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=1-1
I 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.
... 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
Read about the People's Prayer Breakfast, here:
http://ht.ly/8PLlF
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 ......
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/
Here's my latest Patheos column:
http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Beloved-Community-vs-the-Beloved-Economy-Brian-McLaren-02-01-2012.html
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.)
Continue reading Q & R: New book and Buddhist practices...
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.
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.
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?
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!
Continue reading Q & R: Praying for me ......
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 ......
Frank Schaeffer gets it right on the sanctifying power of potentially being wrong, here:
http://frank-schaeffer.blogspot.com/2012/01/gods-politics-not-so-much-so-lets-wild.html
Learn how you can be involved - here:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vitalvisuals/help-fund-a-photo-exhibit-on-the-israeli-security
and here:
http://www.newevangelicalpartnership.org/?q=node/147
Word is out that we all would be disgusted if we knew the working conditions for the people making Apple products. Here's where you can sign a petition telling Apple to clean up its act ...
http://www.change.org/petitions/apple-ceo-tim-cook-protect-workers-making-iphones-in-chinese-factories?utm_medium=email&utm_source=action_alert
... just as many of us are trying to do with Publix and Trader Joe's for farm workers. More info here:
http://ciw-online.org/
In addition to recent news about my new partnership with Life in the Trinity Ministry, I want to let everyone know about the final title and release date for my upcoming book.
The title will be ...
Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road?
Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World
The release date will be September 11, 2012.
We've had a number of advance readers respond to the book, and comments have ranged from "this is Brian's most important book yet" to "this is the book we have been waiting for." Stay tuned for pre-order information.
Q & R:
I am a happily recovering Modern who is raising 6 children in a Post Modern world. They are asking different questions than I ever imagined as a young adult and I am looking for some recommendations on books that address parenting in the Post Modern Context. As a recovering religion junky I don't often feel I am parenting from a position of strength. My wife and I have always viewed our resources as gifts from God that we must steward and I believe have been model Kingdom Citizens. It is not my example I am concerned with but my ability to have conversation with my kids that aren't "Adventures in Missing the Point". The things they are facing as young adults demands that we find ways to talk about life in a way that is real and relevant. Any help would be much appreciated!Sincerely,
“Compassion is sometimes the fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else's skin. It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too.” -Frederick Buechner
Continue reading Q & R: A recovering Modern raising kids ......
That's why I'm a big supporter of Centurion's Guild.
A group called Centurion's Guild is trying to move the Church toward deeper reflections on war and peace, as well as begin to embody a different way of journeying with service members, carefully but deliberately. They are currently trying to raise funds for a.) web presence from which to share resources and b.) materials for their care packages. They have set up a Kickstarter-like "crowd-funding" campaign at Helpers Unite. Check it out - and I hope you'll consider supporting them.
http://www.helpersunite.com/projects/76-centurion-s-guild
Here's the Q:
I apologize I have about a page here... but there's much to say in order to get my question across. If you are unable to respond I understand.
Comment:
First, I want to thank you very much for your contribution to the Christian community. You have played a major role in causing me to see the scriptures a bit differently, and not be afraid to ask questions, to possibly be open to being misguided, as well as seeing the gospel of Christ through a new lense. I especially enjoyed your book 'A New Kind of Christianity'. Thank you!
Question:
Second, I wanted to ask a question on something that I tend to notice in the emergent church movement (which I consider myself to gladly be a part of). I've read many articles that Jesus would be for the 99% and would challenge the 1%.
This is said, understandably so, because Jesus had so much to say about the poor as well as the tendency for the wealthy to be greedy.
To a certain degree, I can understand that. Jesus, as revealed in the gospels, is clearly for the oppressed. And so ought we to be. But in my mind it doesn't necessarily mean that Jesus is against wealthy people per se. Or that he expects us to demand that government be the care-takers of the poor.
Without calling Jesus a 'libertarian', wouldn't constitional freedom be an ideal for the political world (as well as a Christian ideal)? In other words, to put limitations on government and to grant liberty to people to make their own voluntary choices rather than be coerced by government to do so? Abolishing income tax (as some candidates like Ron Paul propose) would propose more equal playing field in the business world, free market system.
I just find we tend to make Jesus a pro-socialist, anti-capitalist in many of the political discussions.
My question to you is - What do you think of all of this? And do you find that there is a tendency to make Jesus a bit more democrat than republican in emergent discussions?
Would love to hear your thoughts on this....
Continue reading Q & R: Is Jesus more of a Democrat, Republican, or Libertarian?...
... for this:
And thanks to Jennifer Butler of FPL for this excellent commentary.
(note - link fixed)
... with readers like this?
i just wanted to thank you for the way your work has played a role in my life.i am 27 and was raised in the evangelical church. i am the typical story of not really connecting to my faith through that tradition. your writing has been a big part of the story of my life and faith. it has been a big part of my journey that has allowed me to stay connected to my faith and to the church.
i have read some of the critical reactions people have had to you and needless to say i know that your writing must come at a cost to you. i know there must be a lot of painful and dark experiences you know as a result of your work.
i just want to thank you for "paying that cost" and for the way you have helped to teach me to be a more loving, caring, and inclusive christian. your readings have helped me to look for unity and respect instead of conflict and dismissing.
thank you for the role you have played in my story and for being willing to endure some hard things to help those like me.
This is from today's emergent village email (really worth subscribing here - with just one click.)
65% of the work in the world is done by women;
12% of the paid salaries in the world go to women;
2% of properties in the world are on the hands of women;
1 in each 6 women in the world is a victim of incest;
1 in each 4 women will experience some form of sexual violence in life;
75% of people that die of hunger are women and children;
In all the world, women do not earn the same salary as men;
In all the world, the education level of women is lower than that of men;
In countries where women have more diplomas than men, the tendency is for less educated men to hold higher positions, changing, therefore, the criterion of promotion;
98% of structural decisions are made by men;
In all the world, women are more dependent on the land than men;
In many places of the world, the majority of abortions is of girls.
Given that, the lesson the Feminist Theology teaches us is that before worrying about explaining reality, theologies must pay attention to an unjust reality that needs transformation.
This situation must be taken as a theological challenge that requires an urgent answer seeking changes.
Felipe Fanuel Xavier Rodrigues
Towards a daily theology: listening to the unheard voices
from "Teologias com Sabor de Mangostão". Isabel Aparecida Felix
Translation from Portuguese by Gustavo Frederico
This year, I've joined forces with a beautiful group of people called Life in the Trinity Ministry, based in Dallas, Texas. LTM was founded in 1985 by Rev. Joseph and Suzanne Stabile. LTM encourages civility, fosters personal growth, and works to create of community among all people. My title will be "theologian in residence." I won't be moving to Dallas, but will be on-site there several times each year to lead workshops, seminars, etc. We plan to record these seminars and make them available via download, cd, and dvd. Here's what's planned for 2012:
Sept 7-9
Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World: I'll preview my new book, exploring how Christian identity can grow more robust by becoming more benevolent towards other faiths. We'll look at historical, doctrinal, liturgical, and missional dimensions of multi-faith engagement. We'll explore the role of religion in violence and prejudice - and ways that Christians and local churches can become agents of peace and hospitality, rather than suspicion and hostility. (Suggested Prereading: Secret Message of Jesus, Everything Must Change, A New Kind of Christianity)
Nov 11-13
Four Stages of Faith Development: Drawing from my book Naked Spirituality, I'll present how the four-stage framework (simplicity, complexity, perplexity, harmony) can help in personal spiritual formation, pastoral ministry, preaching, outreach, and conflict resolution. We'll use role play, experiential learning, and interactive Bible study as well as lecture and discussion to become fluent in understanding and applying this framework. (Suggested Prereading: Naked Spirituality, A New Kind of Christian)
Nov 13-15
Spiritual Formation - Becoming Christ Like - Christ in You: We will explore the biblical theme of the image of God in us, integrating insights from Scripture, church history, and the monastic tradition, exploring how the church in its liturgy, preaching, and program can become a dojo, school, or studio of Christ-like feeling, thinking, virtue, integrity, and action. We'll consider the imitation/embodiment of Christ as the heart and soul of Christian living. (Suggested Prereading: Naked Spirituality, Finding Our Way Again, A New Kind of Christianity)
Dec 7 Pre-conference workshop - Worship Leaders and Songwriters Workshop
We will bring together gifted practitioners to assess the status of worship music, the areas where creative input is needed, and ways to develop and disseminate new worship resources. We'll experiment with some collaborative songwriting as well, culminating in a shared worship experience. (Suggested pre reading: Finding Our Way Again, Naked Spirituality, A New Kind of Christianity, Everything Must Change)Dec 8-9 Conference - details TBA.
Dec 9-11 Public Worship as Spiritual Formation
We'll look at ways that the form and content of gathered worship contributes to - and detracts from - formation for Christ-like character and mission. We'll wrestle with fidelity to tradition and fidelity to current and future generations, devoting special attention to the problems of religious language - including the word "God." And we'll use action-reflection to engage in liturgical practices and seek to understand them through experience. (Suggested prereading: Finding Our Way Again, Naked Spirituality, A New Kind of Christianity, Everything Must Change)
When I met the LTM team, I was deeply impressed: a positive and inclusive Christian community bringing together Protestants and Catholics, believers and seekers, to learn and grow together. I had some creative projects in mind that I knew I couldn't achieve alone, and LTM generously offered their experience and abilities. I look forward to what we can do together.
I've included the LTM press release below (after the jump). There are lots of resources available here:
http://lifeinthetrinityministry.com/
Continue reading A Major Announcement...
I'm sure there will be a lot of criticism against the President and Secretary of State for deciding against the Keystone Pipeline, but I'm among those who applaud his decision (included after the jump). I hope that our political climate will change so that we can constructively address the many issues facing our planetary climate ... because I believe with the Psalmist that "the earth is the Lord's, and all it contains." I hope we will hear more about clean and renewable energy in the future as well.
Thanks also to all who participated in protests against the pipeline, especially those who were arrested. Those of us who couldn't participate are grateful to you!
Continue reading Thank you, Mr. President...
... that the new Episcopal bishop of Washington DC, the Right Rev. Mariann Budde, has recommended my book Finding Our Way Again as a resource for Lent. I've heard tremendous things about Bishop Mariann's vision and manner (and her interest in systems thinking), and I hope the book will be a helpful resource to all.
I had a great time speaking with Fr. Richard Rohr in the good company of January Adventure in Georgia last weekend. (By the way - here are the slides from the presentations: http://www.slideshare.net/brianmclaren)
Today and tomorrow I'll be in Kansas with Methodists, and then Saturday I'll be in the DC area with Lutherans. (The Friday night reading/dialogue in DC is sold out ... sorry!)
I can't believe how fortunate I am to meet and work with such amazing people all over the country - people full of faith, hope, and love.
Friends have noticed that I have had little to say about the political primary season here in the USofA. That was because there wasn't a horse in the race that I was really enthusiastic about. But now there's a dog in the hunt I can really get behind. Here's the fish in the sea whose campaign I hope will catch on, someone who offers
a new hope!
There are two worthwhile conferences in Minnesota, May 1-3 and 3-5, Funding the Missional Church and Church Planters Academy. For more information, go here:
http://fundingthemissionalchurch.com/
http://churchplantersacademy.com/
A number of my good friends are involved in these events, and I know they'll be excellent.
Then May 7-10 in Washington, DC, there's Children, Youth, and a New Kind of Christianity - where I'll be giving the opening address (and attending all the sessions as an avid learner).
http://children-youth.com/
(By the way - registration goes up on February 1, so this is the best time to register. And full-time students - there's a special rate for you. More info here:
http://children-youth.com/register/register-now/)
Important opportunities for people interested in the life, mission, and future of our churches!
Here's the Q:
As the pastor of a small congregation, I am quite fortunate to have a three month sabbatical coming up that I may take in 2013. This is a valuable opportunity to explore and study at a depth that is often very difficult with the demands of a solo pastorate, and I’m eager to make the most of it!
For the past few years it has seemed more and more apparent that, consciously or unconsciously, for a great many people their understanding – or misunderstanding – of atonement affects their whole view of God, religion, church, themselves, and their relationship with family, friends, strangers, and enemies. Therefore, I hope to spend my sabbatical studying the breadth of atonement interpretations, the history of their development, their implications across theology, and the consequences that permeate our spiritual and social lives. The goal is that greater understanding on my part will enable me to offer the same to others.
Could you suggest someone or someplace that has been studying atonement? Could you point me to any other resources? Your suggestions are highly valued
Thank you very much for any direction that you are able to provide.
Continue reading Q & R: Resources on Atonement...
... and push for reducing the federal government's military budget:
Here's the Q:
Hey Brian,
I've emailed you before -- don't worry about responding. I'm in the
process of working through all of this and I'll be fine. But I figured
I'd write you just the same, as I do really appreciate your views on a
variety of issues (not just theological). (By the way, before I go any
farther, I want to say that theologically, I think The Secret Message
of Jesus is probably the most important book you've written, at least
of what I've read -- it's really been huge for me. And I'm trying to
find time to work my way through Naked Spirituality, which is
fabulous--I bought a copy for my mom and a previous boss -- but it's
the kind of book one really needs some life-space to enjoy, and my
life is pretty busy and exhausting at the moment...)Anyway... I'm still pretty young, 25, and I work for the government of
xxx. I’m an aspiring Christian (sort of a cross between a
Mennonite and an Episcopalian at this point), but I feel like I’ve
been rather stumbling towards faith over the past several years, which
has been somewhat of a painful process, and I could use a helping hand
to steady me a bit. Basically my problem is this: I’m having trouble
learning to be at peace with atheism. I have a very curious,
questioning, impressionable mind and I find atheism hard to ignore.
Yesterday, for example, I was looking on iTunes for some good
spiritually-inclined indie-folk-rock songs to put on a mix CD for a
friend of mine and I came upon a song called “Glory Hallelujah” by a
British folk-rocker named Frank Turner. Let’s just say it was not what
I was looking for—the song is basically an anthem for new atheism:Brothers and sisters, have you heard the news?
The storm has lifted and there's nothing to lose,
So swap your confirmation for your dancing shoes,
Because there never was no God.
Step out of the darkness and onto the streets,
Forget about the fast, let's have a carnival feast,
Raise up your lowered head to hear the liberation beat,
Because there never was no God.There is no God,
So clap your hands together,
There is no God,
No heaven and no hell.
There is no God,
We're all in this together,
There is no God,
So ring that victory bell.No cowering in the dark before some overbearing priests,
No waiting until we die until we restitute the meek,
No blaming all our failings on imaginary beasts,
Because there never was no God.
No fighting over land your distant fathers told you of,
No spilling blood for those who have never spread a drop of love,
No finger pointing justified by phantoms up above,
Because there never was no God.There is no God,
So clap your hands together,
There is no God,
No heaven and no hell.
There is no God,
We're all in this together,
There is no God,
So ring that victory bell.And I know you're scared of dying man and I am too,
But just pretending it's not happening isn't gonna see us through,
So just accept that there's an end game and we haven't got much time,
And then in the here and now we can try and do things right.
Forget about the crazy things that people have believed,
And think of wondrous things that normal people have achieved,
'Cos I've known beauty in the stillness of cathedrals in the day,
I sang Glory Hallelujah! Won't you wash my sins away?
But now I'm singing my refrain and this is what I say,
I say there never was no God.There is no God,
So clap your hands together,
There is no God,
No heaven and no hell.
There is no God,
We're all in this together,
There is no God,
So ring that victory bell.I have spent most of my life in very secular (but not necessarily
secular-ist) environments, where faith in God is rarely spoken of and
rarely affirmed, and yet, when I hear or read views such as these
expressed above – I am still deeply disturbed. The gulf between an
Atheist and a Theist view of reality is truly vast, even if the actual
behaviour of the various adherents is all over the map.My gut reaction to hearing the kinds of views expressed in that song
is first: Are they nuts? and then: What is their problem? But the
thing is, I know what their problem is – because it’s partly my
problem as well. They (we) desperately need a coherent explanation to
live by – and the more people around us we can get to affirm the
coherence of our explanation, the more easily we will be able to sleep
at night and the more pleasantly we will be able to go about the
business of our daily lives. So we evangelize. (That's obviously not
the only reason we evangelize.)If there is one thing human beings can’t survive without, it’s
existential coherence, i.e. meaning to live by, even if that “meaning”
is that “there is no meaning”. The problem with meaning though is of
course that it is socially constructed (regardless of whether it is
ultimately being discovered or invented) – and when society ceases to
provide sufficient affirmation (i.e. clarity) of our meaning, we drift
into deeper and deeper existential uncertainty. To my mind, the modern
Western dabbling in atheism is on a fundamental level a reaction to
that incoherence, or existential uncertainty, as a way of breaking
free from it.Of course, some existential uncertainty is always necessary for
deepening our understanding of God / reality / the meaning of life –
whatever – in the first place. I am certainly not against doubt
itself. But to say there is no understanding or meaning to be found is
to go too far, because it undermines the whole reasoning process. It
undermines reason itself.Throughout human history and still in most parts of the world – the
idea that there is a God of some kind – is/has been taken for granted.
As well it should be. I think that’s actually a pretty safe bet. The
rational/philosophical arguments for a Creator are convincing – you
really have to want God not to exist in order to reject them. If there
is any explanation to be found – if there is any rhyme or reason to be
found in anything – God is it. To my mind, in the marketplace for
ideas, true atheism is simply a bad idea. It is a piss-poor
explanation of reality.And yet, I can’t completely ignore it. Philosophical Materialism keeps
nagging at me, tripping me up on my walk with God. Self-doubt
sometimes becomes a kind of addiction for me. How do I learn to stand
on my own two feet intellectually? How did you manage it?Ultimately, I think the debate around the existence of God seems to
rather miss the point. The debate we ought to be having should not
center around the question of “Is there a God?” but the question of
“What kind of God?”As I said, I think it's pretty safe to say that there is some kind of
Creator-Sustainer-Organizer of the universe, but beyond that,
everything is totally uncertain for me. What is God's character and
intention? How does He/She/It relate to us and interact with us? Does
God truly speak to human beings? Are beauty, justice, reason, love,
etc. truly intimations of the divine? Are they truly “patches of God’s
light in the woods of our understanding”? I hope so. I think so. But
hell if I know. Still – that seems like a much more interesting and
fruitful way to frame the debate around faith and religion. Even if
you want to call it “Nature”, you're still left with a God – as an
organizer, a sustainer, a source, a creative mind. How can
matter/energy exist unto itself? So I would so desperately love it if
we as a culture could move past the “Is there a God?” debate into the
“So what does the fact that there is a God mean for me?” debate. But I
know that probably won't happen anytime soon.Anyway, can you give me some guidance? How do I make peace with
atheism? Should I stop reading the Huffingtonpost?
Continue reading Q & R: Making peace with (A)theism...
Here's the Q:
You're probably the best thing that happened to my inherited Christianity on this side of the Atlantic (Tom Wright from the other side). I'm gifting my 19-year old with a fresh copy of ANKoC this weekend for Christmas.
Marcus Borg has also helped a whole lot and I was hoping for your comments on the
subject of Panentheism as far as helping us understand the true nature and the being
of God himself.
Also wonder if you can tie all of this up with your "a character named God" in the Old
Testament, as you wrote on ANKoC.
Thank you again for being a great blessing to so many of us. You've enriched my life
beyond words.
Continue reading Q & R: Panentheism...
Jennifer Butler gets it right, here:
http://www.faithinpubliclife.org/fplaction/compassionate-conservatisms-comeback/
Neither conservative Protestants nor Catholics should be satisfied with the Republican options. Nor should progressive Protestants or Catholics be satisfied with Democratic behavior ... new vision and new options are needed on all sides.
A reader writes:
I have read your comments regarding the Palestinian question, your answer was clear and convincing, I wish there are more people like you
I want to thank you so much, there are good people in this world and I hope that it will be more like you
I am a Palestinian born before Israel was formed, I was born in 1946 and it hurts me when i hear others say that we do not exist
I live in exile in [Europe] for 40 years now and I do not know if I will live to this day where my people can live like everyone else
Stay tuned for an important new initiative to promote healing solutions in the Middle East that are pro-peace, pro-justice, pro-Israeli, and pro-Palestinian ...
And on the underlying issue of whether God is pro- or anti-favoritism, see this piece by George Sarris: http://blogs.christianpost.com/engaging-the-culture/2012/01/jacob-i-loved-esau-i-hated-10/#more
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/environment/story/2012-01-06/galapagos-turtles-extinct/52467768/1
This piece by Joe Boyd deserves your attention ...
http://joeboydblog.com/2012/01/05/a-personal-confession-re-occupy-movement/
Here's my Patheos.com piece ... especially for pastors and worship leaders!
http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/After-the-Worship-Wars-Christian-Identity-and-Worship-Brian-McLaren-01-09-2012.html
Check out Lillian Daniel's wise words here:
http://www.ucc.org/feed-your-spirit/daily-devotional/touchdown-theology.html
Two heartbreaking emails I received recently follow:
Here's the first:
Continue reading Q & R: Questions that can't yet must be answered...
On torture and the US government, here:
http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/7040/9/
Here's the Q:
Thank you for your continual insight into what it means to be a disciple Jesus. I've been a pastor for about 9 years and I found myself closely identifying with the main characters in "A New Kind of Christian." I'm sure like most people have experienced, there aren't too many churches that think outside the box of their modernist traditional Christianity, even contemporary mega-churches aren't necessarily different in doctrine from their more traditional counterparts.While I've fully accepted where I am and what I believe. I don't think there is any place for me to work as a pastor anymore. Any thoughts as to what a an ex-pastor might do? Who's hiring someone that's only had experience working at McDonald's and churches? Thanks!
Here's the R:
Continue reading Q & R: Is there a place for an ex-pastor like me?...
My friend Jim Henderson has teamed up with a group of honest and outspoken women (several of them friends of mine as well) to ask an important question to churches - especially churches where women must "submit" to a different set of rules than men: what if Adam's rib is no longer willing to be the church's backbone? Learn more here:
http://resignationofeve.com/
I've been a big fan of Aaron Niequist's music for a long time. But I'm especially thrilled with his new release.
Stay tuned for a longer piece on worship, identity, and missionality coming soon. Until then, here's a link:
http://anewliturgy.com/liturgy/no-2/
Children, Youth and a New Kind of Christianity is quickly approaching! And we need your help to make this groundbreaking event a success. Share your ideas about children's and youth ministry through an intriguing presentation, an engaging workshop, or by being part of a panel of innovators in children's and youth ministry. Submit a proposal by the January 12 deadline (see http://children-youth.com/get-involved/) and you could join Tony Campolo, Shane Claiborne, Ivy Beckwith, Jeremiah Wright, Joyce Mercer, John Westerhoff, and many others who will be sharing at CYNKC. For more information and to register for the conference, visit http://children-youth.com/. Join us in shaping the future of children's and youth ministry, a future marked by hope, love, peace, and a passion for following Jesus with friends young and old.
And if you haven't registered yet, please do. I hope to see you in Washington, DC, May 6-10. I've been looking forward to this event for years.
Bob Jackson, oil painter and mad imaginatitian.
There's a new book about his art ... learn more here:
robertcjackson.com
Here's the Q:
Our Adult Sunday school class is preparing to study your Four Stages of Faith; Simplicity, Complexity, Perplexity and Humility based on your presentation by the same name. After buying a copy of “Naked Spirituality” I noticed that the Humility stage appears to have been renamed to Harmony.
Is this a refinement of your thinking or am I looking at two different things?
Here's the R:
I've been developing the four stages concept for over twenty years. I originally called Stage Four maturity, but that presented problems because it suggested people should rush through the first three to get there asap. That, of course, is counterproductive because there are important skills and lessons for each stage that shouldn't be rushed. Then I changed the name to humility because humility is a hallmark of the fourth stage. But some years ago I started calling it harmony because it involves integrating strengths and aptitudes developed in the first three stages - and because people in stage four are more interested in seeking harmony with others. The containers haven't changed - but the labels have. Thanks for the good question!
A reader writes ...
I finished reading Naked Spirituality yesterday (and met with our pastor immediately after :)). I read the book slowly and peacefully so that I could reflect and truly take the time to take it all in. This part of my life journey has not been easy...I'd kept my head high and pushed on...and in the tears and reflection, I am discovering who I am...the me that I was, the one I am now and the one I am becoming. I'd lost hope along the way...and I'd lost God, too...not intentionally or consciously and I truly felt I just needed to keep putting one foot in front of the other...but in trying to do it 'all myself', I lost important parts of my spirit. I still smiled and laughed and positively parented and tried to be the best wife...but I was so weary and my smiles and laughter were not from my heart... Your writing has meant so much to me...I am still healing and I will always be a work in progress...but I have peace...and I never had had that before. I am so raw now and stripping spirituality down to the basics has helped me discover a God that is different from the one I thought I knew before...
You've inspired me and have given me words to rediscover 'me'...I am able to 'be' and listen to the silence...and that is so powerful.
This "stripping down" is what is behind the book's title, of course.
In regards to that that stripping-down metaphor, I recently rediscovered a passage from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Letters and Papers from Prison (in Diana Butler Bass' Christianity After Religion - a wonderful book, by the way, available next month). I had seen this passage referred to many times before (most recently in Peter Rollins' Insurrection - another excellent book):
What is bothering me incessantly is the question what Christianity really is, or indeed who Christ really is, for us today. The time when people could be told everything by means of words, whether theological or pious, is over, and so is the time of inwardness and conscience - and that means the time of religion in general. We are moving toward a completely religionless time; people as they are now simply cannot be religious anymore. Even those who honestly describe themselves as "religious" do not in the least act up to it, and so they presumably mean something quite different by "religious"
But I had forgotten about this part:
What does that mean for "Christianity?" If religion is only a garment of Christianity - and even this garment has looked very different at different times - then what is a religionless Christianity?
That would have been a great epigram from Naked Spirituality. (By the way, NS will be available in paperback on March 6 - a little late for a Lenten study, since Lent begins Feb 22, but you could perhaps have two weeks of warm-up, then five weeks to read and practice with the book.)
Happy New Year, friends -
2012 ended with an absolute highlight - Grace and I having our two granddaughters, our four kids and their spouses and significant others, and some other relatives all under one roof in Florida. These two photos say it all:
My travels this month will take me to Chicago (sold out), Georgia, Kansas, DC, and Baltimore. You can get details here ...
http://www.brianmclaren.net/archives/schedule/current-schedul/
While home in Florida, we have a steady stream of company, and I'll squeeze in some volunteer work with Rookery Bay and Interfaith Action. I'll be editing/revising my major September release, based on input from a number of thoughtful readers. By the way, that will be September 11, 2012 (a fitting date, given the subject), for Why did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road? Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World.
I'll also be preparing a few short fiction e-books which I should have news on soon. They're unlike anything I've ever written. Stay tuned.
I'll also have news later this week on a new partnership I'll be involved with in 2012, about which I'm very enthusiastic. It promises to be a wonderful year. I'm grateful to be here for it!
http://www.meetup.com/Emerging-Christianity-Conversation/events/43931412/?a=ea1_grp&rv=ea1
Friday January 20, 2012. Space is limited ...
I think it's important to imagine what life in a regenerative economy would look like - and to live into that imagination. Thanks to Shane, Claudio, and the whole community in Recife for this glimpse.
on patience in the new year:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lillian-daniel/acting-out-on-the-airplan_b_1176483.html
(thanks, rachel and jodi ... )
Here are the lyrics:
Continue reading A song for the end of the year ......
Laci Scott is my booking agent. She responds to all the requests that come in for me to speak. She arranges my travel. She solves last minute emergencies. She is a godsend, and is downright pleasant and affable whatever befalls. Again and again in 2011, event hosts told me how much they enjoyed working with her. Laci - thanks for another great year! I'm truly grateful for you, for all you do, and for the pleasure of working with you.
Kathy Helmers is my literary agent. Again in 2011, she has given me invaluable guidance in the understanding and functioning in the publishing world, irreplaceable guidance as a writer, and deeply appreciated friendship through it all. Thanks, Kathy, and thanks to everyone at Creative Trust.
Wendy Grisham is my new US publisher at Jericho Books, and Katherine Venn is my publisher at Hodder in the UK. Both are a pleasure to work with and combine professionalism with personal commitment. I'm especially looking forward to being one of the debut authors with the new Jericho label in September 2012, and to touring with Katherine (who is herself a gifted poet) later in 2012 in the UK.
In 2011, I was warmly welcomed in the following cities:
Montreat, Dallas, Austin, St. Simons Island, Winnepeg, Wilmington, Phoenix, Sacramento, Baltimore, Iowa City, Richmond, Atlanta, Rochester, Boston, Louisville, Nashville, Llandudno, Manchester, Amsterdam, Minneapolis, Mobile, Birmingham, Raleigh, Twickenham, London, Little Rock, Vancouver, Seattle, New York, Columbia, Charlotte, Jackson, Mobile, Palo Alto, DC, West Palm ...
(and I was in a few of these cities 2 or 3 times).
Everywhere I went this year, I met fascinating people with tremendous insights and stimulating questions. I was welcomed into warm communities of faith and dynamic conversations. On my way home from every single trip my hope was enriched.
Thanks to all the hosts who arranged hotels, made sure that projectors and screens were available, sold books, made airport runs, took me out for amazing meals and even better conversations, and made me feel welcome and at home. I could not be more blessed, or more grateful.
Kristin Jack is a gifted poet who serves among the poor in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. His work captures glimpses of grace and dignity there amidst poverty and brokenness. It is both beautiful and accessible, and beautifully presented too, with moving photography ... I highly recommend it. You can view it online here ...
http://servantsasia.org/index.php/en/news/poetry.html
I am so grateful to all of you who make up the loyal community of readers to whom I am connected.
To the ones who write encouraging emails or speak to me in person on the road ... your feedback means the world to me. I am so grateful for the writers whose works have helped me, and to think I've been of some help to others is humbling and deeply gratifying. Thank you!
To the ones who pass on books they've enjoyed to friends, relatives, and neighbors, you are multiplying the impact of each book. Thank you!
To the ones who write passionately negative reviews ... your feedback challenges me to write more effectively in the future. Thank you!
To those who tell me I write too fast and they're still trying to catch up ... thanks for wanting to keep up!
To all those who read this blog and keep up with me via Facebook and twitter, I'm grateful for our connection. Thank you!
Grace and I are enjoying a week with our four adult kids, their spouses and significant others, and our two amazing granddaughters. It's a feast of joie de vivre.
O magnum mysterium et admirabile sacramentum
ut animalia viderent Dominum natum
jacentem in praesepio.
Beata virgo cujus viscera
meruent partare Dominum Christum.
Alleluia.
Translation
O great mystery and wonderful sacrament
That animals see the Lord born
Lying in a manger.
Blessed virgin whose womb
Was worthy to bear Lord Christ.
Allelujah.
Here's the story, told by kids ...
(If you ever wondered how the three amigos got in the story, here's how -)
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=ki8EcnVbd-Q
Here's the Q - about what would Jesus do if he were here right now:
I was just wondering..... If Jesus had come in the year 2011, and the Bible compiled soon after, would you be prepared to ponder as to what might be the major characteristics of Christianity during our time (and into the near future)....?
Here's the R:
Continue reading Q & R: WWJDIHWHRN...
Yesterday I mentioned this outstanding article from the NYT ...
http://brianmclaren.net/archives/blog/the-best-or-one-of-the-best-arti.html
Here's an equally astute article by Sheldon Good from the MWR* ...
http://www.mennoweekly.org/2011/12/12/young-people-need-be-part-renewing-church/
*Mennonite Weekly Review
The salvation proclaimed by Christ was very earthy and earthly ... He didn't teach us to pray, "May we come to your kingdom in heaven when we die, where your will is done, unlike earth," but rather, "May your kingdom come (to earth), and may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
With that in mind, here's a wonderful summary of faith-community efforts for the environment:
http://ht.ly/87SRq
Quotable:
Climate science challenges our theologies. Everyone has a theology, which is simply our idea about how the universe works and our role in it. By suggesting that maybe we have some role in the weather and might actually be changing how the earth works in a way that will change the kind of world our grandchildren will live in, in a way our ancestors who wrote the Bible couldn’t have imagined – that’s unsettling, scary stuff. The more we can acknowledge that people are deeply threatened by this information and be whole and honest in our broken-heartedness together, that’s the way to have a real conversation about climate science.
I've written on this subject from a Christian standpoint in Everything Must Change. For a powerful Hindu engagement with climate - with a message for us all - see Carbon Dharma, here:
http://www.amazon.com/Carbon-Dharma-Occupation-Butterflies-ebook/dp/B00657Z1B0
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/opinion/sunday/americans-and-god.html?_r=1&ref=ericweiner
Quotable;
For some of us, the season affords an opportunity to reconnect with our religious heritage. For others, myself included, it’s a time to shake our heads over the sad state of our national conversation about God, and wish there were another way.For a nation of talkers and self-confessors, we are terrible when it comes to talking about God. The discourse has been co-opted by the True Believers, on one hand, and Angry Atheists on the other. What about the rest of us?
The rest of us, it turns out, constitute the nation’s fastest-growing religious demographic. We are the Nones, the roughly 12 percent of people who say they have no religious affiliation at all. The percentage is even higher among young people; at least a quarter are Nones.
What is the solution? The answer, I think, lies in the sort of entrepreneurial spirit that has long defined America, including religious America.We need a Steve Jobs of religion. Someone (or ones) who can invent not a new religion but, rather, a new way of being religious. Like Mr. Jobs’s creations, this new way would be straightforward and unencumbered and absolutely intuitive. Most important, it would be highly interactive. I imagine a religious space that celebrates doubt, encourages experimentation and allows one to utter the word God without embarrassment. A religious operating system for the Nones among us. And for all of us.
A reader writes:
You would probably not remember, but we have met before, when you were in Australia in 2009 (with ACOM, Black Stump and Surrender etc. etc.)When I read Everything Must Change back in 2009 I was interested in your reading of the parable of the Shrewd Manager in Luke 16. I have recently written a post on it on my blog, and before finishing noticed that you recently mentioned it on yours (http://brianmclaren.net/archives/blog/-i-have-read-your.html). I went back to reread what you said in EMC and have included it in my post (http://liferemixed.net/2011/11/30/shrewd-manager-luke-16/)
I should note at this point that, though your interpretation is highly compelling, I did not ultimately settle on it. I wondered whether you might be interested in checking out the interpretation that I have put forward.
Rather than detracting from the point you were making in EMC about the parable, I think it actually strengthens it. Perhaps you will disagree with me and will take the chance to further outline the rationale for your reading (which if true is, as I said, a compelling one). Either way this would be beneficial.
I hope this does not come across as in any way arrogant or abrupt. Thank you for your books and materials, they have been irreplaceably helpful to me and to many people I know.
Thanks for the note. No - this doesn't seem arrogant or abrupt at all! This, to me, is one of the greatest joys of Scripture: when we can read a passage from diverse settings and perspectives and respectfully share how we interpret it. I grew up learning that there was one right interpretation for each of Jesus' parables, and "we" of course had that right interpretation. Through the years, I've come to see the parables as far richer and more subversive than I previously realized, and in recent months, I've been struck even more by how many of Jesus' parables defy any single simple reading. I wrote about this in Secret Message of Jesus - and see it more now than ever: the parables are intended not only to teach us something about something; they are also intended to challenge us to think in new ways, and not to stop thinking with "the seeing of the eye or the hearing of the ear." Beneath the surface there are new layers to explore. So thanks for your contribution!
Here's an example:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-raushenbush/shane-claiborne-new-monastics_b_1156525.html?ref=religion
It's ironic, isn't it ... that just as winter begins, it is doomed, and spring is staging a comeback.
The secret that we share I cannot tell in full. But this much I will tell. What's lost is nothing to what's found, and all the death that ever was, set next to life, would scarcely fill a cup.”
― Frederick Buechner, Godric
Suzanne Ross gets it right ... here:
http://www.ravenfoundation.org/blogs/copy-that/i-do-believe-in-miracles
What do you think?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/opinion/dont-tax-the-rich-tax-inequality-itself.html
The problem: “We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we cannot have both.”
Quotable:
Over the last three decades, income inequality has again soared to the sort of levels that alarmed Brandeis. In 1980, the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans made 9.1 percent of our nation’s pre-tax income; by 2006 that share had risen to 18.8 percent — slightly higher than when Brandeis joined the Supreme Court in 1916.Congress might have countered this increased concentration but, instead, tax changes have exacerbated the trend: in after-tax dollars, our wealthiest 1 percent over this same period went from receiving 7.7 percent to 16.3 percent of our nation’s income.
What we call the Brandeis Ratio — the ratio of the average income of the nation’s richest 1 percent to the median household income — has skyrocketed since Ronald Reagan took office. In 1980 the average 1-percenter made 12.5 times the median income, but in 2006 (the latest year for which data is available) the average income of our richest 1 percent was a whopping 36 times greater than that of the median household.
A solution:
Congress should reform our tax law to put the brakes on further inequality. Specifically, we propose an automatic extra tax on the income of the top 1 percent of earners — a tax that would limit the after-tax incomes of this club to 36 times the median household income.Importantly, our Brandeis tax does not target excessive income per se; it only caps inequality. Billionaires could double their current income without the tax kicking in — as long as the median income also doubles. The sky is the limit for the rich as long as the “rising tide lifts all boats.” Indeed, the tax gives job creators an extra reason to make sure that corporate wealth does in fact trickle down.
Try imagining these kinds of proposals in light of Luke 1:46-55 ...
A wonderful CD from the same composer (one of my favorite CD's of 2011):
http://www.moltenmeditation.com/
A reader writes ...
I am reading A Generous Orthodoxy for a religion class at Emory University, and I want to share with you how much your book has meant to me as a Jewish-American woman. Not only have you opened up the meaning of being a Christian, your acceptance of shortcomings and appreciation of your strengths is inspirational in my relationship to my own faith tradition. The parts of Jesus’ message that you focus on reveal your own loving heart and embracing mind and help me to appreciate the viewpoints of many Christians in my life. When [you describe a mother and daughter] interacting with their Muslim neighbor my eyes filled with tears, because it revealed the simplicity of teaching a child to love, but in a way that still feels so foreign to us. Continue your work and you will surely accumulate Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Atheist disciples of Jesus, for the Biblical lessons you share would only improve our world.
Thanks so much for writing. I'll be in your neighborhood (at Mercer in Atlanta - http://theology.mercer.edu/programs-events/self-preaching-lectures/ - in February). I hope we'll get to meet in person.
The story of the mother and daughter comes from my friend Diana Butler Bass, who (by the way) has a wonderful new book coming out soon ... Christianity After Religion. Diana's story beautifully depicts the kind of benevolent religious identity that I think so many of us are seeking.
Your last sentence is maybe the most encouraging comment I've received in 2011. Thanks again!
Here's the Q:
I would like to print out a short list of all of Brian’s books, that include publisher and publish date. I would like to check off the books as I get them.
Three ideas for gifts:
1. One of my books
2. My podcast series
Or ...
3. Give a desk in someone's name so a child in East Africa can attend school. Here's how ...
Continue reading Still shopping?...
Here's the Q:
First, I would like to thank you for your book 'A New Kind of Christianity'. I am only half way through it but I find myself saying 'Yes', and 'Yes' as I make my way through each chapter. I will probably have to read it a couple more times to let the thought process sink in and undo layers of 'stuff' I have been taught over my lifetime. I was raised Catholic, but as an adult I became Protestant. So I have all sorts of tradition and teachings to release myself from. :)Anyway, here is my question. After reading your book, I am having a difficult time sitting in my classic contemporary worship service at my local YYY Church. ( I had some reservations before, but your book has made them clearer to me ). Where can I find a local church ( or even a church service on-line via the web ) that delivers the message in a way that matches your book(s)?
Thank you and will you be in Ohio anytime in the near future?
Continue reading Q & R: Finding a Church...
Here's the Q:
I’m looking forward to reading your forthcoming book, “Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Walk into a Bar”. And I am hoping to find a group in Grand Rapids, MI to participate in your book tour. But I am wondering about the title, particularly because you hope to promote Christian hospitality toward people of different faiths. Don’t you worry that having a title that has Mohammed walking into a bar will be offensive to many Muslims and create more barriers to interfaith dialogue? I’m quite perplexed by your (or your publishers) choice of a title. Just wondering, thanks for the good work you do.
Continue reading Q & R: Upcoming Book title?...
1. My friend Spencer is an energetic, creative, and insightful writer and speaker ... his new book Love Without Agenda is now available:
Love Without Agenda: Moving Our Spiritual Goalposts from Heaven & Hell to Wholeness.
2. Another friend, Ray Conolly, tells how he survived years in the Children of God cult ... here:
http://www.amazon.com/Something-Somebody-Stole-Ray-Connolly/dp/1460922549
If you've experienced a faith collapse and/or spiritual abuse, this book will help you.
3. Many of you have read about a network of friends in Africa called Amahoro. The 2012 gathering will be in Bujumbura, Burundi ... I'll be there, and if you would like to be part of this adventure, you can find more information here ...
4. Want a great experience learning and seeking justice in Latin America? Check out this conference, in June, in Honduras: “Justice: Theory Meets Practice."
http://www.ajs-us.org, http://www.asjhonduras.com
http://www.transformemoshonduras.com
AJS is looking for 15 – 20 participants from a variety of national
backgrounds (from both the Global North and South) and disciplines
(academics, pastors, NGO personnel, government officials...). The goal is
for everyone to deepen and broaden their grasp of the "what" and "how" of
justice, through exchanges between the participants, lectures from Dr.
Wolterstorff, and visits with ASJ and TH projects, diplomats, Honduran
Government officials, etc. After the seminar, each participant will be
asked to contribute a concrete product appropriate to their field--e.g., a
book chapter, sermon series, new NGO project, etc.
The seminar is from June 18 - 29 in Tegucigalpa. Maximum cost per
participant, including airfare, is $1,500, and financial aid is available.
You can see more info at the seminar webpage
(http://www.calvin.edu/nagel/honduras/), and find application instructions
here (http://www.calvin.edu/nagel/honduras/apply.html). The website
currently lists Dec. 15 as the deadline, but they are willing to accept
applications through January.
I dedicate this rendition of one of my favorite Christmas hymns to Tony Jones ... who will know why:
(PS - don't you dare stop listening until the last glorious note fades into mellifluous silence.)
http://knightopia.com/O%20Holy%20Night.mp3
http://knightopia.com/blog/2003/12/19/o-holy-crap/
I was with Tony, Bruce Reyes-Chow, Lillian Daniels, Nadia Bolz-Weber, Mark Scandrette, Lauren Winner, Shane Hipps, and other good folks from Sparkhouse working on a very exciting video curriculum this week. It will be at the polar opposite of the above song on the suck-o-meter. Stay tuned for details.
Here's the Q:
I just finished your book, The Secret Message of Jesus, and loved it. It resonated with what Jesus himself has spoken to my heart. I know you have probably answered this question a million times already, but since you are new to me, I wanted to ask it again. I am writing a curriculum for my six home schooled kids and am addressing homosexuality at length since I feel it is so important today knowing they are bound to encounter the subject. I have read some of your quotes regarding homosexuality, and I believe people might be taking you out of context, so I want to understand you better before recommending any of your teaching. I myself have homosexual friends and have told one of them that he doesn’t have to stop being gay in order to come to the Lord, but having come out of the world of sin and self gratification myself, I know Jesus would transform his thoughts and desires. Ultimately, I wanted to know if what you are saying is that we should accept homosexuals into christian circles in the same way we accept men and women in unmarried sexual relationships, but with the goal fellowshipping together with Jesus who would lead them to a life of dying to oneself rather than gratifying oneself. I believe one can be gay and have a relationship with Jesus, but just as I struggle with sin and walk with Him, hearing His voice, I know it as sin and want it to go….Thanks for reading.
Continue reading Q & R: Gay and Christian?...
A site is translating my Q & R posts, here:
http://www.newsnjoy.us/news/articleView.html?idxno=2721
Here's the Q:
Thank you, Brian, for struggling with the question of what is wrong with the church today. I would rather talk about Christ followers, to differentiate from the religious. Religion to me, is the yeast in the whole that often becomes more important than the bread.My question: Is it really the Christ followers’ task to transform the world? Or is it rather the Christ followers’ task to lay down the desire to be in control, to determine good and evil [ala Garden of Eden], and to allow God to transform our character into a likeness of His Son, so that in each life the meaning of the Sermon on the Mount is exemplified? Isn’t relationship the end goal? If there were a super abundance of Christ followers, it would follow that the impact on our world would be great.
The reality seems to be that people like programs, religions, being in charge and are not inclined to let God determine what is good and evil. The competition, the world system of our enemy, appeals more to the majority and his ‘suicide machine’ is churning on. But isn’t that also what Jesus taught? That the road is narrow, and few there be that find it. And that in end times, it will be hard to find someone who holds on to faith. So is it our task to transform this world? Are we to fight the enemy? Or are we to take up the challenge of living counter our culture in accordance with the Kingdom we are citizens of, but whose Kingdom is just glimpsed in our lives now with the fulfillment yet to come? To touch the lives of those within our reach with the measure of grace extended to us; to live with integrity in a polluted world.
So much is done in the name of religion that turns my stomach!! I am angry when someone says they stand for God, speak for God and this ‘fruit inspector’ has a hard time finding any love, joy, peace, gentleness… in what is said and done. I am angry because it may turn people away from seeking the only satisfying relationship they will ever have.
