identifying Christian faith and partisan politics. Check it out here:
http://www.amazon.com/Hijacked-Responding-Partisan-Church-Divide/dp/1426742363/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326940286&sr=8-1
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February 2, 2012
The other prayer breakfast deserves attention too!
Read about the People's Prayer Breakfast, here:
http://ht.ly/8PLlF
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On the President's Prayer Breakfast speech today ...
When I contrast the mature tone and rich content of this speech with the shallow, vituperative, and childish religious rhetoric that so often reverberates in the halls of public discourse (i.e. speaking of "Obama's war on religion," etc.) ... I'm glad that there's at least one grown-up in the room. In my opinion, this kind of mind and heart deserves a second term. The other kind doesn't deserve a first term.
Speaking of terms, I'm looking for one that would describe the philosophy of religious-political engagement evident in this speech. It isn't theocratic (faith rules politics or politics is collapsed into faith), nor is it exclusionary (politics banishes faith to the private sphere), nor is it co-optive (politics makes clever use of faith, or vice versa), nor is it anti-religious (politics demeans faith), nor is it isolationist (faith withdraws from public life). I'd say it's integrated and iterative - integrated in that it sees faith and politics as mutually enriching and enhancing and challenging, and iterative in that we must return to engage in a cyclical fashion with each in light of the other in a quest to improve both.
[The speech is included after the jump ...]
Continue reading On the President's Prayer Breakfast speech today ......
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Church Next Interview
I had a great time speaking recently with Chris Yaw at ChurchNext. You can hear the interview and read some excerpts here:
http://churchnext.tv/2012/02/01/brian-mclaren-churches-change-when-leaders-change/
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February 1, 2012
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January 31, 2012
Q & R: New book and Buddhist practices
Here's the Q from an old friend:
I've kind of evolved over the last couple of years toward a more Buddhist approach to the contemplative life. This doesn't create any kind of crisis for me, vis-a-vis my previous spiritual practices. There's no "throw-the-baby-out-with-the-bathwater" mentality for me, just because I'm evolving toward this other approach. I find there's much in common, and I suspect that's where you will go in the new book. At the same time I've more or less dropped theological positions. It's not that this was a conscious decision, per se. It's just that they don't seem to fit (at all) with what I am now discovering and exploring through meditation and studying the Buddhist and related concepts. I've been practicing daily meditation for about a year, in the Vipassana tradition, and it is slowly transforming my world. It is a healing practice in every sense and the depths of peace, love, acceptance, and compassion I have begun to access are truly profound. I wonder whether you have begun exploring this over the last few years and whether you will touch upon this in the new book. (I am in community now with some of the mindfulness/Vipassana practitioners here in DC and elsewhere.)
Here's the R:
Continue reading Q & R: New book and Buddhist practices...
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Response from a non-theistic reader
A reader writes:
I really enjoyed your book. Thankyou. I would love to see more of your kind of Christianity. I have two problems, 1) that you still assume a belief in the reality of a God, which I can no longer affirm. Your analysis of the mistake of the Graeco-Roman version of Christianity and its basis of 'salvation' is spot on. But it still assumes a God. I seek to be a follower of Jesus of Nazareth and his vision of the kingdom on earth, what I have called in my own little books 'humanist spirituality' (www.ypd-books.com). 2) You are still, to me at least, too wedded to the Bible text as evidence for the words of Jesus, in John's gospel in particular. Don't we need to take more account of Biblical criticism?
But it's a brilliant book and I am encouraging all my Christian friends to to read it.
Thanks for your encouraging note. On the existence of God, it would be interesting to hear more about what you mean by the God you can no longer affirm, and then to explore what you do affirm, and then we could talk about the God I do affirm and notice the similarities and differences. Is there a sense of meaning or sacredness in life for you? Is there some animating telos or hope or possibility that you believe invites creation towards growth, diversity, harmony, beauty? I think there are other ways to affirm God's existence without defining God in an overly anthropomorphized/patriarchal (old man with a white beard) way. (I am a big fan of Richard Kearney's work in this regard.) On the Biblical text, I don't discount Biblical criticism, but I don't dwell on it either. I try to approach the text in a post-critical way, aspiring toward the second naiveté described by Paul Ricouer and others.Of course, in the end, we may simply disagree on these matters, which makes your affirmation of the book all the more gracious - and appreciated. Thanks again.