Thank you for allowing me to share my heart and concerns and questions,
Continue reading Q & R: transforming the world?...
Look at what's popping up ... here:
http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2011/12/12/alternative-worship-pops-up-in-portland-oregon-for-advent/#.TuaEx2ywKWw.email
One of the highlights of 2012 for me will be this gathering in Washington, DC - something I've looked forward to for years.
http://children-youth.com/
You should come - and if not you, someone you know, so please forward the link.
Thanks!
May 7 - 10, 2012
If you haven't checked out Sojourners Magazine in a while, I have a cover story on American Exceptionalism, and Derek Flood has a tremendously important piece on violence in the Bible. Check it out here:
http://sojo.net/magazine/2012/01/america-exceptional
Christian America (or Canada)? I don't think so:
http://miketodd.typepad.com/waving_or_drowning/2011/11/please-stand-well-back-of-the-false-god.html
As someone said to me a while back, "We write 'in God we trust' on the God in whom we trust."
To churches ...
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/where_were_you_when_they_crucified_my_movement_20111205/
Quotable:
Where were you when they crucified my Lord?Were you there to halt the genocide of Native Americans? Were you there when Sitting Bull died on the cross? Were you there to halt the enslavement of African-Americans? Were you there to halt the mobs that terrorized black men, women and even children with lynching during Jim Crow? Were you there when they persecuted union organizers and Joe Hill died on the cross? Were you there to halt the incarceration of Japanese-Americans in World War II? Were you there to halt Bull Connor’s dogs as they were unleashed on civil rights marchers in Birmingham? Were you there when Martin Luther King died upon the cross? Were you there when Malcolm X died on the cross? Were you there to halt the hate crimes, discrimination and violence against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and those who are transgender? Were you there when Matthew Shepard died on the cross? Were you there to halt the abuse and at times enslavement of workers in the farmlands of this country? Were you there to halt the murder of hundreds of thousands of innocent Vietnamese during the war in Vietnam or hundreds of thousands of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan? Were you there to halt Israel’s saturation bombing of Lebanon and Gaza? Were you there when Rachel Corrie died on the cross? Were you there to halt the corporate forces that have left working men and women and the poor in this country bereft of a sustainable income, hope and dignity? Were you there to share your food with your neighbor in Liberty Square? Were you there to become homeless with them?
Where were you when they crucified my Lord?
And equally quotable:
The Occupy movement is the force that will revitalize traditional Christianity in the United States or signal its moral, social and political irrelevance. The mainstream church, battered by declining numbers and a failure to defiantly condemn the crimes and cruelty of the corporate state, as well as a refusal to vigorously attack the charlatans of the Christian right, whose misuse of the Gospel to champion unfettered capitalism, bigotry and imperialism is heretical, has become a marginal force in the life of most Americans, especially the young. Outside the doors of churches, many of which have trouble filling a quarter of the pews on Sundays, struggles a movement, driven largely by young men and women, which has as its unofficial credo the Beatitudes:Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons and daughters of God.
Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
UPDATE: Chris would be encouraged to hear of how the Boston Episcopal cathedral is hosting the Occupy general assembly meetings now.
To churches ...
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/where_were_you_when_they_crucified_my_movement_20111205/
Quotable:
Where were you when they crucified my Lord?Were you there to halt the genocide of Native Americans? Were you there when Sitting Bull died on the cross? Were you there to halt the enslavement of African-Americans? Were you there to halt the mobs that terrorized black men, women and even children with lynching during Jim Crow? Were you there when they persecuted union organizers and Joe Hill died on the cross? Were you there to halt the incarceration of Japanese-Americans in World War II? Were you there to halt Bull Connor’s dogs as they were unleashed on civil rights marchers in Birmingham? Were you there when Martin Luther King died upon the cross? Were you there when Malcolm X died on the cross? Were you there to halt the hate crimes, discrimination and violence against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and those who are transgender? Were you there when Matthew Shepard died on the cross? Were you there to halt the abuse and at times enslavement of workers in the farmlands of this country? Were you there to halt the murder of hundreds of thousands of innocent Vietnamese during the war in Vietnam or hundreds of thousands of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan? Were you there to halt Israel’s saturation bombing of Lebanon and Gaza? Were you there when Rachel Corrie died on the cross? Were you there to halt the corporate forces that have left working men and women and the poor in this country bereft of a sustainable income, hope and dignity? Were you there to share your food with your neighbor in Liberty Square? Were you there to become homeless with them?
Where were you when they crucified my Lord?
And equally quotable:
The Occupy movement is the force that will revitalize traditional Christianity in the United States or signal its moral, social and political irrelevance. The mainstream church, battered by declining numbers and a failure to defiantly condemn the crimes and cruelty of the corporate state, as well as a refusal to vigorously attack the charlatans of the Christian right, whose misuse of the Gospel to champion unfettered capitalism, bigotry and imperialism is heretical, has become a marginal force in the life of most Americans, especially the young. Outside the doors of churches, many of which have trouble filling a quarter of the pews on Sundays, struggles a movement, driven largely by young men and women, which has as its unofficial credo the Beatitudes:Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons and daughters of God.
Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Please speak out against the Congo elections, as you have against the Russian elections, as my friend Tom Austin explains here:
http://congopeace.org/?p=208
With so much destruction of our beautiful, fragile planet going on (fracking, tar sands, etc) ... it's encouraging to hear about a faith-based group that is reversing the trend by planting trees - a record-breaking 7 million of them this year. Here's the press release:
Plant With Purpose Roots for Reforestation With Record Breaking 7 Million Trees Planted Worldwide SAN DIEGO – November 28, 2011 – Plant With Purpose, a San Diego-based nonprofit that works internationally to reverse poverty and deforestation among the rural poor, recently reached a new landmark of planting 7 million trees! As a result, soil quality, water sources, and the lives of thousands of rural farmers have improved. Plant With Purpose focuses on reforestation in each of its six international programs because planting trees is one of the most effective components of sustainable rural development. Planting trees restores crop productivity and gives the rural poor a sustainable means to provide for themselves. Farmers are able to grow more crops, which allows them to feed their families and have extra to sell in town. As their incomes start to grow, farmers are able to invest back into their farms and households and send their children to school. Their families enjoy better nutrition and better health. The land is restored and water sources are replenished. “We are thrilled to have met our goal of planting one million trees a year and are excited to see the positive impacts the trees have on the lives of the families we work with,” said Plant With Purpose Executive Director, Scott Sabin.Many families like Jean Claujuste Bazil, father of two young children in the community of Granfon, Haiti, have benefitted from Plant With Purpose’s programs. Jean says, “My dream is to see all my pieces of land planted with timber and fruit trees to prevent soil erosion and improve the quality of my land.” About Plant With Purpose Plant With Purpose (www.plantwithpurpose.org) is an international, environmental organization that transforms lives in rural areas where poverty is caused by deforestation. For over 25 years, Plant With Purpose has provided lasting solutions to heal the relationship between people and their environment by planting trees, implementing sustainable agriculture programs, creating economic opportunity through micro-enterprise, and encouraging spiritual renewal.
I have several friends who have had unbelievably tough years ... some of them, tough decades and tough lives overall. I wish I could somehow make things better, but so far all I can do is listen and let their story touch my heart. Here are two examples - friends whose courage and strength inspire me ...
http://andybarwick.com/blog/2011/12/13/perspective-reflection-reason
http://mikehamel.wordpress.com/
Maybe you'll let your heart be touched too, and join me in sending up to the heavens that simple word, Please, as an expression of solidarity and compassion.
Jodi Mikalachki shares - in words and photographs - a (school) day in the life of a child in Burundi ... here:
http://www.onthegroundinburundi.org/
The Center for Biblical Studies is encouraging and helping people to read the Bible through in 2012.
Here's the method that worked best for me in reading the Bible through yearly (thanks to my old friend Dave R for teaching me this method!). You actually read the OT once and the NT twice using this method.
It's 3 chapters a day, and it works like this:
1. You put a paper clip or other bookmark on page one of the six sections of the biblical library: Genesis (pentateuch), Joshua (history), Psalms (poetry and wisdom), Isaiah (prophets), Matthew (gospels), and Romans (epistles and apocalypse).
2. On Monday, you read 3 chapters of Genesis and move your bookmark forward. On Tuesday, you do the same with Joshua, on Wednesday with Psalms, and so on.
3. You get Sunday off ... since you'll be hearing the Scriptures at worship.
4. When you finish a section, you go back and start again, or focus on other sections that are uncompleted.
What this method doesn't supply is a sense of the overarching narrative of the Bible. If that's something you're looking for, may I recommend two resources?
1. My book The Story We Find Ourselves In ...
2. My podcast series Bible Overview ...
Both would make a great Christmas present ...
Here's the Q:
I just read A New Kind of Christianity for the first time. I want to reread it but would really
like you to help me understand one point. God told Adam and Eve that if they ate the fruit they would die. Did He change His mind after they ate it? Or was their consequence to die in a gradual manner? I need some help to understand this from your point of view.I enjoyed the book very much and found that it has stimulated more thought and discussion in my Christian life than most other such books.
Continue reading Q & R: Adam and Eve dying "on that day?"...
Well worth reading - here:
http://knightopia.com/blog/2011/12/11/are-we-on-the-verge-of-participatory-church/
Quotable:
In an op-ed piece in this Sunday’s New York Times, former NPR correspondent Eric Weiner describes his feelings as he faces the holiday season as a religious “none,” as in “none of the above.” Weiner is currently “unaffiliated,” but he writes, “We Nones may not believe in God, but we hope to one day. We have a dog in this hunt.”
That hopeful note is followed by a description of the kind of religion Weiner would like to see in the world (and particularly the United States):
“We need a Steve Jobs of religion. Someone (or ones) who can invent not a new religion but, rather, a new way of being religious. Like Mr. Jobs’s creations, this new way would be straightforward and unencumbered and absolutely intuitive. Most important, it would be highly interactive. I imagine a religious space that celebrates doubt, encourages experimentation and allows one to utter the word God without embarrassment. A religious operating system for the Nones among us. And for all of us.”
I think you'll find this wise piece from Suzanne Ross helpful ... on Santa and Jesus, Christmas lists and prayer, naughty/nice and grace.
http://www.ravenfoundation.org/blogs/copy-that/praying-with-santa
I always love to write, but I have never enjoyed the writing process as much as I have this year, working on my next book ...
Why did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World.
The book will be released on September 11, 2012 (a fitting date for many reasons). Here's why I need your help:
1. I've kept my fall 2012 schedule as open as possible so that we can set up five to ten major events in key cities around the country where I would give a multi-media presentation about the book, do some Q & R, and stimulate small-group conversation on this important topic.
2. Colleges, universities, seminaries, conference centers, churches, denominational agencies, bookstores, and nonprofit organizations would be natural hosts for these events. Our hope would be to have at least 400 people at each event. The presentation can be adapted to a variety of Christian audiences - Roman Catholic, Mainline Protestant, Evangelical, etc., as well as to multi-faith and secular audiences.
3. We have a plan for handling finances that could produce some revenue for the host organization.
If you'd like to explore hosting one of these events in fall 2012, would you contact Laci Scott at this email address, ASAP?
laci.scott@gmail.com
No pressure, but we'd appreciate exploring possibilities with you.
Thanks, friends!
My friend Randy Woodley, whose ancestors have watched a lot of immigration in this land, offers a time-tested solution, here:
http://ethnicspace.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/illegal-immigrants-should-receive-the-same-equal-historic-opportunities-by-randy-s-woodley/
Here are some photos from this weekend ...
Standing with farmworkers in a protest for fair food in Naples, a plea to Publix grocers to give just one penny per pound more to the farmworkers of Immokalee ...
http://www.fox4now.com/multimedia/videos/?bctid=1320911695001
http://www.flickr.com/photos/janky/6492506079/in/set-72157628371986735/
http://www.fox4now.com/news/local/135381923.html
By the way, in case anyone from Publix checks this ... We keep hearing you say this:"We do not have a conflict with the CIW. The CIW is seeking to negotiate wages and working conditions of employment with the growers and the CIW is trying to drag Publix into these negotiations. This is a labor dispute and we simply aren't involved. "But you either don't understand or are not acknowledging that the CIW is not trying to drag Publix into their private negotiations with the growers. No, the growers have already agreed to improve pay and working conditions - if their buyers will join them. That's why we're asking Publix (and Trader Joe's and others) to join McDonald's, Taco Bell, Whole Foods, and others who have already agreed to the fair food agreement. If Publix would simply agree to buy from the growers who add the extra penny, they'd join the good guys and we could celebrate that as publicly as we're protesting now.Then in this article, I hear the Publix spokesperson saying something very different:
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2011/dec/10/human-rights-day-protest-coalition-publix-occupy/
However, Patten said Publix will pay more if farmers "put it in the price" that they charge for produce.
"We are more than willing to pay a penny more per pound if they put it in the price they set for the industry," Patten said. "We can't pay employees of other companies directly for their labor."
... So, if Publix is willing to pay the extra penny, maybe we're close to a breakthrough? If you'd be willing to sign on to the fair food agreement ... then we're all on the same team!
Then our Occupy Naples group joined with the Occupy Ft. Myers folks to walk across the Caloosahatchee River bridge ... signifying bridging the gap between the rich and the poor.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/janky/6492755059/in/set-72157628372630247
Our group of marchers included white folks, black folks, and Latino folks ... employed and unemployed ... students with huge student loans who can't find a job and would-be-students who can't afford to go to school ... old and young, adults and kids and teenagers ... richer and poorer, lots of formal education and less ... we were all united by our desire to advocate for change, deep change. It was a good day. It felt like democracy.
... the best book of 2011, here:
http://www.billdahl.net/articles/best-books-of-2011-by-bill-dahl/
Thanks, Bill!
Here's my column at Patheos.com:
http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Taking-Things-Back-Brian-McLaren-12-08-2011.html
A New Liturgy is a catho-protestant journey of music, prayer, scripture, and space. No 2 launches today at http://www.anewliturgy.com @aaronieq
Katharine Hayhoe gets it right here:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-evangelical-warming-20111207,0,2075349.story
Quotable:
"People ask me if I believe in global warming. I tell them, 'No, I don't,' because belief is faith; faith is the evidence of things not seen," Hayhoe said. "Science is evidence of things seen. To have an open mind, we have to use the brains that God gave us to look at the science," she said.
Here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/dec/05/riots-return-young-archbishop-canterbury
Here's the Q:
I myself come from a Brethren background as well... I grew up in the Indian
Brethren and Indian Pentecostal churches at the same time, so I thought I had an eclectic upbringing denominationally, until I went to Seminary. I've grown so much by experiencing the different denominations and incorporating the good from them. I have sincerely appreciated your books, because for a while I thought being part of the Evangelical tradition, that I was the only one thinking along some of these lines...but am glad to realize I am part of a broader stream!Anyways, I just wanted to comment on something you wrote in NKOCy. In the "Jesus Question" you talk about how the "Gospel fittingly ends not during a scenic sunset, but just after daybreak around a breakfst-cooking fire, the beginning, as it were, of the first day of a new world, a second Genesis." But, coming from a Jewish perspective, wouldn't daybreak signal the mid-day point? As I was reading this, I was thinking if daybreak symbolizes the middle of the day it still continues to harken a new Genesis, but rather than being at the start of the day... we're in the middle of it. Which goes with the tension of the already/not-yet tension of the Kingdom of God. We are in the middle of the already/not-yet and Jesus inaugurated us working in the middle of that... Thoughts?
Continue reading Q & R: A New Day?...
A reader writes:
Thank you so much for your honesty and for 'stripping down' spirituality. Your book, 'Naked Spirituality', is playing such an important role in my healing...and is helping me recognize the person I was, who I am and who I am becoming. I have sobbed and meditated through certain aspects and am finding such peace as I move forward. The fact that I also have a truly supportive pastor who is helping me through, fills me with hope. I can do this, with God's help.
I'm an active and enthusiastic supporter of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. In fact, I'll be joining them in another protest this week, seeking just one penny more per pound for tomato harvesters. I'm among thousands of consumers (the word fits when talking about food) who can't understand why grocers like Publix and Trader Joe's aren't willing to join a movement - as McDonald's and Taco Bell have done - to do right by farm workers.
This article in Sustainable Business Forum explains what's going on. Quotable:
In my last Sustainable Leadership post, I shared a bit about the struggle between migrant tomato pickers, represented by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), and two companies: Trader Joe’s and Publix Supermarkets. Both of these companies are, to various extents, beloved brands that have cultivated reputations as highly ethical.…Which would make one think that, when asked to pay just one penny more per pound for tomatoes, a penny that will be passed directly on to the pickers, these companies would be happy to do it. Imagine the public relations coup such a decision would bring: “Trader Joe’s and Publix Both Eager To Do The Right Thing” the headline might read. Instead, the headline as it stands is closer to: “What Are Trader Joe’s And Publix Thinking?”
What indeed? Let’s take a step back from the press releases of both sides so we can lay bare the facts.
America’s agricultural pickers are among the very poorest of our working poor. Many of these workers are migrants, the vast majority foreign-born. Their poverty and their often-undocumented status mean that they are underrepresented politically. When labor protection laws were passed in the 1930s, farm workers were intentionally excluded. They remain unable to legally form unions for collective bargaining with employers. These workers are paid per pound picked, so they are also unprotected by minimum wage laws. The employers of these workers are the farm owners, the growers. The restaurants and grocers who buy the tomatoes and sell them to the public are not their employers.The article continues:
Continue reading Why fight sustainability? Why fight fair food?...
An amazing article on Christian ethos in today's world here:
http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2011/12/02/3382170.htm
(Thx Jarrod!)
I'm a subscriber to an email list that sent out this prayer today from St. Augustine:
Christmas PrayerLet the just rejoice,
for their justifier is born.
Let the sick and infirm rejoice,
For their saviour is born.
Let the captives rejoice,
For their Redeemer is born.
Let slaves rejoice,
for their Master is born.
Let free men rejoice,
For their Liberator is born.St. Augustine of Hippo (AD 354-440)
I couldn't help but wonder why the prayer didn't go like this:
Let the guilty rejoice,
for their justifier is born.
Let the sick and infirm rejoice,
For their saviour is born.
Let the captives rejoice,
For their Redeemer is born.
Let slaves rejoice,
for their liberator is born.
Let free men rejoice,
For their Master is born.
Here's the Q:
My question is "Is it possible to know the right time to leave a ministry within a church? And how do I state my reason for leaving by being true to myself but not wanting to hurt the leaders of that ministry?" Several of your books and blogs deal with ministry but not sure where this would be addressed. My husband and I pastored a church for 15 years and know the heartache that comes when a parishioner decides to leave a ministry. The pastorate can be a lonely place when folks decide to leave for one reason or another. The hardest to hear sometimes was the phrase "God led me to leave" because we felt that honesty was rarely shared as to the reason for leaving and left us guessing as to what we may have done wrong that led them to leave. I am part of the music ministry and the pastor would like us to move away from songs that "exalt the emotions and not Christ". He'd rather we sing from our head not heart, more hymns less choruses, songs must be supported by scripture, no impromptu songs, music must be timed and we can't go over the allotted time, wants music that is masculine not feminine, and on and on. He doesn't articulate what this really means though and when asked he generally lists songs of preference/non-preference. This is an issue that has gone on for years and I have always complied with the pastor's rules but am feeling like I am not being true to my God with these constraints. For me, music from the heart is not something to be avoided and emotions are not necessarily bad. Are there any guiding principles for when to leave a ministry (not due to abuse, fatigue, busyness, etc) and how to go about presenting that without hurting people. Thank you for any guidance. I have all of your books and look forward to the next release. It takes a lot of courage to speak up like you do. Thank you.
Continue reading Q & R: leaving a ministry...
I've been talking a lot about mimetic theory lately ... It's a rich resource for biblical interpretation (and understanding life, politics, movie plots, and our own bizarro behavior) that plays a big part of my upcoming book.
My friend Michael Hardin is interviewed about mimetic theory here:
http://www.beyondtheboxpodcast.com/
It's a really good interview. And there's some discussion on it here:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/BeyondtheBox
Read about it here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2066860/Scottsdale-Gun-Club-Arizona-invites-children-pose-Santa--arm.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
The Spirit of Christmas?????
First, this from the NAE ... a major statement on nuclear weapons:
http://ht.ly/7JUsF
Second, this from CT on the defining issue(s) for the 2012 elections:
http://ht.ly/7JUqa
My friend Cameron Semmens is an amazing Aussie poet. He invited me to comment on one of his poems in his newest collection. I think you'll love his work ... Information is here:
http://www.webcameron.com/thezooinyou.html
My friend Matt pointed my attention to Jonny Baker's blog, where he includes a wonderful 12-minute introduction to current thinking in brain research.
http://jonnybaker.blogs.com/jonnybaker/2011/11/the-divided-brain.html
Here's the Q:
Brian, I just found (for the first time) the "Can We Talk" item you had published in Sojourners in March 2010. Okay, call me slow!It made me think of a question that I've always wanted to ask you. As you probably realize, your ecclesiastical background is not radically different from mine. The Brethren are not all that different from the independent Christian churches or the Disciples of Christ denomination (which were not yet completely distinct from each other when I was a boy). Yet your church background seems to have taught you that there is something morally wrong about abortion, and mine was completely silent on the subject.
As a consequence, I came to adulthood without the prejudice that abortion is necessarily wrong. Naturally, I have since then come in contact with people who sincerely believe that you can't be a Christian unless you're solidly against abortion. Why? I have searched the Bible for any reference that supports that position, and I can't find any that really matter. Most of the arguments I've seen for their position are akin to reading Matthew 8:22 and coming away with the theological certainty that it is antichristian to bury dead people -- we should simply go to church instead, and let the dead people bury themselves.
But what I'm most curious about is not why they believe what they believe -- though that does make me wonder -- but why it is that I have never seen a reasoned discourse on this topic among Christians who can agree on such basics as that the Bible is authoritative. This is truly amazing to me. I am simply not used to people holding rigid positions yet not attempting to justify them in print. Contrast this with the issue of drinking alcoholic beverages. Back in the 70s, there was a writer named Knoffel Staton who frequently published in the Christian Standard. I still remember one impassioned explanation from him as to why it is wrong to imbibe. And, of course, I remember exactly why I completely ignored his essay -- he played fast and loose with scripture, contorting what he did cite and ignoring a multitude of passages that disagreed with him.
The topic of abortion touches such a sensitive nerve with so many people, that I honestly don't think there are many who could even conceive of the idea of having an unbiased discussion in which the participants jointly searched the scriptures in a serious and unprejudiced effort simply to find out what (if anything) the Bible says on the topic. And I very much want to understand why that is. When I read the New Testament and consider the things that Jesus actually did say, I see that He talked about things that most churches never explicitly talk about (which is why I keep buying copies of your "Secret Message of Jesus" to give away to anybody who looks willing to read a book). It seems obvious to me that the Church ought to take its priorities from the priorities of Jesus. He never said one word about abortion, yet the Church says a lot of words about it. He did say a lot of words about the Kingdom, yet the Church has very little to say about it in any way that could be recognized as what Jesus was talking about.
I know you're busy and may not have time to respond directly on this. But if it stimulates a thought that you choose to write publicly about, I would be most interested to read your thoughts.
Here's the R:
Continue reading Q & R: Abortion and the Bible...
... about one of the best:
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/27/us/craddock-profile/index.html
I'll be joining the emergent cohort there this Sunday night. If you'd like to come, please sign up here:
http://www.meetup.com/emergentchristian-29/events/32966282/
The address for Maguires Hill 16 Irish Pub is 535 N Andrews Av., Fort Lauderdale, right near the Occupy Fort Lauderdale encampment at City Hall. I'm looking forward to meeting other South Florida neighbors for a good night of conversation about faith, spirituality, theology, mission, and life.
... and me, here:
http://theotherjournal.com/amishjihadi/2011/11/17/five-questions-with-brian-mclaren/
Psalm 92
It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
to declare your steadfast love in the morning,
and your faithfulness by night,
to the music of the lute and the harp,
to the melody of the lyre.
For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work;
at the works of your hands I sing for joy.
How great are your works, O Lord!
Your thoughts are very deep!
Years ago I wrote a little song called So Good and then forgot about it. Opera singer/voice teacher/creative collaborator Suzanne Jackson remembered it, and she just sent me this delightful recording of her son Luke and a student singing it:
Download file
It seem fitting for Thanksgiving.
Here are the words ...
Good weather, good news, good feelings, good views, good memories, good days ... so good to sing your praise.
Good health, good friends, good beginnings, happy ends, good cheer, near and far ... so good, the goodness you are!
Taste and see - the Lord has been so good to me!
Taste and see - the Lord has been so good to me!
Good people, good clean fun, good work well done, good family, good land ... so good, the gifts from your hand.
So much good around, so much good to be found, so much good to do ... it flows from the goodness of you.
Taste and see - the Lord has been so good to me!
Taste and see - the Lord has been so good to me!
These thanksgiving prayers might be useful around your table.
You could use or adapt one before each course of your Thanksgiving meal ...
1.
Our Creator, gracious and good ...
We thank you for the good gifts of space and time,
Necessary for our stories in all their mass and
Energy to unfold and fold, tangle and untangle,
Rise and fall and begin
And end and begin again.
For your gracious hospitality we thank You.
If we, the other, were not given
This where and this when in which to live, to move, to
Be, then
Where and when would we?
Our being
Here and
Now,
And appreciating it,
Evoke from us this sincere and joyful
Thanks
to You,
Our kind host.
2.
We, your earth-bound creatures,
Made of earth organized in cells,
Thank you for soil.
We, descendants of star-dust,
Thank you for all suns.
We, growers and eaters,
Thank you for summer light and all things green.
We, graced with ears, thank you for
House wrens and thunder and surf
And the whisper and hush of rain.
We, blessed with eyes, rejoice in sky, cloud, redwood,
Tomato, and horse, dragonfly, tortoise,
And all eyes looking back.
We, breathers, thank you for the rim of air
That fills us now, again, and again.
We thank you for our neighbors, human,
Animal, vegetable, mineral,
Wonderful.
To their voices - roars, splashes, hums, drums,
Laughs, cries, calls, and songs -
We add our own, saying, “Thanks!”
3.
God of my grandparents, I thank you for them.
God of my parents, I thank you for them.
God of my children, I thank you for them.
God of my grandchildren, I thank you for them.
God of my siblings and cousins, my aunts and uncles,
I thank you for them all.
God of my friends, I thank you for them.
God of strangers, I thank you for them.
God of farmers and harvesters, drivers and grocers,
Cooks and dishwashers, builders and makers,
And all to whom I am connected,
I thank you for them all.
God of my enemies, I thank you for them.
God who was, I thank you for the departed.
God who is, I thank you for my companions.
God who is to come, I thank you for my descendants
And all their friends and neighbors.
My God, for the joy of having a place in this expanding family,
I thank you for the chance to be
Me. Thank
You!
4.
God, as Christians, we thank you for what we know of you
Through Christ and his companions.
And we thank you as well for what Jews know of you as Jews,
And for what Muslims know of you as Muslims,
And for what Hindus, Buddhists, and all other peoples know of you too.
And we thank you as well for what atheists and agnostics know of you,
Perhaps without knowing how much they know,
For this is true of all of us.
Hopeful and curious, we thank you as well
For all we do not know of you
Yet,
And for all we will never fully know.
For that too is a gift waiting forever
To be opened: the holy, humbling mystery
Of luminous unknowing.
5.
God, gathered here with these family members,
We thank you for all those whose love makes you believable.
(Let us name them.)
God, aware of those who are far away,
We thank you for those whose presence we miss.
(Let us name them.)
God, remembering loved ones who have lived and died,
We thank you for each memory of them.
(Let us name them.)
God, mindful of the youngest and the oldest among us,
We thank you for each one.
(Let us name them.)
God, gathered around this table,
We thank you for our favorite foods.
(Let us name them.)
God, thinking back over this past year,
We thank you for things we have struggled, survived,
Learned, and enjoyed.
(Let us name them.)
For things that make us smile and laugh ...
For things that help us grow and learn ...
For things that we would miss if they were taken away ...
(Let us name them.)
God, looking ahead to an unknown future,
We thank you for blessings that will give us strength.
(Let us name them.)
God, in silence, we are aware that
There are gifts too great even to be named.
(Let us be thankful.)
6.
We thank you, God, for this holiday,
We have rested, and we think of all those whose lives
Are hard and who enjoy little rest.
We have eaten the fruit of our labors, and we think of those
Who have neither work nor money.
We have feasted, and we think of all whose stomachs
Are hungry and have too little.
We have felt safe and at home, and we think of those
Who live in danger and turmoil, in war and fear, and all
Who have been driven from their homes.
We have been together, and we think of all those
Who are lonely and alone.
We have laughed, and we think of all
Whose hearts are heavy.
We have shared stories, and we think of all
Who need a listening ear.
We have counted our blessings, and we ask
That our gratitude can now be translated
Into the desire to be a blessing to others.
Amen.
Here's the Q:
Dear Brian, Can you refer me to one of your books, (I have all of them) or other authors, for encouragement in the following situation. I will try to be brief. Our young adult son, raised in traditional Christian ways, has decided he does not believe in God. He does not call himself an atheist or agnostic but rather a humanist. He claims that since he can't prove there is a God, he believes that all things we attribute to God are found within ourselves. There is no event in his life that would cause him to "leave the faith" other than perhaps his studies on existentialism in college. He enjoys his Christian friends, does not argue his point, is accepting of others' beliefs and is not angry at God. He is a tremendously inspiring young man who in many ways seems further down the road of being like Christ than many folks his age. For me, I follow you, Rob Bell, Peter Rollins, etc. so perhaps that will give you an idea of my faith. I can't prove God exists but I like to think that He does and my life is more, like you say, a quest, rather than a state...seeking to be more comfortable with mystery rather than certainty. Yet...I can't shake the sadness I feel when I think of our son turning away from God. In his mind, we turn to God because we are familiar and comfortable with that but he turns within himself to offer goodness to others. Is it possible that our "framing stories", no matter what we name them, will all point to God someday. My husband and I have had some really good discussions with our son in seeking to understand his world. We know that our job is not to "convert" him back to a faith in God but to learn to be a peace while we sit in that mystery. Where can we look for written encouragement in that quest? Please, I would really like to hear from you. God go with you this year.
Here's the R:
Continue reading Q & R: understanding our son...
Here's my current Patheos.com column ...
http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/OWS-and-the-Holy-Spirit-Brian-McLaren-11-22-2011?offset=0&max=1
A reader sent this note in back in September. I listened to some political speeches over the weekend that seemed calculated to stir up us-versus-them animosity, so it seemed like a good time to post this. It resonates with the theme of my September 2012 release on Christian identity in a multi-faith world:
Today is 9/11/11
Today I purchased the Koran.
It has been thru your books (and your colleagues) that much change has happened in my theology and heart.
Rather than continue to view this world in a fundamentalist US vs THEM way, I am now embracing the bigger mystery of God and His children and a Way of Peace that He desires for all of us to embrace.
Rather than continue to believe and spout untruths about the "them", I am going to take the time to get to know their Book and from a few hints from some scholars, I just might be surprised that the common "knowledge" about Islam is some misquoted and badly translated verses taken out of context. (funny how that happens, eh?)
I do not claim that I will be any sort of theologian or expert in it...but...at least I go into this with an open heart, eager to understand my brothers and sisters. They cannot be my enemy if they are not God's enemy. Its been ten years since that fateful day. This year, I want to understand "Them" better. I do not want to continue believing lies and bad information. I have to trust that God truly loves "them" too.
What a few people do to terrorize and instill fear may really have nothing to do with holiness but more likely, with a love of power and control. And..as i watch the news...it isnt just "them" that is doing the whole "love of power" and instilling of fear.
May the gracious Love of Christ Jesus compel me and guide me....
O God, we thank you for this earth, our home; For the wide sky and the blessed sun, For the salt sea and the running water, For the everlasting hills And the never-resting winds, For trees and the common grass underfoot. We thank you for our senses By which we hear the songs of birds, And see the splendor of the summer fields, And taste of the autumn fruits, And rejoice in the feel of the snow, And smell the breath of the spring. Grant us a heart wide open to all this beauty; And save our souls from being so blind That we pass unseeing When even the common thornbush Is aflame with your glory, O God our creator, Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
This prayer by Walter Rauschenbusch is referenced in an interview with his great-grandson, Paul - a friend of mine and Krista Tippet's recent guest. Worth enjoying here ...
http://being.publicradio.org/programs/2011/occupying-the-gospel/
A reader writes:
We have never met but I am a good friend of [a friend of yours] and she has often spoken about you. I am Rector of [an Anglican church] in Cape Town where she is a member - although she has left us now to study for the ordained ministry.I write to you as I have been on sabbatical these past two months and feel like you have been my spiritual mentor and guide as I have slowly read "Naked Spirituality" and been fed, inspired, challenge and encouraged by you, your story and your insights, during my time apart with God. I have been reflecting on my life and ministry (I have been at my current congregation for over twenty years) and praying into the next chapter of my ministry. "Naked Spirituality" came as a God-gift to me recommended by Amazon.com when I went on line to buy Eugene Peterson's "The Pastor".
Yesterday morning, running through the foothills of Table Mountain (one of my best thinking praying spaces), I felt God told me to email you and pass on my thanks and appreciation for your ministry to me. I am not sure in what "season" (!) you will be when you read this email - if indeed it gets to you, but be encouraged and know that God has used you to help this fellow pilgrim find God in the season he is in, and you have given me food for the journey.
God bless you today Brian.
Here's the q:
Just curious, based on your understanding of what the gospel is (creating the kingdom of heaven on earth) how do you justify your rejection of the atonement based on what was said at the last supper noted in Matthew 26 below? And if the gospel is supposed to be “Good News” please tell me what your good news and can you prove to me through scriptures that your definition of the Gospel is correct?
26 While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and [h]after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. 29 But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
Here's the R:
First, thanks for this important question. Before responding, I must say that I would consider it sloppy and inaccurate to claim that I "reject the atonement." I'm not sure where you heard such a thing. To adequately address that claim, I'd need to know what you mean by "the atonement," since across church history the term has meant many different things. I might assume you mean one particular theory, known as "penal substitutionary atonement" theory. But then again, you may not. If by "atonement" you mean "reconciliation," then of course the claim is downright false: how could I reject the idea of being reconciled with God - and others, and creation? That's been the focus of my whole life and work as a pastor and as a writer and speaker. Far from rejecting the idea of reconciliation, I think it's central! Paul said that his whole ministry was a ministry of reconciliation, and I'd say the same thing ...
So please understand, I don't reject reconciliation - with God, self, neighbor, stranger, enemy, and all creation! However, with growing numbers of biblical scholars, leaders, and others, I do reject the claim that the gospel should be equated with or reduced to any single theory of atonement.
As I understand it, the gospel that Jesus proclaimed was this: "the kingdom (or reign, or commonwealth, or network, or sacred ecosystem, or ???) of God is at hand (available now, waiting for us to reach out and touch, or enter, or receive, or experience, or participate in)." It includes a call to repentance (radical rethinking of everything) and faith (confidence in Jesus), which naturally and inevitably lead to a life of following Jesus (learning his ways, imitating him, becoming transformed so as to reflect his character and embody his mission).
I don't know if this will prove anything to you, and I'm not big on proving things by proof-texting - but for starters, you could read Mark 1:14 to see why I understand the gospel in this way. Beyond that, as I understand it, the gospel proclaimed by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John was the story of Jesus - the whole story, not a theory about one part of the story. And the gospel proclaimed by Paul was the same ... the story of Jesus and the kingdom of God (see Acts 27:23-31).
Again, I hope it doesn't seem like nit-picking, but as someone pretty familiar with my work, I would never say I believe the gospel is "creating the kingdom of heaven on earth." That sounds like a totally human project, involving only human effort. When it comes to human effort alone, I think we humans, on our own, apart from God, have proven ourselves to be very good at creating wars, prejudice, environmental destruction, poverty, fear, hate, abuse, and so on ... but only God can create the kingdom of God, which is justice, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17).
I've written about all this at length in several of my books, notably The Secret Message of Jesus, Everything Must Change, and A New Kind of Christianity. Also, I try to summarize several theories of atonement in my book The Story We Find Ourselves In, which you also might enjoy. Based on your question, I tend to think you haven't read any of my books yet, and so I hope you will, since I can go into far more depth there than I can in a blog post.
As for those precious and profound words from the Last Supper, they speak of many powerful things (body, blood, covenant, forgiveness), things which some interpreters would relate to this or that theory of atonement, but others would not. It's timely that you would raise this question with me, because one of the most important chapters in my upcoming book deals with both atonement and eucharist. You'll have to wait until September to read it, but I think it will be worth the wait - and if you're interested in my thinking, there's plenty to keep you busy (above) until then. (BTW, the [updated] title/subtitle will be Why did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road: Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World.) Thanks again for your question, and God bless!
Sorry for the inconvenience, but we are trying to change the world.
Some bad news about one of our fellow creatures ...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/10/western-black-rhino-extinct-africa_n_1086226.html?ref=green
... and some good news.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/10/keystone-xl-pipeline-state-department_n_1086319.html?ref=homepage
Some sane assessment of the costs of inequality ...
http://ht.ly/7pgYL
... and some sane suggestions on what to do about it ...
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/11/10-2
Rich Cizik on Evangelical values ...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-values-debate-were-not-having/2011/11/02/gIQAaH3t9M_story.html
Bill Leonard on unjust economics ...
http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/6919/9/
Here's the Q:
I was raised in a fairly typical conservative evangelical environment - the kind I'm sure you are familiar with. Your phenomenally challenging books, among other sources, have helped me move into a more socially progressive, liberal (for lack of a better word) understanding of Christianity - which to me feels like this big, spacious, beautiful place. Here's the rub: I feel incredibly lonely in my more conservative faith community. I feel called to be faithful in my commitment to this community, but I constantly feel like everyone is telling me the sky is red while I'm trying to assert that it is in fact blue. I don't believe I'm any kind of radical but I do believe, for instance, that the Muslims in our community are not our enemies; that God's redemptive work allows a place for healthy, edifying male-female friendships; that the reckless pursuit of wealth and comfort is corrupting our souls. Do you have any advice for people who embrace a more emerging view of Christianity while still engaged with and committed to other believers who think differently? Are we destined to walk around our churches feeling like aliens?
Continue reading Q & R: Are we destined to walk around our churches feeling like aliens?...
Earth | Time Lapse View from Space, Fly Over | NASA, ISS from Michael König on Vimeo.
Evangelical scholars David Gushee and Glen Stassen raised important questions for Christian Zionists in a recent open letter. A response defended Christian Zionism and critiqued the open letter. Unfortunately, it didn't address the central issues raised by Stassen and Gushee. This reply to the response again raises the critical issues.
Quotable:
The responses that disagreed did not discuss the biblical passages, but shifted the topic to the politics of the present government of Israel and the West Bank, and Hamas, and whether Israel forced Palestinians out of their homes or not.These are important topics, but we are hoping for biblical discussion.
What we are asking is whether our readers see Genesis 15 and 17 saying that Abraham is the father of many nations, with descendants as many as the stars of the universe. And whether the territory includes all the land between the Nile and the Euphrates, which of course includes many nations, most all Arab. We believe ours is the plain, literal reading. No one has explained a different reading in response.
And whether our readers see Jeremiah's warnings differently than we do? And if so, how?
We need solutions in the Middle East that are pro-Israeli, pro-Palestinian, pro-peace, and pro-justice - solutions that respect the human dignity of all, that excuse nobody's violations of human rights, that avoid group punishment for the crimes of a few, and that seek peace through justice and reconciliation.
The reply continues:
Continue reading The Open Letter to Christian Zionists - a Response to the Response...
Here's the Q:
I'm interested in learning your thoughts about Missional Communities. I was hoping to learn how to incorporate some of the elements of that, in a neighborhood-based holistic missional Christian community context, in our ministry work here.... Any thoughts you can share would be appreciated.
Here's the R:
Thanks for this question. It's something I've been thinking about for several years.
If the gospel is like wine, then it is fluid and flexible and can be carried by many containers. Some folks have suggested I have a "weak ecclesiology" because I'm not picky about the shape, size, or form of the container. I'm sure they're right, in the sense that after serving as a pastor and church planter for twenty-four years, I have more questions now than when I started. To me, if it's faithfully conveying new wine in a needy world, I'm not terribly concerned whether its structure is episcopal, presbyterian, congregational, incarnational, attractional, house, cathedral, chapel, pub, online, IRL, or whatever. I think each form and structure has evolved and survived for good reasons, and I imagine each has strengths and corresponding weaknesses. To me, diversity doesn't necessarily mean division ... it can simply mean diversification.
With that in mind, I see springing up all over the world a kind of ecclesial base community that seeks to facilitate community and conviviality, with an eye towards supporting participants in mission and encouraging lifelong spiritual formation. Those three angles - community, mission, and spirituality - seem to me to create a lot of space for good things to happen.
For a host of reasons, people forming these communities may not want to call them churches. Many of the cultural assumptions that go along with the word "church" will mitigate against the spirituality, community, and mission the group is seeking to foster. (It would be interesting to hear examples of these assumptions that people think of ... maybe on my Facebook page?)
Quite often, these communities gather in a home, restaurant, park, or other public place. They may "gather" or communicate primarily online. They often share a meal, or not. They may develop or adapt a simple liturgy, perhaps including the eucharist (perhaps not calling it that). They may develop and engage in mission projects or activities together ... or they may simply support one another in developing a missional approach to life at home, in the neighborhood, at work or school, in civil society, and so on. They may plan a lot of fun things together, simply sharing life. Obviously, they'll be there for one another during hardship, stress, or trauma.
If I were to point to three groups as models for this kind of experimentation, I would point to:
a) the various Twelve-Step recovery groups that draw from the seminal work of Samuel Shoemaker.
b) the base community movements of Latin America, which are widely thought to have dropped out of existence entirely, but are still alive and well in some places, with lots of future potential.
c) Church of the Savior in Washington, DC, especially this fascinating spiritual R & D project, led by my friend Becca Stelle: https://sites.google.com/site/becomingchurchinc/churchofchristrightnow
Missional communities have been springing up under various names since Acts 2. I hope you will share what you learn through your experiments - and avoid the "here's the secret formula!" trap which so often tries to turn unique creative projects into mass-produced assembly-line clones. After my next book (on Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World, to be released in September 2012), I hope to devote a few books to providing resources for new and gestating missional faith communities. Thanks again for your question, and God bless you in your work!
I was honored to be invited to write an introduction for this wonderful book by Sailesh Rao, a social entrepreneur, environmental activist, and all-around brilliant fellow. Among the many things I love about this book - you get a great introduction to the environmental/human consumption crisis, and at the same time, get a glimpse into the world from a wise Hindu perspective. Sailesh does as a Hindu what I tried to do from a Christian perspective in Everything Must Change. The book also contains some of the best reasons for being vegan that I've read.
Tom Austin gives reasons to care - even if you aren't running for president!
Quotable:
1. Our economy relies on raw materials from the Congo. American companies that employ a lot of workers such as technology companies, the aerospace industry, jewelers, and food suppliers have products that contain raw materials from the Congo. Though considered to be one of the richest countries in the world regarding natural resources, the Congolese are among the world’s poorest citizens and face all of the health issues associated with extreme poverty.Prince Kihangi Kyamwami, a development official in the Walikale region of the DRC, points out: “As everyone knows, over the past decade, the great powers, dictators, private firms, criminal networks and rebel forces have ruthlessly exploited our wealth, plunging most of the population into extreme poverty. The profits from mining haven’t helped local development or local communities.”
As long as our economy relies on raw materials from the Congo, we should as consumers encourage business practices that benefit the Congolese people and not just corrupt leaders.
2. Enlightened leadership matters to women and girls.
Continue reading Five Reasons to Care about the DRC ......
An astute reader writes:
I'm a pastor and science aficionado. On page 15 in "A New Kind of Christianity" you describe E=mc2 as matter and energy, when in reality it is mass and energy equivalence. Matter and mass are similar but also quite different scientifically. All matter has mass but not all mass is necessarily matter.
I really do have the best readers.
You might enjoy my current column at Patheos.com, which begins ...
The Church and the Solution
My name is Brian McLaren, and I approved this title.
PS: You might be thankful you don't attend a church like this:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/in-wva-snake-handling-is-still-considered-a-sign-of-faith/2011/10/18/gIQAmiqL9M_story.html
Quotable:
“The pastor and congregation are not responsible for anyone that handles the serpents and gets bit. If you get bit, the church will stand by you and pray with you. And the same goes with drinking the poison.”
The good folks at Bartimaeus have some excellent resources to help integrate biblical faith and the important issues being raised by the Occupy/99 percent movement:
http://gallery.mailchimp.com/6c3f46ec023f959a0e15d4ea9/files/Fall_11_resources.pdf
And here:
http://www.chedmyers.org/catalog/sabbath-economics
Ched's groundbreaking work has helped me a great deal over recent years.
It's a beautiful thing to see:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20111112/COLUMNIST/111119902/2080/OPINION?p=1&tc=pg
Here's the Q:
I'm on for a little advice.I caught your sessions at Greenbelt a few months back. The struggle over Palestine will probably be the defining confict of our times. Your introdcution to elements of the confilict and the enabling role of Christianity was arresting. In fact almost wish i hadnt heard it. It reminded me of a radio broadcast by Campolo where he mentioned that the train tracks to Auchwitz run by Luthern churches. When the trains ran, the worshipers would sing the louder. I'm not made to sing the louder.
I'm researching the field with a view to getting involved. So far Jimmy Carters book and one from a group called Muhasala have been the most illuminating. I plan to visit the wrong side of the wall around this time next year. A while back I studied sustainable development with the Open University in the UK. It had a component of conflict resolution within it that I was particularly drawn too. The OU now offers a course on development and conflict resolution at a Masters level - so that could be an option.So, heres my question. You appear to be up to your neck the struggle already. I could jump in at one of a thousand points. Could you give me a few pointers?
I have two lovely wee girls and full time responsibilities, if I didnt I probably would be a Jesuit by now, so I have limitations. However for a peacefull man I have a habit of picking fights, so where do we start?
Continue reading Q & R: where do I start on Israel/Palestine?...
I'm grateful for the often thankless but important work of people like Rachel Tabachnik, Greg Metzger, and others in drawing attention to the strangely intertwining worlds of Dominionism, the New Apostolic Reformation, and Christian Zionism. I have known people involved in these groups and their antecedents for decades now, and I don't think they should be written off as fringe phenomena - especially when Sarah Palin was a Vice Presidential candidate in the last election cycle, and the Republican Party this time around seems to have no shortage of candidates and activists with these leanings.
If you're unfamiliar with the concerns, check this out:
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2010/1/20/131544/037
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2011/11/8/131338/002
Of special concern this week: speakers with lots of nasty anti-Muslim rhetoric in their past are gathering in Detroit Friday. Thankfully, other Christian leaders are standing up, speaking out, and taking to the streets with an alternative message:
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2011/11/9/21840/4442
If I were in Detroit, I'd be marching with this latter group on Friday.
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=LyviyF-N23A
From a 5th grade class in Quinhagak, Alaska . Almost a million views!
For those who read my post of a couple days ago, there have been some great follow-ups on my Facebook page, here:
http://brianmclaren.net/archives/blog/q-r-exegeting-matthew-25.html
See especially this one:
http://zdbu.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/the-blessedness-of-being-left-behind/
What an exciting time to be avid readers of the Bible! So many fresh readings that really challenge us to think, rethink, and think again.
Here's the Q:
I have read and enjoyed several of your books, listened to many of your lectures and even met you once. I thoroughly enjoy and identify with your work and message. My question is about your thoughts on my somewhat peculiar religious viewpoint.I strongly identify culturally and emotionally with (the progressive and healthy version of) the Jesus story. I regularly invoke the images and metaphors of God, Jesus, etc. when talking with friends and peers about such issues.
However, due to my understanding of the natural sciences, Christian history and the philosophical qualifications of what is and is not "evidence," I see no room for any sort of literal interpretation of any Christian language. The Jesus story seems to be an obviously mythological tale that is historically inaccurate. The only use of the word "God" I can understand today would be to mean "reality" or "the universe" in a poetic sense. But not a mind, not something that can "understand" or literally "love." Understanding and love are found (as far as we know) only on one planet, inside animals with a sufficiently complex neural wiring. Right?
So basically my question comes down to: I totally support what you're saying Jesus referred to as "The Kingdom of God," which appears to be some sort of religious humanism. What am I missing in your view (if anything) since I am what the mainstream mind would call an atheist, albeit a poetic one?
Thanks so much for your very valuable time,
Continue reading Q & R: I am an atheist, albeit a poetic one...
Here's the Q:
I am exegeting Matthew's parable of the talents and would appreciate your insight on the tension within this parable (vs. 29-30). The talent is given disproportionately with more expected from where more is given. Yet the one who hides the talent (whom less would be expected) from fear of whom he views as an unjust master, hides the investment and fully returns the principle. I can picture Newbigin's explanation of election as being not one of privilege, but one of sacrifice and service. Yet I am stuck with the third servant being the one who has nothing, and even what he has will be taken away (vs. 29), and thrown "into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."In context, this is followed directly by Matthew's sheep and goats and the kingdom being for those that clothed, fed, and sheltered.
Why does Matthew use judgment as presented negatively for the one who was given the least? It would appear that therefore the least was expected leading to a result that was only focused on preserving the initial capital.
I like going to the tension in a text and wrestling with it, and have really been thankful with your insight. From you workshop in Iowa City, and your interpretation of the gospel esp. in Everything Must Change, what are we to view in this story as justice? As a community, how should we help this third servant who should take more risk rather than hiding the gift that has been given? I will look at Generous Orthodoxy and Secret Message of Jesus to review if you included this text (or Luke's) in any of your examples.
I am preaching on this text this next week, and am really wanting uncover more here rather than settling on traditional orthodoxy of election. I like Barth's universal hope of salvation, and Moltmann's encouragement of Christ's really dying for everyone, but struggle with how text does address a separation and expectation.
Continue reading Q & R: Exegeting Matthew 25...
Here's a chance to orient your sense of mission around the pursuit of justice (in Jesus' words - "seeking first God's kingdom and God's justice"):
http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=ubuye8hab&v=001BpBBz7jUJgBczokXTT8YvmiNpAZz8jjzXzR09eNMfBwMUJDoWbTe4i835ysh3psV_igUqv4wDIjSbiMScK7yo0Hqz8HxvYvCIv1ycqEj1ztGET3r52fZ5w%3D%3D
In my travels over the years, I've tried to notice what factors are associated with vitality in churches.
One of the indicators is engagement in mission - and not just engagement via financial donation, but engagement via visiting, building relationships, welcoming, learning, collaborating, and more. It's mission partnership, not mission paternalism.
People often ask me who can help them learn to develop these kinds of mission partnerships. Two groups are at the top of my list.
First, for work in the Western Hemisphere, I recommend delcaminoconnection.org.
You can learn more here:
http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=059023968c7a98d36bcf0c3cf&id=e0956872bd&eo=1604172046
... and you can contact my friend Tom Yaccino:
tom@delcaminoconnection.org
For work in Africa, I think of amahoro-africa.org.
I've experienced the kind of partnerships these folks help build, and their work continues to inspire me. I highly recommend them.
Here's the Q:
Your books have always been an encouragement to me. I was also raised in a strict evangelical upbringing. But, contrary to you, I left the faith for many years, getting involved in zen Buddhism for several years, then reading the Bible at a crisis point in my life and receiving Christ - this time in my heart, not just my mind. But I always held some of my beliefs that didn't fit into what was considered orthodoxy, for myself, picking up a few more along the way, keeping them mostly to myself as well.Well, today I opened my email and found an article in Yahoo news about just what the religious beliefs of some of these Christian political candidates are. A very interesting article. And I thought, now is the time for a Christian debate on the issues. Just what do we think the Bible teaches about the Kingdom of God? What does that have to do with politics? With our daily activities? Just what is our mandate as Christians? What is this business about being born again? Being "filled with the Spirit"? What does the Bible teach (or not teach) about "spiritual warfare"? Or this idea of Wagner's about demons and principalities? How are we meant to understand the Bible? Old Testament passages, especially those pertaining to warfare, capital punishment, homosexuality? What is orthodoxy? Fundamentalism? How could someone like you counter someone who claims to be a "Bible-believing Christian", someone who implies, or perhaps even asserts that you are not?
I was thinking that now is the time for a discussion forum or debate on these subjects. These subjects are taking center stage right now, and the views of millions of Christians as well as non-Christians are at stake. What better time to discuss these issues than now? I was thinking a debate or some kind of live forum with people like yourself, Jim Wallis, Tony Campolo, Bill Hybels and others such as John MacArthur, these politicians like Perry and Bachmann, people from Falwell or Oral Roberts University could be a very fruitful thing for people to watch. You might even win over some minds and hearts to Jesus, as you understand him. If you did this, it should be publicized internationally (I live in Germany, and people here are also interested, even if largely uninformed on these subjects), and televised at least nationally and made available on the internet.
What do you think?
Here's the R:
Continue reading Q & R: An international public debate>...
Here's the Q:
I am so thankful for your work. I love your books, the website, and enjoyed hearing you at Wildgoose this past summer. I heard about the festival from your website; I'd like to thank you specifically for getting the good word out on that.In a recent discussion about Jesus being the way, truth, and life; what that means to the Christian religion; and what that means to other religions; a friend described other religions as being partially true, but as Christ being the fullest expression of Truth. He extrapolated this belief to describe other religions as true and right but Christianity as truer and most right. This statement was difficult for me because 1) It implied that other faiths are missing out on something--particularly those who never hear of Christ or Christianity--that they will later be held to account for 2) something "less right or true" will be quickly discarded as false or foolish and, thusly, incorrect rather than true or partially true 3) that Christianity was actually living most like Jesus, or most in relationship with him, or believing more the things that he taught as true, whichever way you want to put it.
I was wondering what you thought along these lines and to ask a further question that has been creeping through my mind the few days since this conversation. Does Jesus ever meet others (otherness) and not invite it to follow him? Does Jesus, in your opinion, act as the most true or as truer than everything he comes in contact with? Is the Kingdom this kind of most true-ness? Are there different ways of thinking about these questions? I pray for you,
Continue reading Q & R: Is Christianity Truer Truth?...
I'll be in the Portola Valley this weekend, speaking at Valley Presbyterian Church. I don't get to the area much, so I look forward to meeting old and new friends ... Here's where you can find more information:
http://www.valleypreschurch.org/risen/mjalderson/Risen/BrianMcLarenWeekend2011.htm
Here's the Q from a young leader:
I am in Santa Cruz, Ca at Vintage Faith Church with Dan Kimball. I am part of the Protégé program, which is an internship at the church, and I have a few questions to ask. The reason I am emailing you today is because I am looking to email some of top influencers of Christianity today and ask the question.
What are a few things you know today that you wish you could tell yourself at age 25?
I see the Adult Mosaics and Busters (18-41) age group really searching on what it looks to live out life as a Christian in our society. And I want to learn about what these top influencers wish they would have known, what they would have done differently, and what information could have helped them in their journey of Christianity.
When I look at Christianity in general today I see it being very watered down because either we don’t know what Christianity is truly about, or we have morphed it into some moralistic therapeutic deism knock off and people are claiming that to be Christianity.
I want to help change this view and focus this age group to re-align their ways, faith, and desires to that of what the Bible teaches. My heart aches to draw people to who Jesus really is, and what He really taught us how to live our lives.
So…
I am asking you the question...
What are a few things you know today, which you wish you knew at the age of 25?
What could have helped you on your journey with Christ to keep you focused on what it means to be a Christian?
Lastly, do you have any other helpful tips or advice to the Adult Mosaics and Busters on how to live their lives for Christ?
Continue reading Q & R: What Would You Tell Yourself at 25?...
As we near Veterans Day, it's important to face the full price paid by veterans for their national service. Here's Stanley Hauerwas ...
Stanley Hauerwas: On moral fragmentation, formation, and repair from Pilar Timpane on Vimeo.
You can learn more here ...
- http://sites.duke.edu/aftertheyellowribbon/,
and here -
- http://divinity.duke.edu/after-the-yellow-ribbon (including the page to actually register - https://events.divinity.duke.edu/ei/getdemo.ei?id=248&s=_2500L3KYP),
and here -
- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pkVZUknXINO5diZzPhourdeLl5a321KbHp-thKLBzDA/edit?authkey=COGk3YYN&hl=en_US.
Here's a site for some friends of mine seeking to help veterans. Check them out and "like" them on facebook and following them on twitter -
www.facebook.com/dukemiliteschristi
@dukemilchristi on twitter.
My column at Patheos.com this week adds to an important forum already in progress:
http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Seminary-Is-Not-the-Problem-the-Church-Is-Brian-McLaren-11-02-2011.html
I'd love to hear some responses on my Facebook page -
Here's the latest about Wild Goose - and the special $99 rate THIS WEEK:
+++++
Wild Goose Returns June 21-24 2012. And you're invited!
Things are changing.
It's obvious, it's exciting, and it's anyone's guess what's going to happen. Whether it's the Arab Spring, the #Occupy movement, or any one of a thousand local grass roots endeavors, people are rising up to give voice to their desire to see wrongs righted, and a society transformed. Everyone wants change. Everyone wants things to be better. This is a natural human desire, but today it's emerging at a time that feels like crisis for many. There are wars abroad, economic challenges at home, and a divided religious culture that encourages us - sometimes even tries to force us - to keep our distance from each other. There is loss lamented in the recent tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks; for many, there is sorrow just beneath the surface. Scratch a little bit, and we all cry. Ask a little deeper, and the answers eventually run out of steam. Sometimes all that's left is doubts and loves.
And this is a magnificent thing; because when all we have is doubts and loves, then maybe we're ready to be more open to miracles; more human than machine.
We have doubts and loves; we have questions, and we have hearts. And we want to make something of our lives. We care about the treatment of marginalized people - people attacked and dehumanized because of the color of our skin, the place we live or work, or the way we think, or whom we love; and sometimes we care because there are parts of ourselves that we keep in the shadows: our trauma, our fear, our sense of being different. We want to believe that good religion provides a path to meaning, yet we may feel a little embarrassed to be found in the Christian section of the bookstore. We are compelled by the urge to create: poems or plays or songs or meals or communities or incredible works of justice; and we sense there is something or someone bigger participating with us in every creative act. We know that in a God-breathed universe, there can be no such thing as a sacred-secular divide. We reject the divisiveness and dehumanization of bad religion, at least partly because it has rejected us; and want to embrace the way of Jesus as path to redeeming, uniting, and humanizing everything on earth. Things are changing, and we know it.
Some of us got together this past summer in North Carolina, to collectively give birth to the Wild Goose Festival, a four day gathering at the intersection of justice, spirituality and art. We found ourselves doing something like a Woodstock or Burning Man for Christians (and people who are spiritual but not religious). We took further inspiration from the Greenbelt festival in the UK - from where the One campaign, the Jubilee 2000 movement to end Third World debt, and the Fair Trade movement all became mainstreamed within UK religious culture. Wild Goose seeks to be a significant, culture-shaping national annual gathering that will work to educate and inspire a generation of Christians alienated by the Religious Right, engaged in social justice and peacemaking, recipients of and participants in creative arts, committed to dialogue across faith and political boundaries, ethnically diverse, and both aware of the shadow side of religion and committed to embodying its best visions. People who don't believe there is any such thing as a sacred-secular divide. People who want to change themselves, and concurrently, change the world.
1700 of these folk showed up to a farm near Pittsboro, NC, this past summer. Michelle Shocked rocked the house, Dr Vincent Harding spoke elder wisdom about the civil rights movement, Frank Schaeffer, the son of the philosophical founder of the Religious Right talked about what his dad (and he himself) got wrong, Phyllis Tickle helped us imagine just how significant this cultural moment could be, T-Bone Burnett talked about how artists shape the story we tell ourselves, and are therefore more powerful than politicians, a rabbi and an imam shared their hopes for inter-faith relationships, there were workshops on militarism and racism and homophobia and a session where a couple hundred people beautifully bellowed out old hymns in the beer tent. And there was much more. It was an astonishing experience. We'd love you to be part of the next one.
The next Wild Goose Festival takes place from the 21st-24th June 2012 at Shakori Hills farm near Raleigh/Durham, NC; we're planning for at least 3500 people to come this time. We hope to host a gathering of people of all ages, from many diverse backgrounds; and in an election year we want to make a positive impact together on the panorama of what it means to live here and now, with callings and gifts, challenges and fears, doubts and loves.
You can look on www.wildgoosefestival.org to get a sense of what happened this year. Later in this newsletter you can find out more about how to be a part of the festival, how you get tickets or volunteer, how to support us in other ways. Please do. We're in this together. We believe that the Wild Goose Festival is both a sign of hope, and could make an extremely important contribution to addressing the current crises in the US, and maybe elsewhere too. The answer to so much of our problems lies in developing common good solutions; the crucible that is created at Wild Goose can light fires that inspire and clarify just what it means to be human, how to love, and how to bring peace. We'd love to have you with us.
Wild Goose 2012 Festival Passes Available one week only November 1-7 for $99!
Continue reading June 21-24 ... why you should be in North Carolina at Wild Goose...
A reader writes ...
a story of how I first began to read your work.
Coming out of seminary I was steeped in Tillich, Niebuhr, Bonehoeffer and later Boff and Guitierrez. I had also been practing Benedictine spirituality for about 10 years when I first saw a copy of "A New Kind of Christian. I was at the PA State Pastor's Conference roaming through the book section. The title, especially "a tale of two friends on a spiritual journey" as well as the cover picture caught my attention. But when I picked it up, I noticed the little circle indicating an award from Christianity Today. My prejudice came through. I put it down thinking if Xianity Today likes it, it has nothing to say to me (a Xian Century person). But a couple of hours later I was back looking at the book again. This time I went to the flap to read about the author: "Pastor of Cedar Ridge Community Church". I tossed the back back down. After all any congregation that is called a "community church" is independent, evangelical and conservative and so he has nothing to say to me. But a little later I was back again looking at the darn book. I remember saying to myself (supposedly or was I having a conversation wthsomeone else?) okay I'll get it. Sometimes it's important to read what the other side is saying so you know how to combat it.
But what a surprise! God does work in amazing and sometimes amusing ways.
If you haven't checked out http://www.anewliturgy.com, you should. Aaron Niequist and friends are modeling some needed experimentation - integrating traditional worship resources with new songs and readings that offer a heightened concern for social justice. Thanks, Aaron!
Listen to Chimamanda Adichie:
Quotable:
So after I had spent some years in the U.S. as an African, I began to understand my roommate's response to me. If I had not grown up in Nigeria, and if all I knew about Africa were from popular images, I too would think that Africa was a place of beautiful landscapes, beautiful animals, and incomprehensible people, fighting senseless wars, dying of poverty and AIDS, unable to speak for themselves, and waiting to be saved, by a kind, white foreigner. I would see Africans in the same way that I, as a child, had seen Fide's family.
This single story of Africa ultimately comes, I think, from Western literature. Now, here is a quote from the writing of a London merchant called John Locke, who sailed to west Africa in 1561, and kept a fascinating account of his voyage. After referring to the black Africans as "beasts who have no houses," he writes, "They are also people without heads, having their mouth and eyes in their breasts."
Continue reading If you still don't "get" the postmodern conversation...
It's sad and strange to see undocumented workers painted as such a threat - here in the US and elsewhere, while bankers and multi-national corporations are given a pass. (The Occupy movement is the notable exception.)
Meanwhile, many of us have lost significant portions of our savings because of too-big-to-fail banks and insurance companies. We live in nations whose deficits swelled to bail out banks and major corporations, which means we've picked up their debts for them. We live in a damaged environment which suffers from the "externalized costs" - or "socialized costs" - of mega-corporations, meaning that we breathe air and drink water they've polluted, and we survey landscapes they've plundered. We live in democracies that are rapidly becoming corptocracies due to corporate lobbying, reducing "people power" and increasing "money power." With all our "help," no wonder the one percent gains a larger and larger portion of international wealth and income.
Obviously, it's not an "either/or" thing ... but I can't help but think that some scapegoating is going on. That's why I appreciate Sam Lee's outspoken and passionate letter to the Minister of Immigration in the Netherlands here:
http://web.me.com/slwe/iSam02/My_Blog/Entries/2011/11/2_An_open_letter_to_Dutch_minister_of_Immigration__is_this_Justice.html">http://web.me.com/slwe/iSam02/My_Blog/Entries/2011/11/2_An_open_letter_to_Dutch_minister_of_Immigration__is_this_Justice.html">http://web.me.com/slwe/iSam02/My_Blog/Entries/2011/11/2_An_open_letter_to_Dutch_minister_of_Immigration__is_this_Justice.html
Late Add: Here's a recent piece by Michael Gerson on immigration and the Republican party:
http://ht.ly/7c2Zc
Children, Youth and a New Kind of Christianity is just over six months away. Registration for the conference will be increasing from $169 to $189 on November 1. I hope you'll register early - and encourage others to do so as well. I'm really looking forward to this gathering - May 7-10, 2012, in Washington DC. More information here:
http://children-youth.com/
It means a lot to receive encouragement like this ...
For a couple years now we have had a group that meets on Sunday evenings for dinner and study. Feeling like we needed to go in a new direction the group decided to read and discuss your book, ANKOC. A couple of new people decided to join the group as a result. We are six weeks into the book (including the three introductory chapters) and it has just been such a joy to watch people open up. Last week a grandmother who is raising her two grandsons (age 10 and 12) who are also in the group, said, "I never really felt like I belonged in that western world, the eastern viewpoint makes so much more sense to me. Then another person in the group responded, "It not only makes more sense, it changes everything." That led to an interesting discussion about what it changes.In my devotional life I am reading and pondering your thoughts from Naked Spirituality. This week I have been reflecting on your thoughts "deep down inside me I had an enemy, not a friend." I find that it is so much easier to release others into the life that God has for them, than it is for me to do so for myself. I have been struggling here for a long time. This week for the first time I feel like I at least have something to grab onto that could liberate me from the prison I often feel like I am in.
I know writing is hard work and hours of labor, but in our group and in my life change is happening. Thank you so much.
Eugene Robinson explains here:
http://ht.ly/7c31o
Quotable:
Overall, in inflation-adjusted dollars, average after-tax household income grew by 62 percent during the period under study, according to the CBO. This sounds great — but only until you look a little closer.For those at the bottom — the one-fifth of households with the lowest incomes — the increase was just 18 percent. For the middle three-fifths, the average increase was 40 percent. Spread over nearly 30 years, these gains are modest, not meteoric.
By contrast, look at the top 1 percent of earners. Their after-tax household income increased by an astonishing 275 percent. For those keeping track, this means it nearly quadrupled. Nice work, if you can get it.
So when critics accuse the Occupy Wall Street folks of class warfare and redistribution of wealth, they've got it wrong. We 99 Percenters are arguing that we've had 30 years of wealth redistribution -- all in favor of the upper-upper class. It's been a covert class war against middle-class and poor folks.
Words from Jesus and Paul come to mind:
No one can serve two masters: you can't serve God and money ...
Instead of each person watching out for their own good, watch out for what is better for others.
And then there's James ... give James 2:1-4 and 5:1-6 a read, and sense where his sympathies lie.
Greg Fromholz creatively responds to the question "what is an Evangelical?"
Greg Fromholz Answers SoJo's "What is an Evangelical?" with the film "Evangelical in a Box" from cathleen falsani on Vimeo.
Meanwhile, Mark Tidd explores a key issue in the future of progressive/incarnational/emergent/etc. Christian identity ...
http://highlandschurchdenver.org/tiddbits/296-how-to-become-a-pastor-in-only-50-years-.html
Quotable:
So all together, with this methodology for Theological Formation, it takes between 40-50 years to create a progressive evangelical pastor.Some tiny voice inside says, "There must be a better way."
A reader responded to my recent post on some new climate change data:
You are my role model for congenial dialogue and generosity toward the views of others. I've heard your critics say that one of the "problems with McLaren is that he's too nice." I like that accusation, and I hope I can receive that accolade myself some day (I'm strongly opinionated, so I need your model in my life).Today, I read your headline, "News for Climate Change Deniers." Immediately I thought, "Brian is better than this." It saddens me that you'd use a phrase that could nearly amount to name-calling (though I doubt you intended it as such). I think you would be equally disappointed with headlines like "News for Truth Deniers" potentially published by an Al Mohler type or "Late Hell-Denier now knows the Real Truth" from the John Pipers of this world.
Perhaps a headline like, "Climate Change Skeptics Might want to check this out" or "This might help the unconvinced." Bottom line is, while there are folks who deny global warming and/or climate change, most of us are really on the skeptical side, or we've trusted scientists who aren't as alarmed about it as you are. Or we have more faith in the progress of humanity to solve problems when they arrive (Superfreakonomics raises some really good points about technological solutions to the climate change problem).
It's really all about the language. You've taught me that.
I'm not a denier.
On my best days I'm open.
Calling me a denier doesn't make me want to maintain that posture.
Thanks for your note ... You're right: I didn't mean "denier" as an epithet. I simply meant it to refer to the people who deny that climate change is real, or that human beings are playing a part in it. My sense is that those who hold this opinion are proud of the fact and don't see "denier" as an epithet, but you may be right - the term may be so problematic that I should avoid it in the future. Thanks for your concern and sensitivity to language. Always a challenge!
A reader writes ...
I justed checked your book out at the library a couple of days ago. My husband owns and reads your books so I recocnized your name and felt compelled to read this new book of yours,Naked Spirituality. I have been struggling lately, spiritually. I have been a practicing Christian for 15 years. Over the last few years my husband and I have been going through unemployment situations.This has put a huge strain on our marriage and our sanity. Opening your book and reading just about any chapter anywhere in the book I found the words jumping off the page and aborbing into my body. This morning I went through the prayer in the back Twelve Simple Prayers and for the first time in a while really felt connected to God and a great release through these prayers. Thank you for being the vessel for these words ...
Some good sanity on religion in public life ...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/story/2011-10-23/religion-politics-faith-elections/50883610/1
New research here: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/10/20-8
The video graphic is quite powerful ...
A reader writes
I wrote you some months ago and you wrote back...Amazing. I felt from another planet living in Birmingham, Alabama, attending a church where I was sort of their "token liberal"...ha! I wrote about my journey and how after reading and listening to you and other writers, my journey has taken some new and wonderful new turns, but alienated me at the same time. I got very desperate with the Lord and asked to find a conversation here in [my city]. One early morning search I found a number of a cohort here and called the number. I had my first conversation in what I thought was the language I'd never hear spoken in person. I've been attending a small fellowship of people who read many of the same books and embrace some of the same new thoughts. It has still alienated me more from some, but opened a world for me I didn't think existed anywhere except in books or on the Internet.Last evening my husband and I attended a cohort meeting of quite an amazing variety of people. We were some of the older ones, but had much the same "story". One thing that broke my heart was hearing the desperation of some who have lost faith in what they have known to be spiritual, but have not been able to find a way to what can give life and peace. Last night as well I listened to a podcast where you reviewed "Naked Spirituality". You talked about how mentors helped you through these times and how some haven't made it. As I listened last evening I heard so much cries for help and people openly admitting they were lost and sinking. I just wondered if you could ever come this way to speak. The pastor and young youth leader I origianlly met, assurred me there are hundreds of people who feel the same. We are in desperate need of visitation. My original contact was xxx I found him originally asking Google for Emergent Cohorts here... Thanks again and God bless
Thanks for this note. I'm glad you offer the shout-out for cohorts. It really makes a difference to find some folks to share your journey with. People interested in cohorts can check out http://emergentvillage.com/cohorts/
And as for speaking in the deep south, I've been spending a lot of time speaking there lately (in addition to living in the deep south now). Next week I'll be in Mobile, AL. And then I'll be with the Broward County, FL, emergent cohort December 4. For information, check out http://www.brianmclaren.net/archives/schedule/current-schedul/
Here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/18/opinion/the-evangelical-rejection-of-reason.html?_r=1
Quotable
Like other evangelicals, we accept the centrality of faith in Jesus Christ and look to the Bible as our sacred book, though we find it hard to recognize our religious tradition in the mainstream evangelical conversation. Evangelicalism at its best seeks a biblically grounded expression of Christianity that is intellectually engaged, humble and forward-looking. In contrast, fundamentalism is literalistic, overconfident and reactionary.Fundamentalism appeals to evangelicals who have become convinced that their country has been overrun by a vast secular conspiracy; denial is the simplest and most attractive response to change. They have been scarred by the elimination of prayer in schools; the removal of nativity scenes from public places; the increasing legitimacy of abortion and homosexuality; the persistence of pornography and drug abuse; and acceptance of other religions and of atheism.
My friend Tom added this thought:
... evangelicals don't just need to repent for their neglect
of the mind, but also their neglect of the heart (silence on a broad
range of social justice issues, here and abroad). For example, there
hasn't been much of an outcry among mainstream evangelical leaders on
income inequality and job loss in the U.S., or when one of our Drone
fired hellcat missles happens to kill an innocent child while
targeting a terrorist.
http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Joining-the-Occupation-Brian-McLaren-10-20-2011?offset=0&max=1
I'd love to see your feedback over on my Facebook page ...
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brian-D-McLaren/65814657989?ref=ts
Here's the Q:
I hope you are well. As you might have picked up on already, there is
a lot of talk around the Interwebs about some blogger who suggested
that emerging Christians should just join mainline churches. Now we
all know that emergent does not automatically equal mainline, but is
it possible to find oneself gravitating from an evangelical church to
a mainline church in the process?I've been attending an LCMS church for the past six years. I love the
Lutheran tradition, especially its emphasis on grace. However, with
the past year I find my own personal beliefs more in line with the
ECLA; I believe in ordaining women, full inclusion of LGBT people, and
that the Bible should be interpreted based on historical context.
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the LCMS. Far from it!
It's more about how some of my own views have changed throughout the
past year or two.Now one thing that I keep getting confused about is this: What
exactly defines a church as either "evangelical" or "mainline?" It
seems to me like evangelicals and mainliners are mostly defined by
stereotypes: evangelicals automatically believe in X, while
mainliners automatically believe in Y. For example, for years
mainliners have been defined as being more focused on social justice
than evangelicals. Well that's certainly changed in the past ten
years!
Continue reading Q & R: emerging christians in mainline churches?...
A reader of More Ready Than You Realize writes ...
I just finished reading your book on evangelism. It is as if you had read my mind regarding my questions about evangelism. Your perspective sounds similar to my definition of evangelism: "An ongoing conversation with the world about Jesus." Because that definition "came" to me one day, I chalk it up to divine inspiration. Your conversational approach (my term in case it's not accurate) to evangelism makes so much sense to me. It seems that those packaged approaches are designed to alleviate our anxiety and to spare us the need to delve deeply into what we believe and how it speaks to our behaviors. As a professional counselor, I like the idea of listening first, second and third, then responding--but not in a way that will tend to cut off discussion.
I'm working on my next book [updated] (Why did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road: Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World [Sept 2012]) and just finished a chapter called "The New Evangelism," which builds on More Ready Than You Realize. An important subject in a world in need of good news of hope, reconciliation, and peace!
My Pentecostal friend Samuel Lee hits another home run on his blog, here:
http://web.me.com/slwe/iSam02/My_Blog/Entries/2011/10/12_I_love_Justice_more!.html
Quotable:
I love my fellow Pentecostal/Charismatic and traditional believers. Pentecostals are longing to “shake” their countries with the glory of God and they pray for revival in their nations. My question to them is: “Is there a room for us migrants, in this revival you are dreaming for? Is there a place in your hearts for undocumented immigrant?” The Charismatic church has enough superstars, far too many miracle makers with jets and bodyguards, but I am looking for a day when the Charismatic church will produce Mother Theresas, Martin Luther Kings and even Mahatma Gandhis. I ask my traditional churches the following: “Does your intellectualism and theology attach us to you? Do we have a chance with you? Or we are only a subject for research and your theological discussions?”I am a Pentecostal pastor. I am very well aware of my background. I like signs and wonders, but I love justice more. I like to see the dead are being raised, but love righteousness more. I like to see people feeling “high” in the spirit, but I love sacrifice more. I may like some tele-evangelists, but I love Jesus more. I like to be touch by the spirit and laugh continually, but I love to cry for justice more. A Christianity that is not standing for the rights of the fragile, for the undocumented migrants, for the poor and the suffering, for the widows and orphans is a worthless Christianity. It is simply a dead religion, even though it has a sign of liveliness.
I've been complaining for years about the need for a fresh approach to spiritual formation among children and youth ministry leaders. Such an approach would need to be deeply theological, oriented towards personal spiritual formation, broadly ecumenical, and joyfully missional.
Well, thankfully, some folks did more than complain - they started planning just the gathering we need. It will occur May 7-10, 2012 in Washington, DC. I'm honored to be a participant.
The website is up - and it's full of information. I understand that registration rates will increase by from $169 to $189 on Nov. 1, so I hope you'll consider registering ASAP, and that you'll spread this information far and wide among children and youth ministry folks you know. The website to register is http://children-youth.com/register/
I understand that we already have attendees hailing from across North America and some from the UK. We also have people planning on coming from New Zealand and Australia, and hopefully more to come. This will be an important event. I hope you'll be there.
http://ethnicspace.wordpress.com/2011/10/16/occupy-america’s-desperate-need-for-hope/
I'm impressed with Bernie Sanders' six proposals - from an article published on Wednesday, October 12, 2011 by CommonDreams.org
Six Demands to Make of Wall Street
by Bernie Sanders
The Occupy Wall Street protests are shining a national spotlight on the most powerful, dangerous, and secretive economic and political force in America.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
Continue reading Bernie Sanders on What Wall Street Owes America...
A good friend in Egypt sends this news ...
Well it is a week since the horrific killing of 30 Coptic people in the protest that turned into a riot. Funerals have been held for the dead. What seems to have not been reported in the West is that there were a number of Muslims that were marching in that protest as well. It has been a tense week with fasting and prayers. Each day at noon there have been prayers for peace and tolerance in the Cathedral opposite the apartment (in the Clergy House) where I live here in Cairo.This has impacted the interviews we have been doing this week with Clergy and Youth Leaders in Zamalek (Cathedral), Old Cairo and Giza – all in Cairo. People are not coming out at night time and particularly females are not being allowed out after dark. There has been an uneasy feeling around the city. The deputy Prime Minister (appointed by the armed forces - SCAF) resigned in protest but his resignation was refused. A number of journalists at the state run television station also spoke out about their shock and dismay at the biased reporting of the riot. Some even resigned.
However this last Friday (the weekend here is Friday and Saturday) there was another protest. Here is a report on it:
Hundreds of Muslims and Copts embarked on a long-lasting and fast-moving national unity march on Friday, seeking to ease the recently-soured sectarian tensions and protest against the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). The march, as planned, kicked off at Al-Azhar Mosque after Friday’s prayers. It lasted over five hours, touring downtown and stopping several times as protesters incessantly chanted “Muslim, and Christian, [are] one hand,” among many other unity slogans. De-facto president, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, got the lion’s share of the anti-SCAF chants. Not only did demonstrators lash out at him for last week’s deadly confrontations, but they also accused him of perjury, saying his testimony in the trial of deposed president Hosni Mubarak was false. The most significant stop the march made was at the main Coptic Cathedral in Abasseya neighbourhood, where a huge funeral sermon was held last Monday for the victims of Sunday’s attacks. Near the end of the march, protesters also went to the state television building, Maspero; the site of the battle that saw at least 25 dead, over 300 injured and millions of Egyptians in shock. At this point protesters slammed the government-run media for its “hypocritical coverage” of the incident.
Praying for peace ... starting in Christian and Muslim hearts. As a friend of mine says, the dividing line in the Middle East doesn't run between Christians, Muslims, and Jews ... it runs between Christians, Muslims, and Jews who want peace, justice, freedom, and equality for all, and those who want special privileges for their group alone.
Another friend in Egypt writes ...
Continue reading Praying for Peace, News from Egypt ......
Here's a good review of You Lost Me, which offers six reasons nearly 3 of 5 young people disconnect from church life after the age of 15.
http://www.christianpost.com/news/study-why-young-christians-leave-the-church-56722/
I participated in the Occupy Naples (Southwest Florida) event today ... I talked with senior citizens and high school students, saw folks from Coalition for Immokalee Workers and labor unions, listened to conversations about foreclosures and unemployment. It felt like democracy was alive and well today. Here's a taste of what participants experienced:
Here's an article that gets to the heart of the matter:
http://www.vanityfair.com/society/features/2011/05/top-one-percent-201105
And here's my recent Patheos.com column on the subject:
http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Protesting-and-Pro-testifying-Brian-McLaren-10-13-2011.html
Only two months until Christmas! Maybe your church has too much going on to plan a huge, labor-intensive campaign for needy people this Christmas - but I'm pretty sure you would find this project doable and highly meaningful....
My friends at Trade as One have put together a simple plan:
You show a 2 minute video some time between now and the first week in December
You get a product that you can show on stage and explain its story
Everyone gets a mini-bar of fair trade chocolate to taste!
Everyone gets a postcard with a code unique to your church for use on the Trade as One website
During the following weeks, individuals purchase fair trade products through the Trade as One website
Trade as One donates 5% of all sales from your church back to your church
It is easy for a church to do (no space requirements, no need for volunteers, and it only takes four minutes to do in a service)
It provides your church with a very popular, practical action
It gives back to your church
It provides you with a teaching opportunity for people to consider how the Christmas message can be reflected in the gifts that we give
So - if you're a pastor, why not make this decision, and if you're a layperson - offer to launch this project for your church. Fair trade makes more sense than ever in a world of political dysfunction and system-fail. Whatever politicians do, we all still have some leverage in how we "vote" with our dollars.
You can find out more about the program by visiting http://tradeasone.com/justone.
Here's this week's Naked Theology column at Patheos.com ... on the 99 Percent Movement (Occupy Wall St. et al):
http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Protesting-and-Pro-testifying-Brian-McLaren-10-13-2011.html
I've included (with permission) some additional thoughts from my wise friend Tom Austin of Congopeace.org - after the jump:
Continue reading Protesting and Pro-Testifying...
Here's the Q:
First of all, thank you ever so much for your ministry, it has been a tremendous blessing to me.I am writing cause I feel somewhat perplexed about a certain kind of situation regarding the poor. Sometimes when I am walking through the city, I encounter someone who is begging for money. I have to be honest, I sometimes feel baffled as to how I am to respond. Yet I feel compelled to respond, Im just not sure how. Every time I think about reaching into my wallet I usually think two thoughts. One, am I really helping this person by throwing a little money at the situation? Might I be doing this to simply make myself feel better? Two, I tell myself that I shouldn't give money to this person cause they might use it for drugs, alcohol, etc. Im not satisfied with either thoughts.
By the time I go between these questions I have long since walked by the individual, and I feel a bit awful that I didn't do anything. What do you think? How can I respond in Christ like way? I want with all my heart to "get on board" when it comes to Jesus message of helping the poor. Any insight you could give me would be much appreciated.
Here's the R:
First, God bless you for caring - and for monitoring the impact of giving, not giving, walking by, not walking by on your soul. I think all of us struggle with these situations.
Second, on the issue of motives, in Naked Spirituality, I quote David Steindl-Rast, who said, "Jokingly, but with a great deal of seriousness, [Father Damascus would] say, 'Don't worry about purifying your motives. Simply know that they aren't pure, and proceed.'"
But that bring us back to your question. What to do?
1. Some people try to carry some money around to give to people in need. They give, not because they believe their money will change the person's life, but simply as a discipline - because they don't like what happens to their soul when they walk by.
2. Some people buy some coupons/gift certificates from a local grocery store - to assure that the person will use the money for food, not booze or dope.
3. Some people don't give because they feel doing so is enabling people to remain in an unhealthy situation.
4. Some people do a little of each, depending on their mood, the situation, etc.
5. I imagine there are other options too -
I try to do 1, but if I've also wished I were organized enough to do #2, and sometimes I end up in #4. Whatever I do, I try to treat everyone as a human being - with a smile at least - whether they're a lawyer on their way to the court or a homeless person asking for coffee money. And if you meet a lot of needy folks, it's a great idea to find the ministries/organizations in the area that exist to help them ... and to support those groups generously, groups (in DC, for example, where I lived for most of my life) like Martha's Table and Georgetown Ministry Center, or in SW Florida (where I live now), like St. Matthew's House.
Check them out, and don't squelch a generous impulse!
I think it's important to respond to people in need, but it's also important to try to understand and address the systemic conditions that keep putting people in need. That's where books like Everything Must Change can be helpful ... and it's why movements like Occupy Wall St. have an important place.
I'd love to know - over on my Facebook page - how other folks respond to this important question.
As I continue work on my next book [updated] - Why did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road: Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World (September 2012) - I keep on the alert for wise words on matters of faith, violence, and identity. Here are some great insights from Tom Krattenmaker:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/story/2011-10-09/islam-muslim-christian-violence/50711860/1
When I saw this beautiful video of a Peter Mayer song ...
... I thought of the words "O" and "Behold" from Naked Spirituality.
Whew! I've had several wonderful but over-full weeks of travel - in Vancouver BC, Seattle, New York, Philadelphia, Dallas, Columbia SC, and Charlotte. Thanks to each group for the hospitality there -
I'm back at my own desk this morning ... and so happy to see how some friends of mine in the US (in Texas and Arizona) are moving forward in helping some other friends in Bubanza, Burundi. You can see some of my previous posts about my experiences there ... http://brianmclaren.net/archives/blog/project-batwa.html
Bubanza Update 1 from Community of Faith on Vimeo.
Right here:
http://ht.ly/6LRxV
(I quoted Tom on "theocapitalism" in Everything Must Change.)
The White House has spoken up in defense of an Iranian who exercised his human right to freedom of religion ... but has been condemned to death by the Iranian regime for "apostasy." Info here: http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/6785/53/
Stay tuned for ways we can raise our voices in support of this thirty-four-year-old Christian pastor.
You can catch my column for this week here:
http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Fear-and-Danger-Responding-to-the-SBCs-Richard-Land-Brian-McLaren-09-29-2011.html
Also, don't miss George Sarris's recent piece on hell and evangelism - especially chilling, this:
The first Christian missionary to Japan, St. Francis Xavier ... wrote in 1552:One of things that most of all pains and torments these Japanese is that we teach them that the prison of hell is irrevocably shut. For they grieve over the fate of their departed children, of their parents and relatives, and they often show their grief by their tears. So they ask us if there is any hope . . . and I am obliged to answer that there is absolutely none. The grief at this affects and torments them wonderfully; they almost pine away with sorrow. . . . They often ask if God cannot take their fathers out of hell, and why their punishment must never have an end. We gave them a satisfactory answer, but they did not cease to grieve over the misfortune of their relatives; and I can hardly restrain my tears sometimes at seeing men so dear to my heart suffer such intense pain about a thing which is already done with and can never be undone.
I'm in the midst of an unusually intense period of travel - sorry posts have been less frequent this week.
You're welcome to join us tonight at Marble Collegiate Church ... details here:
http://www.marblechurch.org/EventsCalendar/tabid/106/Duration/Day/Default.aspx?StartDate=9/26/2011
Here's the Q:
It was a huge encouragement for me to hear you at Greenbelt and subsequently read your 'New Kind of Christianity'. In particular it has shown me I'm not the only one who approaches the scriptures as a cultural library rather than a legal constitution. I have a query which is fidgeting around in my little brain, which has to do with the critical importance Paul gives to the bodily resurrection of Jesus and what that means for us as believers in terms of our bodily resurrection in the future. Paul seems to believe that those who believe in Jesus as God will one day literally rise from the dead and be transformed. It seems a bit if a stretch to interpret this as being metaphorically about now, although I agree that we also have a new life now in Christ. I would really value knowing your thoughts on this.
Continue reading Q & R: Bodily resurrection...
Here's the Q:
What does "God is in control" mean? Does it mean that God controls every event from the roll of a dice to the rape of a woman? If that is the case what about free will? If God doesn't control every event, how much does He control? Does He sit back and passively watch what happens? (This reminds me of the God as watchmaker scenario.) If God is in total control, then why is the world so evil? Is God in control only in the lives of believers? What then, is the purpose of prayer (other than God tells us to pray)? Wouldn't it mean God's will was always done, so why pray for His will to be done.I've been a follower of Jesus for a long time, but these ideas have come up in my church over the past while. In terms of salvation, my pastor believes it's like "God goes into a booth and votes for you." Really, that is the example he used. I was disturbed, because what if God doesn't "vote for you?" Apparently, that's ok because we all deserve Hell anyway, so it's kind of like a bonus for those who are blessed enough to be voted for.
I've found you to be a deeply thinking writer (and I've read a few of your books a number of times.) I appreciate that you are honest in that you have doubts too (because I have my share). I'm tired of people glibly saying, "God is in control in this situation" when I really don't know what that means.
I appreciate that you can't answer most email, but I hope you can steer me in the right direction.
Continue reading Q & R: God is in control?...
We thank God for you, Wangari Maathai!
http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/26/world/africa/wangari-maathai-tribute/
i hope to see you!
vancouver: http://www.ychange.ca/
seattle: http://go2ndmile.org/
new york: http://www.marblechurch.org/EventsCalendar/tabid/106/Duration/Day/Default.aspx?StartDate=9/26/2011
Here:
http://www.tcpc.blogs.com/musings/
Probably my best book for sbnr's is Naked Spirituality.
http://www.capitalcommentary.org/w-h-auden/auden-and-dylan-poets-justice-and-blues
I grew up Christian Zionist. I know Christian Zionism from the inside. I know that nearly all Christian Zionists are wonderful people with good hearts. (A few, maybe not so much.) But wonderful people with good hearts can be wrong about some things, and their good-heartedness should lead them to remain humbly open to that possibility.
That's why - if you are a Christian Zionist - now is the time to listen to the serious concerns being raised about Christian Zionism. (And if someone you love is a Christian Zionist - now is the time to ask them if they've considered these important concerns.)