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We are connected ...
to honeybees, dependent on them even. That's why this report is so important:
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/01/30-9
Quotable:
So, let’s get this straight. The chief scientist at the top U.S. government bee-science institute completed research two years ago implicating a widely used, EPA-approved pesticide in what can plausibly be called an ecological catastrophe — the possible extinction of honeybees, which pollinate a huge portion of U.S. crops. Why are we just now hearing about this — and why are we only hearing about it through an obscure documentary filtered through a British newspaper?
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January 30, 2012
Q & R: Praying for me ...
Here's the (implied) Q:
Dear Mr. McLaren!
I just watched this presentation on the topic of "Christian Palistinianism".
I am reaching out to you my dear brother in Christ!
I invite you to please watch this and see if the Lord is asking you to repent of this false doctrine you and some others in "the Church" are promoting.
This is a very unbiblical and dangerous way of representing who God is and His clearly laid out plans to redeem His Chosen people.
I pray that the Holy Spirit will speak the Truth to you and will open your eyes and ears to the Word of God and the Truths written therein!
Here's the R:
Continue reading Q & R: Praying for me ......
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A great story ...
In response to the recent announcement about my upcoming book, Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road (September 11, 2012, Jericho), a reader in Australia shares this beautiful story about what he learned about Jesus, hell, life, and joy from a Muslim teacher. Thanks, Doug!
Mr Aziz was an iman (religious teacher) at our favourite mosque. He was a jovial forty something and slightly heavier than the average Asian man. In this community, where absolutely everyone knows you really can judge a book by its cover, Aziz was easily recognised as a godly man because of his distinctly Arab clothes and turban. However, his spirituality was far deeper than his attire. Unlike nearly all other local men, he was not ashamed to have marry a handicapped woman. Aziz’s wife was blind. Most men would find this embarrassing, but Aziz spoke of her with pride and joy. And this was not the only counter-cultural anomaly in his life. In this culture there is a saying, “The nail that sticks out will be hammered back down”. It takes real character to live according to your conscience if your convictions should result in you, ‘sticking out’ from those around you. Aziz happily stuck out in the most wonderful way. About once a month I would have coffee with Aziz at the training centre that had grown up around his mosque. On my first visit six months earlier, I had not been sure what to expect upon entering the heart of “them” country. To be honest, it was disturbing to see how similar (and friendly) the mosque was to my old Bible college. But the most striking thing about this community was their compassion for the disabled. Their kindness toward these social outcasts went beyond anything I had seen in my Christian experience. Forty percent of their large staff were physically handicapped. This particular day I sat waiting in the Centre's coffee shop for Aziz to arrive. On all the previous occasions when we got together he presented himself very smoothly - kind and unusually wise, a spiritual sage at peace within himself. I was however suspicious of this image Aziz projected. To me it seemed like a professional persona, polished and well practiced. He reminded me of an insecure pastor I knew back home who always tried to present a ‘victorious Christian’ image that never matched his reality. Today however, I would challenge Aziz and see what his heart was really made of. Our relationship was now strong enough for me to put before him the claims of the Gospel and see how he responded. Today I meant business. Then I saw Aziz, still some distance away, in an alley between two buildings. He was not aware I could see him and the only other people around were two garbage men collecting bins. I suppose because he was late he walked briskly, but when he reached the two men he stopped. He greeted both with a smile, shook their hands and bowed slightly, a gesture of respect. I was shocked. In this country everyone is keenly aware of their place in society’s pecking order. These men were far beneath his high and lofty station. The average poor slum dweller would look down their nose at those who collect the garbage. God knows I wouldn’t bother to stop and greet them. Yet Aziz, a highly respected iman in perhaps the most famous mosque in the biggest Muslim country in the world just bowed to them, apparently with God his only audience. It is hard for a Westerner to appreciate how radical this is. I had lived in the East long enough to be both shocked and impressed. I had no idea the best was yet to come. Minutes later he arrived. We ordered drinks and after I felt the conversation had sufficiently warmed, I steered the topic toward my mission with the question, “Aziz, if you died today do you think you would go to Heaven?” Aziz looked me in the eye and smiled graciously. “That is a very Western question” he replied. “You want me to give you a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. So I will say ‘yes’, because that’s what you want. But, you don’t realise you’re asking me the wrong question.”
(more after the jump)Continue reading A great story ......