Here's a start:
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/21/my-take-jesus-would-support-palestinian-statehood-bid/
Here's a next step:
http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/6752/53/
Here's a full engagement, an open letter to American Christian Zionists, written by two Evangelical theologians:
http://newevangelicalpartnership.org/?q=node/139
Quotable:
This Christian version of Zionism matters deeply, not just because theology intrinsically matters, but because it is overwhelmingly clear that American evangelical-fundamentalist Christian Zionism affects US policy toward Israel and the Palestinians in distressing ways. It is one reason why the United States stands almost alone in the world community in supporting Israeli policies which our international friends generally find intolerable if not immoral and illegal.Not to put too fine a point on it, we wish to claim here that the prevailing version of American Christian Zionism—that is, your belief system—underwrites theft of Palestinian land and oppression of Palestinian people, helps create the conditions for an explosion of violence, and pushes US policy in a destructive direction that violates our nation’s commitment to universal human rights. In all of these, American Christian Zionism as it currently stands is sinful and produces sin. We write as evangelical Christians committed lifelong to Israel's security, and we are seriously worried about your support for policies that violate biblical warnings about injustice and may lead to the outcome you most fear—serious harm to or even destruction of Israel.
We write as evangelicals to you, our fellow evangelicals. On the shared basis of biblical authority, we ask you to reconsider your interpretation of Scripture, for the sake of God, humanity, the United States, and, yes, Israel itself, the Land and People we both love.
It takes courage to challenge Christian Zionism. You are likely to be called liberal, heretical, intolerant, even anti-Semitic. That's why I always try to remind people - to be critical of Christian Zionism is not to be critical of the Jewish people or their legitimate desire for security in a hospitable state (especially in the aftermath of centuries of horrific "Christian Anti-Semitism"). More and more of us see Christian Zionism - no matter how sincerely and innocently it is held - as a gross misreading and misapplication of the Bible, one that will result in more pain for Israelis and Palestinians alike. We need solutions that are pro-Israeli, pro-Palestinian, pro-peace, and pro-justice. Anything less is morally unacceptable and will produce unintended negative consequences.
Here are some photos I took a few years back when I was in Israel and Palestine. First, this is my own shadow on the separation wall ... a reminder that I, as an American, am implicated in the status quo there:
I thought of this wall mural from the West Bank when I heard that President Obama is still planning to veto the Palestinian request for statehood. (Please change your mind, Mr. President!)
This famous wall mural shows the dual commitment of the vast majority of Palestinians - to passionate activism, and to peaceful means of achieving change.
Finally, our little group attended a Shabbat service in a synagogue near Jerusalem. I took a picture of this prayer from the prayer book - a beautiful Jewish prayer for peace:
Will you pray this prayer right now?
Speaking of identity issues ... I understand that the billboard campaign below was inspired in part by a statement in A New Kind of Christianity that Jesus is a victim of identity theft ...
32 Indy Billboards Ask . . . Who Stole Jesus? September 21, 2011 – “We are deeply concerned about the way Jesus is being portrayed in many churches today,” says Rev. Jeff Miner, Senior Pastor at LifeJourney Church, Indianapolis. “It’s almost as if the real Jesus has been kidnapped and stuffed away in church basements, while a legalistic, judgmental imposter has been trotted out in his place. We want to challenge that.” LifeJourney Church has launched a metro-area media campaign that is sure to raise eyebrows. Beginning this week, 32 billboards will go up, each proclaiming “Who Stole Jesus?” The billboards will be supplemented with yard signs, t-shirts, and bumper stickers. Each billboard invites viewers to a web page – www.LifeJourneyChurch.cc – that identifies discrepancies between the Jesus of popular American Christianity and the Jesus of the Gospels. Examples include: The real Jesus taught that his followers should take a flexible approach, doing what love requires in any situation (Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 3:1-6). Many churches today teach that rules are more important than love. The real Jesus offered hope (Luke 4:18-19); one of his most common statements was, “Be not afraid” (Luke 12:32). Many churches today actively promote fear. The real Jesus defended sinners from attack (John 8:1-11). Many churches today lead the charge against them. The real Jesus empowered women spiritually (Luke 8:1-4; John 20:11-18). Many churches today teach that only men are worthy of spiritual leadership. “Too many churches are based on labels,” says LifeJourney Pastor Vivian Wyatt. “If you’re divorced, you’re put down. If you drink a beer, you’re suspect. If you’re gay, God forbid! That’s not how Jesus was. He went out of his way to embrace those who didn’t fit the mold. His churches ought to do the same.” LifeJourney Church hopes its campaign will generate lively discussion. “We’re not afraid to challenge the religious establishment,” Miner says. The web page invites readers to weigh-in with their own comments and provides other suggestions for furthering the dialogue. LifeJourney Church is a Christ-centered congregation of 400 located on the northeast side of Indianapolis. It is one of the city’s most racially diverse churches, welcomes full participation by women in all aspects of leadership, and affirms both straight and gay spousal relationships. “We’re trying to move beyond labels,” says Miner. “For too long, judgment has been the public face of Christianity instead of grace. It’s time to reclaim Jesus for ordinary people.” For more information: Rev. Jeff Miner at (317) 722-0000 x 103 or (317) 260-9620. Sample Billboard Locations: Clear Channel No. 000905 on S. Pennsylvania s/o South St (facing north) Clear Channel No. 005601 on East St. n/o Washington St. (facing north) Clear Channel No. 005875 on N. Keystone St. s/o 62nd St. (facing south)
Our good friends at The Simple Way are up for a grant that is based on online votes... You can show them some love by clicking over here ...
http://givingoflife.com/browse/the_simple_way/
I think you'll find this helpful...
http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Neither-Moderate-Nor-Extreme-Brian-McLaren-09-20-2011.html
You'll find good primers here:
http://stevebell.com/2011/09/week-3-the-real-cost-of-food/
A reader writes:
A copy of your book, "Finding Faith: A search for what makes sense", has sat untouched, forgotten, and dust laden in a box, a suitcase, on a shelf, and on my bedside table for two years. Before it found its way into the digestion of my thoughts, or even graced my hands, it rested underneath a pile of used books, in a bin, at a quirky store called "Ollie's".
For the past two weeks it has found a home tucked between the flanges of my tired, bleak, ever-questioning, ever-searching, hopeless hands. I have masticated my way through your words of humility and wisdom with thoroughness and care; and have but to ask myself how it was so carelessly overlooked for so long.
Being a person of utmost contemplation, and having previously conversed with myself and my God on many of the subjects through which you so eloquently surge in your book, upon the completion of my ten course meal it is heavily apparent to me that I should extend to you, and to my Creator, my sincerest gratitude.
And, although I cannot recall a time where I did not have an undeniable, perhaps innate sense of God and primitive understanding of my relationship with Him, I have undoubtedly found myself on a tumultuous, rocky, tangent of a journey through faith. I have been the least of the worst and lower; and, at times, I have been a vessel for His glory. But it is my deepest hope and desire that my life's existence might one day benefit someone in the way that yours has undoubtedly benefited mine. I appreciate and commend your approach in your writing, and as your book has found a home in my hands, so you and yours have found a home in my thoughts, prayers, and heart.
Thank you for a moment of your time and for sharing a piece of your mind with me,
Here's the Q:
I read with great interest Rabbi Lerner's plea for a full U.N.
membership for Palestine you posted. I'd love to know what your advice
would (will) be regarding securing Israel's borders with that new
reality in place.I've been to Israel twice in the past two years and also in Egypt. The
issues are complex enough for sure. But peace might be "simple"
(simple is NEVER easy) if Israel could and the U.N. would act directly
once peace was (is) broken by bombs and murder (from either side).Do you have a specific action plan in mind?
Continue reading Q & R: on Israel/Palestine...
Because of my current writing project [updated] (Why did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road: Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World), I notice when issues of Christian identity arise. Three that relate especially to Evangelicalism caught my eye in the last twenty-four hours.
Geoff Tunnicliffe represents, in my view, a hopeful and healthy direction for Evangelical Christian identity. In this brief CNN clip, you'll see him standing up for the rights of Evangelicals in Muslim-majority countries - and emphasizing the importance for Evangelicals to sit at the table of responsible multi-faith relationships and conversation.
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2011/09/15/ctw-anderson-911-religion-debate.cnn
This piece by Graeme Codrington points in a similarly wise direction:
http://www.futurechurchnow.com/2011/09/19/marching-against-religious-intolerance-marching-against-me/
But then this piece by a young woman named Libby Anne points to a different wing of Evangelicalism, and ends with a powerful (implied) challenge for moderate Evangelicals to set a different course.
http://www.alternet.org/story/152393/my_life_as_a_daughter_in_the_christian_patriarchy_movement_--_how_i_was_taught_to_obey_men,_birth_8_kids_and_do_battle_against_secular_america?page=entire
Quotable:
One last point to make is that evangelicals believe essentially the same things as the Christian Patriarchy and Quiverfull movements, they just don’t take it to the same extreme. Evangelicals believe that husbands are to to be their wives’ spiritual heads, but in practice their marriages are generally fairly egalitarian. Evangelicals believe that children are a blessing, but in moderation. Evangelicals believe that children should receive a godly education, but most of them send their children to public schools. Evangelicals believe that adult unmarried daughters should honor their parents and listen to their advice, but they don’t expect them to always obey it. Evangelicals believe that men and women are different, and that children need their mothers at home, but most evangelical women work outside the home. Christian Patriarchy and Quiverfull simply take these beliefs to their natural – and radical – conclusions.
Here's the Q:
I’m finishing up Rene Girard’s, Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World, having heard about him (and other authors of note) on your web page. His theories are stunning, as is his non-sacrificial reading of the crucifixion. I am persuaded that he is correct, but herein lays a huge problem for me. As a thoughtful evangelical for 35 years how can I comfortably continue to affiliate with an evangelicalism that holds to a redemptive violence view of atonement (penal substitution)? This isn’t a peripheral issue. The popular view that God’s wrath and holiness are somehow slaked by the violent death (and torture?) of his Son is foundational to most evangelicals. It also forms the basis for their view of God, and hence affects all other peripheral beliefs, including just war theory and a host of other unsavory responses to others. If Girard is correct, most of Christian history has widely missed the mark on what the death of Christ means, the very nature of God, and what it means to be a Christ follower. Going to church is becoming a painfully lonely experience these days. Is it possible to work from within when the differences are this profound?
Second ...
Continue reading Q & R: Girard and homelessness...
I imagine many of my Republican friends will already have seen this "farewell" from one of their fellow Republicans. It expresses - from a former insider - many of the concerns outsiders like me commonly feel.
http://TRUTH-OUT.ORG/goodbye-all-reflections-gop-operative-who-left-cult/1314907779
My hope is that Republicans and Democrats (and other parties too) can rediscover the idea of being partners in the search for the common good ... working from different perspectives that can be vigorously debated, but always holding the same commitment to mutual respect in a healthy political process. We've lost a lot of ground in that search in the last thirty years. We'll find common ground on higher ground.
A listener to an audio version of A New Kind of Christian wrote a while back asking for access to the charts. A good question! I wrote back suggesting the public library, and got this response:
Thanks, I just assumed that since I had bought the Audio book (Hovel Audio, Inc. ©2005) I may have access to the charts - as is the case with other audio books I have bought before. Thought I might get lucky and you’d e-mail me? I am amused that you would think my local library would have a copy of the book – this is White River, Mpumalanga, South Africa – a tiny little town thirty minutes’ drive from Kruger Park! Take care
Here are photos of the charts ... Sorry they're sideways!
If you haven't heard, Palestine is planning to apply to the UN for membership as an independent nation. Tragically, the US could find itself in the position of vetoing the application. (Please, President Obama, don't let that happen!) I think Rabbi Michael Lerner strikes the right general balance in this editorial:
http://www.tikkun.org/nextgen/recognize-palestine-and-re-affirm-israel-as-a-jewish-state
Quotable:
Israel was the first affirmative action state, recognized by the United Nations primarily out of a global recognition that the Jewish people had faced extraordinary persecution through much of the past two thousand years, culminating in the Holocaust. Its policy of giving a special right of return and special rights to immigrant housing is a legitimate response to the vulnerability the Jewish people continue to face in light of continuing hatred of Jews based on prejudicial views of who Jews are and what we stand for.... Similarly, the Palestinian state that is now emerging should be recognized as an affirmation action state, recognized by the United Nations before it has control over any territory of its own as a way to alleviate the special suffering of the Palestinian people. It should have a special right of return and special rights to immigrant housing for Palestinians living anywhere in the world in light of the suffering that Palestinian refugees have faced under occupation by Israel and in Arab countries which have often treated Palestinians in harsh and discriminatory ways.
I think there are several ways that the tragedy there could be ameliorated long-term - a one-secular-state solution or a two-state solution with mutual respect or a regional alliance of several states, for example. But I hope the US won't once again squash Palestinian hopes by vetoing their attempts at a peaceful solution to a tragic situation ... a complex situation in which all sides have legitimate hopes, all sides have made mistakes, all sides have legitimate grievances, and all sides need peace with justice. We need solutions that are pro-Israeli, pro-Palestinian, pro-peace, and pro-justice. God help us.
My new column at Patheos.com (pronounced PATH- eous) addresses this fascinating and important question:
http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Is-God-a-Christian-Brian-McLaren-09-13-2011.html
My friend Kester Brewin's book Other is now available in the US ...
http://www.amazon.com/Other-Loving-Neighbor-World-Fractures/dp/1596272309/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1315496007&sr=8-4
A reminder to folks in Dallas - hope to see you at the end of the month:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=221045591276867
And West Coast folks (and students everywhere) - check out the tremendous lineup at Soularize, in San Diego, October 6 - 8. These folks know how to throw a learning party! http://www.soularize.net/
I always appreciate the trends information from TomorrowToday.uk.co/. Quotable:
“23% of all the things (goods and services) made since the birth of Christ have been made in the last ten years.” As world population heads to 7 billion (next month) and then 8 billion (by 2025), we’ll probably be able to say that half of all things ever made were made “in this century” in 2025.
“28% of all the people who have lived since the birth of Christ have lived in the last 100 years. Half of all the people who have ever turned 80 are still alive.” Half of all the people to ever turn 60 will still be alive in 2025. Source: TomorrowToday and The Economist.
Want to add your name to a beautiful call for environmental responsibility? Sign the Interfaith Declaration here:
http://interfaithdeclaration.org/index.html
Here's a worthy documentary project deserving support -
http://www.gprojectfilm.org/
Here's a new book I contributed to:
http://www.renovare.us/WHATWEDO/Resources/25BooksEveryChristianShouldRead/tabid/2794/Default.aspx
I'm at the airport heading home after several days with Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church and friends. I could not have been more warmly welcomed. Southern hospitality is alive and well in Little Rock. In addition to meeting wonderful people from a number of other churches in the region, I got a tour of Heifer International - a platinum-level Leed Certified building (the only one in the south), a place to see state of the art green architecture and landscape design in action. Thanks to all who were so welcoming ... to thanks to all who were so enthusiastic about my books. I'm coming home encouraged and grateful for you all. Thanks be to God!
Here's the Q:
I have been a follower of your blog for a few months now. Your book A Generous Orthodoxy has given much guidance, understanding, and hope.
My question may sound leading or ungracious, but that is not my intent at all. Some back ground on me, I was born and raised in the South. I was raised in a very conservative family. The churches we belonged to were all charismatic growing up. Considering my upbringing, faith communities, and general geographic location the subject of homosexuality was given the stamp of "It's wrong. Period. Don't talk about it." However, as I got older I began to have friends that admited to being gay along with several family members. It was shocking to my conservative evangelical system because I loved all of these people dearly. I was confused, but decided to simply show them love and not try to "change" them. Now I am in my early twenties, married, and finishing my undergradute degree with the hopes of moving on to seminary. My spiritual mentors and pastors have always seemed to be (considering the religious climate of the south) progressive in many ways. With independence of adulthood and guidance from those much wiser than I my attitude towards those who are LGTBQ is even more gracious and accepting than ever before.
Now with all of that info, how does God reveal himself in same sex marriage? My studies of the bible and personal experiece of marriage has lead me to believe that God wants to show aspects of himself as well as his glory through the institution of marriage. I know that right now if I had to decided based solely on my interpretation of the American Constitution I would vote for same-sex marriage to be allowed in my state. On the other hand, I still am trying grasp the spiritual implications of such a decision. I have heard arguments on both sides. I've seen countless amounts of evidence. I want my friends and family members that are in the LGTBQ community to be happy and love who they want to love. Hopefully my question was clear and not misleading of my intentions.
Continue reading Q & R: Gay Marriage and God...
I'll be stopping by for a quick visit in support of my friends at Go the 2nd Mile. You're invited - September 25.
Please read this worthwhile article by my friend and collaborator Tracy Wispelwey ...
http://www.clayfirecurator.org/2011/09/locating-music-and-expanding-our-musicality-guest-post-tracy-howe-wispelwey/
My friend Jim Henderson is cooking up another wild recipe for creative mischief and saving goodness ... learn more here: http://jimhendersonpresents.com/save-me/
Here's the Q:
Thanks for your insight. I'm almost done reading Everything Must Change, but I have a question about war and God in the Old Testament.What is your belief about why God in the Old Testament and used war as a means of His people entering the Promised Land?
Why would God use war and then Jesus come later and speak against it?
I agree with most, possibly all, of what you've written in Everything Must Change, but I was curious about your view of God in the Old Testament and why He did things the way He did. I have my own beliefs about why, but your book has simply caused me to wonder what your beliefs are in that arena. The sharp contrast between Jesus and God, in regard to war, seems ironic.
Thanks for your insight.
Continue reading Q & R: God and War...
A reader writes:
I read A New Kind of Christian a number of months ago and took part in a pastors roundtable in [my city]. Since then, I became fascinated with your writing and how you develop theological inquiry in your book, so I orderd the next two in that series and have enjoyed the readings. I have a number of things happening inside of me as I read your books. First, I feel unburdened and liberated…I know you hear this all the time, but I have no other way of stating that, really. Second, I find myself wanting to burn your books, and not in my mind either ;) I think that you and many like you, offer a reading which sees God as ultimately loving to ALL, and that perhaps he has been working out his plan of salvation which will, in the end, defy our logic or theological doctrine. Not knowing where to go with that, as a pastor leading a congregation not on board with that way of thinking, can be quite frustrating.
I think my frustration has very much to do with impatience and fear. As a pastor, if I steam forward with this “new” theology, as many would see it, how many will be left in the wake as casualties…and because of ME! If I accept for myself this way of thinking and living into a new Christianity, my patience for others will be tested, wondering why no one else is “getting it”. I realize this does not really help you perhaps, but if I were to make a suggestion for theological development, I would suggest a book on patience in the church, or some such thing. Maybe you’ve already written something like that.
...God bless you and the work you are doing in the name of Jesus Christ. Even though you frustrate me at times, I look forward to reading more of your books.
Here's the opportunity:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/interfaith-worship-doubled-since-911-but-remains-low/2011/09/07/gIQA3X4u9J_story.html
Here's a great way to respond:
http://911walks.org/
http://blog.sojo.net/2011/09/07/take-a-walk-on-911/
I'll be writing more about this subject in the coming months - expanding fair trade to more and more products so that we can all be more ethical in our buying. Here are are some shots from our recent visit to Publix headquarters in Lakeland, FL - where the CEO refused to meet with farm workers who had ridden their bikes 200 miles to visit him. You can read more here:
http://www.theledger.com/article/20110906/NEWS/110909629?p=1&tc=pg
We used the tomato buckets to make a little rhythm ...
I had the honor of supporting the workers with a few words ...
We are connected by what we eat to those who plant, grow, harvest, ship, and market our food ... they're all our neighbors, whether CEO's or farmworkers.
Here's the Q:
I see that Brian is scheduled to be in Palo Alto November 4 – 6. Can you give me more information about his trip, and how I can attend? Thanks.
If you've been part of the postmodern conversation (pro, con, confused) over the last decade or two, you'll find this article of interest:
http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2011/07/postmodernism-is-dead-va-exhibition-age-of-authenticism/
Quotable:
It is not that postmodernism’s impact is diminished or disappearing. Not at all; we can’t unlearn a great idea. But rather, postmodernism is itself being replaced as the dominant discourse and is now taking its place on the artistic and intellectual palette alongside all the other great ideas and movements. In the same way as we are all a little Victorian at times, a little modernist, a little Romantic, so we are all, and will forever be, children of postmodernism. (This in itself is, of course, a postmodern idea.) All these movements subtly inform our imaginations and the way we discuss, create, react and interact.... we are all becoming more comfortable with the idea of holding two irreconcilable ideas in our heads: that no system of meaning can have a monopoly on the truth, but that we still have to render the truth through our chosen system of meaning.
Certainly, the internet is the most postmodern thing on the planet. The immediate consequence in the west seems to have been to breed a generation more interested in social networking than social revolution. But, if we look behind that, we find a secondary reverse effect—a universal yearning for some kind of offline authenticity. We desire to be redeemed from the grossness of our consumption, the sham of our attitudinising, the teeming insecurities on which social networking sites were founded and now feed. We want to become reacquainted with the spellbinding narrative of expertise. If the problem for the postmodernists was that the modernists had been telling them what to do, then the problem for the present generation is the opposite: nobody has been telling us what to do.
We can identify it in the way brands are trying to hold on to, or take up, an interest in ethics, or in a particular ethos. A culture of care is advertised and celebrated and cherished. Values are important once more: the values that the artist puts into the making of an object as well as the values that the consumer takes out of the object. And all of these striven-for values are separate to the naked commercial value.
These three ideas, of specificity, of values and of authenticity, are at odds with postmodernism. We are entering a new age. Let’s call it the Age of Authenticism and see how we get on.
One of the frequent causes for misunderstanding in the postmodern conversation has been the tendency of some to freeze the definition of postmodern in its earliest, most de-constructive phase. Then, anything that became slightly more constructive had to be named "postpostmodern," and so on. Since I've used the term to describe an unfolding, evolving, unfrozen (and, in fact, biased-against-freezing) mindset, I've always considered specificity, authenticity, and values as inherent in postmodernity ... All this serves as a reminder that, if we must be labeled, we are wiser to identify ourselves with labels that indicate an evolving way rather than a frozen location, unless we plan to stop moving forward in our journey.
Although the term "the Age of Authenticism" is, to me, as pretentious as "postmodern" was ambiguous, I do think the article is worthwhile.
Here's the Q:
I greatly appreciate your ministry. And because of my great respect for your views and writings, I constantly find myself asking, "Well, I wonder what Brian McLaren believes about this?" So, this time I figured I would just ask you. :)I've been trying to read the Bible through a narrative lens rather then a constitutional lens and it has helped greatly. I'm taking courses at a well known Bible college and I just finished my class on the Old Testament. In the class the professor went on and on about why without a historical Adam and Eve and Noah and Abraham, that Christianity would completely fall apart.
Believing in a literal Adam and Eve and talking snake and Noah and flood was never an issue with me until I started studying evolution and thinking about how illogical these stories seem.
So I'm just wondering, how do you read the creation story and the flood story and the patriarchs?
Do you believe they all really existed or maybe some but not others?
If you don't believe Adam and Eve and Noah or the creation and flood story are literal historical people and facts then how can they be interpreted and what can we learn from them?
Continue reading Q & R: Literal Adam, Eve, Talking Snake...
Here's a great assessment from Todd Johnson:
http://businessforgood.blogspot.com/2011/09/movement-in-need-of-rosetta-stone.html?m=1
... started today! Check it out here ...
http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Aftermath-of-911-Spiritually-Transmitted-Diseases-Brian-McLaren-09-06-2011.html
Here's the Q:
In your recent blog post, you kept exhorting the Tea Party supporter to read your book Everything Must Change. In an earlier blog post you wrote, "Francis Schaeffer's 'A Christian Manifesto' gave me the creeps."
Can't you see that your book is just a liberal/progressive version of Schaeffer's?
I don't agree with the positions in either book, but whether you're on the "right" side of the street, or "left" side, aren't you both just throwing stones in a glass-zoned nieghborhood?
Continue reading Q & R: Aren't you just the same ......
Tomorrow I'll be joining Florida tomato pickers and friends (Coalition for Immokalee Workers and Interfaith Action) in their pursuit for fairer wages at the headquarters of Publix grocers in Lakeland. If you're in the area, I hope you can join us ... and if you aren't and can't, learn more about the issue of fair trade in food here:
http://www.interfaithact.org/pilgrimage
Remember: we're connected by what we eat with people who grow, harvest, transport, prepare, and market our food. They are all our neighbors.
A reader writes ...
Your book, The secret message of Jesus(which I am only half thru-on chapter 15), has moved me beyond words. I was raised Anglican,(or Episcopalian) fairly liberal, left the church for years, went back 18 years or so ago, and floated around many congregations-Unitarians, Presby's, Baptists....always feeling out of sync with my beliefs as compared to other Church Members, always at odds with Doctrine, always struggling with what to teach my kids about religious belief, and reading everything I could get my hands on. There have been glimmers in other books that I've found , of what I know to be the truth of Jesus' message, but nothing like this. It has resonated in my heart and mind, and moved me to tears and to action. It has convicted me and given me the courage to stay present and involved in the kingdom and that I am on the right path-no matter what racist, homophobic, soul destroying, nonsense other people tell me is "Biblical". I have never written to an author or celebrity before this, but I just had to express my thanks to you. I have been praying and seeking for so long-and I think I have finally "found".
Thank you so much and may God bless you in the work of His Kingdom and continue to reveal Truth to your soul,
This month I'll be in
Little Rock, AR
I hope to meet many of you ... thanks for spreading the word to friends you think would be interested.
Frank, son of Francis and Edith, shares some needed perspective here:
http://www.alternet.org/story/152039/are_michele_bachmann%27s_views_about_%27christian_submission%27_even_more_extreme_than_she%27s_letting_on/?page=4
And Greg Metzger offers some additional background information here:
http://debatingobama.blogspot.com/2011/08/i-have-been-dealing-this-week-with.html
and here:
http://christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2011-08/more-same
A reader writes:
I just finished reading "A New Kind of Christian," and I wanted to thank you. It was water to a desperately thirsty soul... I guzzled it all down in just two days. You've given me a vision of a direction to go that I hadn't known existed, so that I can still wholeheartedly claim the name "Christian." I have a lot of thinking and learning and processing yet to do, but for the first time in at least a couple of years of mental struggle, I am happy and hopeful. Thank you.
I'm an enthusiastic supporter of the Children, Youth, and a New Kind of Christianity conference coming up in May 2012 in Washington, DC.
Registration recently opened, and the first 50 registrants will be entered into a drawing to get one of ten free signed copies of my book Naked Spirituality. You can learn more and register here:
http://children-youth.com/giveaways-2/
Here's the Q:
I've just finished reading "A New Kind of Christianity". I LOVED it! It was thought provoking, challenging, refreshing and hit the nail on the head time and time again. I frequently found myself saying "Yes! That's exactly it!" and hungrily devoured every page. There are very few non-fiction books (especially Christian ones!) that I just can't put down. Brilliant!One paragraph, right at the end, particularly struck a chord with me. It spoke about having the courage to differ and the grace to differ graciously. I am an openly gay woman who (without going into too much of my life story) has once again found herself working and living with evangelical Christians (a situation I thought I'd never be in again!) and live in an odd tension between two very different worlds: the gay community and "the church". Those Christians I live and work with/for don't really think being gay is ok (but of course love me… the sinner?... anyway!) and seem to tolerate my other lesbian life so long as I don't shout about it. It's a sort of don't ask/don't tell policy. I have (gay) friends who say I'm a "missionary" to the Christians and to be honest I can't help but feel there is some truth to that, but I struggle with speaking up. I want to have the courage to differ, but so often I just chicken out and say nothing as if I agree. You didn't say much about how you learnt to have the courage to differ. I would be fascinated to hear more. Thank you for your time,
Here's the R:
Continue reading Q & R: Courage to differ ... graciously?...
A reader writes:
I just finished reading a Generous Orthodoxy and I want to thank you for this book. I am sixty years old and have been serving the lord since 1976. Over the past few years I have found myself unhappy with my Christian faith, or should I say organized religion. I felt more and more that we were missing the whole point of what Jesus came to say and do. In the past 35 years I have belonged to two non-denominational churches…tongue speaking , the whole charismatic experience. A Christian husband and 4 children raised in the church. Though I have never heard of you or the concepts you often refer to in the book I have felt it in my spirit for some time. I am developing into one who is finding it desirable to have a generous orthodoxy. I am finding that as I grow in this walk I seem to understand less, or at least what I have been taught. I found your book informative, educational, and encouraging, though a bit wordy at times. I pray that all Christians come to see as you do…it can only get better if they do. Thank you again.
Thanks for your kind words, and sorry about the wordiness. (I felt the same way when I had to read the book aloud for an audio recording!) I think you'd enjoy my newest book, Naked Spirituality - it would help explain your dissatisfaction over recent years. We never grow up, do we? Always learning, growing, changing - whether we're 6, 36, 66, or 96.
I'm in the UK at Greenbelt, and in a couple of my sessions, the questions again come up about what and how we are teaching our kids a fresh approach to the Christian faith. Here's a Q I received to that effect a while back:
Okay, so that actually hasn't happened (yet), but we go to an open-minded but still conservative-leaning church, and this is the paradigm of explaining salvation to kids each Sunday. The language of our peers at church demonstrate that's how they think of "child salvation" as well.I started my journey through A New Kind of Christianity about 8 years ago, but only now am I having my own children at the age where they can make these kinds of decisions. My oldest is almost four, and is starting to sing Sunday School songs and listening to music that tells Bible stories. Every night we read The Jesus Storybook Bible to him and his little sister before bedtime each night. He is clearly interested in Jesus and the Bible, so I'm pretty certain that when an opportunity arises for him to "ask Jesus into his heart," he'll probably do it. My church isn't pushy in that way (that I can tell), which is definitely a plus.
I'm not afraid of him making a decision as a youngster to follow Jesus, but I've lamented for a while now how "easy" it is to "get saved," when Jesus' invitation to follow him implied some sort of cross to bear. My son does not and probably cannot truly understand that side of the gospel. Instead, children are joining a "club" where they are now on the road to heaven, with the implications that now they must live like the Bible tells them to (which is a different type of "club" used for behavior modification!). I personally asked Jesus into my heart at age 5 during Bible school, but I doubt I really "got saved" until my teenage years when I started to understand the nature of the commitment I had made as a youngster. I decided to keep on keeping on, rather than turn away from God. In my testimony today, I tend to emphasize I've always believed, but that I made a more mindful commitment as a teenager.
I know a bit of your journey from reading your books, so I'm sure this isn't new for you. I'm also guessing that as a grandfather, these questions are becoming fresh in your mind. What advice do you have for parents of youngsters who want to communicate that salvation is by grace through faith while avoiding the pitfalls of easy believism? How do we communicate The Secret Message of Jesus in a non-confusing way but still faithful to the original message? Perhaps you'll advise that they are More Ready Than You Realize, but as one of the two adults who know my children extremely well, I'm a bit nervous (thankfully my wife isn't sweating this!).
My son understands that things need to be fixed (restored would be the "theological word" from Colossians 1:20). So far, the best I've come up with is explaining that Jesus came to fix the world because the world is broken. The Jesus Storybook Bible (and John Eldredge) speaks of the Big Story that God is telling, so I use that as an analogy to explain that God wants us to join God's* story.
Maybe to put you on the spot "a little tiny bit" (as my son would put it): how would you, today, explain the gospel to a four-year old?
Thanks so much if you have the time to respond!* speaking of pronouns, do you use masculine pronouns when speaking? I know your writings have minimized the use of "he" and "him," and I do that to a large extent
First, let me remind everyone of an important international conference to grapple with these issues, to be held in Washington DC in May 2012. It would be great for your to register now and start telling your friends about it ... bring along a group from your church. You'll find more information here:
http://davecsinos.com/2011/04/08/children-youth-and-a-new-kind-of-christianity/
Here more of the R:
Continue reading Q & R: Help! My kid just asked Jesus into his heart!...
I think we all get discouraged sometimes, feeling that for all the good things happening, the bad stuff is a lot bigger, meaner, richer, and more powerful. But then encouragement comes along, reminding you that God is at work, and that little things (mustard seeds) can have surprising outcomes down the road.
Just wanted to e-mail you and share a brief story with you. I'm not sure if you know but I work part time hours at [a store] here in [our city] and I had a gal come through my line. As I was checking her out of my line we got to talking and I asked her where she went to school. She told me [a local Christian university]. I knew that you had spoken there on occasion so I told her that I had a friend that had spoken at there on occasion in chapel. She asked who it was and I said Brian McLaren. Her entire demeanor changed, her eyes got huge and joy erupted all over her face. With such enthusiasm she blurted out - "God used Brian McLaren to change my life. His writings have changed the course of my life and my faith has been renewed." I wanted to talk more but had another customer waiting so she was off and out the door. Brian, just wanted to pass that off to you - so many people who have been impacted by you, whose lives are different because of your life and writings and yet you have not even heard from them. There are tons out them out there - thanks for your courage and being a voice of faith, hope and love for so many of us.
As you can imagine, encouraging stories like this mean a lot. Thanks to all who read, recommend, and share books. We're all in this together!
I'm in England, thinking about my friends in the US facing the hurricane this weekend ... also thinking about ...
What's going on in the Congo ...
http://congopeace.org/?p=163
What's going on in the Horn of Africa:
An eyewitness report from my friend Don Golden in Northern Kenya -
http://followthebiscuit.com/
Why humility matters:
http://chronicle.com/article/The-Value-of-Humility-in/128754/
... was Walker Percy. Here's a documentary about him available (temporarily) free online:
http://beta.lpb.org/index.php/pledge/pledge_item/walker_percy/
(Thanks Johnboy!)
Here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-d-mclaren/immokalee-farm-workers-justice_b_935273.html
You've probably heard about the recent recycling of the Scopes Monkey Trials in Christian higher education. Christian colleges everywhere should take note ... more firings could come to a biology or biblical studies department near you.
Quotable:
[Dr. Albert] Mohler, who has long argued that the most natural reading of Genesis is that God created the world in six 24-hour days, said in his blog that if such arguments hold sway, “we will have to come up with an entirely new understanding of the gospel metanarrative and the Bible’s storyline.”
I firmly agree (in an ironic sort of way) with the good Dr. Mohler. I think the conventional Constantinian "understanding of the gospel metanarrative and the Bible's storyline" is wrong, misguided, and dangerous. We do in fact need "an entirely new understanding" - new, that is, compared to the status quo, but actually more ancient and primary than the conventional approach. In the process we'd better learn what a metanarrative actually is and realize that it's not actually a great label to apply to the gospel ... "the Bible's storyline" is much better. That's what I've been writing and speaking about for the last decade, and hope to keep advocating for and contributing to for the next. Here's some of what I've written on the subject:
http://www.amazon.com/Story-Find-Ourselves-Adventures-Leadership/dp/0470248416/ref=pd_sim_b_1
http://www.amazon.com/New-Kind-Christianity-Questions-Transforming/dp/0061853984/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248548301&sr=1-1
Here's the Q:
You stated that you were voting for Obama in one of your blog posts a while back because you figured Obama's framing story was better. I did not like McCain or Obama and I am trying to take a fresh look at politics after reading your books. In light of Obama irrationally spending money in our current financial state and Obama's ordering the attack on Lybia, what are your feelings about Obama now?
Here's the R:
First, I wouldn't simply write off the financial bailout of late 2008 as irrational unless you've really understood the consequences of the economic collapse that may have happened otherwise. And it's important to remember that the original bailout was set up during the previous administration. Second, regarding stimulus packages, it's easy to criticize without saying what should have been done instead. That's not to say the stimulus program couldn't have been done better, especially with hindsight - I can think of lots of things I wish were done differently. Third, like any president, President Obama hasn't made every decision exactly as I would have - and of course that's probably a good thing in most cases.
This article resonated with me in some ways:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/believers-wonder-where-is-the-old-obama/2011/08/10/gIQAnbrh8I_story.html
I would only add (my online time is limited writing from over here in England at the moment ...) that I think the system is pretty darn near broke, and so it would be hard for any president to look good when the systems is this dysfunctional. So I'm still a supporter of the president - always a critical supporter, of course, never a blind one.
A reader writes...
Thank you for your books "A New Kind of Christian" (the warm up) and "A New Kind of Christianity" (the main course)! I am a graduate of [a well known Evangelical] College and [an Evangelically-based seminary], and I have been searching for a voice like yours for the past 8 years. After reading A New Kind Of Christianity, I have been absolutely re-energized and given the confidence and hope that God is bigger and more creative than thought He was . I came to the conclusion years ago that if Christianity didn't offer freedom, it was counterfeit and not worth my time, and my shadowey version of Christianity offered everything BUT freedom. Grew up in a family similar to yours and was always the trouble maker. [The seminary president] always told me that it was noble for me to rebel against the perverted Christianity that my family and friends lived. Anyways. I am not sure if you read these or not, but I just wanted to write you a "thank you" note for the risk you took in rethinking what Christianity might be offering us. I have always wondered why scripture had to be inerrant and why it could not be just TRUE? You articulate what our guts have been telling us. I am still a bit timid to step into a more 3D Christianity than I have been programmed with, but I suppose it is a lifelong pursuit worth engaging in.
As an aside, you say that the parts of scripture you gloss over and disregard are the ones that have the most to teach you. For me, your "Everything Must Change" and Social activism messages are that to me. I live in Seattle, but don't feel the stong urge to care for the planet and plant a tree. I think that growing up in the Midwest and being a white male makes it unnecessary to worry about people other than myself. Anyways, like you said, the things I write off may have the most to teach me.
Thank you for being a lightning rod in order to voice your hope,
Learn more here:
http://www.thesimpleway.org/
A great chance to gather, ponder, dream, and celebrate in Philadelphia on September 10.
You can read Part 1 here:
http://brianmclaren.net/archives/blog/post-46.html
Here's Part 2. Again, I'll respond part by part.
You list these values in your post: 1. - unsustainability of fossil-fuel-based, corporate-militarist economy 2. - climate change 3. - scapegoating of Muslims 4. - bigotry against gaysBrief responses listed by number:
1. As followers of Christ, we are taught that "where your treasure is, your heart will follow". Therefore it is always wise for believers to "follow the money". We should always be on guard for wars fought for profit under false pretenses. I can't argue against getting out of Iraq and Afghanistan, however we would do more harm to innocent people in those nations if we didn't leave it in a stable state.
Hopefully folks like you and me - who disagree on a lot of things - can agree that the next time our government wants to fight a war, we'll raise our voices together to point to the full cost - in money, in lives, in human time and energy, and in unintended consequences. We keep making the same mistakes ... when will we learn?
2. Climate Change - Many of us are not convinced based upon the evidence. Furthermore, we are tired of people telling us that the sky is falling on this issue without being presented with reason. How about engaging in reason on this issue? In my mind, it is extremely difficult for me to believe that something that composes of less than 1% of the global atmosphere, can be such a threat. Furthermore, I'm just not seeing or experiencing the temperate increases predicted.
All I can say is that you must not have seen the same evidence I have. Here's a recommendation. Try Jim Ball's book:
http://creationcare.org/blog.php?blog=19
And please - realize that much less than 1% of cyanide in a glass of water can kill, or much less than 1% of radioactive material can give you cancer. It's clear you actually haven't seen (or understood) the evidence if you can say something like this. And of course you wouldn't make a decision on whether global climate change is happening based on your own experience ... that's why it's called "global climate change" and not "personal climate change." Based on what scientists have predicted, some places will actually see colder temperatures (that's why "global climate change" is a preferred term for many over "global warming"). Some will see too much rain, some will see drought, and so on. If you actually read the data, you'll see that the climate is changing even faster and more radically than predicted. Here's one small (actually, huge!) example - Arctic Sea Ice:
http://archive.greenpeace.org/climate/arctic99/reports/seaice3.html
Here's more:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2011/05/climate-change-arctic-ice-melting-faster-sea-level-to-rise-more-report-says.html
And here's some video:
http://www.smh.com.au/multimedia/environment/changes-in-arctic-ice-cover-20091204-kad7.html
3. I understand that there is a difference between ideology and adherence. One can be a Muslim without believing in extremes. What is not clear to me is whether or not the Muslim extremists or the moderates are being consistent with the teachings of Islam/Muhammad. I think that is where the discussion on this issue should begin. Based upon the history of Muhammad, and Scriptures I've heard and read out of the Koran, it appears to me that the only non-violent Muslim is one who is not consistently following Muhammad. That opinion is not xenophobic bias. It is just observation. Let us engage in such a discussion without assuming that the other side is bigoted and prejudiced.
I find your statement here to be quite shocking and abhorrent. Let me offer an analogy. Please understand, I would never say this, but it helps make clear what you are saying:
In light of Psalm 137:8-9 and Deuteronomy 7:1-4, any peace-loving Christian who does not support terrorism, genocide, and racial segregation is not consistently following the Bible.
I hope you'll read my next book when it comes out in September 2012. It is about Christian identity in a multi-faith world, and I think it will make you see the ugliness of what you've said here.
4. Bigotry against gays. Paul believed homosexuality was a sin. I understand your belief about the inspiration of Scripture (greco-roman vs library - theologians call this plenary vs dynamic). I am thankful that you have written about the inspiration issue because that is at the heart of this matter with believers. However, this doesn't mean that Paul was wrong.The biology seems to me to point to homosexuality as being unnatural. And to suggest it is genetic doesn't hold water given that genetic information always comes from heterosexual unions. I understand the concept of recessive genes, however as soon as such a gene would dominate, it would self-terminate from the gene pool since homosexuals do not reproduce.
I can believe that homosexuality is a sin without throwing stones of judgementalism and condescension towards GLBTs.
It appears you didn't actually understand (or perhaps agree with) the full impact of the constitution-library material in New Kind of Christianity. I'd also suspect that you need a bit more study in genetics, sexuality, and human history before making the kind of statement you made above. But at least I do agree with you partially - that some Christians who believe homosexuality is a sin can be more judgmental and condescending and some can be less, and it sounds like we'd both want more people to be less. Of course, I'd be eve happier if more Christians rethink the whole issue within a larger framework - as I explored in New Kind of Christianity when I talked about the Bible and slavery.
I think we can stand together as believers, even on opposite sides of this issue and proclaim that the Christlike attitude towards such folks is one of love and grace.In closing, I just ask you to resist ad hominems and presumptions about believers who hold different positions than yours.
I agree with you - we need to seek to have the right attitude when we disagree, to work together wherever we can, and to resist ad hominems and prejudicial presumptions. Let's both try to be sure we influence others in our circles of influence in the same direction.
I don't see how our nation will survive economically without cut, cap and balance. I trust you wouldn't run your personal finances any other way.
Ouch. There are so many problems - in my view - with this statement that I'm not sure where to begin. The analogy between personal finance and national finance has some merit in some limited situations, but it also has many limitations.
God bless your ministry and thank you for making me think!
Thanks for thinking and challenging me as well! And thanks for writing in and expressing yourself honestly and respectfully. (You'd be amazed to see the tone of a lot of the emails I receive.) A lot of people responded very positively to Part 1 of this interchange. I hope we've been able to model respectful and honest disagreement - and agreement too.
A reader writes:
I know it is a bit presumptuous of me to respond to your response to this person but I have a concern to raise. There is nothing wrong with your response, as far as it went. However when this person writes of years of being "angry and sad all the time", it seems to me this person ought to be encouraged to seek therapy. God works through counselors, therapists and doctors. Just as we wouldn't suggest spiritual formation as the only method to overcome - say cancer or heart disease, spiritual formation alone is not sufficient for mental health issues.
As a person who has struggled with depression, I can attest that spiritual disciplines and prayer are crucial to recovery but equally crucial is the care of a good therapist and doctor.I hope that you made this suggestion privately to this person and that this e mail is completely unwarranted.
Thanks for your concern and your note, and yes, I know from private correspondence that he's doing well and has appropriate support. I wanted to post your note here so that others would be reminded of the importance of integrated care - physical, medical, psychological, spiritual, social. We need to remove all stigma for getting mental health care. As you say, the brain is an organ like the heart or lungs (except more delicate and complex!), and we know God has created us to need and give mutual support in webs of care - which (thankfully) now include cardiologists, pulmonary specialists, and psychologists, psychiatrists, and counselors. Thanks again.
Last week I enjoyed a few days in Michigan with a dedicated group of Methodist clergy. What good hearts and eager-to-learn minds! On the last day, I prepared a brief talk on survival in ministry, a topic so many clergy members need these days. Here are the slides:
http://www.slideshare.net/brianmclaren
This week I'll be in the UK, speaking in London on Thursday night and at the Greenbelt Festival Friday through Monday. I hope to see many of you there!
... in support for the Coalition of Immokalee Workers:
http://www.ciw-online.org/
You can read more here:
http://brianmclaren.net/archives/blog/were-connected-by-what-we-eat.html
My name is xx, I am [under 30]-years old and serving the Lord with my wife in [europe]. I only wanted briefly to take the time to say thank you. It is hard for me to describe exactly what your work means to me. I have been tremendously blessed by it. Thank you with all my heart.My experience in Europe in the mid-1990's - with a missionary organization - helped precipitate the change in thinking that inspired my first book. People would be surprised to see how many missionaries go overseas to convert others, and in the process, experience a kind of conversion themselves. Thanks for the encouragement, and may God continue to bless you in your work. I hope our paths will cross sometime when I'm on your side of the pond. (By the way, I'll be at Greenbelt in England this weekend, and I'll be in London this Thursday night ... more info here.)
Here's the Q:
... I'm currently reading Everything Must Change and Naked Spirituality, and it's all really meaningful and helpful stuff. Even my dad, who usually doesn't read theology, was very impressed by what I was reading outloud to him. The only problem is---I have this sinking feeling that you're (we're) trying to turn around the Titanic. Can the Emergent church movement save American Christianity from itself? And thereby help American Christianity save humanity from itself? One things for sure, this revolution will have to be an incremental one. All the best,
The Titanic is a great metaphor. Hubris/overconfidence led the Titanic to disaster, and too often, our leaders - political, economic, and religious - are similarly sailing into greater and greater danger, keeping busy with symptoms, without addressing the deeper diseases - starting with the ones I bring up in EMC.
Will there be a civilizational collapse? I hope not. I think people like us have to do two things at once: do all in our power to advocate for wisdom and change in regards to the big four crises: the planet (extraction over stewardship), poverty (growing gap between rich and poor, ongoing transfer of "common wealth" to the personal wealth of the wealthiest), peace (nuclear weapons, over-militarized nation-states, and terrorism), and religious hostility (which fuels the first the problems). We have to advocate for the Titanic to turn, and at the same time, face the possibility that it won't. I guess you could say we hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
You mention emergent ... I wouldn't have survived spiritually if it weren't for the emergent conversation ... and I think that reports of its demise are not only premature but flow from a failure to understand what it really is. But I think that we self-sabotage when we think a magical movement from somewhere is going to save us ... by whatever name, whether emergent, tea party, revival, Pentecostal, whatever. I think the emergent conversation has already played an important role, and will continue to play an important role, in giving birth to a larger revolution of hope ... but that larger revolution isn't "out there" inviting us to join it - it's "in here" inviting us to help create it ... all of us who hear a call to put God's will for the common good above our own personal, ethnic, economic, political, and national interests. That will, just as you say, involve enormous faith and patience as incremental change grows like mustard seeds ... and it may also, in times of crisis and opportunity, surprise everyone by leaping forward in eruptions of grace, earthquakes of hope, and tsunamis of love.
Small signs of hope are bursting out all around us. I just witnessed one here in Florida, and there's one going on in DC at this moment ... As Bruce Cockburn said, "Around every evil, there gathers love. Bombs aren't the only thing that falls from above, down where the death squad lives."
My good friend Claude Nikondeha is in the region and is mobilizing support for grass-roots aid ... You can join me in participating here:
http://www.communityoffaith.tv/famine
... to the farmers who grow our food, the harvesters who pick it, the transporters who bring it to market, the grocers who present it, and the cooks who prepare it.
Here's the prayer we prayed at a nearby Publix grocery in the produce section on Friday:
A Prayer for Publix
Living God, you are the Creator of this beautiful and fertile world. You made sun, rain, soil, air, seed, and seasons. We praise you for the green of lettuce, the yellow of lemon, the orange of a tangerine, and especially for the bright red of a tomato. They are beautiful to our eyes, delicious to our taste buds, and nourishing to our bodies. We pray to the Lord, Lord, hear our prayer.We thank you, Lord, for this grocery store. We thank you for the many ways Publix serves the community. We thank you for the employees who stock shelves and wax floors and serve as cashiers and help elderly people load their groceries into their cars. We thank you for the founder of Publix, George Jenkins, who said, “Don’t let making a profit stand in the way of doing the right thing,” and we thank you for Ed Crenshaw, his grandson, who wants to be guided by his grandfather’s example. We pray to the Lord, Lord, hear our prayer.
Lord, we’re here today to pray for the hard-working people who harvest the tomatoes over in Immokalee. You know how hard they work in the hot sun. You know that they only get paid about 50 cents for every 32 pound bucket of tomatoes they pick. You love each farm worker and know each one by name, and you want for them what you want for every hard-working person: a fair wage for hard work. We pray to the Lord, Lord, hear our prayer.
We’re also here today praying for Ed Crenshaw and all the associates of Publix. We’re asking that you will move their hearts to raise the pay for the tomato harvesters by just one penny per pound. We know that Publix is the largest company in Florida, and that Publix’s revenue was 25.3 billion last year. We know that even in this tough year of recession, profits are up 9.5% this year. So we know that just a penny per pound of tomatoes is something Ed Crenshaw and the whole Publix community could get behind and could actually be proud of. And so we pray to the Lord, Lord, hear our prayer.
You are the God of compassion and fairness. Guide Ed Crenshaw to be a man of compassion and fairness like his grandfather. Guide the associates of Publix not to disappoint us customers who feel connected by the food we eat both to them and to the hard workers of Immokalee. And guide the Immokalee workers who are going to visit Mr. Crenshaw soon, traveling by bicycle to Lakeland. Give them good success in their visit. We pray with faith, hope, and love in our hearts, Lord, remembering Jesus’ words that your will would be done on earth as in heaven. And all God’s people said, “Amen.”
You can read more about our pray-in here:
http://www.theledger.com/article/20110819/NEWS/110819341/1178?p=1&tc=pg
and here:
http://www.news-press.com/article/20110820/BUSINESS/110819051/Immokalee-coalition-pedal-Lakeland?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Home
and here:
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2011/aug/19/spinning-their-wheels-farmworkers-want-publix-pay/
And if this inspires you to some local creative actions of your own ... that's great.
You can be part of this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tarsandsaction/
For more information, go to:
http://www.tarsandsaction.org/
I can't be there in person, but I wish I could, and I'm keeping up with the news from a distance. Thank God for people who speak up for God's beautiful earth ... affirming that there are things more valuable than short term profit.
I'll respond to various subjects raised in this letter piece by piece.
Here's the Q:
I'm a big fan of yours having bought and read two of your most recent books.One thing that I've always loved about you is that you are careful not to be dogmatic about things that God has not explicitly communicated.
I think you and I might agree that Jesus's harshest criticism was of the religious leaders of His day because they declared the laws of men to be the laws of God.
But I don't see you refraining from such dogma in your recent post about the debt debate in Washington:
http://brianmclaren.net/archives/blog/the-news-has-been-really-depress.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_term=Brian+McLaren+Blog&utm_content=Latest+Blog+Updates
I assume that the zealots that you are referring to are the tea partiers. I don't see how you can call them a zealot faction threat to our economy when they are the ones calling for our nation to spend within our means.
What if someone brought in a homeless family? Would you accuse that person of being a zealot because they drew the line at taking more homeless families in beyond their ability to support?
Here's the R:
Continue reading Q & R: A Tea Party Supporter asks some good questions - Part 1...
http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,777281,00.html
Many of you will want to participate in this teleconference today:
+++++
The White House Office of Public Engagement and the Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships invite you to join a teleconference with Dr. Jill Biden, USAID Administrator Dr. Raj Shah, Gayle Smith, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Development and Democracy, Assistant Secretary of State Eric Schwartz and Senator William Frist, M.D. ... to discuss their recent trip to Dadaab, Kenya and ways that faith-based and community organizations can further mobilize to support relief efforts in the Horn.
DATE: Wednesday, August 17th
TIME: 2:00PM Eastern
DIAL: (800)707-9573 United States
(651)291-1246 International
CODE: Horn of Africa Relief (please provide this to the operator in lieu of a passcode)
Please RSVP to public@who.eop.gov and share this invitation with other interested parties. If you are interested in receiving updates on international issues in general please RSVP to international@who.eop.gov, indicating which subject matter/geographic region/issue areas that are of interest.
+++++
... You'll want to follow this.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/aug/14/canada-tar-sands-keystonexl
And if you'd like to be involved, sign up here:
tarsandsaction.org
This is a powerful expression of "everything must change."
A reader writes:
Here's a link to a recent article in Foreign Affairs Magazine entitled "Bearing the Cost of War." The author makes the case for a wartime surtax that will appeal to balanced budget conservatives while also making it less "fiscally appealing" to jump into conflicts.I've emailed my senators and representative asking for their support.
A reader writes:
I am a monk in a small Benedictine Monastery ... I just finished reading A NEW KIND OF CHRISTIANITY and I have two comments:
AMEN!
and
PREACH IT BROTHER!
We get a ton of guest of many coming to our monastery who are so uncomfortable in their churches that they need a space like ours in which to pray. We try to tell them much the same thing you say in your book, and I glad to know there are more like you around.
Now, would you like a suggestion for another book in case you ever get some free time? How about a book addressing the Mystery of the Incarnation? Because of Creation, we bear God's image; because of Incarnation, God bears our image; because of Resurrection, God puts the ultimate seal of approval on those images. Jesus - fully God and fully Human (not half and half as we so tend to imagine) means that we share DNA with God. This has implications in how we should treat ourselves and everyone else.
Thanks for your note, brother! I think you'd appreciate the sequel to NKOCY too ... It's called Naked Spirituality, and is quite Benedictine in spirit, I think!
I constantly hear exactly what you've said - that people are seeking spaces (like your monastery) where they can encounter God in a fresh and open way.
Thanks also for your suggestion - you'd be interested in this recent conversation Tony Jones has been hosting, that focuses on this precious and powerful word "incarnation" - check it out here:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/tonyjones/2011/08/12/i-am-an-incarnational-christian-the-theology/
Here's the Q:
As one who has walked in charismatic circles, I'm sure you have heard the adage 'God never goes against his word'. This is usually said when teaching people how to discern a 'prophetic word' or inklings that are received in prayer. I have employed this guideline myself, but as I transition from a literal, constitutional reading of Scripture to your suggested 'library' reading, this 'rule' becomes harder to apply.I don't want to throw out the baby with the bathwater and walk away from the 'prophetic' lifestyle ('prophetic' as in truth from God - not as in fortune-telling) because it's too subjective. But at the same time, I want to work out how to move in this way with integrity. My spiritual life, my relationship with Papa, has been enriched by a more conversational approach to my prayer life. I enjoy writing out my conversations. I do not want to get into such a 'loosey-goosey' habit that I assume everything I 'hear' is from God as long as it's kind and loving. Not that there is anything wrong with kind and loving, but I believe that there needs to be some way -other than a general 'it sounds good' to help me discern if I get something that is challenging or not clear.
In the Gospel accounts, Jesus often challenges the 'law-abiding' teachers with 'you have heard it said....But I say'. In the story of Peter in Acts 10, Peter learned that it is OK to eat what was previously forbidden in the Mosaic law. So, it would seem that God WILL 'go against his word' sometimes. I'm sure there is a lot of exegetical argument out there to show that God wasn't REALLY going against his word, but to me, it seems clear that God was teaching something new through Jesus and with Peter. Peter even argued with God by using God's word to explain his resistance.
Then there's the trouble that even if I stick with the old adage, there are various ways of interpreting 'his word'. And then, of course there is the distinction between the written word of God and Jesus, the living Word of God (Logos).
One strategy that I have employed is to consider any leadings or words in light of the fruit of the Spirit ('will acting on this word, accepting this word produce 'love, joy, peace, patience, etc) in the situation I am praying into? Do you think this is sufficient?
Am I making this harder than it is? Any suggestions? I would like to blog some meditation ideas based on this conversational approach (and utilizing books such as your latest!). But I want to do this responsibly.Thanks for any thoughts!
Continue reading Q & R: Prophetic words? Does God "go against God's word?"...
A reader writes:
Firstly I want to thank you for all you have contributed to helping me grow in my faith. In particular, Naked Spirituality has become one of only a few books that has truly reshaped the landscape of my life.
For some weeks now I have had a niggle at the back of my mind and it concerns healing. I find little reference to this in your work and, in part I understand this. One thing that people say unthinkingly is “God showed up”. Really. So where was he before then? Now I realise it is just a “thing people say” but it underlines an issue that I have had with the miraculous.
My (astoundingly ordinary) view is totally that G-d operates on a continuum and what we see as miracle is but the tip of the iceberg. Always “underneath are the everlasting arms”.
He is never silent, even though we may not hear, ever present; whether or not we discern Him. A couple of years ago, my friend, under extreme stress, facing redundancy, developed a condition where her hands were paralysed. They became like immobile claws. Very difficult to do anything at all. She asked for prayer; but for a new job, not her hands! Maybe an extra disappointment or extra guilt at her lack of faith was something she calculated she could do without? A couple of hours later, the prayer offered (in spite of her request) for her hands was answered and full function returned, defying the expectation of the doctors. She did not get the full-time job she wanted though, although she has been able to resourcefully support herself. Here is part of the mystery, she got what she didn’t ask for, but clearly needed – healing of her hands. She did not get what she asked for, but maybe she doesn’t need right now. G-d knows.
So, Brian, this is a gentle, gentle challenge. Hardly tit-for-tat with all the explosive challenges you have had to face. J How much room in your theology is there for a G-d who heals and performs miracles here and now?
For some time there wasn’t in mine and I think that I was (once again) mistaken. But He doesn’t do “magic” this is integrated into his wider care and wisdom. And there is still great mystery. The prayers that are answered can be a problem to me, as well, and perhaps more than those that aren’t. ...But I thank G-d alongside my friend that He knows and understands - and that has to be enough. Thanks for reading this, and keep up the great work!
Here's the R:
Continue reading Q & R: Reshaped the landscape of my life ... but what about healing?...
... is the tenth anniversary of 9/11/01. One of my good friends, Bart Campolo, is organizing a truly constructive way to commemorate that day. The idea is simple - demonstrate a positive alternative to violence by walking side by side with people of different faiths.
Perhaps you should consider being involved? You can find walks to join - or how to organize one in your area. Learn more here:
http://www.The911Walks.org/
Danielle Shroyer has been blogging about her church's conversations about my book Naked Spirituality:
Here - http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Real-Harmony-Please-Stand-Up-Danielle-Shroyer-08-10-2011.html
You'll see from her blog what a gifted writer she is ... Check out her book on Moltmann here:
http://www.amazon.com/Boundary-Breaking-God-Unfolding-Promise-Emergent/dp/0470451009/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1313150915&sr=1-1
Here's the Q:
Last fall, I attended a conference you led at LaSalle Street Church in Chicago, IL. While you were speaking you quoted a friend of yours who said,"Learning is not the consequence of teaching, learning is the consequence of thinking." As an educator, I have shared that quote with many of my peers. I always say I don't know who should get credit and that I heard it from you, but if you could let me know the name of your friend, I would like to give her the credit she is due.
Months have passed and the Japan earthquake and tsunami have faded from many people's consciousness ... but there are still many Japanese people who can't forget. My friend Kathleen Koch has put together a simple way to send a letter of personal hope and encouragement. You can read about it here:
http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/kathleen-koch-mailing-hope-to-japan_b35640
Kathleen writes:
“Words of Hope for Japan” is the world’s effort to make sure the Japanese people know they are not forgotten. Schools, places of worship, scout troops, fraternities, sororities and other organizations as well as individuals can provide that hope simply by writing a letter sharing concern and encouragement. Children who can’t write can draw pictures. What is important is to do something to brighten the lives of the survivors and reassure them that they are not alone.Our goal is to collect 150,000 letters - one for every man, woman and child in a
Japanese shelter. Letters can be mailed to:
Words of Hope for Japan
P.O. Box 636
Fulton, MD 20759
All letters will be hand-delivered to the Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C. for
shipment to the shelters. Please do not enclose cash or checks.Thank you in advance for your help!
For more information, contact Kathleen Koch.
kathleenlkoch@gmail.com
A reader writes about Naked Spirituality:
The most helpful way to think about profound suffering was in your chapter about "why." I am so comforted by the hope that there will be a redemptive future for the present pain, rather than hearing it is "part of the plan."
When I did my genealogy, I learned of a direct female ancestor who had been captured at Deerfield in 1704 and marched through the winter to captivity in Quebec when she was 8months pregnant. Her perseverance buoyed me during my darkest moments. A good example of what you suggest.
Quotable:
American Protestants do not have to believe in God because they believe in belief. That is why we have never been able to produce an interesting atheist in America. The god most Americans say they believe in is just not interesting enough to deny. Thus the only kind of atheism that counts in America is to call into question the proposition that everyone has a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Read more here:
http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2011/08/08/2947368.htm
Several years ago I got to know a young wildlife biologist named Cynthia Bauer. She was in Kenya doing research on a rare mammal and noticed the plight of kids with disabilities there.
In many places in Africa, folks believe these special children are cursed by God, which prompts some parents to keep their children hidden, abandon them, divorce each other because they believe their spouse caused the disability, or even kill the child at birth. Culturally, many people still do not perceive that their child can be anything else but a beggar. As a direct result of this stigma, it has been estimated that only 10 percent of people with disabilities in Kenya ever have the opportunity to receive an education.
Cynthia kept thinking that someone should do something for these kids and then it dawned on her: she was someone!
So ... she started Kupenda (swahili for "to love"),a nonprofit organization that exists to meet the needs of children in Africa (starting in Kenya) with disabilities. Kupenda provides advocacy, specialized education, and medical intervention for kids with special needs so they will feel that they are loved and accepted. Because Kupenda is an expression of Cynthia's open and incarnational Christian faith, the organization doesn't discriminate between Christians, Muslims, or others, but treats everyone with the same love ...
Currently Kupenda for the Children supports approximately 600 children with disabilities on the coast of Kenya in the Malindi District. Children who once couldn’t even crawl are now walking, some are going to college, others have gained skills contributing to the job market and most of all children are receiving and reflecting a beautiful God filled love. However there are estimated to be up to one thousand children in this district that are still in need of the services Kupenda offers.
Maybe you're just discovering that you're a "someone" who could make a difference, and you've been looking for a place to focus your efforts. I know Cynthia and her team could use your help. You can learn more at www.kupenda.org.
What a pleasure it is for me to get to know people like Cynthia ... normal folks who express the love of God in doable, practical, and creative ways ... and make a difference.
Here's the Q:
I've written to you previously because I value your work- A New Kind of Christianity & Naked Spirituality which I am reading now; your advice and opinions.-I am trying to learn in my walk to live with questioning, doubt, and faith; as a 40 year-plus Christian. It would be simpler if I did not have a soon-to-be-eleven- year-old son who is beginning his own journey.... We live in a rural, almost exclusively evangelical community in the south and attend a Baptist church. My husband and I are very progressive in our thinking so have tried to find the most accepting church environment we can with our limited resources and availability. My son is very smart and inquisitive, so it is becoming more difficult to help clarify biblical issues for him (especially since I am tackling issues of my own).
-For example, how do I explain "The Rapture" to him when his (overly zealously, evangelical, bible-thumping Baptist- baptized at 5) friend is trying to tell him if he isn't saved and baptized "the right way" that eternal hell awaits?
-My son has been taught biblical studies from an early age and granted part of that has been through our differently colored lenses and philosophy, but he has a strong knowledge of God and Christ. He is being dealt with spiritually, trying to find his own heart while part of him just wants to play.
-So, my query is this, how do I touch this "tween-ager" with real spiritual help? Are there any biblically-based resources/books that are light on theology and strong on the spiritual. Bear in mind that I am having angst of my own (some of it deep and dark). ..... What can I tell him that is real and true? without the "thou-s" as he says- ? I need kid -sized bites of spiritual wisdom (which come to think of it is probably what I need too)?
-Your prayers, thoughts, and advice will be appreciated.
Here's the R:
Continue reading Q & R: Helping my Tween-ager...
If you're looking for some good dialogue on worthwhile subjects, check out Patheos.com (where I'll begin a weekly column next month) ...
Frederick Schmidt asks what Evangelicals have that Mainliners don't - here:
http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/What-Do-Evangelicals-Have-That-We-Dont-Frederick-Schmidt-08-01-2011?offset=0&max=1
And Tony Jones doubts whether "progressive" is the best term for folks who feel excluded from/unwanted in the Evangelical/conservative community - complete with a survey (that you should take) - here:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/tonyjones/
Tony has also been engaging in some conversation about the term "emergent/emerging church," as has Roger Olson:
http://www.patheos.com/community/rogereolson
On the "brand" identities of Evangelical and progressive, I have a few random thoughts:
1. Southern Baptists have temporarily at least re-branded "Baptist," so that anyone who claims to be a Baptist needs to clarify whether they're neo-fundamentalist or not. My sense a few years ago was that the same group of Southern Baptist ultra-conservatives who gained control of the denomination twenty years ago then set their sights on the term Evangelical. They wanted to "own" Evangelical as they owned Baptist. Declining statistics may have reduced some of that ambition more recently - I'm not sure. But the term "Evangelical" is becoming more and more aligned in the public mind with the term "Southern Baptist," so that Richard Land or Albert Mohler would be seen as Evangelical spokespeople, not just Southern Baptist ones. That's another reason more moderate (and non-Calvinist) Evangelicals would be wise, in my opinion, to speak up and avoid complacency. Their status as centrists may be less secure than they think.
2. I wouldn't be surprised if, over the coming years, conservative consolidators like those who ascended to power in the SBC might try to launch the same kind of purge among Evangelicals - gaining control of colleges, seminaries, and related educational organizations through board nomination processes, and then purging faculty (especially in biology, English, and Biblical studies departments, often basing their power in systematic theology departments). Similar purges would extend to publishing, media, and mission organizations. If that's the case (and it may be already in process in some quarters), then the Evangelical community could become even less hospitable to diversity and fresh thinking than it is now. Again, this would not bode well for moderate Evangelicals - who will be the next on the list to either be labeled liberal and squeezed out, or pressured to conform to an increasingly strident agenda - hostile towards Muslims, anti-evolution, unwelcoming towards gay people, against foreign aid, hyper-nationalistic and militaristic, etc. The election cycle over the next fourteen months will no doubt involve a re-flexing of the Religious Right's muscles (maybe a last gasp and grasp?), which will probably accelerate this process, at least temporarily. All this is to say that the term "Evangelical" is not likely to become less contested in the near-term future.
3. I'm continually intrigued by the deep antipathy that many Evangelicals have for Mainliners, Liberals, or Progressives, whatever they're called. I'm also fascinated by the way that label simply wipes a person off the map in terms of serious consideration among Evangelicals. It's a kind of semantic excommunication. This phenomenon deserves a few PhD dissertations, I think. Why such hostility, fear, distaste, opposition, etc.? (The reasons, I'm sure, are many, complex, and highly important as well as interesting.) Why isn't there a corresponding concern about the wilder (and growing) fringes of their own movement? What reasons do those who feel this disdain give for it - and how accurate are those reasons?
4. I've sensed from some conservative Evangelical leaders the wish that people like me would simply declare ourselves liberal so that they could finally be done with us (Farewell, liberals!). (I suppose that would be like me asking them to finally declare themselves fundamentalist.) Anyway, my understanding of Evangelical does not assume an eternal hostility towards liberals, nor does it assume the word "conservative" means "absolutely good." In my understanding (as I tried to explain in A Generous Orthodoxy, reflecting "liberal" Hans Frei and "evangelical" Stanley Grenz) both sides have notable strengths and weaknesses, and the future lies in mutual learning and collaboration, not ongoing vilification and misunderstanding. I want to learn from both strengths and weaknesses of both liberals and conservatives ... what does that make me? (Hence Tony Jones' quest for an appropriate label.)
5. ... All of which brings me back to Frederick Schmidt's article above: Do Evangelicals ever have serious discussions about what could be learned from Liberals/Progressives/Whatever? That would be a highly worthwhile conversation. Maybe some Evangelical bloggers will take it up?
Here's the Q from a week or so ago:
Brian, I just heard that President Obama signed the deficit reduction law.Previously I wrote you that the words “In God We Trust” are written on the God in which we trust.
It looks to me like the poor and marginalized are about to be sacrificed at the Altar of Mammon.
Idolatry seems to be alive and well in the 21st Century. I would like to see you address it. It is certainly not something you hear discussed from the pulpit in the majority of churches.
Here's the R:
Thanks for your note. Yes, once again, our leaders are showing that ours is a government of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich. But I don't think the solution is as simple as some people think: "throw the bums out." If you throw these ones out, the ones who replace them will be equally bought by the elite "principalities and powers."
The good news is that people are concerned about the long-term sustainability of our government and the economy which it supports (or by which it is supported - a whole 'nother discussion). The bad news is that we're not paying attention to the environmental or social systems on which both government and the economy depend.
I haven't written much on this recently because my own thinking is unsettled. I'm struggling to understand what new realities we're facing. I think the game is changing. I think that the Tea Party is telling us something important - even as I normally find their diagnoses and prescriptions to be as morally unhelpful as their tone. I think the "old liberals" are also telling us something important - even as I find their diagnoses and prescriptions terribly flimsy and short-sighted. Behind the loud rants of human voices, I think the earth itself is trying to tell us something - speaking in the language of heat waves and storms and melting polar ice and disappearing songbirds. So right now, I'm trying to listen and discern what "the Spirit is saying" to us all through and beneath these many voices.
I hope to be ready to do some writing about all this in the future, via my upcoming weekly column for Patheos. My personal hunch is that we ain't seen nothin' yet. We're dealing with an epic fail not just of the US government, but of government as we know it, to deal with the rising tide (pun intended) of incoming global disruptions - including global ecological convulsion which is rooted in global corptocracy/plutocracy/consumerism which is aided and abetted by the global corporate media. In the meantime, I can only say three things:
1. everything must change.
2. To support the needed change, we need a new kind of Christianity.
3. To find our way again into that new kind of Christianity, we need a naked spirituality - one that disrobes from the uniforms of power in search of what Bonhoeffer called "religionless Christianity," which is rooted in the core message of Jesus.
In every crisis, there are multiple opportunities - including the superhighway of opportunities to make the crisis even worse, and mountain-path opportunity to learn, grow, evolve, and be born again. So far, we're barrelling down the superhighway, but perhaps things will get bad enough to make the mountain path look appealing?
When I speak about the Bible's teaching on poverty, someone almost always asks, "But didn't Jesus say the poor you will have with you always?" - as if to warn us against helping the poor because we might make Jesus a liar. I then point them to the passage Jesus was quoting, and they see for themselves the real thrust of the passage - hardly a plea for "laissez-faire" complacency about poverty! http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Deuteronomy+15
And when I speak about peace, someone almost always brings up the "not peace but a sword" verse. Here's a great response to that question ... from the good people of the Raven Foundation.
http://www.ravenfoundation.org/blogs/in-the-beginning/caesar-vs-jesus
Just a year ago I was recovering from a few months of fatigue, fever, and general malaise culminating in a week in the hospital with heart, liver, and kidney issues. It turned out to be one of the "it's-like-Lyme-disease-but-different" infections carried by a tick. It's now turned up in the midwest (I got my case in Maryland).
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/tick-borne-disease-found-upper-midwest/story?id=14233404
Something to keep in mind if you or someone you love gets sick ...
Available here ...
http://colbymartinonline.com/2011/07/05/satans-newest-book-out-this-fall/
A reader writes:
I was just reading and enjoying your book, A Generous Orthodoxy. That’s the carrot. But here’s the stick: On page 74 you repeat the commonly held misconception that “Abba” means “daddy” in Aramaic. It doesn’t. Sorry if this has been pointed out to you before. If you think about it, the idea of such informality in the highly hierarchical and traditional societies of the Middle East just doesn’t make sense. A minor point to be sure, but one that has annoyed me for years. The last time I heard someone repeat it in church I held my tongue but promised myself to correct it the next time I heard it, and that just happened to be you. Otherwise an interesting, well-written, and thought provoking book.
Keep on keepin’ on,
P.S. You can read more about this myth here
http://aramaicdesigns.blogspot.com/2009/06/abba-isnt-daddy-traditional-aramaic.html
Thanks. This is the first time I've ever heard that widely-preached understanding of "abba" challenged. I always appreciate it when readers let me know that things I've passed on as "common knowledge" may be common but shouldn't be knowledge. I stand corrected - and grateful for the correction.
(By the way - the carrot-stick image has similarly been debated - carrot-on-stick or carrot-or-stick?
http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/carrot.html. It looks like "carrot or stick" is more reliable.)
Here's the Q:
I've written you several times before, and I've always been a big admirer. I respect your position on Sojourners rejection of the ad welcoming the gay couple to church; though I admit that my personal view is they should have accepted the ad. But I am pro-GLBT inclusion and I recognize that many in the Sojourners organization believe Paul prohibited gay relationships. The disagreements will have to stand as they are, and we must stand together gracefully in spite of them.The one issue I am seeking clarification on is the relationship between Red Letter Christians, the C Street House, and the leaders of Uganda. Obviously, we know that the C Street House in Washington has developed close ties to Uganda in spite of that government's stated view that gays and lesbians should be put to death. Recently, Tony Campolo wrote an article blasting the investigative work of the journalist Jeff Sharlett and defending the C Street House. (For the record, I found this article highly inflamatory considering that Campolo turned down Sharlett's request for an interview multiple times, then turns around and writes an article blasting Sharlett. But that is Campolo's business I suppose).
In defending the C Street House Campolo did make a very good point that Jesus dined with sinners. Clearly I see no issue with the Red Letter Christians sitting down at a table with the C Street House and the leaders of Uganda. But I do think it is your place to tell the leaders of Uganda that the murder of gays and lesbians is unChristian and unacceptable. I do think it is your place to tell the Congressional members of C Street that their continued opposition to defense cuts is not in keeping with the Sermon on the Mount. It seems to me that the purpose of the Red Letter Christians is to speak the truth to power. If I have said misinformed things please set me right.
Continue reading GLBT, RLC, C st ... a connection?...
I'm tired of dealing with the crazies ...
Thanks, Gov. Christie, for telling it straight:
http://www.aaiusa.org/blog/entry/chris-christies-crazy-repellent/
Quotable:
It's not often that we're able to report on politicians standing on principle when dealing with the potent and popular Shariah craze. All too often it seems many politicians, especially on the right, have pandered to Islamophobic sentiments, bringing some degree of legitimacy to the completely absurd debate of whether or not Islam belongs in America. Yesterday, however, New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie stood by a decision he made back in January to nominate Sohail Mohammed, an American Muslim, to the NJ Superior Court bench. The move elicited a predictable backlash from the right-wing blogosphere, declaring that Mohammed's appointment constituted “more creeping Sharia!” and that “Chris Christie has a Muslim problem!” No other reason was cited to oppose Mohammed appointment other than his faith.“It’s just crazy, and I’m tired of dealing with the crazies,” said Governor Christie. "It’s just unnecessary to be accusing this guy of things just because of his religious background. I’m happy that he’s willing to serve after all this baloney.”
Here's the full report:
29 July 2011
AT-TUWANI: Settlers harass Palestinian shepherds and assault international observers.At approximately 9:15 a.m. on 27 July 2011, masked settlers from the Havat Ma'on outpost, armed with stones and an iron bar, harassed three Palestinian shepherds and attacked two international observers.
The shepherds were out with their flocks on Palestinian land near Meshaha hill when the four masked settlers attacked them. They were able to getaway, but the settlers then hit a CPTer in the head with an iron bar and destroyed his camera. He went to the hospital in Yatta and received eight stitches.
Christian Peacemaker Teams and Operation Dove have documented six occasions since June 22, 2011 in which settlers from Havat Ma'on have attacked Palestinians or internationals near Meshaha Hill.
More photos available here:
http://cpt.org/index.php?q=gallery&g2_itemId=23827
When I was in Israel-Palestine, I met CPT international observers like this man who hope, by their presence, that incidents like this will be reduced. They are willing to risk suffering like this for the well-being of others.
Pray for peace in the Middle East - and speak up whenever you can in the USA, and especially in the Christian community, when misguided statements are made that would justify this sort of violence by Israelis, but decry it against Israelis. Instead, advocate for a theology that affirms God is "no respecter of persons" - that God wants the same blessings of safety, peace, and justice for both Israelis and Palestinians, and not one at the expense of the other.
And thank God for courageous groups like the CPT that seek to demonstrate that dream of justice and peace even when doing so is dangerous and costly.
In an era of misinformation and prejudice, would you like to understand more about Islam and Ramadan? Here's a good primer from the good folks at the Raven Foundation:
http://www.ravenfoundation.org/resources/islam-101/ramadan-the-god-of-the-marginalized
Here's a question to ask yourself:
What percent of terrorist attacks in Europe have been committed by Islamist extremists?
___10%
___90%
___40%
___60%
___1%
Here's the Reply:
Continue reading Reverse Q & R:...
Here's the Q:
My name is [Joe Smith], and I’m a pastor—a young pastor, [under 30] old. Two years ago I graduated from [an evangelical] Seminary in [the Midwest]. Now I lead a campus ministry at [a midwestern university] and am [leading] a church plant with [a Reformed denomination].
I have found this call to be both life-giving and draining. Every day is exciting but can be exhausting. It is completely fulfilling but can be completely lonely. One thing that has steadied me on the way are the relationships I have with seasoned pastors. Their wisdom from shepherding the church has been so encouraging.
So what I am wondering is....how have you persevered in your call?
If we sat down what would you share about your life, personal call, joy and struggles? I would eagerly listen to your stories and experiences. During that conversation I would probably ask;
How have you survived?
What scripture has been formative?
What practices are essential?
Who are the people I need?
What’s the one thing a pastor should never forget?
Pastors, like me, are asking these same questions. My desire is to grow as a spiritual leader and to love the church more and more like Jesus did.
Continue reading Q & R: exciting but exhausting - how have you persevered?...
This insightful article by Lynne Hybels mirrors my own experience - and the diverse responses in the comments section mirror the range of views, attitudes, approaches to the Bible, and assumptions about God that I encounter whenever I address this subject as well. Worth reading.
The other day I was watching this probing video with Mark Braverman, Jewish activist and author of Fatal Embrace.
Right around 7:25, I was struck by his comments about how for centuries, the only way many Jews could feel safe from Christian persecution was by isolating themselves behind walls - cultural, social, and physical. I never considered how the wall in Israel today could be an expression of that deep-seated instinct: "We aren't safe unless we're protected by a wall." To the degree that's true, it's an example of how Palestinians suffer today from the indirect results of Christian anti-Semitism in the past, and the cycle of injustice and violence continues to spin.
That in turn led me to wonder what deep-seated safety instinct Americans like me live by. Maybe "We're not safe unless we're in control," or "We're not safe unless we're at war," or "We're not safe unless we're defeating somebody." Worth thinking about, don't you think?
That in turn leads me to ask about the way of Jesus ... who wept because the people of his day did not know what makes for peace. Do we? What, in Christ, is the way of peace, to peace?
Wherever and however you worship today, please pray for peace - for Jerusalem, for Gaza, for Bethlehem, for all Sudanese, for Eastern Congo, for Afghanistan, for Iraq, even in this deeply divided country, for all. And pray that all of us can become not merely wishers for peace, but workers of peace ... makers of peace ... men and women of peace.
These words from the Prime Minister of Norway provide additional matter for reflection (Press CC for English subtitles):
Notice especially 4:20-5:00. How do we fight hate? With more hate? How do we fight violence? With more violence? Or is there another way, a better way, to feel safe?
While a zealot faction our own US Congress threatens to damage our economy in ways that terrorists never could, reinforcing the old adage that "we have found the enemy and he is us," and while this pathetic political theatre distracts us from a whole range of other problems - the unsustainability, for example, of our extractive, fossil-fuel-based, corporatist-militarist economy, or our indefensible, irresponsible, nearly unbelievable failure to address energy policy and climate change, or the absurd scapegoating of Muslim folks and gay folks while reality makes clear how our own political elite can bring us to the brink of default without any outside help, like a slow-motion car crash in full view of the whole world ...
Even so, the irrepressible goodness of life continues to defy all odds, and stands as a plumbline of sanity against which our moral bass-awkwardness is shown for what it is. For me, that goodness is manifest in the fact that, starting tomorrow, I get to hang out for a few days with both of my granddaughters (and their wonderful parents) at the same time. So in honor of grand-babies everywhere, and as an act of joyful defiance against the dark gravity of democratic entropy ... here's a good-natured blast from the Sesame-Street past:
... Watching the US government descend into unprecedented levels of dysfunctionality is never enjoyable, unless you have a morbid taste for irony, hypocrisy, adolescent pugilism, win-lose partisan gamesmanship, protection of the rich, prioritization of weapons over life-saving interventions for the vulnerable, appalling lack of foresight, and total communication breakdown.
BUT THEN, just when you're about to give up hope ... a story like this comes along:
Here's the Q:
Im currently reading your book 'A New Kind of Christianity' and i wondered what your thoughts were on certain anomallies that i've found Christians tend to explain away as being the result of 'The Fall'.I remember reading that one of our 'national treasures' here in Britain, long-time wildlife documentary presenter Sir David Attenborough, received mail from Christian critics chastising him for not crediting God with creating the animals in his programs. As a non-Christian, he said he always responds by pointing out the existance of the Loa Loa eye worm - a creature that lives solely by burrowing its way into eyeballs!
The only Christian response i've ever heard to try and rationalise why such a parasitic, harmful animal exists is to put it down to 'The Fall'; i.e. nature and creation has become contaminated by the sin of man.
It seems like a cop-out answer to me, and your rejection of the Greeko-Roman narrative takes 'The Fall' out of the equation, so i was wondering if you had any thoughts on how the existance of such animals can sit with the idea of a loving creator God?
Here's the R:
Continue reading Q & R: the loa loa eye worm...
A reader in Europe writes ...
My daughter, an active Christian in the Evangelical vein (many years in the ICF in [one city in Europe] now in a hip, young Methodist church in [another city]) gave me A Generous Orthodoxy to peruse; I did, and enjoyed it VERY MUCH.Your attitude towards Muslims, Hindus, Mormons, Hari Krishnas, etc. is my attitude (I was brought up in [a Muslim-majority country], have done [mission work] in myriad venues). Your palpable humility, your reticence to dump on others is VERY refreshing, also your gentle but persistent humor.
When I think of all the narrow-mindedness and petty —hardly Christian— fear of the other [I've run into it in state church and also] free-church types —gun-toting, brown shirt evangelicals all over America and in pockets of the EU countries — ready to KILL FOR JESUS.
If I get some time SOMEDAY, I want to find a church on your lines. 'Til then, as a good Catholic, I will settle for the Incarnated Christ of Incense and History and Tradition and Philosophy and Art and Music ...
These words, of course, take on a haunting relevance in light of the tragedy that took place in Norway last week. My next book (title to be announced soon) will deal specifically with this issue of Christian identity in a multi-faith world. My sense is that there is a growing emergence and convergence that is bringing together Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican, and other "free range" Christians in a new kind of solidarity, seeking to practice a generous orthodoxy, a new kind of Christianity, and a naked spirituality ... because deep down we know that everything must change.
Here's the Q:
Hi Brian, I hope you are well. Before anything, I just wanted to say that you and your writings have been an enormous inspiration to me. Looking back, I feel that the introduction I had a while back to the content and perspective from which you write came at a very good time for me, and acted as a natural step forward within the process of my faith being challenged and invigorated. Thank you for that.This may be a question you have been posed many times over, so I apologize if that is the case. I strongly admire your views on sexuality and how the topic ties in so strongly with how we are called to love our neighbors as ourselves and, above all, love God. I also admire the lense through which you address the many aspects, both positive and negative, about our modern-day disposition on sexuality and sex-related topics and how those relate back to following Christ.
My question is this - what is your take on the view that pre-marital sex is sinful?
I have been hard-pressed to find legitimate passages within the Bible that address this specific issue except in chapter 13 of Hebrews, verse 4, which states that "marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral." Even within this passage however, the context seems to be more about maintaining fidelity within a marriage scenario as opposed to engaging in sexual experiences prior to marriage. I understand the psychological and emotional impact that pre-marital sexual activity could cause for a spouse who is aware that their significant other had engaged in sexual activity before they were married, but where exactly is this addressed in Scripture as a sin? Particularly if it is consensual and legal, where is the basis for total abstinence in the Bible? Part of me feels that the topic has slowly evolved over time through more of a hand-me-down, Moral Majority-esque type of mindset, as opposed to its basis and subsequent progression of belief stemming from a biblical context.
Now, I should also say that I speak to you as someone who feels I went a little "too far" in the relationship with [the wonderful woman I am engaged to marry in a few weeks]. Yet she and I will both tell you that the supposed onslaught of guilt, shame, condemnation, etc, that many churches and church leaders claim comes instantly after engaging in premarital sexual activity was virtually non-existent for a good while after we began doing so. To be honest, we both felt incredibly connected, vulnerable yet simultaneously protected, intimate, and in some ways close to God. There was a freedom in experiencing what we were engaging in and not having to contend with the "wrath of God" as so many fire-breathing preachers had claimed would be the case. For the past five months however, we both felt it was best to put a temporary halt on those things until marriage, as we realized the pressure and strain it was putting on our relationship was beginning to increase more and more.
This is where the root of my question lies. In our case, it was more for the health of our relationship and future marriage that we stopped engaging in sexual activity as opposed to feeling we had been sinning against God. Although we realize the huge importance in honoring God with our bodies, when we first started being sexually active, it felt more freeing and cathartic than anything. We felt that we were able to not only have a close relationship with God, yet in being sexually involved with one another, we were, in some ways, proving wrong what we had once believed and had been taught about pre-marital sexual activity. Basically, our abstinence came after sexual pleasure became an idol in our relationship, as opposed to coming from a sudden realization that we were breaking some sort of moral law that we had been taught was a direct command from God.
All of this to say, I could be totally wrong about everything I've just mentioned, and maybe I need to do some more research. This topic/question though has fascinated and also confused me for some time, so I throw it out to you to see if you can offer any insight. Anything you have to say is valuable to me and extremely appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Here's the R:
Continue reading Q & R: Let's talk about premarital sex...
I think every bold statement we’ve ever made
Should be qualified by the words, “I think” or
“That’s how I see it right now,” or
“But I could be wrong,” or
“Maybe.”
After all, how many times now
Has it been brought to light
That we were at least partly wrong
When we knew for certain we were totally
Right?
Or maybe every statement should be uttered, you know,
As a question? Inviting confirmation maybe?
Or clarification and elucidation?
Or even counterpoint and contradiction?
Ah, but I know what you’re thinking (I think):
If we speak with qualified hesitation,
Only the unreflective will speak
Boldly and baldly, and then
Only the arrogant will carry
The day.
What do you say?
Maybe the very fact that we speak and write to others
Implies we deem them worthy
Conversation partners and as
Such they will agree,
Disagree; add,
Subtract; qualify,
Intensify
As needed.
So maybe this poem
Didn’t need to be written
And so should be deleted?
Here's the Q:
I am deeply moved by the Christian message. Our heavenly father brings us home; through Christ we are reconciled. This answers the central problem of humanity, that of alienation. I have little desire, however, to express this to others as a kind of here's what you do to get saved kind of thing. I would like the Christian reality to catch on, and for others to see, know, and become a part of it. But I do not want to hand out tracts or explain the mechanics of salvation, something that Baptist churches train their congregants to do to fulfill the Great Commission. Is my approach too indirect or laizzes faire? Am I relying too much on what God may or may not do instead of being his hand in the world? Messages can reach peple through many media. Could it be God would simply have some people live as best they can for others to observe and read them as a kind of book, if you will? Or should I join the crowd in verbally articulating and handing out the printed message, which I find very awkward?
Here's the R:
Thanks for your question. There are two books I think you'd find helpful on this question. I wrote More Ready Than You Realize to address exactly your tension - wanting "the Christian reality to catch on," but wanting to avoid sales pitches. And my friend Carl Medearis has written Speaking of Jesus: The Art of Not-Evangelism, which stirred up a lot of interest on the CNN blog this week:
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/24/my-take-why-evangelicals-should-stop-evangelizing-2/
I think there's a "new evangelism" emerging ... and your question points to the need for it. Yes, it is based on people living for others, so their lives are a book - just as Paul suggested when he spoke of us being "living epistles." And we need to learn, I believe, to help create space for meaningful conversations about the things that matter most.
Here's the [implied] Q:
The reason why I'm writing to you is because ... well, it's kinda hard for me to say, but I'm gonna say it anyway ... I think I'm an agnostic.I can't pinpoint to one particular event that made me want to doubt God's existence; it's been a bunch of things that have been bothering me for years. For starters, [many ago I was told] I'm "often angry and resentful towards [my] environment" and "probably experience considerable sadness and anxiety" in my daily life. Well, I don't think anything has changed. The only difference is now, because I am supposed to be Jesus' ambassador, I feel incredibly guilty for being angry and sad all the time. I mean, aren't I supposed to be cured? Didn't I already participate in Jesus' death and resurrection? Ain't the old me supposed to be dead?
Also, even though I've met some incredible Christians who have inspired my faith (you being one of them), the holier-than-thou types still piss me off. I'm pretty sure you know all about that stupid thing [someone] said on his Facebook wall about effeminate male worship leaders. [He] sounds like he's the jock bully from high school picking on all the queer kids. If [this guy] was just another fringe preacher, it wouldn't bother me so much. But this guy preaches to millions of people each Sunday. What's that say about young Christians and how they will see the world as they grow up?
Maybe I'm just being too critical (both on myself and others). I would love see a new kind of Christianity, but sometimes agnosticism makes more sense.
Before responding, I should say the writer wrote me again a few days later and said he was feeling better and his earlier note had been written at a low point. But I receive notes like this quite often, so I thought I'd respond anyway ...
Here's the R:
Continue reading Q & R: I think I'm agnostic...
You can buy New Kind of Christian hardcover for $10.00 and New Kind of Christianity softcover for $10.08
And if you're tired of reading whatever the price, you can listen to my 50-podcast Bible overview for 20 bucks here: http://www.brianmclaren.net/archives/get-involved/
The early reports are disturbing. They violate the familiar us-them dichotomies we (think we) know how to live with - christian/muslim, democratic/marxist, us/them, sane/crazy.
The New York Times article includes this haunting quote:
Thomas Hegghammer, a terrorism specialist at the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment, said the manifesto bears an eerie resemblance to those of Osama bin Laden and other Al Qaeda leaders, though from a Christian rather than a Muslim point of view. Like Mr. Breivik’s manuscript, the major Qaeda declarations have detailed accounts of the Crusades, a pronounced sense of historical grievance and calls for apocalyptic warfare to defeat the religious and cultural enemy.“It seems to be an attempt to mirror Al Qaeda, exactly in reverse,” Mr. Hegghammer said.
When you enter into rivalry with someone, you become their twin, their mirror, their imitator.
As read the chilling accounts, I couldn't help but think of something I heard a friend say recently, regarding the situation in Israel-Palestine. The line of difference (I'm paraphrasing) doesn't run between Christian, Jew, and Muslim, but between Christians, Jews, and Muslims who want to work for peace using nonviolent means and those who don't.
How do we break out of the mirror-cycles of violence that Norway has now experienced first-hand, and that violent Muslims and Christians alike are reinforcing when they plot ways to achieve peace through violence? We need another model to imitate, which is another way to describe Jesus as Savior.
It's been five-and-a-half years since I left the pastorate, and today was one of those Sundays were I felt the simple joy of getting the chance to attend church as a quiet, anonymous parishioner, sitting in the pew, taking it all in. I know some people have nothing but criticism for the church in general, but if we have eyes to see, I'm guessing in each church in particular, whatever the problems, there are signs of grace. I sure saw them today - reports of a glorious summer-camp ministry to disabled kids, beautiful music, sincere prayers, the ever-deep eucharist, and this simple but beautiful thought from the sermon:
I slept and dreamt that life was a joy.
I awoke and saw that life was service.
I acted and behold - service is a joy.
This is one of the most beautifully-written and deeply encouraging notes I've received. A good reminder to all that there is Easter Sunday after Good Friday, hope after despair, and breakthroughs after breakdowns. What an honor to be involved in small ways in this awesome resurrection process.
We've never met, but have a few friends in common ... I wanted to personally thank you for sharing your story in your trilogy. In an interesting way, it has weaved its way into my story. I hate to steal away your time, but please allow me to briefly share...I was raised in a culture that unabashedly embraced conservatism on all levels, in every sense of the word. I studied political science in college and afterwards went to work as one of God's footmen on this planet -- for a Republican congressman. Disgusted at the behind the scenes happenings in Washington, I began to question this political agenda that was in every sense, in bed with conservative evangelicalism.
I left Washington and headed to Seminary, where I met my husband... After seminary we moved to [another city] to start a faith community. We had a strong interest in the historical/cultural/geographical context which the Bible was written. I found myself curious about when Christianity was severed from its Jewish roots and why. This curiosity led me to Constantine. I was more than a little disquieted with my findings. I was squirming actually.
This led to larger questions. Why do I believe what I do? What was the context in which my theology was constructed? More research and more discomfort followed.
In time [my husband] and I were prying deeply into places that had always been off limits, places considered "dangerous" by those in our evangelical circles. I suppose the shock and fear of those around us was not totally unfounded as it did begin killing my God, at least, the God I grew up with.
I became a closet atheist. It was a terrible feeling living in parallel worlds...my outer existence carrying on as always in a leadership position of a church whose community I loved but whose theology I no longer embraced.
When [we] began to vocalize some of our very small doubts and questions regarding theology and politics to family and friends outside of our faith community, we were pushed away and thoroughly shamed. Harsh and hurtful words came down heavily on us, most painfully so from [relatives of my husband] who began referring to him as "Satan's helper," "the devils agent," etc. We were told to shush up, to get back on the straight and narrow, and to stop talking and thinking about such things.
Deep depression sank in. I was in a dark pit of such great depth that I couldn't see even a peep of light when I looked up, not even a tiny splinter of luminescence. The walls felt as if they were closing in. My chest was tight and I strained to even squeeze a sustainable amount of air in my panicky lungs. We must certainly be the only pastors on the planet who weren't sure about it all. It was a lonely existence and we thought about relinquishing our position as pastor/church planters.
One day [my husband came with a gift from a friend.] It was the first of your trilogy.
The lamp on the nightstand was on all night and [my husband's] vocal enthusiasm never desisted. Right into the dawn he carried on. "This is my story!" "I can't believe the timing of this book in my hands!" He ran out first thing in the morning to the bookstore and purchased the next two books, while I delved into the first book. It turns out that we were not alone in this after all. In two days we had both read all three books.
Let me tell you... in sharing your story, your long arm reached down and pulled us right out of that pit. There was some shred of light again. We found a friend in you. We found a solitary person who knew, who understood what we were going through and it was a beautiful day when we knew we we not journeying this scary path alone. I actually cried from sheer happiness. Of course you never even knew we were so clinging to you. You practically had your own place at our dinner table.
I went running back to God, albeit a very different bare bones understanding of Him. I was still skeptical as I slowly began reconstructing a new idea of the Divine, as best as I could from the Text. It was not easy because we had a totally new comprehension of what the Bible even is...not the magic book felled from the sky that we had always understood it to be.
And then another turning point last fall. I was on the outskirts of ancient Philadelphia on a study tour, in Asia Minor. It was the last day of Ramadan and the Muslims we bustling around preparing food for the end of day celebration as they broke their fast. Our group of 50 dingy dusty hikers speaking an unknown language, trotted down the dirt road and a most beautiful thing happened. Some of the women preparing bread in their courtyard saw us coming and in an incredible act of hospitality, these hungry bodies ran to the road and served us over-stuffed Americans all their bread.
I was thoroughly reduced to tears. It was an encounter with the Divine in a most unlikely form. I would never have expected to meet Jesus in the form of a Muslim family. They were teaching me how to be a disciple of Jesus. In that moment I threw my theology up in the air and let it smash into pieces on the streets of ancient Philadelphia. I had no need to define God, no need to summarize him up in neatly constructed theological arguments. I released God from the theology that was binding Him. If I so define God in my theology and he works outside of it then I will miss him. I will not see it as His doing.
It was like a baptism. A death and rebirth of God. Perhaps he had to die in my life in order to be alive. It was freeing for me and I have to think it was, in a way, freeing for God as well.
On a basic level it really is so simple. Be Jesus to the world. Bring Shalom to chaos. Usher in the Kingdom of God here and now among and amid the kingdoms of this world. Be so close to Jesus that the dust of his sandals is kicked up all over my feet. Be an imitator of Christ. Embody his spirit. I believe this is the all encompassing message of the Text. This broken world will not embrace the message of Jesus in the form of theological arguments, but in how I live my life.
Not only has this release been freeing for me, but my faith has never been more alive and on the move. And I have found great peace in resting in the arms of mystery as well. There is a new excitement for digging into the Text.
[My husband] and I decided to follow your lead and slowly we opened up with trusted friends about our struggles with the way the church was clinging white-knuckled to it's theology. We began to be honest in our doubts and questions. And an incredible thing began to happen. They started admitting that they too had always had big questions and doubts but never felt it was safe to give voice to them. More and more people began coming out of the woodwork, breathing deep sighs of relief as they realized that they were not alone in their doubts, and that it was okay to be in that place.
Today we are a large group of doubters, wrestling through it all together. We are largely a community of people that grew up in various churches and at some point walked away because it was not safe to ask questions. We are truly a faith community because we walk not knowing but trusting. We sometimes stumble blindly on this exciting journey together. We have more questions than answers but all agree that there is something to this man Jesus and together we encourage each other to walk more as he walked.
And so you see how your story has weaved it's way into mine. And my story has in turn, weaved it's way into the story of others. So thank you for sharing. There's a song that says, "drop a pebble in the water. Watch the circles grow." The cliche ripple effect at work. You'll just never know the degree to which you have rescued me and brought hope in a time when I was so despairing, and how that hope has run to deliver hope to others who are despairing. Many many thanks to you.
And what you love can break your heart. If you'd be willing to give 5, 10, or 26 minutes to this short film, I'd be grateful ... because at the heart of Africa, there's a holocaust happening and it's hard to find anyone who cares to notice. Just give 5 minutes and see if you want to keep watching for 10, or 15, or all 26 minutes.*
What breaks your heart opens up your heart, and what opens up your heart humanizes you. Thanks for caring.
*If you can only watch for 2 minutes, start at 23:30.
Here's a note I received recently ...
I am studying in [a university in a large city], and I have joined a school fellowship four years ago. In our fellowship, some of us was inspired by your insight, however, the more we appreciated God's plain which you tell us, the more frustrated we think about our church (be attended that we are from different churches). And there is also a serious problem that we don't know how to introduce this new kind of christianity to our classmates because. I guess that may be we need some help from your church. Maybe you should plan mission about this new kind of christianity. I was aware that you don't want us to construct a new church, however, I think that's your miss because you don't know how difficult to live as a new kind of christian in a Fundamentalist Christianity church. And I also guess that's your
exaggerate but unnecessary humility because you don't want to make anybody unhappiness. But have you considered that we put lots of time and money and life in our church due to be subject unto our pastor, and ironically make our classmates be disgusted with christianity. This intensive tention let me disappointed about God. Although I believe that's due to God's kindness and tolerance as he have gived human freedom, I think there should be a new kind of church.(At least I should left my church, if you know some pastors in [my country] agree with your interpretation of the bible, please tell me.) If you can help us to construct new kind of christianity church, either sent some missionaries or offer some training progrem, eventually financial support or just pray for us, you can contact with me.
This bubble of discontent continues to grow - not just in North America and Europe, but around the world. When leaders try to clamp down harder on people and shame them for raising honest questions, they only intensify the frustration. Unless more and more of us have the courage to humbly embody an alternative Christian ethos and to graciously articulate a new kind of Christianity, these folks will be driven away from faith altogether.
I should add that I'm not against starting new faith communities under these circumstances. In fact, the second book I have in planning stages is a resource to help newly-forming faith communities (as well as longstanding ones that are ready to grapple with the issues facing us).
Dave Csinos offers great insights here:
http://davecsinos.com/2011/07/15/the-necessity-of-childrens-christian-education/
If you haven't signed up for Children, Youth, and a New Kind of Christianity, you should consider it - May 2012. Info here:
http://children-youth.com/
My daughter and son-in-law, parents to our amazing grand-daughter Ella, passed on this secret email circulating among babies of the world. It's of special interest to parents everywhere:
Kate (Miles 6 mos)Awake Training for Parents:
Dear Fellow Babies,
OK, here's my situation. My Mommy has had me for almost 5 months. The first few months were great – I cried, she picked me up and fed me, anytime, around the clock. Then something happened. Over the last few weeks, she has been trying to STTN (sleep thru the night). At first, I thought it was just a phase, but it is only getting worse.
I've talked to other babies, and it seems like its pretty common after Mommies have had us for around 5-6 months. Here's the thing: these Mommies don't really need to sleep. It's just a habit. Many of them have had some 30 years to sleep – they just don't need it anymore. So I am implementing a plan. I call it the Crybaby Shuffle.
It goes like this:
Night 1 – cry every 3 hours until you get fed. I know, it's hard. It's hard to see your Mommy upset over your crying. Just keep reminding yourself, it's for her own good.
Night 2 – cry every 2 hours until you get fed.
Night 3 – every hour.
Most Mommies will start to respond more quickly after about 3 nights. Some Mommies are more alert, and may resist the change longer. These Mommies may stand in your doorway for hours, shhhh-ing. Don't give in. I cannot stress this enough: CONSISTENCY IS KEY!! If you let her STTN (sleep through the night), just once, she will expect it every night. I know it's hard! But she really does not need the sleep; she is just resisting the change.. If you have an especially alert Mommy, you can stop crying for about 10 minutes, just long enough for her to go back to bed and start to fall asleep. Then cry again. It WILL eventually work. My Mommy once stayed awake for 10 hours straight, so I know she can do it.
The other night, I cried every hour. You just have to decide to stick to it and just go for it. BE CONSISTENT! I cried for any reason I could come up with:
-My sleep sack tickled my foot.
-I felt a wrinkle under the sheet.
-My mobile made a shadow on the wall.
-I burped, and it tasted like rice cereal. I hadn't eaten rice cereal since breakfast, what's up with that?
-The dog said "ruff". I should know. My Mommy reminds me of this about 20 times a day. LOL.
-Once I cried just because I liked how it sounded when it echoed on the monitor in the other room.
-Too hot, too cold, just right – doesn't matter! Keep crying!!
-I had drooled so much my sheets were damp and I didn't like it touching me.
-I decided I was sick of all the pink in my room so I cried.
It took awhile, but it worked. She fed me at 4am. Tomorrow night, my goal is 3:30am. You need to slowly shorten the interval between feedings in order to reset your Mommies' internal clocks.
Sometimes my Mommy will call for reinforcements by sending in Daddy. Don't worry Daddies are not set up for not needing sleep the way Mommies are. They can only handle a few pats and shhing before they declare defeat and send in the Mommy.
Also, be wary of the sleep sheep with rain noises. I like to give Mommy false hope that listening to the rain puts me to sleep sometimes I pretend to close my eyes and be asleep and then wait until I know Mommy is settling back to sleep to spring a surprise cry attack. If she doesn't get to me fast enough I follow up with my fake cough and gag noise that always has her running to the crib. At some point I am positive she will start to realize that she really doesn't really need sleep.
P.S. Don't let those rubber things fool you, no matter how long you suck on them, no milk will come out.
Trust me.
Sincerely,
Baby J
A reader writes:
I am a Catholic priest in a very conservative diocese who often feels frustrated. "We need a new way of talking, of being Christian," I often say to friends. Your books (especially A New Kind of Christianity and Naked Spirituality) give expression to what I have long thought and felt! Your words give me hope and clarity. Thank you! God bless your work.
It's fascinating to see resonance across traditions - both in the frustration of some and the resistance of others. What might that resonance tell us?
The folks who attended the Wild Goose Festival last month were many and varied. Not all would have heard of the emergent conversation, and probably some would not be interested in it, but many of us who have been nurtured by it were there. The good people of Odyssey Networks did this beautiful short video (5 min or so) that captured comments from a few of us. (I never would have guessed, back when I had hair, how much of my life would be spent under a baseball cap!)
BTW - the Festival will return next June. Info should be available soon ... You should come!
I'm a raving fan of Frank Schaeffer's novels. Don't get me started.
I think his nonfiction is outstanding as well, as this review of his most recent book makes clear:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/jane-smiley-reviews-frank-schaeffers-sex-mom-and-god/2011/05/12/gIQAUdq23H_story.html
I've heard some folks dismiss Frank and his work with the word "angry." Yes, there's no shortage of anger in Sex, Mom, and God. The word "scathing" fits in places. There's a lot of direct talk about sex that will bother some people, and the language is unsanitized. But when I think of what Frank has seen over the last thirty-plus years, I'm more impressed by how restrained he is than how angry and direct he is. [Besides, isn't there ... a time for anger (ironic reference intended ...)?]
I'm one of the many of my generation who read everything written by Frank's parents, Francis and Edith Schaeffer. Although I never drank the religious-right kool-aid that was scarily present in some of the later works (Francis Schaeffer's "A Christian Manifesto" gave me the creeps), I'm eternally grateful to them and L'Abri. As I mentioned the other day, their work represented a big step up from the more restrictive brand of fundamentalism I was raised in. In their presence, it was OK to read philosophy and enjoy art and think about life's big questions ... all in the context of a love for God, the Bible, and theology. That was a huge gift.
(Sadly, it appears that many of my generation haven't continued reading philosophy, enjoying art, or thinking about life's big questions much since they read their last Francis Schaeffer book in the 1970's or 80's ... which helps explain a lot about the role of religion in American politics today. It appears that many of our religious-political leaders reached their lifetime limit for serious thought before they reached thirty or forty, and never thought beyond where Dr. Schaeffer's books took them. In this, they follow Schaeffer's words and violate his own example.)
All this helps explain why I appreciate Frank Schaeffer's work so much. He didn't stop thinking and growing where his parents left off - and one has the feeling that they wouldn't have wanted him to stop there anyway. He hasn't been afraid to admit he was wrong and he has been transparent about his anger right along with his love. In the process, he reveals a picture of his parents - for all their human flaws - that suggests they weren't as rigid and stuck as many of their followers have been. Many readers will agree with me: who Frank has become - as a man, as a Christian, and as a writer - enhances rather than detracts from the reputation of his parents.
Anyway, it's not easy to describe powerful, complex people (not to mention one's own parents) without demonizing or beatifying them ... and Frank manages to thread that needle with literary skill and spiritual grace.
There's a tender scene at near the end of Sex, Mom, and God (Chapter 8) where Frank visits his mom and tells her about the book he's writing. I won't tell you about it because you really should read it for yourself.
A reader writes:
Brian your wrinttings , your letters, your vision, your "pholosophy" your "theology" makes no sense at all. My first language is spanish, I red some of your books it was a little hard since english is my second language, but I sitll perceived that something just doesn't make any sense. something just doesn't fit with the genuine Gospel. Somehow you have fallen in a perniciuos antropocentric gospel that won't prevail. Use your time wisely, read your bible. God's stories will replace your messed up worldview. God loves you with inmeasurable love, but he wants to whisper His Absolute Truth through your dusty bible. read it brother read it.
It would be interesting to know why you think this is man-centered - I actually see it as God-centered. But because God is not self-centered, when we center on God, God asks us to join God in caring for others. So, the gospel of the kingdom of God teaches us to join God in looking beyond our individual well-being to the good of our neighbor, stranger, and even our enemy. And beyond human beings, it teaches us to join God in caring for the well-being of all God's creatures on this earth. Perhaps this is a messed-up and man-centered world view, but I can only testify that it is the best understanding of the gospel I have discovered in over forty years of reading the Bible.
By the way, I can't imagine why you would assume my Bible is dusty and that I don't read it. My books are full of insights drawn from the Bible. My suspicion is that we both read our Bibles - but that we have come to different understandings. That might mean you're 100% right and I'm 100% wrong. Or it might mean we can learn from one another. Thanks again for writing - y espero que algun dia, podre hablar espanol como ud. habla ingles! Que Dios le bendiga, hermano.
Bill McKibben writes (building on an earlier post - see
http://brianmclaren.net/archives/blog/ready-to-move-into-the-streets.html):
Two of the most frequent questions we've received as we prepare for this action are "Can I get a ride?" and "Where can I find a place to stay?"Unfortunately, we're not working with the same kind of money our opponents are, and we can't offer anything like the fancy hotels or luxury car service that they no doubt provide.
But we are building a grassroots movement, and one thing that grassroots movements do well is take care of each other, and we can do this our way instead. To help make sure everyone can get to the action, we've set up a ride and housing board on our site, where you can post offers or requests for housing and transportation.
If you would like a ride or place to stay - or have space or a ride to offer - you can let folks know by clicking here: http://www.tarsandsaction.org/ride-board/ and then posting a comment on the page.
D.C.-area folks, we need your help in particular. If you can share space in your home with some of our friends traveling from around the country, please take a moment to make a post - I know there are many people making travel plans now who would really appreciate it.
Thank you for all of your help bringing this action together.
A reader writes:
I just finished Naked Spirituality and loved it. I have studied Spiral Dynamics and detect some of that philosophy in your Simplicity, Complexity, Perplexity, and Harmony framework. The 12 words you give to each stage are also wonderful. There isn't a better book out there for where I am right now. In reading this, I am also starting to understand why the Christian faith is stuck in this political divide. It appears that Simplicity and Complexity (or as Richard Rohr calls is "first half of life" thinking) rule in the public discourse. And yet, in my experience with my largely secular/humanist family and circle of friends, those who are already inclined toward Perplexity in their thinking find it hard to "go back" toward Simplicity and Complexity in their faith (as I have intentionally done). It seems there are few good entry points to attract people to the Christian faith (American version, at least) starting directly from Perplexity. I now see their attraction to the Unitarian church or Buddhism (or in some cases the agnostic or atheist route). In fact, I admit that i've often thought, "Wow, I wish my Methodist church could be more like that cool Unitarian church that the interesting people go to." It's like I've traded "interesting" for "respectful of Jesus" because I don't want to throw the baby out with the bath water. What a shame that Jesus is such a divisive figure when He doesn't have to be.Well, bless you if you've made it through all this psycho babble. Obviously, I have a lot of learning to do. I look forward to revisiting your book and others by you and Richard Rohr. Just so you know, at least two men who I respect have told me, "If it weren't for Brian McLaren, I might not be a Christian at all."
Thanks for this encouragement. I think the emergent conversation/movement in many ways has been a portal and refuge for people in Stage 3 Perplexity ... and my hope is that it is also opening up Stage 4 Harmony. The big challenge that lies ahead for many of us, I think, is creating faith communities led by Stage 4 people that welcome people at all four stages, meet them where they are, speak their language, and help them move forward into the next stage in the fullness of time.
This, I think, is exactly what Jesus models for us ... speaking in parables, being willing to confound his disciples, not being surprised when some of them walk away, challenging them yet accepting them ...
David Hare interviews Archbishop Rowan Williams here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jul/08/rowan-williams-interview-david-hare?INTCMP=SRCH
Quotable:
I don't want to see the church so balkanised that we talk only to people we like and agree with. Thirty years ago, little knowing what fate had in store, I wrote an article about the role of a bishop, saying a bishop is a person who has to make each side of a debate audible to the other. The words 'irony' and 'prescience' come to mind. And of course you attract the reproach that you lack the courage of leadership and so on. But to me it's a question of what only the archbishop of Canterbury can do....
What changes people is the extraordinary sense that things come together. Is it Eliot or Yeats who talks about a poem coming together with an audible click? You think, yes, the world makes sense looked at like that.... you can see the connections somehow and – I tend to reach for musical analogies here – you can hear the harmonics. You may not have everything tied up in every detail, but there's enough of that harmonic available to think, 'OK, I can risk aligning myself with this.'...
I came back yesterday morning from the Congo. What I've been looking at there and in Kenya is localism of a certain kind. The church is doing really remarkable things with new farming techniques, in a cluster of villages. Things like a biogas project to prevent the cutting down of trees for fuel – very low-investment, very low-technology solutions. I think one of the most moving experiences – yes, moving – was at a village in Kenya that had, thanks to the work of the local church, rethought its farming practices, restocked with indigenous plants, begun to explore very tentatively local fisheries and, out of the modest profits, was just about to start credit union arrangements for the whole community. Now that's localism, if you like.
Want to be a hero for peace? Here's a fantastic place to take a small, doable step in that direction ... as simple as a few minutes of thought followed by a "like" click:
http://www.ravenfoundation.org/projects/making-peace-a-possibility/honor-their-memory-be-a-hero-for-peace
Looking for an alternative training program for Christian leadership? My friend Elaine Heath is involved with an exciting new initiative ... http://www.missionalwisdom.com/Missional_Wisdom_Foundation/Academy.html
My book Secret Message of Jesus is being read and discussed here in the company of some other good books - including Carl Medearis' winsomely challenging Speaking of Jesus:
http://speakingofjesus.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/book-3-–-the-secret-message-of-jesus-uncovering-the-truth-that-could-change-everything/#comment-33
Here's a piece I wrote for college pastors ...
http://faithoncampus.com/above-all-else/
Here's a worthwhile political piece about our current US budget debates - exposing the fake courage of a lot of politicians who claim to care about deficits:
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/07/12
Bill McKibben is one of my heroes. If you aren't familiar with what he calls the Great American Carbon Bomb, you'll get a good primer here:
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/07/14-3
Quotable:
The climate problem has moved from the abstract to the very real in the last 18 months. Instead of charts and graphs about what will happen someday, we’ve got real-time video: first Russia burning, then Texas and Arizona on fire. First Pakistan suffered a deluge, then Queensland, Australia, went underwater, and this spring and summer, it’s the Midwest that’s flooding at historic levels."If you could burn all the oil in those tar sands," writes McKibben, "you’d run the atmosphere’s concentration of carbon dioxide from its current 390 parts per million (enough to cause the climate havoc we’re currently seeing) to nearly 600 parts per million, which would mean if not hell, then at least a world with a similar temperature."
The year 2010 saw the lowest volume of Arctic ice since scientists started to measure, more rainfall on land than any year in recorded history, and the lowest barometric pressure ever registered in the continental United States. Measured on a planetary scale, 2010 tied 2005 as the warmest year in history. Jeff Masters, probably the world’s most widely read meteorologist, calculated that the year featured the most extreme weather since at least 1816, when a giant volcano blew its top.
Since we’re the volcano now, and likely to keep blowing, here’s his prognosis: “The ever-increasing amounts of heat-trapping gases humans are emitting into the air put tremendous pressure on the climate system to shift to a new, radically different, warmer state, and the extreme weather of 2010-2011 suggests that the transition is already well underway.”
From August 20 to September 3, thousands of people are going to converge on Washington DC to urge President Obama to put the long-term good of the planet above short-term profits for corporations. I'm out of the country for most of this period, but I'm trying to arrange my travel so I can participate at least for a day or two. You can learn how to be involved here: http://www.tarsandsaction.org/
Here's a little fantasy-science-fiction (theo-political science fiction?) piece I wrote over at Patheos: http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Debt-Ceiling-Dreams-Brian-McLaren-07-14-2011
When I was a young Evangelical Christian coming of age back in the early 1970's, I remember feeling that there were two paths before me. One was legalistic, anti-intellectual, combative, and rigid. The other was missional rather than legalistic, reflective rather than anti-intellectual, communicative rather than combative, and supple rather than rigid.
I chose the latter path - represented by an array of figures and organizations from C. S. Lewis to Francis Schaeffer to John Stott, and from InterVarsity Christian Fellowship to the Jesus Movement to Evangelicals for Social Action to Sojourners.
In the decades since then, those paths have criss-crossed and split and converged and re-diverged in more ways than I could have imagined. The choices have changed, but the need to choose has not.
One popular contemporary path has a lot to recommend it and many young evangelicals are choosing it. Travelers on this path are sure of themselves, uninhibited, and uncompromising. They know what they believe and they let their true colors shine. They employ creative and bold rhetoric (something I approve of and often fall short of). Whenever creative and bold rhetoric fails them, folks on this path don't back down. Instead, they often put their outspokenness on steroids, amping it up with mockery and misrepresentation when necessary (something I occasionally indulge in and always feel ashamed of the morning after).
People on the other path are not, as you might expect, the opposite of the first. They are not timid and retiring. They are not hesitant and unsure. They are no less passionate and articulate than those on the first path. But there is a key difference.
The difference is exemplified by a young Evangelical communicator named Rachel Held Evans. In her book and blog posts, she excels as a creative, bold communicator. But she rejects and opposes the more excessive rhetoric of her counterparts. In fact, she has a name for that rhetoric: bullying. She doesn't engage in bullying; she stands up to it, and urges others to do so as well.
I know that most folks like to divide Evangelicals along a political spectrum that runs from left to right, or along a theological spectrum that runs from conservative to progressive. But I think the more significant divide is between those who bully and those who stand up on behalf of the bullied.
I’m not sure which road is broader and which is narrower. I suppose it depends on how you define broad and narrow. But I know which road I'd rather be on. The choice made by this generation of young evangelicals will make all the difference, for them and for the shared future we are creating now.
(from On Faith blog ... here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-faith/post/two-roads-diverged-in-the-evangelical-woods/2011/07/13/gIQAKeljCI_blog.html)
Update: the conversation continues here -
Here's the Q:
I read Everything Must Change a few years back and followed up with A Generous Orthodoxy, and they have been reverberating through my soul and my small church community since then. I had the incredible opportunity to attend the Wild Goose festival and hear you in person and it really drove me to go back and look at my response to your work. I keep feeling this push to find a way to be a wrench in the cogs of the "suicidal system" in my local context.I live in ultra-conservative [town in] Texas and my faith community is trying to get started with a more active role in exposing injustice. I've had a couple of great conversations since being back from Wild Goose and the question of how to start keeps coming up. There aren't many (if any at all) groups protesting the city's very poor treatment of the homeless, or the completely unfair treatment of the LGBTQ community. If you were going to try to organize and get started from what might be scratch, how would you go about getting others involved and finding the most effective actions?
Continue reading Q & R: How would you get started?...
The great spiritual task facing me is to so fully trust that I belong to God that I can be free in the world - free to speak even when my words are not received; free to act even when my actions are criticized, ridiculed, or considered useless. I am convinced that I will truly be able to love the world when I fully believe that I am loved far beyond its boundaries.A friend just sent me these words from Henri Nouwen. They strike I chord with me because I have been sensing, more deeply as the months pass, that beneath all the theological, philosophical, political, economic, and organizational challenges we face is a question of capacity, of power, of character, of spirit.
The question we face these days isn't merely, "What should be done, and how can we do it?" Deeper lies another question: "What kind of people must we become in order to do what needs to be done in the way it needs to be done?"
You can't use bullying methods to achieve a tender, vulnerable task. You can't use coercive methods to achieve a goal that requires sincere commitment. You can't use personal charm to end-run the need for radical rethinking. You can't use intellectual argument to disarm greed or an emotional slogan to disarm an intellectual pretension or a clever compromise to disarm an inescapable truth. You can push a boulder out of the road, but you can't push a tree to grow faster than its biology permits.
For us to do what needs to be done in the way it needs to be done requires something of us that transcends all bullying, coercion, charm, argument, slogans, compromise, pushing, and other tactics of "flesh" ... It requires deep roots in God, as Nouwen said, fully trusting that we belong to God, that we are loved beyond the boundaries of this world.
That's a conclusion I reached in A New Kind of Christianity:
So our quest calls us first and foremost to nurture a robust spiritual life - not only a deep commitment to serve God, but also a deep desire to know and love God ... [and, I would add, echoing Nouwen, to experience being loved by God].... [W]e need as our models more than great thinkers and theologians; we also need great saints, women and men of the Holy Spirit, women and men who are full of God.
And that conclusion, of course, led to the writing of Naked Spirituality, which really is a book about rendering ourselves vulnerable to the experience of belonging and beloved-ness that was a theme of Nouwen's life and work.
That is the great spiritual task that underlies every other significant task we face.
I was honored to be invited to speak to the Disciples of Christ General Assembly in Nashville the last two days. A great spirit ... wonderful people. It's encouraging to see many innovative young leaders finding a good home in this denomination ... a group that produces a disproportionately high number of thoughtful scholars, writers, pastors, church planters, and activists.
A reader in England writes:
After 35 years as a Christian trying to conform and trying to do what a "good Christian" does! I read first "The Story We Find Ourselves In"(April2009) then " A New kind of Christian", then "The Secret Message of Jesus " and then "The Church on the Other Side " , "Adventures in Missing the Point", "Everything must change" Like a starved child I could not get enough.At the same time I became so hungry for the Bible and my ears and eyes were opened in new ways and I found myself bold and fearless, determined to be blessed and to be a blessing. I stepped out in faith as I felt Gods call to go onto the streets call disciples and go about doing good works and to take them with me. A delighted Jesus has danced the road ahead scattering his blessings and touching broken lives as we follow behind seeking to serve, mouths open in stunned amazement! “How did you do that Jesus?”
I cannot believe how he has thrown open doors in the most surprising places and blessed us with His provision, favour, and acceptance. Hearts touched by acts of kindness respond by wanting to help others and the kingdom momentum starts to roll. Thanks Brian there is no turning back. nothing I would want to turn back to. Lord let Your Kingdom come! I am looking forward to hearing you in London in August.
A reader writes ...
Just to let you know, I have been re reading portions of your books and am finding new clarity in words that I read a year or more ago. Much of my exposure through Phyllis Tickle, Bob Honeychurch, you and my [local diocesan] friends has impacted my life in a profound way. I am finding ways to incorporate my evolving understanding of God’s Kingdom into every aspect of my daily life. It is pretty amazing stuff....
I feel the same way. When my first book came out in 1998, I had no idea that I was just beginning a new journey of discovery, and that my subsequent books would be like postcards sent from various points along the way. The view keeps getting better and better ... Thanks be to God.
this story will give you much to pray about.
Quotable:
Since 2003, at least 100,000 Iraqi civilians have died as a result of the U.S.-led war. Some estimates put the number at over 1 million. Iraq’s “health has deteriorated to a level not seen since the 1950s,” seventy percent of children suffer from trauma-related symptoms, and there are perhaps five million orphans in Iraq–almost half of the country’s children.
I just finished reading A New Kind of Christianity last night. Thank you for writing it, and thank you for opening the doors and windows for so many of your writing, hoping, thinking friends to be introduced to the majority of the unaware, unknowing American public.... I have listened to many of your lectures/sermons/talks and read many of your
blogs and comments on other's books, etc, but this is the first book of yours that I have read and digested, spent some real time with. You get it. You get me. I'm 24, recently graduated, living in an intentional Christ-ian community ... struggling through, living through the questions, and wrestling with the beautiful realities that the Kin(g)dom of God invites us into. I'm deeply aware that we are the generation and the next generation.This multi-generational breathing and wave is essential, I think, to the prolific growth of the mustard seeds and yeast and child-like faith laughter. Your writing strikes deep chords in me, I know it's a part of the Music of my (and our) journey...truly an adventure. From where I am, I join the wave, the movement, the Music. From where we are planted, we shall grow.
One of the reasons I enjoy living down here on the edge of the Everglades is getting to do some interesting volunteer work, including participating in a study of sharks. For the shark study, a couple of scientists and a few of us volunteers head out into the Ten Thousand Islands by boat in the late afternoon and return around midnight. In between, we set out a net and - normally - wait until a shark gets caught in it. Some nights we catch a few, some nights none. Last night it was nonstop shark capture, study, and release.
When a shark gets caught, you have to remove it quickly since sharks require movement to keep their blood oxygenated. So we pull the shark out of the net and put it in a pool in the back of the boat where it can swim. (Most of the sharks in this study are small, under five feet.) Then the shark is identified, sexed, weighed, and measured, and samples of its blood are taken for scientific analysis for various research projects. Finally it is taken a distance away (so it isn't recaptured) and released to do whatever it was doing before our rude but benevolent interruption.
Last night's work began with some excitement - a manatee swam into our net as we set it out. After a few seconds of splashing and thrashing, it decided to depart by another route. Then we straightened out our net and immediately the sharks started showing up, sometimes four at a time. The night ended with seventeen bonnethead sharks (think of a hammerhead but smaller and less eccentric) being captured and released.
I enjoy the company of people who devote their lives to the study and protection of the amazing creatures with whom we share this beautiful world. On the boat last night, in addition to two shark experts, was an expert in jellyfishes. Who knew how strange and interesting jellyfish life cycles were? In other volunteer capacities, I've met dedicated wildlife biologists who work with terns and finches, owls and gopher tortoises, bog turtles and sea turtles, orchids and panthers.
I know some people wouldn't see it this way, but to me, the science of understanding and protecting wildlife is holy work. It's an expression of love for our neighbors who don't happen to be human beings ... each of which is known and loved by the Creator. Even sharks!
At Wild Goose, master videographer Travis Reed recorded some fun conversations with master singer-songwriter David Wilcox and me ... right in front of the famous Wilcox Airstream. You can check them out here.
David Brooks' recent piece on the Republican Party has me thinking about a phenomenon that I see in many sectors besides politics, starting with religion.
It's the tendency we've all noticed - to create one-issue fixations. For Republicans, Brooks says, the current fixation is tax rates. Responsible governance, he argues, requires we work with many issues simultaneously and pay attention to the larger historical process in which we are participating. But single-issue fixation allows us to forget all that complexity and focus on one issue only, right now only.
Why do we succumb to this temptation? Is it the desire for moral simplicity and clarity? Is it laziness, an avoidance of doing our homework? Is it the feeling that life is so complex that we can't deal with it as it is - so must deal with a vastly simplified version of it? Is it a herd-mentality - a mimetic phenomenon to which we surrender because "everyone is doing it?" Is it a political game, where we pick an issue by which we hope we can get some kind of a tactical win - putting more responsible behavior aside? Is it playing into the media's love for an old-fashioned dualistic fight? Is it the need to create an identity around some issue that will make us stand out, if not apart from the crowd, then with some sub-section of the crowd? Is it all of the above?
When we translate this fixation into a religious context, we can see certain mirror images at work on the right and the left. For example, I'm deeply committed to my LGBTQ friends and family members and to challenging harmful preconceptions about sexual identity. But I'm concerned when I see people on both "left" and "right" make this their single fixation ... forgetting that gay and straight alike will suffer if we don't address the global crises of the planet, poverty, peace, and religion. It's trading the all-or-nothing/either/or challenge for the simultaneous/both/and challenge ...
Teaching evolution in schools ... prayer in schools ... abortion ... gay marriage ... the rapture or other eschatological topics ... these single issue fixations change over time. But something is "abnormal," to use David Brooks' term, when we ping-pong from one single issue to another, lacking a broader ability to hold multiple issues in dynamic tension.
I'm not against specialization; I'm thankful for the people who devote 100% of their energy to fighting mountaintop removal, for example, or to building Christian-Muslim-Jewish relations, or to grappling with better ways to articulate biblical authority, or to developing ethical business that try to maximize employment, not just profit. But even as we specialize ... more of us should consider switching sports, from ping-pong to juggling.
Consider joining my friends Jeff and Janet Wright for an alternative tour of the Holy Land in January 2012. You'll see the historic sites, of course, but you'll also see the realities of Israel-Palestine today. The interaction between the two is unforgettable, and the experience will shape you on many levels. More information here: http://footstepsofJesustour.org/
For background, check out this post from last week ...
A reader writes:
Just wanted to thank you for writing "Naked Spirituality." It is the most accessible of your books and I will be sharing it with many of my friends. I have such respect and appreciation for your thought process and how you are able to bring that to the page. Thanks.Also, I try to spend time in prayer each day and every year I start off my journal page with a phrase that keeps me focused on what I want to be about. Last year it was about curiosity and mindfulness. This year, I am using your twelve words. Thanks for that too.
Thanks for this encouragement. I hope that many readers will be inspired by your example to start journaling to support their life of prayer.
Here's the Q:
my name is AK and come from Germany.
Currently I read your book "Everything must change" and it's absolutely fantastic!
I hear the podcasts from "Emergent Germany" in which you speak and I must say: WHAT A GREAT AND FANTASTIC MESSAGE!!! THIS IS THE GOSPEL!!! THANK YOU!!!In Germany I think most Christians are Dispensationalists and they've never heared about Rob Bell, N.T. Wright, you and all the others fantastic theologians.
And so I have the urge to make a better world, because in me there is hope. Thank you. I hope many people all around the world see that there is more than to go in heaven. Heaven is good, but its not the end of the world(NT Wright).
But I have a question. Is it good to go in politic? I mean you write that there are many politicians who are corrupt (And I see, it is true). I don't want to be a member of this corrupt system. I would be happy if you can write a short answer.
PS: I'm sorry for my bad English(I know you were an English teacher). I'm not the best in this subject.
Here's the R:
Continue reading Q & R: Go into politics?...
Here's the Q:
Dear Brian, One of my joys of late is praying through the lens of Jesus and His Love as true theology. I have had the pleasure of reading many of your books and they have influenced my thinking a great deal. I know that you lean toward the idea that it is incongruous to view Jesus as a wrathful, destroying King upon His return when nothing of His life's interactions resemble that. I agree. I am troubled though by continual references from other Christians who turn toward the wrathful perspective of His return as the angry God based upon the reference to His ruling "with a Rod of Iron". I wonder if you have any thoughts about what that term really means and how we can better lean into a joy/hope centered approach to praying for His return? With gratitude!!
Here's the R:
Continue reading Q & R: Ruling with a Rod of Iron...
A reader of New Kind of Christianity writes:
I've been thinking about what you said in ANKoCy, about reading the Bible as a constitution. You're right, and not only that but I think a lot of people read the Constitution as a Bible. I'm sure you've seen all the Tea Party folks on TV quoting the Constitution endlessly. You got guys like Bradley Dee and Doug Giles who, despite being self-proclaimed evangelicals, cite the Constitution more than the Bible. In fact, I even saw a painting of Jesus holding the Constitution!Now don't get me wrong; I love the U.S. Constitution. I'm currently taking an American Government course online, and it's given me a great deal of respect for the Constitution. And it is true that both the Republicans and the Democrats (heck, even the Libertarians!) need to re-read the Constitution from time to time. However, the Constitution and the Bible are two completely different documents with two completely different functions. The U.S. Constitution is a document written by man that spells out what our government can and cannot do in order to protect our freedom. The Bible, on the other hand, is, like you said, a portable library of divinely inspired writing that equips us and teaches us how to be the Body of Christ here on earth. It's an evolving story about how God is making all things new.
There is one thing the Bible and the Constitution have in common--they've both been hijacked by a lot of people with their own agendas. For example, most of the Tea Party folks are against any sort of wealth redistribution, claiming that it's "socialism." Well in Article 1 Section 8 is says, "The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States." Of course there's been a lot of debate about what exactly "general welfare" means (providing for the poor?). But the Constitution definitely permits a proactive government . . . within certain limits, of course.
Thanks for this note. It's interesting to think that both political and religious controversy are, in the end, largely about interpretation/application of our key texts. The work of interpretation is never finished and can't be taken for granted.
A reader of Naked Spirituality writes:
I haven't read any of your books until this one. I have an adverse reaction to Christian bestsellers. I found this one at the library and for some reason decided to check it out. I've read the section on Perplexity. While I still say NO it was good to read. I have been saying for some time, "i'm tired of letting God off the hook" - it was surprising to see that line in your book.
My friends at International Teams have put together a brilliant album of songs by various artists called Songs for the Oppressed. It features Aaron Niequist, the Brilliance, Becky Johnson, and others ... It's the kind of album that heals some of the craziness that this world (secular and religious) inflicts on the soul. I highly, highly recommend you get it - cd or download - for the good of your soul, the good of the oppressed, and the good of the world.
Here's info: http://songsfortheoppressed.org/
Here are samples: http://songsfortheoppressed.org/samples/
Here's a free download of the cd booklet: http://songsfortheoppressed.org/wp-content/themes/songs/images/SongsfortheOppressed_CD_booklet.pdf
Courtney Perry's gorgeous photographs will give you a good feel for the festival last week ... Seeing her photos, I couldn't believe how much I missed even though I was there! Looking forward to next year ...
Also, Devin Murphy is writing about his experience at Wild Goose Festival ... over at Patheos, where I will begin a weekly column next week.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, for whom I have great respect, recently spoke about the vulnerability of the small Christian community in the Middle East. He specified the danger Christians face from Islamic extremists. A group of Christians in and beyond the Middle East asked Naim Ateek of Sabeel, for whom I also have great respect, to respond to the Archbishop's comments in a public letter to the Archbishop. Because of its importance, I'd like to quote the letter in its entirety.
Christians (and Jews too) in the West, especially the US, need to understand what Christians in the Middle East are trying to clarify. Here's the letter. I have bolded two sections that deserve special attention:
His Grace Rowan Williams
Archbishop of Canterbury
Lambeth Palace
London
23 June 2011
Dear Archbishop Williams,
Greetings from Jerusalem!
Last week at Sabeel, we had the privilege of having the Anglican Consultative Council delegation headed by Archbishop Michael Jackson. We seized the opportunity to convey to them our response to your interview on the BBC regarding your concern about the dwindling presence of Arab Christians of the Middle East. The concern is genuine and sincere, unfortunately, your words were negatively received by our people; and we have been asked by our friends - locally and internationally - to make a public response.
1. As Palestinian Christians, we perceive ourselves as an integral part of the Palestinian people. We might be a very small religious community nowadays but due to our long rootedness in our land, we do not refer to ourselves as a minority. Moreover, as Palestinians, whether Christian or Muslim, we equally live under the oppression of the illegal Israeli occupation of our country. As Palestinians - Christians and Muslims - we share the same hopes and aspirations and we struggle for freedom and human dignity together.
2. Although as Palestinian Christians, we appreciate the fact that you raised the issue of the vulnerability of the Christian presence in the Middle East -- a subject that is dear to our hearts and of great concern to us – you singled out the extremist Islamists as a threat to Christian presence, but neglected to mention two other extremists groups, namely, Jewish extremists represented by the religious and racist settlers on the West Bank that are encouraged directly by the present extreme rightwing Israeli government, and Christian extremists represented by the Western Christian Zionists that support Israel blindly and unconditionally. With candor the last two groups of extremists, i.e. Jewish and Western Christian Zionists are a greater threat to us than the extremist Islamists. In fact, these extremists have more military power and clout to uproot all Palestinian presence both Christian and Muslim from our homeland.
3. In 2006, Sabeel conducted a survey of the Christians in Israel and Palestine with the help of Bethlehem University. The survey clearly indicated that the primary causes for the emigration of Christians from the West Bank are both political and economic conditions. “Those who are leaving…because of the bad economic and political situation represent 87.3% of the total respondents” (p.34). Only 8% of the respondents attributed emigration to religious extremism.
4. As you are well aware, if Muslims are leaving Hebron, it is largely due to the violence of the Jewish religious settlers that has made the life of Palestinian Hebronites miserable and intolerable.
5. The area of Bethlehem, Beit Jala, and Beit Sahour has sufficient space for Palestinians to live in; but most of their land (largely Christian) has been confiscated by Israeli settlement expansion including the settlements of Gilo and Har Homa.
6. The separation Wall has broken up families and closed businesses. It has devoured land and torn communities apart. And with the checkpoints and permit system it has greatly restricted people’s movement especially to Jerusalem their Holy City. The Wall is a big “push factor” for Palestinians out of Palestine.
We are saddened that a great opportunity was missed by not revealing the oppressive consequences of the Israeli occupation on the Palestinian people, both Muslim, and Christian.
If the church - local and international - does not raise the prophetic voice, who will stand for justice and truth?
In the absence of the prophetic, and as the rightwing Israeli government continues to spurn all international efforts for a just peace, we implore you to champion the cause of the oppressed Palestinians. The desperate situation needs the courage and clarity of an Amos, “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
Respectfully yours,
Naim Ateek
Director
Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center
Jerusalem
Here's an additional response from Kairos Palestine: http://www.fosna.org/content/kairos-palestine-response-arch-rowan-williams
Here's the Q:
Hello Brian! I hope you're having a fantastic day!
I'm from Sweden where i'm involved in youth ministry, i first came across your books some years back with your trilogy and has since then been really fascinated by your work.
I have read a lot of your latest books (mostly in English since not so many get translated to Swedish, or i'm just not patient enough to wait)
Your writings about the Kingdom of God in particular has really stuck with me, also your view of the future feels so fresh and exciting, even though i fully can't grasp it yet. (can we ever)You're saying (if i understood correctly) that the term "the second coming of Christ" doesn't exist in the bible, or better put that Jesus has already returned as of the Pentecost, and also that a lot of (or all) Jesus prophesies of the future had to do with the destruction of the temple in year 70 and with that the end of that era. Also you're saying (i think) that Jesus didn't come just to evacuate us from earth to a future heaven but to show us how to live and make this world more and more beautiful by following Jesus example which would eventually lead to God's "...kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven" as Jesus taught us to pray.
this is really mind-blowing but on the same time so enriching and i love it!
(i apologize if i have misunderstood you)but here is my question then, if Jesus isn't coming back (in the way we expect) what about judgement, or the resurrection, for me in the past those three things have always been connected, like when Jesus comes back we will all be judged and those who died before us will resurrect and we will all live in a new creation together with God forever and ever.
the bible is clear on that we will be judged and i love the pieces you've written on that as well, but do you not think there is a particular day that we will all be judged, or will that happen individually when we die. For example Luk 11:31 seems to say that it's a certain day. But on the other hand people already seems to have resurrected (like Moses and Elijah in Matt 17) and thus already should have been judged, but maybe it's not related?
I'm sorry for not being very clear, i guess this is all a big mess in my head. I would love it if you one day had the time to make things a bit clearer!Thanks for all your work, you're a true inspiration and also a great role-model in the way you reply to critics!
Continue reading Q & R: Second Coming from Sweden...
Here's the first of five short conversations I had with David Wilcox at Wild Goose Festival. Great background sounds too! http://www.altervideomagazine.com/2011/06/29/perfected-intentions/
So much good stuff there at Altervideomagazine.com! Travis Reed is the Michael Jordan of video creativity.
For all of us who care seek Pro-Israeli, Pro-Palestinian, Pro-peace, and Pro-justice solutions in the Middle East, Jeff Halper's recent piece is both enlightening and a call to action ... http://icahdusa.org/2011/06/the-palestinian-authority’s-historic-mistake-and-opportunity/
John Van der Laar has written a needed book on worship and liturgy.
The Hour That Changes Everything is a significant starting point for exploring liturgy and how it can impact the Church, and the world, of today. It is well written, well structured and the content is insightful, helpful and practical. You can get more information here:
http://www.sacredise.com/pages/thtcesls.html
And the link to the Kindle Store is here: http://www.amazon.com/Hour-That-Changes-Everything-ebook/dp/B0049U4CSS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AJZ1BLME50KG1&s=digital-text&qid=1309116995&sr=1-1
An Evangelical Social Gospel?
Not only possible - but sensible! Learn more from Tim Suttle's new book:
http://www.amazon.com/Evangelical-Social-Gospel-Finding-Extremes/dp/1610975413/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308084904&sr=8-1
Friends Without Borders is LIVE! Learn more - and sign up here:
http://www.friendswithoutborders.net/
Just one more reminder to check out Sara Kay's new CD:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/on-the-way/id444856494
And finally ... turtles in the news: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2009791/JFK-Turtles-Flights-delays-New-York-airport-mating-turtles.html
Here's the Q:
I have been an avid reader of yours ever since my college days at an Independent Fundamental Baptist Bible college. As a junior in college I ran across The Secret Message of Jesus, and it literally changed my life. I had never heard the gospel presented like that before, and the Kingdom of God was something that was never talked about in my circles growing up, unless it was taught to mean "heaven after you die".With just the initial glimpse of the Kingdom that your book provided me, my intense nationalism and the political conservatism that had so captivated my faith instantly melted away. (My brother and I used to go to coffee shops just to debate the "liberal hippies"). My opinions on war, militarism, and defense changed too, as I began to see myself as part of a trans-national family of faith.
So here's the Q: What do you think about police work? While I personally would not feel comfortable joining the military, I have recently begun the process of joining my local police force. While I know there is certainly an element of violence inherrent with police work, ( especially in my city, just rated 3rd most dangerous in US ) I cant help but see it as a platform to serve, protect, and help bring God's reign to places where it currently isn't. I think a police officer on mission to love and serve like Jesus could be a beautiful thing. Or are there too many gray areas? I would appreciate your thoughts, but understand how busy you are.
Thank you again for the help you've given me in my journey, and for following where you feel our God lead even when you know you will be criticized for it.
Continue reading Q & R: From an independent fundamental Baptist Bible college grad ......
Thanks to Ruben Ortiz for offering this translation into Spanish of a piece I wrote when I left the pastorate five and a half years ago. (I'll repost the English translation after the jump.) You're welcome to use these; a link to this blog would be nice.
Los 10 Mandamientos para dar la Bienvenida a un Nuevo Pastor
Brian McLaren
I. No compararás el pastor anterior con el nuevo pastor, porque el Señor tu Dios ha hecho a cada persona única y desea que aprecies cada creación original.
II. No esperarás que todo se mantenga de la misma manera una vez que el nuevo pastor llegue. No te resistirás al cambio, no asumirás que el cambio es malo, sino que confiarás que el Señor tu Dios no ha terminado con tu iglesia aún y está trayendo el cambio por tú bien el bien de tu misión.
III. No te harás imágenes talladas de tus viejos rencores, ni mantendrás decepciones rancias en el templo de tu corazón, sino que perdonarás y seguirás adelante en la gracia del Señor tu Dios. ¿Cómo le pedirás a Dios misericordia al menos que estés dispuesto a ser misericordioso?
IV. No caerás en chismes, ni has de quejarte con temor, ni escucharás a aquellos que lo hacen sino que has de rogarles que modifiquen sus actitudes y levanten su ánimo, porque todo estará bien, y de hecho, mejor de lo que se pueden incluso imaginar.
V. No caerás en nostalgias o en decir que los viejos tiempos fueron mejores para de esta manera querer volver a ellos. Ten por seguro que el Señor tu Dios no es de los que se duermen al volante sino que estará contigo para sorprenderte con abundantes bendiciones , más de lo que puedas creer o contar.
VI. No caigas en piñitas o grupos de poder de “ellos y nosotros” sino unifícate con tus hermanos y hermanas incluso cuando te molestan o confunden.
VII. No has de recibir al nuevo pastor con tus demandas, presiones, denuncias, malos informes, manipulaciones, amenazas, órdenes del día, un consejo no solicitado o un comentario sarcástico. Sino que le dirás: "¡Bienvenido! ¿Cómo podemos ayudarle? ¡Te amamos! Nos gustaría aumentar nuestras ofrendas de manera significativa. Estamos orando por usted y su familia. ¡Bienvenido a nuestra comunidad! Hicimos comida para ustedes. Y cada semana, has de hacerlo una y otra vez hasta que el nuevo pastor le pida que no lo haga más.
VIII. Aumentarás tu ofrenda y no dejarás de diezmar, sino que invertirás tu dinero y tu corazón en el futuro de tu comunidad de fe y de misión.
IX. No irás a tu anterior pastor con otra cosa que no sea palabras de elogio sobre tu nuevo pastor sino que llevarás tus preocupaciones ante Dios en oración humilde y si lo crees necesario puedes compartir tus preocupaciones con los líderes debidamente designados de la iglesia.
X. Y lo más importante, has de confiar en Dios, y mantenerte en contacto con Dios, y sacar fuerzas de Dios y estar profundamente enraizado en el mensaje de la gracia de Dios. Porque Dios es bueno, y Dios nunca te dejará ni te abandonará. ¡De seguro puedes contar con eso!
Continue reading Los 10 Mandamientos para dar la Bienvenida a un Nuevo Pastor...
Here's the Q:
Your presenetion at the Festival of Homiletics on the four stages of growth was so helpful that I wanted to share it with my Deacons. I think they help us to understand others and actually each other. You said you would have the background notes that you had on the screens if we woudl like to use them. I've waited a long time but I was wondering if they were still accessable.
My experience confirms what Michael Hyatt says (somewhat unfortunately?) ...
The Wild Goose Festival was everything I had hoped, and more. The people, the talks, the music, the setting, the weather, the food, the vibe ... it was splendid, about as close to perfect as anything ever is. I got to dip in on a number of talks and music sets, but the highlight was meeting folks in line to buy some pizza or vegetarian Indian food ... or bumping into an old friend and taking a walk, or sitting on lawn chairs around a campfire and slicing up some mangoes or sharing coffee.
Frank Schaeffer did a nice job summing things up.
Gareth Higgins and the whole planning team deserve to be inundated with an avalanche of kudos and thanks. They should (as soon as they recover from exhaustion) be in absolute ecstasy for about three months ... after which they'll need to get busy planning for next year. If you didn't come this year, don't make the same mistake in 2012, that's all I can say. I imagine dates and registration will be up soon at http://www.wildgoosefestival.org/intro.
Our 14 hour drive home was a little less ideal. A fellow ran a red light and reconfigured my bumper and hood in Lumberton NC, and then when I finally got home, I had a fever and spent the day in bed groaning. But today I'm on the mend and the Wild Goose euphoria is returning.
There wasn't much in the way of internet or even cell phone coverage, which was actually kind of nice, but meant I couldn't stay in touch for the last week. I'm back, and have some big news to announce soon. Stay tuned...
I'll be at the Wild Goose Festival for the next four days, and don't expect to be able to post much, but maybe there will be an internet zone? Hope to meet many of you there -
Jay Vorhees posted this ... in response to my post the other day. Jay's piece is great, and the comments are also encouraging examples of a healthy Methodist heart.
I was catching up with online news last night, and read about some vitriolic responses Southern Baptist Seminary president Dr. Albert Mohler has been receiving for the simple acknowledgement that there's a lot of homophobia in the SBC, and that homophobia is a sin that should be repented of. He followed that up with a vigorous defense of the traditional conservative position on homosexuality, but that wasn't enough for his detractor, who judged Mohler's statements as "pandering to the homosexual lobby." The SBC was similarly pilloried for showing some modicum of compassion for undocumented immigrants, which was judged "pandering to lawbreakers."
While Dr. Mohler would no doubt differ with my views on LGBT issues, I do recall the word "pandering" being used about me and my work some years ago by a well-placed Evangelical leader. I remember how that insult hurt at the time. So I wrote this note ... perhaps someone will forward it to Dr. Mohler.
Dear Dr. Mohler,I wanted to express my sadness at the way your recent comments about repenting of homophobia were attacked and ridiculed by one of your fellow conservative Christians. I was also saddened to see your critic attack the SBC's mildly-worded statement of concern for immigrants.
First, I wanted to express empathy. I know it took courage for you to say what you said, and of course I think your comments are a step in the right direction. I know what it's like to take a risk and say things that you believe need to be said - because you believe they're true and because justice, kindness, and humility require you to say them - only to be maligned for doing so. I'm sincerely sorry you are experiencing this.
Second, I wanted to share a spark of hope. I wonder if, as you deal with these dismissive criticisms now and in the future, you might get some insight into how some of your past comments have seemed to people like me. I wonder if, being put in the situation you sometimes put others in, you might gain some insight that will make a difference in how you respond to others less conservative than you in the future. I hope that will be the case. But even if it's not, please know that I'm still sincerely sorry you're being maligned.
Third, I wanted to share a word of encouragement. Please don't back down. You don't seem like the kind of person to be bullied, but I've noticed how people are more prone to be bullied by their fellows than by their opponents. The simplistic dismissals and ungracious manner of your critics should not be rewarded with concessions. So stand firm, and maintain the courage to graciously differ with them - just as you have done with me and others like me on some occasions.
Finally, I wanted to say thanks to you and your colleagues for making the kinds of statements that elicited this negative response. On behalf of my gay family members and friends who face real homophobia from far too many churches far too often, and on behalf of immigrants who face increasing xenophobia as well - often within Evangelical churches more than anywhere else, thank you for taking a risk and saying some things that needed to be said.
I know that many who read my blog will join me in praying for you and your colleagues in the days ahead. Don't be intimidated. Keep moving forward.
Warmly, in Christ,
Brian McLaren
UPDATE:
On the immigrant issue, see Roger Olson's wise editorial here:
http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/6504/9/
Here are my two granddaughters, this morning.
First, Averie, just over a year old.
And here's Ella, just over two weeks old.
Here's the q:
a year ago or so i downloaded your 51 chapter podcast of the biblical narrative. i have really enjoyed listening to it but when i came to episode no.50 it turned out to be exactly the same as no.49, is there something wrong with my download or has there been wrong links on your site? Also it would be great if there where some kind of overview of what each episode contains! thanks again! and God bless you!
Here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-dr-joan-brown-campbell/religion-and-the-environm_b_877012.html
Here's the Q:
At the North Alabama Annual Conference you said there are Methodists leading the way in changing our church and getting us to a place that we are able to reach a younger, more educated generation. You said you would tell us who they were. I would like to know.I am in the beginning of my ministry career and ordination process. I am passionate about justice and evangelism and I would love to find more people like me. Especially, if they are farther along!
Here's the R:
Continue reading Q & R: Methodists leading the way...
I'm a big fan of Sara Kay's music ... you can listen here:
http://www.reverbnation.com/sarakay
And I'm a big fan of Kester Brewin's writing, especially his latest, Other, which you can now get in the US here:
http://www.amazon.com/Other-Loving-Neighbor-World-Fractures/dp/1596272309/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1308327050&sr=1-3
Here's a great article for all my Pentecostal friends - from an insightful and courageous Pentecostal leader in Europe, Sam Lee:
http://web.me.com/slwe/iSam02/My_Blog/Entries/2011/5/20_Pentecostalism.html
Learn more here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/19/progressive-christians-to_n_879530.html
and register here:
http://www.wildgoosefestival.org/
... and God as Father - a piece I wrote over at HuffPost.
Also at Huffpost - see Steve Knight's article on a job offer for Millennials.
And here's a repost of my father's day song, in honor of my dad and the dads of my granddaughters.
According to Robert Reich (in less the 2 minutes and 15 seconds), it's James 2:1-8 all over again. Here's the passage ...
Continue reading What's wrong with the economy?...
A reader writes ...
I just want to say thank you for your support for the LGBT community. As one who is trying to follow Christ and is homosexual, church is often one of the scariest places to be. I am currently trying to find a church where I can belong and serve. God gave me wonderful opportunities in the past to teach and be in leadership. Now that I've finally been honest with myself about who I am, finding a place to be in community with others, use the gifts God has given and be authentic has not been an easy task. Your voice and others give me hope for our LGBT brothers and sisters. Thank you and God bless you.
Here's the Q:
I have been reading the "Utmost to His Highest" devotional: inspirational at times, very Calvinist at times. My Executive Presbyter recommended you as a "post-modern" and more liberal theologian (though I agree with Oswald Chambers' view on the primacy of love). I looked for devotional CDs from you, found and bought the Bible (even though it's not quite what I was thinking of, still very inspirational), but wondered if you had a suggestion for a CD of devotional thoughts resonant with your theology I could listen to (driving around, etc.).
Here's the R:
I'm glad you're finding the Voice project rewarding - as you've probably figured out, I contributed Luke and Acts to that project.
The good news is that you can find exactly what you're looking for here on the site. A few years ago I recorded 51 short (20 minute) podcasts to provide an overview of the Bible. The podcasts were distributed through an online company that went out of business. People kept telling me how much they enjoyed the series, so we created a simple way you can purchase and download them. Here's the link:
http://www.brianmclaren.net/archives/get-involved/
You can download the first three for free to see if you like them. Here's an outline of all 51 podcasts (thanks to Helen Luther for this outline!):
Continue reading Q & R: A daily devotional?...
Here's an interview about Naked Spirituality with Becky Garrison here.
In A New Kind of Christianity, I talk about the Bible - not as a constitution - but as the library of a conversation (or series of important, meaningful arguments) among the people of God. Walter Brueggemann has helped me, more than anyone, to see Scripture in this way. If you want to get a wonderful taste of how he does this, read this short article on a food fight in Scripture ... here: http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/6475/53/
Here's my recent piece on Progressive Christianity at Patheos ... It's been getting a lot of attention.
And here's a fun online three-way conversation on aging at Read the Spirit - with master interviewer David Crumm and my friend Richard Rohr and me:
http://www.readthespirit.com/explore/2011/6/15/interview-with-richard-rohr-brian-mclaren-on-aging.html
This video is in honor of my dad, Dr. Ian D. McLaren, my granddaughters' dads (Brett and Jesse), and all dads everywhere ... Feel free to share it with a father you love. (Lyrics after the jump)
Continue reading Happy Fathers Day! (a few days early)...
A reader writes:
I've just finished reading your book and found it very helpful. 2010 was a traumatic year, but somehow through the trauma, I found a new and closer relationship with God. Things were hugely difficult but I came out the other side looking at life quite differently. I could have ended up bitter and angry, but no, I had the sense that God had used the events to bring me closer to himself.
Thank you – your book has helped me to understand where I’m at a little bit more clearly.
Thanks for your note. I'm hearing from many readers that the framework of four stages - and especially the candid description of stage three - is helping people, as you say, understand where they are, and draw closer to God.
Here are some links you should know about:
1. A new organization led by my friend Romal Tune - Faith for Change ... http://faithforchange.org/
2. Dave Csinos new book ... Children's Ministry That Fits ... is now available! I was honored to be asked to write the foreword.
3. Children, Youth, and a New Kind of Christianity Conference in Washington, DC, next May. I'll be there - and I hope you will too. You won't believe the line-up of speakers - a truly groundbreaking gathering: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=137069156365650
This came in response to yesterday's post:
I was happy to see you address in your normal and well thought out way the recent news that the SBC has suffered a period of decline. I think that you are right that the reasons for their ascendancy for a number of years, as well as their recent decline, are nuanced and multi-faceted.However, I would like to point something out. I am a Seminary student affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, a group born out of the culture wars that took place in the convention in the 1980s. We have striven to hold on to many of the Baptist distinctives that you mourned have been lost in the contemporary SBC. Something else to note is that at least here in North Carolina, the CBF is growing. Some of this growth is coming from churches that are finally leaving the SBC, but much of this growth is the result of an intentional attempt on the part of CBF-NC to reorient ourselves in a missional direction. We are encouraging our churches to reach out in their local communities and have put resources behind church planting in underserved communities, including the growing Spanish speaking community.
I think that while we are far from perfect, we are doing our best to "deconstruct our paradigm" while at the same time holding on to the roots of our historic Baptist identity.
Just felt called to share. I am so proud to be a Fellowship Baptist!
Thanks for sharing this. I love the CBF community too - some of my favorite folks to speak to and be with. My experience matches yours - it's great to watch CBF move forward guided by mission and the best of the rich Baptist heritage.
Just as an aside - one of the things I notice among Baptists around the world that I really like: a daring, entrepreneurial, "just do it" spirit. Where some groups would form committees, do years of study, debate any new venture, get all required permissions, build in lots of safeguards to avoid problems, etc., etc. (not bad things at all - in fact, very good things in most cases), Baptists are often the ones to roll up their sleeves, pray that funding and wisdom and personnel will be provided, and jump in. Bringing water to people in crisis, developing business ventures to employ women and children from the sex trade, planting pub churches and coffee house churches, creating HIV clinics, launching schools, housing homeless people, helping refugees ... so many good things I've observed around the world would never have happened without this kind of faith, creativity, and boldness. Whatever the banner - SBC, CBF, ABC, whatever - when Baptists cooperate in mission and build fellowship in that good spirit - that's a beautiful thing.
Here's a very practical question - one that nobody ever asked me before!
Is there a difference between the two “Everything Must Change” books? One has the subtitle – Jesus, Global Crisis, and a Revolution of Hope and the other has the subtitle – “When the World’s Biggest Problems and Jesus’ Good News Collide”. I ask because the first one is available in ebook (Nook) format and the second one is not, and I need the second book for a Sunday School class if they are different.
Here's the R:
No real difference, other than the subtitle. The original hardcover version had the first subtitle, and the softcover version had the second. I hope you enjoy the book!
God is the great companion - the fellow sufferer who understands.
This from the end of Process and Reality could have been an epigram for the Secret Message of Jesus:
For the kingdom of heaven is with us today ... the love of God for the world. It is the particular providence for particular occasions. What is done in the world is transformed into a reality in heaven, and the reality in heaven passes back into the world. By reason of this reciprocal relation, the love in the world passes into the love in heaven, and floods back again into the world. In this sense, God is the great companion - the fellow-sufferer who understands. (351)
Although I've never been a Southern Baptist, I have a special place in my heart for them. The teenage under-the-stars spiritual experience I describe in Naked Spirituality occurred at a Baptist camp, on a retreat hosted by my best buddies' Baptist church.
In recent years, I've been saddened to see the fundamentalist and culture-wars turn in the SBC. The strident superiority of some SBC leaders has not reflected well on the tradition. A group that traditionally upheld the autonomy of the local church has behaved less and less in line with that tradition, as a kind of group-think monoculture has gained ascendancy.
For years, SBC leaders took pride that while those liberal mainliners were declining, they were growing, a testimony, they believed, to the legitimacy and superiority of their conservative agenda. But recent data challenges that confidence. Ed Stetzer, one of the SBC's more innovative leaders, evaluates the newest data frankly:
“This is not a blip. This is a trend. And the trend is one of decline.”
I have long been suspicious of the standard conservatives-grow/mainliners-decline narrative. I think the reasons for mainline decline were many and complex, as were the reasons for conservative growth. And (as I explained way back in A Generous Orthodoxy) I believe that both liberals and conservatives share assumptions that mean both are in danger of long-term irrelevancy - unless they're willing to "deconstruct their paradigms" (sorry for the cliche, but it fits) and imagine new ways of seeing, believing, belonging, and serving.
So I meet this latest news with mixed feelings:
- sadness that a once-vibrant and still-powerful movement is losing much of its former momentum,
- disappointment that a common response to the decline seems to be "do what we've always done, just harder and louder," and
- hope that the downward trend may challenge some deeper rethinking in Baptist circles.
Deeper thinking about what?
- The gospel for starters - the gospel not of evacuation but transformation, the gospel not of "sin management" but of the incoming and outworking Kingdom of God, the gospel of grace and reconciliation that is good news of great joy for all people - not just for one religion. (I explore this in Secret Message of Jesus.)
- The Bible too - since Southern Baptists have bought into the "constitutional reading" that has become so problematic (as I explain in A New Kind of Christianity).
- And then there's the relation of faith and public life (which is a theme of Everything Must Change).
- Evangelism in a post-Christendom, post-modern, post-colonial context (the topic of More Ready than you Realize).
- And the list goes on - what it means to be caretakers of God's beautiful creation, how our gay brothers and sisters should be understood and welcomed, how Christians should respond to other religions and their adherents (the topic of my current writing project), what it means to be peacemakers, the relation between faith in Christ and patriotic militaristic nationalism, etc.
So, concurrent with this release of discouraging data, I feel the stirrings of new hope for Southern Baptists. Because they care about evangelism and disciple-making, they care about numbers. And because they care about numbers, they can't easily ignore this data that chronicles the beginnings of conservative decline. For some, the "do-what-we've-always-done-just-louder-and-harder" response will suffice. For others, a "hunker down and preserve what we have gained" mentality will win the day. But for at least a few, this data will stimulate questions and conversations that could open the way for a new kind of Baptist faith and life in the future. That's good news for Baptists - and for the rest of us too.
A picture my wife took (obviously) without my knowledge ... which she captioned, "grandpa on baby duty."
Ah, life is good.
If you're not familiar with Read the Spirit, check this out:
http://www.readthespirit.com/explore/2011/6/14/we-asked-you-responded-to-brian-mclaren-part-1.html
I just came across this in Process and Reality (New York: Free Press, 1978):
When the Western world accepted Christianity, Caesar conquered; and the received text of Western theology was edited by his lawyers.... The brief Galilean vision of humility flickered throughout the ages, uncertainly.... But the deeper idolatry, of the fashioning of God in the image of the Egyptian, Persian, and Roman imperial rulers, was retained. The Church gave unto God the attributes which belonged exclusively to Caesar.There is ... in the Galilean origin of Christianity, yet another suggestion which does not fit in very well.... It does not emphasize the ruling Caesar, or the ruthless moralist, or the unmoved mover. It dwells upon the tender elements in the world, which slowly and in quietness operate by love, and it finds purpose in the present immediacy of a kingdom not of this world. Love neither rules, nor is it unmoved; also it is a little oblivious as to morals. it does not look to the future; for it finds its own reward in the immediate present. (342-343).
This would have been a great epigram for A New Kind of Christianity.
An inspiring video - showing what's possible when we care and devote our God-given energies to the common good ...
http://www.seawaterfoundation.org/video-eritrea.htm
Here's the Q:
Brian, last year I found your podcast about pre-emptive peace making. I felt drawn by what you were saying, yet I had no concept or understanding of what developmental economics was. So I sort out books and lectures on the topic. I spent the remainder of the year pouring through them, and even enrolled into a Masters of Social Change and Development (organisational leadership and capacity building). It combined with Theology has become a passion and inspiration for me.I am only starting out on this journey, and so come asking if you have any advice for me. As someone who is seasoned, can you recommend anywhere for me to start?
I think I would love to be a blessing to church leaders around the world. Firstly to deconstruct the Gospel message in a positive and life giving way, to reach a point that it can be implemented into a new culture and used to redeem and call out the truth and beauty of that culture's past, present and future. I would also love to share what I know (and will learn) about developmental economics to help the church serve its community more wholly and ultimately bless their country and culture. To work pre-emptively to create peace and wholeness. i understand this vision is expansive and somewhat vague, however at this point I am wary on constricting God's vision to my own desires.
I come to you because, you are someone who I respect and know about in this field.
I would love and highly appericate any wisdom and direction that you can bless me with. Any others in the field to learn from. I feel like a child, entering into a vast sea of knowledge.....I have so much to learn ahead of me, any blessing you can give me would be most appreciated. Thank you for being who you are, God has blessed many through you. Keep growing stronger in the faith. May we leave this world better than we found it..
Continue reading Q & R: Pre-emptive Peace, Developmental Economics...
I'll be in Vancouver BC 23-24 September. I don't get there too often - so if you live in the region, I hope you'll be there, and help me spread the word.
One about gently engaging with Christian Zionists, and one about what could unfold this September ... followed by an idea I've been thinking about.
Continue reading Two important pieces on Israel and Palestine ......
In addition to my summer reading recommendations from the other day, I need to mention a few more. I'm (finally, and belatedly) reading one of the best books I've read in a long time, by one of my favorite authors, Barbara Brown Taylor.
An Altar in the World is a gem.
If my book Naked Spirituality is a prose exploration of spiritual practices, An Altar is poetry (written in prose form, but poetry nonetheless).
I just read a pre-pub manuscript by another gifted writer, Jana Riess. Although Flunking Sainthood won't be available until November, it's really something to look forward to.
In the category of free e-books, I have two recommendations. First, there's The Knight and the Gardener, available here, by Cassidy Dale. It's an e-book, it's free, it's important, and it's really good.
And Bill Dahl is releasing The Questians serially on his site. The first three chapters are available now, with more to come. Bill's a great storyteller and mixes intelligence and insight with a wicked sense of humor. Quotable:
The predominant thought that occupies the minds of an inmate can be reduced to one question: “What am I going to do when I get out?” Seated on the bunks of our cells, too many of us gaze at the bars of our lives that the Qage mentality has erected before us. A wall protects but also imprisons. Every fortress is also a jail.”[xix] Such is the tension that inhabits the gap within human existence – that space between what you think your life is – and what it might become – when I get out. For far too many of us, the Qage mentality is an operative illusion, limiting us to passively accepting the conditions of our current confinement. That’s no way to live. Questians understand “Creative thoughts evolve in this gap filled with tension - holding on to what is known and accepted while tending toward a still ill defined truth that is barely glimpsed on the other side of the chasm.”[xx]
Finally, turning from faith/spirituality to nature/the outdoors (which isn't actually a turn for many of us), when I was in England recently, my friend and fellow birdwatcher Dave Tomlinson gave me a copy of How to be a Bad Birdwatcher by Simon Barnes - a book that will enrich your summer and your life, I promise.
Do you ever feel how fortunate we all are to be alive when so many tremendous writers are writing so tremendously?
My song With Kindness has been getting a lot of attention lately - You can hear Steve Bell's version of it here, and Tracy Wispelwey's here.
At Tracy's site, you can get chords by clicking to the right of the song, and you can download the song and the whole album from which it came. (One "minor" correction - Fm should be F#m.)
On Monday, Ella McLaren Stone entered the world - our second grandchild, joining Averie her cousin, who will be one year old tomorrow. She's sleeping right beside me now. Awesome. Beautiful. Miraculous.
As you can imagine, I'm one happy granddad.
Here: http://michaelhyatt.com/how-to-become-your-spouses-best-friend.html
My friend Ian Cron has written a beautiful memoir ... Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me. More info here. Ian is a graceful and daring writer, and his story is moving on many levels.
Another friend, Mark Scandrette, is releasing Practicing the Way of Jesus this month as well. I feel so much resonance with Mark - not only what he writes, but what he does.
Another friend, Greg Fromholz, has produced a hybrid e-book so brimming with creativity I'm not sure it can just be called a book. Check it out - Liberate Eden:
http://www.gregfromholz.com/liberate-eden/
If you haven't read any of my books, try Naked Spirituality. I know you'll find much of value in it this summer.
And if you're not a reader - I think you'll enjoy the podcast series I produced on the Bible, available here:
http://www.brianmclaren.net/archives/get-involved/
Great for a long summer drive!
Here's the Q:
I have been looking for your comments on the progression of war memorials in America. I remembered hearing you speak/visual presentation at a CCDA conference in Miami a couple of years ago. I am planning a trip to Washington and would like to hear what you had to say again, in order to view the memorials in a new light. Thanks for any info you can provide.
Here's the R:
I just uploaded those slides on my slideshare account. You can find them here:
http://www.slideshare.net/brianmclaren/warmemorials
A reader writes:
I'm a huge fan, and I've always wanted to write in with thoughtful responses to your work. But, alas, my question is trivial today. Perhaps in time I'll share what an impact several of your works have had on me.
Is this picture from the Onion you? I notice striking similarities in the eyes and general facial structure. And with the caption, I thought it was a perfect fit.
http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-christian-forgives-you,9305/
Here's the Onion photo:
Here's a picture of me from an album cover of that era:
As an Onion fan, all I can say is let the people decide.
Last week was full and enjoyable - meeting fascinating people in Washington, DC, Baltimore, MD, and Huntsville, AL. This week is even more exciting ... Within days or maybe even hours, we'll be welcoming our second grandchild into the world. So - you'll understand if blog posts take a back seat for a few days!
Here ...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-loeb/glued-to-the-weather-chan_b_871832.html
Also after the jump -
Continue reading Paul Loeb gets it right ... on the weather channel...
[In light of the email below, I wanted to remind blog readers that it's not too late to be part of the Wild Goose Festival in North Carolina, June 24-27. This is going to be a tremendous start to an ongoing annual gathering of enormous impact ... Hope you'll be there.] Here's the Q:
Rather than listing out an inordinant amount of thank-you's and well-wishes, I will instead hope to shake your hand at the Wild Goose Festival.A short list of thoughts:
1) I want to thank you (oops) for your comittment to experiential faith as the most important key to life with God. I am thankful (oops) to know that others further along in this strange journey still hold on to a vibrant relationship with God.
2) As I continue to interact with people at different stages, I often find questions directed at me such as this one "What is God doing in your life." I never know how to answer, because my answer would likely be something that those people believe God does not do in their current paradigm (i.e. teaching me about the wideness of his mercy and love). When I ask them the same, I often receive back something like "I did not get in a car accident during the winter weather, that is what God is doing in my life." Quickly my guilt turns to cynicism, when i realize that my answer is no more profound than anyone else's.
How do you answer this question when it is thrown out?3) Why do you think all of those who vehemently defend eternal concious torment in the afterlife for the vast majority of humanity never live like they believe it. It seems to me that if they really believed it, they would never have kids (to spare them the large chance that they would experience ECT) and that they would spend every moment of their life screaming and frantically running around trying to rescue people. I've heard of these logically consistent people, but have never met one. Why do you think this is?
Anyways, again, I hope to shake your hand at the Goose.
Here's the R:
You can access slides from my talks at my slideshare.net page (brianmclaren), here:
http://www.slideshare.net/brianmclaren
God is not a Christian ...
Quotable:
Surely it is good to know that God (in the Christian tradition) created us all (not just Christians) in his image, thus investing us all with infinite worth, and that it was with all humankind that God entered into a covenant relationship, depicted in the covenant with Noah when God promised he would not destroy his creation again with water. Surely we can rejoice that the eternal word, the Logos of God, enlightens everyone -- not just Christians, but everyone who comes into the world; that what we call the Spirit of God is not a Christian preserve, for the Spirit of God existed long before there were Christians, inspiring and nurturing women and men in the ways of holiness, bringing them to fruition, bringing to fruition what was best in all. We do scant justice and honor to our God if we want, for instance, to deny that Mahatma Gandhi was a truly great soul, a holy man who walked closely with God. Our God would be too small if he was not also the God of Gandhi: if God is one, as we believe, then he is the only God of all his people, whether they acknowledge him as such or not. God does not need us to protect him. Many of us perhaps need to have our notion of God deepened and expanded. It is often said, half in jest, that God created man in his own image and man has returned the compliment, saddling God with his own narrow prejudices and exclusivity, foibles and temperamental quirks. God remains God, whether God has worshippers or not
My friend Alexander Shaia offers a unique set of resources for preachers who use the lectionary. Here's an opportunity for this summer ...
Rejuvenate your spirit
Integrate Lectionary - Liturgy - Church Season
Plan Year B - before it's here!Preaching and Worship Institute
Wednesday - Friday, August 17-19
The Cathedral of the Incarnation, Baltimore
Early registration rates end June 1.The Rt. Rev. Eugene T. Sutton, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland
“…excellent teacher and presenter....
even the most experienced preacher will gain deeper insights…”More details: visit our website Retreats and Trainings page.
Questions: revmegan@quadratos.com.
Here's another resource for lectionary-based preaching - bringing insights from the work of Rene Girard and others to the biblical text: http://girardianlectionary.net/
Thanks to Paul Nuechterlein for this amazing resource.
Here's the Q:
First of all, I'd like to thank you for your books. Though I've not read all of them, my reading of a couple of them--as well as other writers like N.T. Wright--has led me on a pilgrimage away from a punitive Christian worldview that is mostly about escaping God's wrath toward a worldview that is more about being a blessing for the world through Christ.Ironically, now that I've managed to come this far, I find myself struggling with doubts. Let me be clear: my struggle is not that I doubt the loving, compassionate God revealed in Christ that you and others have led me to, or that I would like to believe in such a God but can't banish the punitive, scary God I was led to believe in when I was young (or not entirely). Rather, my primary struggle is now believing in any god at all. At this point, I'm not sure if I'm a Christian struggling with doubt or an atheist who feels trapped by faith. Either way, I'm feeling very lost and wondering if you have any wisdom to offer. Most of your writing appears to be addressed to people who have been damaged by conservative Christianity gone wrong--but after you've articulated "a Christianity worth believing," to borrow Doug Pagitt's phrase, there's still the question of whether any of it's true. Do you have anything to offer for those of us struggling with this question?
Continue reading Q & R: Conceptual Backflips - appealing but not simple...
Here's the Q:
Thank you for your clarity about "the way we were" and where we can go. I have been working in Children's Ministry for the past two years, trying to find a new approach to teaching them about becoming people of Christlike love. My charges are 2-6th grade. Year 1 we used the Way of the Child curriculum to introduce spiritual disciplines. Year 2 we used Michael Novelli's approach to Bible storying to present, through storytelling, pantomime and art, God's story from Genesis through the New Creation. We alternated this with one-a-month mission projects. The biggest feedback I've received is from my teachers who have pointed out how both the method and message are different from when they grew up. This is good; it's also, I think, quite intimidating for them.
Do you have or know of resources for children's ministry which are aligned with your vision for the new church?
Here's the R:
This is a big passion - maybe obsession - of mine: the need for curricula that introduce kids and youth to life in the way of Christ - and does so in the new emerging paradigm. It brings to mind something I once heard Walter Brueggemann say about theology: teaching theology is like teaching kids about sex. You don't tell people more than they can handle, but you don't teach them things you'll have to unteach them later. So much of what we teach kids now will need to be untaught or at least modified in a major way later ...
So I'm glad to hear about these two options you recommend ... You're also familiar, I imagine, with Godly Play, which provides truly helpful approaches. I also think that the Network of Biblical Storytellers has a lot to offer in this regard, although they don't produce curricula.
This will be an important theme of a gathering I will be part of next May in Washington, DC - Children, Youth, and a New Kind of Christianity. You can get information here ... I hope you can come ... My hope is that from this conference, initiatives to develop the needed curricula will emerge. I know we need this immediately, yet I also know these things take time.
Here's the Q:
Having read some of your books a few years back and watching the emerging movement a bit, where do things go (i see this myself in my church community):People get emerging awareness, see a plurality of ideas and directions in a postmodern setting in the church. They rethink authority, etc. The very foundations, authority, mission, identity and direction a church community are questioned. This causes division, disagreement and eventually a split. People see and live different versions of the gospel together (in the same place and same), but can't quite see and come together as before. There is inter-generational strife. People get offended and betray one another. You end up looking life a divorced, dysfunction church family that is no better than the world.
Have you seen things like this? I live in it. In your books, you alluded to some post post-modern that we really don't know what it would look like, how things would emerge. Any further insight into this?
Here's the R:
This little guy is learning to speak the original language of creation I blogged about the other day ...
Which reminds me of an event some good friends are putting together in a few weeks -
ENVISION 2011, a faith gathering on "Caring for the Community of Creation," will be held in New York City between June 16-18th at the The Interchurch Center (475 Riverside Drive) in New York City. ENVISION 2011 will help participants become "bridge builders" among Christian communities and academic disciplines for the sake of the good creation. Scientists, activists, theologians, and church leaders will sit at common tables to discuss how they can better protect the environment and work for environmental justice. Randy Woodley (George Fox University), Dale Irvin (New York Theological Seminary), Ben Lowe, (Young Adult Ministries for the Evangelical Environmental Network), Elizabeth Yeampierre (UPROSE), and Gary Dorrien (Union Theological Seminary) among others, will be participating. This gathering is modeling the kind of faith activism that we need to see more of - to both heal the Christian community and God's Creation. If you are interested in deepening your understanding of the God-creation connection and addressing the environmental crisis, be sure to register today at www.nyts.edu/envision and the facebook page http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=205562486133009. For further questions email Janet Martin at janethtmartin@gmail.com
In Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words, I quoted a song lyric that several people have asked about. Here's a simple rendering of the song. The lyric introduces "behold" - the practice of meditation and wonder. I introduced it with these words: "It was an Easter several years ago. I had just survived a decade that had basically kicked the stuffing out of me. I was thinking about the meaning of resurrection in my life, and in the stories of Lazarus and Jesus. This song took shape over a couple of weeks....
I hope you'll enjoy it on this day of worship and celebration. If you're in the middle of one of those "days of trials and tears," I hope you'll find some hope ... and if you've begun to "come back, full and strong," I hope it will express the wonder of survival. Survival is under-rated.
For all the folks who can't find a church where they feel welcome - this online community might be the next best thing. Here's a snippet from an interview I had recently with Darkwood Brew.
I spent yesterday with my son visiting Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens in Miami. An amazing place ... I kept thinking, "This isn't just about botany and ecology - this is also about theology. These trees are part of God's first language."
And so is this robin family:
http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9479342&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1
Here's the Q:
I have an honest question. This is not an attempt to get an argument or twist your words and use them for my own purposes. My daughter struggles with the issue about how LGBTQ are rejected by Christians. As much as I have tried (and I honestly have tried) I cannot get my mind to accept that Paul meant something very different than what we mean today when speaking of homosexuality. In a recent Q&R you wrote:"Very plainly, I do not not think that what we mean by "homosexuality" (an inborn or innate same sex attraction) would have even been a category in the minds of ancient people, any more than they would have a category called "democratic republic" or "capitalism" or "aspergers syndrome" or "biodegradable products" or "upward mobility." "
There are a couple of difficulties I see with the statement. 1) while you do not think an inborn same sex attraction would not have even been a category in the minds of ancient people--I find it difficult to believe such a view did not exist--or that Paul would have been incapable of knowing such a view. Isn't that delving into the minds and psyches of people who are not around to respond? Certainly we are not so far advanced (nor were the first century people so backwards) that such concepts were unknown. 2) this then only deals with one aspect of same sex attraction. Clearly if it was not an inborn trait (or understood to be) in the first century--then there are cases where it is not an inborn trait in our world today. So what is Paul condemning in Romans 1? Just certain types of same sex activity while being OK with other types?
Again, please do not read this as an attempt to twist, debate, or attack. I am not seeking to defend a position. It really is an attempt to understand. I wish to have some sort of reconciliation in my own mind regarding this issue. I would dearly love, for instance, to be able to embrace my homosexual friends and say: "Your life style is acceptable to God!" (Frankly I have no problem in embracing my lesbian and homosexual friends and saying "I love you, dearly", they are, after all, my friends.)
Continue reading Q & R: Paul, Romans 1, LBTQ...
I'll be in my old stomping grounds next week - would love to see a lot of old and new friends while I'm in town.
1. I'll be at the Preaching Peace Conference May 31 - June 2 (Tuesday - Thursday).
Info here:
http://www.preachingpeace.org/makingpeace/
This is a really important event for all interested in experiencing what Jesus meant by "blessed are the peacemakers."
2. On Wednesday 1 June I'll be doing a presentation, reading, Q & A and booksigning at Towson Presbyterian Church, sponsored by the Presbytery of Baltimore, at 7 pm.
400 West Chesapeake Avenue
Towson, Maryland 21204-4398
Church phone: 410-823-6500
3. On Thursday 2 June at 6:30 pm, I'll be in DC at Buffalo Billiards ... information here:
http://www.meetup.com/DC-Theology-Pub/events/17100135/
[I'll be back in Baltimore November 10-11, with Alexander Shaia and Mpho Tutu. Details here.]
A reader writes ...
I am preparing to lead a discussion on Naked Spirituality ... in Louisville, KY. We gather 10 - 15 participants for a three week on-line discussion. I am currently preaching a series of sermons using this wonderful little book with a great response. I have read most all of Brian's other books and I am excited about this discussion. Certainly, it will be an opportunity to promote the book. Out of all this information on the web site could you direct me to some material that you think would help us best promote this discussion. We generally ask participants to read some articles / chapters or watch some video before our discussion. Certainly, we will use the actual book for this. What other resources would you suggest in our promotion and or discussion that would help us draw participants and to stimuate our discussion?
I'm so glad you're finding the book useful. You'll find a lot of additional resources here:
nakedspirituality.wordpress.com.
A reader writes ...
"And feel the beauty, struggle, messiness, and agony of change in all its phases. This stuff isn't easy. For anybody. And we're all in it together."I run into so many lines from your blog post(s) that stick with me or affirm something I've thought or felt but not put words to myself, yet. The one above just happens to be today's.I don't remember what of yours I read yesterday, but I remember having to pause and take in just how grateful I was for it. If you could have seen me reading, you would have seen me smiling, moist-eyed, at the computer screen - taking a deep breath in and enjoying a moment of the presence of God's spirit. Those are rare, rare moments for me at this time.
My life has been dedicated to serving God, in one capacity or another, on a volunteer basis, within a non-denominational, charismatic, evangelical church setting. I trained for ministry in college and planned to work as a lay minister - well, forever, really. Recently, after almost 20 years of working this plan as best we could see it, my husband and I have been compelled to change course. (He has chosen an agnostic course, I am choosing to just disassociate from the church for a bit until I can enter the doors of one without feeling the extreme urge to run or vomit.)
The decision to change how I approach my religious life has been a long one and not one that I can yet express clearly. But your book, "A New Kind of Christianity", your blog posts, and those of others who I have been exposed to mainly through your work, are helping me to put more form to my thoughts and experiences. It is a hard, messy road. It hurts and is, literally, tearing me apart internally. But, it could not be avoided any longer.
Thank you for braving the changes earlier than I did. Thank you for finding the courage to give voice to what was in you. Thank you for dealing so lovingly with those who oppose you. All of these things are a great source of strength and hope for me at a time when I desperately need to see strength and hope of this nature from a follower of Christ that I can somehow relate to.
There is so much beauty in the midst of this deconstruction I've undertaken. It is good to know that there are others who understand that.
Thank you for writing. I know that many readers will share the whole range of emotions you articulate in this post. You're right ... there is so much beauty in the midst of this deconstruction, as your note both affirms and exemplifies.
If you're not familiar with Read the Spirit, you should be ... David Crumm is one of the best interviewers I've ever spoken with. You'll find part 2 of a recent interview here:
http://www.readthespirit.com/explore/2011/5/25/interview-with-brian-mclaren-on-naked-spirituality.html
And part one here.
A sermon in the wake of the killing of OBL ... by Dave Andrews (of Delaware)
An article with a tasty morsel from the 18th century - on judgment and eternal destiny, by George Sarris.
For all my readers interested in wealth, poverty, taxes, federal regulation, corporate power, and related topics, don't miss David Korten's new article, here.
A reader writes ...
Continue reading Introverted, Angry, and Wishing for a Generously Orthodox Church...
Here's the Q:
i've just finished reading “The Story We Find Ourselves in” … it was captivating … the ideas r creative … 8)
Just one question: evolution states man evolved from primates but the Bible states God created man from dust – how to u reconcile them? Thks.
Here's the R: Thanks for your question. I'm so glad you enjoyed the book - people often ask me which of my books is my favorite, and I usually say, "My most recent book - and Story We Find Ourselves In."
On how to reconcile the Bible and the theory of evolution: I don't try to reconcile them for two reasons. First, you don't need to reconcile friends, and I don't see the Bible as an enemy of science or vice versa. And second, the Bible is a special kind of library (as I explain in New Kind of Christianity) ... but it is not a science textbook. So if I have a disease, I'll consult a medical library. If I am getting sued, I'll consult a legal library. If I'm having trouble in my garden, I'll consult a horticultural library. If I'm interested in the origin of species, I'll consult the literature on evolution. And if I'm on a spiritual journey, I'll consult the biblical library ... They aren't in competition at all - unless we erroneously try to turn them against each other.
A reader writes ...
I know you get tons of emails, but I just wanted to thank Mr. Mclaren for what he does for the face of Christianity.I am thankful to see a leader who reflects the ideals of Christ, in a time when many Christians refuse to acknowledge issues of ecology, social justice, and economic inequality in this world.
Hearing and reading Mr. Mclaren's thoughts are so refreshing, and make me remember that Christ himself felt passionately about these issues. For so long I have been reluctant to come back to the church, because it felt like many people of the church were reluctant to acknowledge the aforementioned issues.
Thank you, and everyone working with you (and reading this email!), for reminding the world that there are Christians who will pursue these issues, and who are willing to enter a conversation rather than shut down our ears.
Here's the Q:
Two years ago I would have asked this question in a sort of snarky way, but the more I’ve thought about all animals being God’s creatures and worthy of more respect than we normally assign them, I have an actually serious question.What do you do with insects that are pests in your home? Occasionally all homes get pests, and the usual thing is to get pesticides and exterminate them. While lying in bed the other night I saw a small spider on the wall. Do I squash him and toss the napkin in the trash?
I know that sounds like a petty question to ask, but I truly am curious. (Feel free to put this as #2,899 on your “questions to respond to” list!)
Here's the R:
Thanks for the question. As you can imagine, I receive a lot of questions in which the snark-content is high ... it's encouraging to think that maybe in two years, some of these folks will have the same kind of change of tone as you have experienced!
It's funny you mention spiders. I live in SW Florida where we have a lot of spiders. Last week, I came across a venomous black widow spider hanging right below the handle of my outside spigot. I decided it wasn't safe to let him/her live in such close proximity to people, so I did dispatch her, but not without some sadness and an apology to the Creator. I could have coaxed her into a jar and let her go at a distance from the house, but then I thought about the possibility of her reproducing and there being more of them around, and I decided to ... errr ... foreclose upon that possibility.
Then two days ago, I came across a large wolf spider in my garage. I shooed him/her out the door and am glad to have it living nearby as it will eat insects. Then yesterday I had another spider (a spiny orb weaver - quite fascinating, and excellent web-builder) in my house. I carefully picked her up with a piece of screen and took her outside, again, glad to have her in the neighborhood doing her part to keep the insect population in a bit more balance.
Yes, I swat mosquitoes.
All that's to say that I don't have a problem killing something that's dangerous to humans, but that I try to avoid using pesticides. St. Francis didn't, to my knowledge, speak of brother spider or sister mosquito, but I'm sure he would tell us that they too are part of God's good world and have an important place in it.
Here's the Q, referring to my original post about the bin Laden code-name of Geronimo, and a response from a reader named Greg, that suggested the whole thing was a misunderstanding:
If Greg is right about Geronimo, don't you think an apology is order for a rush to judgment?
Here's the R:
Thanks for your question. Here's the status of the issue, as I understand it:
1. The original news was that bin Laden's code-name was Geronimo.
2. A later report said that was a misunderstanding, that "Geronimo" was simply a code-name for the letter "G," and eliminating bin Laden was simply item "G" on a checklist. That report was probably what Greg was referring to.
3. Now it turns out that that later report wasn't the whole story and may have been simply inaccurate, leaving adequate cause for ongoing concern, in line with my original post. Here are a few sites that give backstory:
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/2842/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_name_Geronimo_controversy
So ... it doesn't look like a rush to judgment occurred. Either way, though, this controversy provides a good opportunity for US and Canadian citizens to become more aware of the dark sides of our history so we can adopt a more compassionate and just attitude towards our Native American/First Nations brothers and sisters. And then perhaps that change in attitude will spread outward towards other groups as well.
A reader writes:
I attended your talk [recently] at Highland Baptist Church in Louisville, KY. I bought your book, Naked Spirituality, but I had not started reading it yet. Nonetheless, I gained a lot from your talk about stages of spirituality (or seasons), and I certainly intend on reading the book.As I was listening, I had an emerging idea for incorporating ALL stages of spirituality into our church institutions. But before I get to that, I'd like to tell you what inspired the idea.
I am currently reading Why Empathy Matters: The Science and Psychology of Better Judgment by JD Trout. His thesis is that humans have inherent cognitive biases that often are best managed through external cues (e.g., changing our environments to promote the best behaviors). Trout does not address spiritual matters at all but rather traverses the landscape of social policies and government. He proposes that our government should establish institutions whereby policy enforces good judgment that otherwise may not take place if left to the discretion of the individual and all her cognitive biases. An existing example is the Social Security Administration that oversees and automatically takes a portion of employees' pay which is intended to benefit employees when they retire. It is safe to assume based on evidence from cognitive psychology and other fields, that most people would take that money intended for retirement and spend it in the here and now rather than tuck it away for their sunset years if given the choice. Thus, the SSA is an institution governed by a social policy that automatically takes care of the fact that most people lack the ability to save consistently and for the long-term.
Trout's book may make it sound as though humans aren't all that intelligent and cannot be trusted to make wise decisions. However, I think he is acknowledging our basic limitations and how we can still be successful in the face of these limitations by externalizing some of how we strive to be better humans.
I think a similar thing is at work in our churches. We leave a lot of decisions up to church leaders (many of whom are not even representative of the church members being served) rather than building church policies that could respect and honor each spiritual stage you outline. I liked your idea of revisiting and maybe building on liturgy as a means to form appropriate habits and awareness of the varying spiritual seasons with which we are all grappling. I think liturgy is a start. I think it should continue in other capacities that do not depend solely on human judgments. Of course, these institutions can and should always be open to critique and reform because spirituality is dynamic and unfinished. As an aside, I think more churches should be informed by scientific evidence regarding human behavior in addition to biblical evidence. I for one find so much wisdom and insight from varied sources that have nothing to do (at least explicitly) with spirituality.
Here's the Q:
I will keep this short and to the point. I am a devout Christian and will stay that way. But, I am also exploring Islam and trying to learn how to live at peace with our Muslim brothers and sisters. I've been reading the Quran and Allah: A Christian Response and have come to a question.The Quran, divinely inspired?
I'm just wondering how I should treat the Quran and what you think about it.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts. Thanks for your ministry.
Here's the R:
I'm so glad you're reading Miroslav Volf's book "Allah: A Christian Response." On "divine inspiration," I recommend you read my book A New Kind of Christianity as a follow-up. There I talk in some detail about the assumptions we bring to a text when we use a term like "divinely inspired."
This is a key difference between classic Christian faith and Islam. The Christian faith has affirmed the divine inspiration of the Bible, but that has never meant - among non-fundamentalist* Bible scholars - that the Bible is "dictated." Inspiration is a far more complex and nuanced concept than dictation.
The Quran, in contrast, is widely believed to be divinely dictated. True, even this concept of divine origin doesn't eliminate the complexities of interpretation, but it's a very different concept.
I'm a Christian, so I affirm the inspiration of the Bible. If I were a Muslim, I would affirm the dictation of the Quran. In either case, though, I'd have to bring up the complex issue of interpretation. No text has any practical authority apart from interpretation, and so whoever interprets the text participates in its responsible use or irresponsible abuse.
*Speaking of abuse, I was on the Harold-Camping-Family-Radio site over the weekend (which, I notice, has by this morning purged all references to May 21 as the end of the world! A miracle?). I was intrigued to see that it claimed the Bible was divinely dictated ... which was not unrelated to its claim that the Bible "guaranteed" that May 21 was the end of the world.
Part of what is emerging in both the Christian faith and Islam is a more mature and honest way of dealing with our founding texts. We might say there is a naive or pre-critical approach (stages 1 and 2 in terms of my book Naked Spirituality), then a critical approach (stage 3 in NS), and then a post-critical re-discovery of our texts (stage 4 - what some might call a second naivete). That's why I can't offer a simple yes or no to questions about inspiration of any text ... It depends on whether you're using the term "divinely inspired" in a pre-critical (stage 1-2), critical (stage 3), or post-critical (stage 4) way.
The faster and busier life is, the more we need the poets. Terry Chapman offers some beautiful poems on his site.
Here's a sample with obvious resonance with my work (thanks emergentvillage.com).
The QUESTions
I will follow the poet's advice
and love the questions that
dwell in the darkness of
which I was born and to
which I shall pass.
I will love the questions
and the shadows they
cast on my path
in spite of the resulting
sadness that settles in my heart.
I will follow the questions more
than the halogen light whose
limiting beam shines on the walls of
rooms of our own making
falling short of the mystery beyond.
The questions, I trust,
will lead me though the
door in the wall of certainty
into the limitless darkness;
a darkness that embraces all.
Terry Chapman
Greg writes:
Like you I found it strange/disturbing that the code name for bin Laden was supposedly Geronimo. Here is the real story. "Back at the White House Situation Room, word was relayed that bin Laden had been found, signaled by the code word "Geronimo." That was not bin Laden's code name, but rather a representation of the letter "G." Each step of the mission was labeled alphabetically, and "Geronimo" meant that the raiders had reached step "G," the killing or capture of bin Laden, two officials said." This is from an AP story making the rounds today with new information on the raid.I hope you will take a look at some of the defenses of the raid that I have written at my blog. I think this action was done solidly within international law and the just war tradition.
www.defendingobama.blogspot.com
Greg - if that's the case with the so-called code-name not actually being a code-name, that's a relief. Thanks for the links. I'm sure readers will find them stimulating and helpful. This is an important dialogue to have. Thanks again.
... from friend and musical collaborator Tracy Wispelwey, reviewed here.
Here's the Q:
I think your chapter challenging the approach of reading the Bible as a constitution is likely the most important chapter for Christians in the U.S. to read.Do you have any practical advice for those of us who value the library approach but live within communities who take the constitutional approach but don't realize it? What questions should we bring to the table to talk outside the constitutional framework of biblical study? I want to avoid falling into the trap of debating or discussing answers that result from the questioning of a constitutional approach.
Continue reading Q & R: Bible as Constitution...
http://eerdword.wordpress.com/2011/05/06/review-of-wesley-granberg-michaelsons-unexpected-destinations/
Wes Granberg-Michaelson is one of the finest people I've met in my journey through life. He's a gifted spiritual and organizational leader and on top of that, he's a fly fisher, and on top of that, he's written a beautiful memoir. If you don't know Wes, reading this book is the next best thing ...
[This feels like old news now ... but is an expansion of a piece I wrote a few weeks ago. The input from Randy Woodley below deserves ongoing consideration, and that's an understatement.]
Like a lot of people, I've expressed ambivalence about the bin Laden shooting and its celebratory aftermath. I keep asking myself, "Have we learned anything about what makes for peace over this last decade of war, or are we simply spinning harder and faster in the cycle of violence?"
I was traveling in Europe while the saga unfolded, and during a layover in the Hamburg, Germany airport, I got the chance to read a few newspapers. There I learned that an agency of the U.S. government (I'm not sure which one) code-named Osama bin Laden "Geronimo," evoking the memory of the government's capture and defeat of a Native American hero. I would think there has already been a lot of commentary on this, although I haven't seen much yet.
Suffice it to say that as I sat in the airport reading, my reaction went from surprised to shocked to disgusted to ashamed. I boarded my plane with these feelings churning, and the unease hasn't left me since. I find questions like these refusing all attempts to ignore or suppress them:
Are we still engaged in westward expansion, making our way from California to Hawaii and the Philippines, then to Southeast Asia and now to the Middle East? Are we still cowboys hunting Indians? Are we still working out a narrative of Manifest Destiny? Has there been no acknowledgment in our government and our people of the holocaust we waged against Native Peoples, the land theft, attempted genocide, cultural imperialism and outrageous injustice? In the code-name Geronimo, has the U.S. government made a "Freudian slip" that reveals one of the dark and violent drives still at work in our national psyche?
Some of my white friends will no doubt say, "It's just a name. You're making too much of it." But I don't think this question should be left to white people to answer. Just as we in the U.S. need to listen -- as we have never listened before -- to our neighbors in the Muslim world (not to mention our Latin American neighbors, our African neighbors and so on), we need to listen to our Native American/First Nations brothers and sisters and hear what they want to tell us about ugly parts of our history and contemporary national psyche. Just as in counseling or crisis individuals often uncover previously unacknowledged personal issues have driven their lives into cycles of conflict and chaos, nations need to uncover the unacknowledged and unresolved drives in their national psyche.
So what's in a name? In the case of "Geronimo," I fear, far more than we realize. When I shared my concerns with my friend Dr. Randy Woodley, a theologian, a Cherokee, an activist and a college professor, he sent me this response and filled in more information on the original Geronimo:
When I heard this I was not surprised.Geronimo's war was the last armed Native American resistance movement in the US. For many years, he and a very small band of guerilla fighters were able to out smart and out run the US Calvary, keep settlers and miners at bay from encroachment and cause fear among Western Whites just by the mention of his name.
As you probably know, his demise was pitiful. He spent years in Florida prisons and the rest of his life as a prisoner of war. He died, after having become a Christian, then he was kicked out of the Reformed Church for gambling. In his final years he was ambivalent about religion, an alcoholic, and selling crafts to tourists. He became the object lesson that Whites could and did use, to show potential enemies what happens to indigene and other enemies, who resist their own colonization. There is a reasonable case to believe the elite Skull and Bones society has his skull and femur. If so, even more the insult and affirmation of US power over him, and by representation, other enemies.
As an example of the use of power and humiliation towards a US enemy, Geronimo fills the bill. This is why I think Bin Laden was code named Geronimo. It had less to do with the character or toughness of the enemy, and more to do with what the end result of the hunt would garner for the US in terms of power. Indians are supposed to accept their fate, either to be humiliated and broken or, noble and dying in the sunset. Your point concerning the archetype for western expansion and cowboys is certainly not lost on me. I think this is so deeply rooted in the US psyche, it is ubiquitous.
Those who celebrated bin Laden's death have had their time to celebrate. Those who felt torn about it have had time for the ambivalence to simmer. But all of us will be the more foolish if we fail to listen to voices like Randy's at this moment. Could it be that a mirror is being held up to America, offering us a glimpse of our national psyche that others see more clearly than we do? Wise reflection could challenge us to imagine and build a better future -- and to stop repeating destructive, addictive patterns from our past.
I've been immersed in reading Rene Girard for a while now, in preparation for my talk at Theology and Peace in Baltimore at the end of this month. (You're invited to the conference, by the way ....) I've been reading about Girard for several years - his work has influenced a number of friends of mine, and his ideas are widely quoted. But I hadn't actually dug in to read his own texts. Girard's influence will resonate significantly in my next book which has to do with religious identity, violence, and peace.
If you're unfamiliar with Girard, here's an introduction -
via article
and via short video:
René Girard from Michael Sugrue on Vimeo.
Here's the Q:
I just finished reading your book, "A New Kind of Christianity." I'm still digesting this information but am inclined to embrace most of what you say. I've struggled with the position that we must take the Bible as "God Breathed" and absolutely literally. Also, as I'm married to a Muslim, I can't believe God would condemn all but professed Christians to hell.
Here's my question--since God is a loving God, do you bellieve Osama bin Laden will go to hell? If not, what do you think is his eternal destiny?
Thanks for your spiritual quest and sharing it. I'll be reading and rereading more of your books.
Continue reading Q & R: Is OBL in HELL?...
... in the intersection of ministry and the digital universe: Darkwood Brew.
I was a guest last night ... here's a taste:
http://www.onfaithonline.tv/darkwoodbrew/
You'll be interested in this new network ...
http://anabaptistnetwork.ning.com/
Here's the Q:
As a frequent reader of your blog, I am seeing a pattern that betrays the irenic tone you seek to portray.
When it comes to the United States in general, and conservatives (political or religious) in particular, you often ascribe the worst motives, and assume evil intentions. However, people who espouse an ideology you like (e.g., Michael Moore) are afforded the benefit of the doubt.
As an example, you decry the use of the codename “Geronimo” for Osama bin Laden, as well as those who would gather spontaneously to celebrate his death. Yet, when discussing topics such as the Cordoba House in NYC, you assume only good will from the Muslims involved, even when the majority of Americans do not support the project.
Why don’t you require any similar sensitivity from the Muslims (or Michael Moore)? It seems there is a double-standard in your sanctimony.
Continue reading Q & R: A Double Standard in my Sanctimony?...
A reader writes ...
My name is xxx and I am [20-something] years old and I am deeply in love with the Gospel and the person of Jesus Christ. I'm also a gay man. It has been my personal agony for the past ten years to live torn by two seemingly opposing forces: my faith and my sexuality. Then, one day, I began to see that these two opposing forces were only opposing because I made them to be. I learned that the only viable choice between the two was to not choose. Over the past four months, I've come out to various family and friends to absolutely ASTOUNDING love, acceptance, and grace. This is, in at least a small part, your doing.Brian, I'll probably never meet you, and that's okay (although I'd love to shake your hand in person), but I want to thank you from the absolute depths of my being. It has been your continued dialogue on matters unrelated to sexuality that finally contributed to my rethinking my polarized views and the Greco-Roman mindset (that I now speak incessantly about to my friends) that I had become trapped in. I remember watching the video you were a part of: "Thoughts on Being a Heretic" on Matthew Paul Turner's blog, Jesus Needs New PR. As I listened to you speak, the cognitive dissonance that I had experienced for YEARS began to dissolve, and I began to understand a different way to see the Gospel, the Bible, and ultimately...myself.
I remember thinking: "Oh God, this is the beginning of the end." And I wept. I wept because I knew that freedom was just around the corner. So I prayed...and studied....and prayed....and studied. Finally, about six months ago, I sat alone in my room and hugged my dad's old ratty and worn King James (my favorite bible to this day) to my chest and wept...and wept...and wept some more. I'd never felt more free in my entire life. I'd also never felt such self-acceptance.
Somehow, "thank you" seems too shallow a phrase for what I want to communicate to you, but...Thank You and Thank You AGAIN. Your words have been pivotal in my journey. I know that your work is often thankless and that your teachings and views have lost many friends for you. That sucks, and I hate it, but after reading the last few posts on your blog, I just felt the need to let you know that there is at least one young man that has love, joy, peace and (Praise God!) righteousness in the Holy Spirit thanks in no small part to you, and I am proud to be full of so much paradox.
I hope that this note finds you well on your journey.
I just heard from a gifted hip-hop artist known as iNFLiKT ... who told me my book Everything Must Change played a role in inspiring this amazing song:
http://www.facebook.com/iNFLiKTmusic?sk=app_2405167945
Here's the Q:
Brian, I recently read A New Kind of Christianity, as did my friend. My friend and I walked away with two totally opposite views of what you were trying to say. His comment was, "it was like we were reading two different books."
I would love to give you the benefit of the doubt, but at this point I am deeply troubled by what you seem to say, or at least what I think you seem to say. I wish it were not so.
I have several direct questions that I would like simple answers to. This should settle a few issues for me.
Do you personally think that all of the bible is inspired by God and a source of authority as is, or do you think that it is a library of man inspired books that reveal progressive human understanding about God?
What do you do with sin. You obviously left out the entire issue of Moses, morality and God's judgment. Is sin an issue, will God still judge sinners and who decides what is sin?
You seem to marginalize Paul and relegate him to a "western mindset" and therefore not worth of consideration. Do you think the writings of Paul are God inspired or man inspired?
Very plainly, do you think the Bible says homosexuality is a sin? A simple yes or no will do, not a paragraph about a more human sexuality. (That is a pretty ambiguous term that doesn't say anything.)
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Continue reading Q & R: "I'd like to give you the benefit of the doubt, but..."...
A reader writes:
Just a quick note to let you know how much I enjoyed reading Naked Spirituality. There's a lot to embrace here with the 12 simple words and put into practice. I'm encouraging our neighborhood discipleship group to read it so we can digest it together.NS reminds me of when I was a kid and watched color television for the first time at a neighbors, which happened to be the Wizard of Oz. Such a sense of wonder and things coming alive --from black and white to color! It's a good feeling to know that I can still be astonished with the depth and breadth of this life with God.
Thank you for this gift of a book.
(In part one, I traced my journey on the issue of homosexuality and explored the challenges of coalition-building.)
It's from this place that I've been reading about the recent critique of Sojourners over their decision not to accept an ad that would have, in their opinion, "taken sides" on homosexuality.
Some progressive Christian friends of mine have been very critical of this decision and the rationale offered for it, issuing some highly critical statements about Sojourners and its founder, Jim Wallis. Other voices have been raised to counter some of the critique. (Here's one. And here's another.) And a few have noticed that sometimes Progressives can develop a dualistic, polarized rhetoric that is remarkably similar to that of their mirror image, as Aaron McCarroll Gallegos commented:
At some point doesn’t this show the “if you’re not with us, you’re against us” thinking that is exactly what we “progressives” have been fighting against all these years?
I served on the Board of Directors for Sojourners for several years, the last few years of my term as the Chair. So I know the organization more closely than most people who have been issuing their assessments. It's no surprise that phone calls and emails have been coming in asking my opinion. Did Sojourners make a mistake in rejecting the ad?
Yes, I would say, if it were only the ad (which wasn't very edgy at all) and if Sojourners were only a magazine for progressive Christians.
But my more thoughtful answer is that Sojourners, as I understand it, is doing coalition work. They are currently focused on building a broad coalition of Evangelical Christians, Catholic Christians, and Progressive Christians primarily around the issue of poverty reduction. And the coalition they're building is an essential one, especially as our nation makes historic decisions on getting its budgetary house in order.
Will a majority of Evangelical Christians continue to support policies that are careless towards poor people - as Tony Hall has so eloquently lamented? Will mainstream Evangelical and Catholic Christians continue to put weapons above health care, tax cuts for the rich above a safety net for the poor? Sojourners' founder Jim Wallis recently helped lead a fast on this issue - no small thing - and my suspicion is that if anyone can continue to nudge an Evangelical-Catholic-Progressive poverty-reduction coalition in positive directions, it's a coalition in which Sojourners is a key convener.
But again, there's a cost to convening that kind of coalition. One can't lead on other issues that would split the coalition. (Yes, one can stretch the coalition on some issues, but not too many, not too far, and not too fast.) If Sojourners decides to lead on LGBTQ issues, someone else will have to arise to lead a broad coalition on poverty issues, because Sojourners will be - as things stand - excluded from the table. Conversely, if Sojourners decides to lead a broad poverty-related coalition, others will need to lead on LGBTQ issues.
And that's where I understand the frustration of those who are frustrated with Sojourners. They wish Sojourners would lead in this issue too. Frankly, so do I, when i forget how hard it is to build coalitions, and when I forget that taking bold stands is only one important part of the complex process of social change.
If I were to boil down messy contemporary reality to an equation, here's what it would be:
- You can't lead a coalition of progressive Christians without being an outspoken leader on LGBTQ issues.
- You can't lead a coalition that includes mainstream Evangelical and conservative Catholic Christians if you are an outspoken leader on LGBTQ issues.
Eventually, Sojourners may change its policy. The organization may decide to switch its focus from a broad anti-poverty coalition to a multi-issue progressive coalition, the kind that many folks thought Sojourners was already leading. Or maybe more Evangelical and Catholic Christians will stop refusing to be part of coalitions with gay-affirming folks, making it possible for Sojourners to stretch the coalition faster and farther. Or maybe Sojourners will stay on their current course, staying focused primarily on poverty and paying the price by having to remain silent on other issues. If so, new organizations will need to fill the role of leading a progressive Christian coalition.
But as soon as that new coalition forms, you can count on this: some folks will sooner or later want it to be more outspoken on more issues than the coalition originally intended. And tensions will arise. And these could be destructive tensions, tearing the coalition apart. But they could also be creative tensions, growing pains if you will, pushing people out of the status quo into terra nova. I wouldn't have moved from conventional to accepting-but-not-affirming to internally-conflicted to coalition-building to being an ally/advocate if it weren't for a lot of this creative tension. And I'm still in process, unfinished, phasic, because my tensions are not resolved.
That's one of the curses of being progressive, I suppose. Once you make progress on one issue, if you stop and conserve those gains, you become conservative. (That's an important job. Somebody's got to do it.) If you want to stay progressive, you must move on to new issues. Progressivism is a moving target.
Sadly, though, we aren't making sufficient gains in relation to poverty, as I've written about elsewhere. If anything, in terms of income and wealth inequality and opportunity for the poor, and in terms of the raw numbers of people living in poverty globally, we're losing ground fast, and we're in danger of losing even more ground.
So my advice is to appreciate Sojourners for their important, irreplaceable work on building a coalition of Christians who care deeply about poverty. And look to others to take the lead on human rights and full inclusion of LGBTQ people, at least for the immediate future.
And feel the beauty, struggle, messiness, and agony of change in all its phases. This stuff isn't easy. For anybody. And we're all in it together.
This is actually a blog post about building coalitions. But first I need to talk about homosexuality.
I speak as a person who inherited the conventional conservative position about homosexuality, but who began questioning it in my teens when one of my close friends came out. When faced with the choice between a) truly listening and seeking to understand this friend and b) showing what compassion I could without endangering my status in conservative Christian circles, I chose b). I suppose my response during my "conventional phase" could have been worse, but it could have been much better.
When I became a pastor, more and more gay people came out to me and data started to accumulate that indicated problems with my inherited understanding. I went through a stage where I sought to be as personally understanding and humane to LGBTQ people as I could while still holding, however tenuously, to a theology that stigmatized them. (You might call this my "accepting but not affirming stage.") I hurt some people deeply and inadvertently in this stage, and I wince when I think about it.
That led to a stage where I wanted to change my position - where I felt it was ethically and morally wrong to even tacitly support the conventional view. You might call this my "internally conflicted stage." I wasn't where I wanted to be and I didn't know how to get from here to there.
Next I went through a stage where I felt I had found a legitimate way to interpret the "clobber Scriptures" (the 5 or 6 passages that are always brought up to clobber dissent on this issue) so that I was no longer theologically bound to stigmatize LGBTQ people. You might think this meant I was ready for a breakthrough.
But at this point I was a pastor and had to deal with the conflict between two commitments: first, one of my primary job requirements - to keep together rather than divide my congregation on the one hand, and second, to stand up with integrity and be counted as an advocate for people I had become convinced were being treated with neither justice nor compassion. I negotiated this tension by speaking up when I could and by seeking to use my influence to increase sensitivity to people whom I felt were being treated by Christians in a truly sub-Christian way.
But at every turn I felt that I couldn't speak out too strongly too fast without dividing the church that I was called to serve. At times I probably pushed too far too fast - and got angry letters and emails about it, and at times I didn't lead strongly enough - and got angry letters and emails about that too, just from other people.
You might ask why I didn't go ahead and take a stand, letting the chips fall where they may. After all, I had inherited a conservative position on the role of women in church leadership, and our church crossed that boundary and never looked back. The honest answers to that question are complex and many (perhaps a subject for another time). Suffice it to say that the first few people who took a bold public stand paid the highest price, and the price, while still significant, has been going down steadily.
One essential dimension of my decision to hold back was my desire - and sense of calling - to hold together a fragile coalition. That's why I'd call this fourth phase my "coalition phase." In my church's case, the coalition involved (for starters) mainstream evangelicals who had a deep distaste for all things "liberal," seekers and new converts to the faith who had an equally deep distaste for all things "conservative," liberal and progressive Christians who saw LGBTQ issues as front and center, and others who believed that the church should exclude neither gay people nor people who don't believe in full inclusion of gay people, and so on.
Our coalition wasn't for everyone. People at the far left and far right (to use problematic but as yet hard-to-replace imagery) wouldn't be part of it. But it made space for a lot of people nonetheless.
It was my hope, by holding that coalition together, that we could pursue our mission as a church without polarizing and dividing over homosexuality. In the process, I hoped that each group could influence the other in some areas, and that greater acceptance of LGBTQ folks would become increasingly possible the longer the coalition held.
When it came time for me to leave the pastorate to be a writer/speaker/activist full-time, I knew the learning and growth process wasn't finished for the church I had served for over twenty years. And I've been glad to see, from a distance, the church continue to grapple with this issue (and many others) and continue to move forward wisely and courageously. I believe the church's current leadership has done a better job in this regard than I did, or could have done.
Church leaders know how agonizing these stages are. Whatever position you take, liberal, conservative, moderate, whatever ... people you love are hurt. People you love leave. In serving people to "your left" whom you love, you alienate, hurt, and drive away those to "your right" whom you love, and vice versa. So what do you do?
You try to be led by the Holy Spirit. You make your choices and pay the price, whatever the price is. If you choose to hold your coalition together, you to some degree forfeit the right to lead boldly. People criticize you for this.
Some say that coalition-building is cowardly, and they have a grain of truth in their accusation: there is indeed fear involved. Some say coalition-building is about money, and they too have a grain of truth in their accusation: there are financial ramifications to whom you drive away, and when. But people who reduce agonizing decisions like this to fear or greed simply haven't been there, because if they had, they would know it's not that simple. (For example, a loss of members and donations will probably mean having to lay off employees ... something you shouldn't take lightly if you've never had to do it.) I've noticed that most leaders can only go through one or two of these traumatic passages in a lifetime. It's not simply that they lose their nerve: it's that they get wounded and wounded again and are damaged in the fray.
If I had stayed in the pastorate, I hope I would have continued stretching the coalition and becoming more outspoken over time. But I know that when I was no longer responsible to maintain a coalition, I felt increasingly free, and responsible, to speak my mind and heart more openly, more quickly, and to a larger group of people. (You might say that as a writer, I have the coalition of a readership. But it's one thing for me to suffer in reduced book sales or speaking invitations the consequences of speaking out; it's another thing to have to lay people off from their jobs, see beloved congregations split and longstanding relationships fracture, and so on.)
We might call this current phase my "out-of-the-closet straight ally" phase. Some people are happy that I finally reached this phase, wondering, "Why did it take you so long?" Some, meanwhile, have cut me off from friendship, sending their "Farewell, Brian McLaren" message either in words or by silence.
Even among continuing friends, some would have moved faster, some slower, some in different directions altogether. We all have to live before God with a clean conscience as best we can, making room for others to follow the Spirit as they felt they are being led.
That's what I've sincerely sought, and seek, to do in my journey from conventional to accepting-but-not-affirming to internally-conflicted to coalition-building to out-of-the-closet straight ally. I know that every step could have been done better if I only had been a better, wiser person.
(To be continued ...)
Melvin Bray explains here ...
http://www.patheos.com/community/wildgoosefestival/2011/05/11/why-people-of-color-should-be-at-the-wild-goose-festival-melvin-bray/
I will be the Skype guest this Sunday, May 15, at Darkwood Brew (http://www.onfaithonline.tv/darkwoodbrew/) 5 pm CST/6 pm EST. Those who watch live and participate via chat will have the opportunity to ask questions. Check out the website for more info. See you at the Brew!"
Here's the Wild Goose Festival note those of us who are already registered received today. I hope you'll sign up asap ...
Hi folksIn six weeks the organizing team will have been on site at Shakori Hills for a day already. The site will be shaping up. It will be warm. There will be food. There will be music. There will be laughter, and dented thumbs from hammering in stakes for large tents. And two days later, Vincent Harding (who wrote speeches for Dr Martin Luther King) will open our first Wild Goose Festival with a blessing; Jim Wallis will be in conversation with T-Bone Burnett about creativity and social justice; Michelle Shocked will take the stage with the Lee Boys Sacred Steel ensemble; Mark Yaconelli will host a storytelling session in which remarkable people tell extraordinary tales of captivity; John Dear will discuss his time in prison due to non-violent peace activism; Lynne Hybels will talk about the intersection of spirituality and women's rights; Richard Twiss will invite us to discover the gifts of Native American Christianity; Ian Cron will explain a question to which he doesn't know the answer; Paul Knitter will explore how to interact with robust faith in a pluralist world while respecting the traditions of others; Scott Bass will facilitate a conversation among folk who have experienced both sides of the criminal justice system; Walter and Vic Thiessen will take a decidedly Canadian Mennonite perspective on the best movies released in the past year; the North American premiere of 'The Insatiable Moon', one of those same movies, will take place; Margot Starbuck will examine mystery and how to live well; people will eat Indian food and North Carolina meats; coffee will be drunk alongside the unique Wild Goose Brew beer; there will be dancing; there will be praying; there will be shouts of excitement; new friendships will begin, and old irritations begin to be reconciled...
And that's just some of what is planned for the first few hours.
One suggestion: Please tweet the name and theme of the person you're most interested in hearing speak or perform at the festival, along with a link to the site.
And let folk know about Ian Cron's new blog post in which he shares his enthusiasm for the festival, along with his affinity for Martha Reeves and the Vandellas. Who knows? We may even get him to dance on stage... while reading from his new book 'Jesus, My Father, the CIA and Me' - which we'll help launch at the festival ;-)
We want to sell another 500 tickets in the next six weeks. The people receiving this email are influential enough to help us get well on the way there.
It's going to be unmissable. Please keep telling your friends. Ticket prices go up at the weekend.
www.wildgoosefestival.org
Here's the Q:
I am interested in a downloadable version of the study guide for A New Kind of Christianity. I do not have access to an ebook reader. thank you
Anything related to New Kind of Christianity ... here. (There's a second link for non-e-book-format discussion questions nearer the bottom of that page.)
Anything related to Naked Spirituality ... here.
Similarly, along the right side of the home page you'll find pages with resource links for my other books.
Lots of folks tell me how much they've benefitted from the Bible Overview podcasts ... which you can purchase/download here.
You can purchase/download some of my original music here.
A reader writes in response to one of my recent blog posts:
As someone who was celebrating last night I found your blog to have missed something and slightly condescending. I was not there to celebrate a death, I was celebrating the end to an evil force in the world, as I'm confident the rest of the partakers were. Many of the people I spoke there agreed that it wasn't about a death but an end. To reduce the celebrations to a being motivated by a 'killing' is to see the 'rally' quite superficially.
You also reduced the celebration to a drunken frat party, which it was not at all. Sure there were college kids there and I'm sure some of them had beer but my experience was quite different. I saw people of all ages, races, etc. smiling, hugging, singing, enjoying the fact that there is one less force in this world out to do evil.
I'm sorry you have so little faith in your fellow Americans.
Thanks for offering your perspective. Obviously, I wasn't there, but was reflecting on the images shown in the UK on television. Obviously, any report involves editing and is limited - and this one showed a lot of beer and actually did seem a bit like a drunken frat party. I'm glad to hear your report that suggests other people were there with a better frame of mind.
The whole situation has made me think about something that has been said by a number of people, namely that "justice has been done."
I wonder what we mean by justice. My concern is that for some people, justice is only punitive. In some cases, it seems that the word "revenge" could be substituted for justice with little loss or change of meaning. My sense is that true justice is restorative, not merely punitive.
Having said that, of course, I do share your relief that bin Laden is no longer planning violence. But I grow concerned when we celebrate violence as a way of defeating violence. As Dr. King said, I don't think that works in the long run. The more "successful" we deem violence too be, the more likely it will be our tool of choice when facing our next threat. You can see where that leads.
Here's the Q:
Brian, I am quite enthralled by your work and I do not exaggerate in
telling you that reading your books, listening to your lectures, and
even meeting you once in Nashville has totally changed my life. You
are an amazing man. Since becoming a fan of yours, when people ask me
about what kind of Christian I am, I say that I am a combination of
Brian McLaren and Bill Johnson.
Bill Johnson, in case you aren’t aware, is the pastor of Bethel church
in Redding, CA and has become globally known speaker and author,
though not receiving the same attention as yourself. His ministry is
focused on the Kingdom of God coming to earth. I think you two have
much in common in that regard. But Bill emphasizes miracles as
fundamental to Christians’ everyday lives. (I do not mean miracles in
the sense that childbirth is a miracle, but rather when a woman is
missing a hand, is prayed for, and sees her limb restored). He runs
schools training people to pray for the sick and see them healed, and
other miraculous activity.
I’m sitting here reading The Story We Find Ourselves In, and enjoying
it immensely. Having read your latest book, I think I have a good
idea of your stance on miracles: that you believe they happen, you
don’t judge those who do emphasize it, but you hesitate to expect them
on command, and you wouldn’t want a world where that did occur (I hope
I have described that well). Since reading A New Kind of
Christianity, actually the first of your books I read, I started to
doubt the concept of the miraculous myself, even though I have prayed
for sick and seen them restored in real, tangible ways. You seem to
take an even more extreme tone in The Story, which has prompted this
note and caused me to reconsider the notion of miracles.
I observe, as Bill Johnson does, that a bulk of the ministry of both
Jesus and the Apostles was working in miracles. I won’t make the case
in depth here (though you may find interesting Bill’s book When Heaven
Invades Earth), but I’d love for you to respond to the notion of
miracles as the practice of Christians today. Thank you for the time
taken to read this and for your incredibly powerful work.
Continue reading Q & R: Miracles?...
I was pretty busy on May 4 and 5 with speaking and travel, so yesterday (the 6th) I finally got to read all the birthday wishes that came through on facebook. (It was my 55th.) It was a huge surprise to be avalanched with this kind of encouragement and good will. Thanks to all ... I read every single one of them, and I have a huge smile on my face and feel blessed and loved and overwhelmed. So many names and faces brought great memories to mind. I am blessed indeed.
A funny coincidence. I was with the Church Army (what a great group!) on the 4th and one of the new friends I met there gave me a book, not knowing it was my birthday. The title? "Valuing Age: Pastoral Ministry with Older People." Hilarious. A message from God? (A great book, too, by the way.)
Thanks again, everyone. May the Fourth be with you all.
about @wildgoosefest yet? Watch http://vimeo.com/21378230 Advance Tickets ending May 15th! http://wildgoose.eventbrite.com."
A few days ago on this blog, I asked this question in response to the celebrations unleashed by the bin Laden shooting:
Are we learning anything, or simply spinning harder in the cycle of violence?
During a layover in the Hamburg, Germany, airport yesterday, I got the chance to read a few newspapers and learned (I've had limited news access recently) that an agency of the US government code-named bin Laden "Geronimo." I imagine there has already been a lot of commentary on this, although I haven't had a chance to see it yet.
Suffice it to say that I was shocked, disgusted, dismayed, and sickened to read this. It makes me even more eager to press home the need for Americans like me to do some serious reflection at this point in our history.
For example ...
Are we still engaged in Westward Expansion (making our way from California to Hawaii and the Philippines, then to Southeast Asia and now to the Middle East)? Are we still cowboys hunting Indians? Are we still working out a narrative of Manifest Destiny? Has there been no acknowledgment in our government and our people of the holocaust we waged against Native Peoples, the land theft, attempted genocide, cultural imperialism, and outrageous injustice?
In the code-name Geronimo, has the US government made a "Freudian slip" that reveals one of the dark and violent drives still at work in our national psyche?
Some of my white friends will no doubt say, "It's just a name. You're making too much of it." But I don't think this question should be left to white people to answer. Just as we in the US need to listen - as we have never listened before - to our neighbors in the Muslim world (not to mention our Latin American neighbors, our African neighbors, and so on), we need to listen to our Native American/First Nations brothers and sisters and hear what they want to tell us about ugly parts of our history and contemporary national psyche that remain unacknowledged and that need to be radically changed.
What's in a name? In this case, more than we realize.
Here's the Q:
On Palm Sunday and Easter evening, PBS aired a series titled Forgiveness: A Time to Love and a Time to Hate. There were several compelling stories of forgiveness offered and forgiveness withheld.Then I looked ahead. On September 11, 2011, the Revised Common Lectionary reading is from Matthew 18:21-35! What an alignment! Peter wants to know how often to forgive, 7 times? Jesus responds with not 7, but 77 times! Then Jesus tells the parable of the unforgiving servant. How do we deal with this text on the 10th anniversary of the terror attacks?
Then there was the Osama bin Laden "kill." Many celebrated his death. Others, such as yourself, invited us to think more deeply about his death.
I come into contact with so many people who struggle to forgive at a personal level. Then I wonder the role of forgiveness at a global level.
The book Amish Grace described how a community forms people for forgiveness, although with some weaknesses in their practice, too. Yet I think my faith community has a "log in their eye" when it comes to forgiveness so I'm hesitant to be overly critical of the "speck" in Amish eyes.
So... do you have any good book recommendations or resources dealing with forgiveness from a solid Christ, psychological, and sociological grounding? What about "spiritual formation" in forgiveness?
Continue reading Q & R: Forgiveness...
On the death of Osama bin Laden, theologian Miroslav Volf expresses my sentiments when he writes:
We are right to feel a sense of relief that a major source of evil has been removed. But we should reflect also on the flip side of that relief: the nature of our fears. As the King hearings and state-level anti-Sharia bills indicate, many people in our nation find themselves under a spell of a "green scare" analogous to the red scare of the 1950s. But fear is a foolish counselor, and our war in Iraq--unnecessary, unjust and counterproductive--is evidence of this.
Fear is a foolish counselor, and it is also an addictive one. As the work of Rene Girard and others makes clear, our national anxieties love to vent themselves on some monster, real or imaginary. We can unite our party, if not our nation, around common aggression against shared fear - even if we can't unite them around a common vision around shared values. This trade in the currency of fear sets us up for a boom-bust cycle not unlike our economic cycle, and not unlike the vicious cycles of agony and ecstasy known by addicts.
Running a society on fear is a lot like running a society on debt. It runs just fine for a while, but the merciless crash at the end comes by surprise.
Fear-as-fuel causes a kind of social global warming, filling our social atmosphere with invisible toxins that subtly, silently, relentlessly change everything and make our society less humane and less habitable. Those who live by the sword, Jesus said, will die by it, and I imagine the same could be said for fear, because the sword - like the knife, bullet, gun, or bomb - is in the end an icon of fear, a fetish of intimidation intended to drive others into a fearful retreat or surrender.
Ironically, as we focus on some external monster to fear - either a ghostly, faceless one like communism, or an embodied one imaged by bin Laden - we are distracted from internal dangers which rightly deserve our fear.
For example, have we assessed over the last ten years the ways in which we have become more like the enemies we have fought? Torture, invasion, disregard of borders, imprisonment without trial, violation of international law, vigilantism ... we find ourselves repeatedly defending things we would quickly condemn in others. It's unpopular to say this, but mustn't it be said?
At what point do we Americans temper the celebration of our victories with concern about what we are becoming? At what point do we notice that for us the word "justice" is harder and harder to distinguish from "revenge?" As a nation that again and again proves its power and cleverness, do we think ourselves somehow immune from the dangers of over-reach, pride, self-deception?
I say none of this to minimize the respect owed to those who took great risks to end bin Laden's reign of terror, from President Obama in the White House to the Navy Seals on the ground. I say it, rather, to warn us of the danger of mirroring what we fear. It would be a tragedy for us, in having defeated our enemies, to have unwittingly become a similar kind of enemy to others ... to have defeated monsters by becoming one.
Having been in the UK the last week and met so many friends whom I originally got to know through Greenbelt, I'm all the more enthusiastic about Wild Goose, coming up in North Carolina in just over a month.
What's Greenbelt? It's a festival of faith, art, and justice, planned and led by a fascinating group of Christian leaders in the UK, held every August. (I'll be speaking/hanging out there this year.)
What's Wild Goose? It's a similar festival being planned by a similarly fascinating group of Christian leaders in the US. I'll be speaking/hanging out there as well.) You can find out more about it here:
http://www.wildgoosefestival.org/intro/
I hope you'll consider being part of this first-ever Wild Goose Festival. It can play an important role in the emergence of a new Christian ethos in our land.
Quotable:
The Wild Goose is a Celtic metaphor for the Holy Spirit. We are followers of Jesus creating a festival of justice, spirituality, music and the arts. The festival is rooted in the Christian tradition and therefore open to all regardless of belief, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, denomination or religious affiliation.
In adopting the image of the Wild Goose we recognize that in the current climate of religious, social and political cynicism, embracing the creative and open nature of our faith is perhaps our greatest asset for re-building and strengthening our relationships with each other, with our enemies, with our stories, our texts, and the earth. In that spirit, in a festive setting, and in the context of meaningful, respectful, and sustained relationships, we invite you to create with us!
And yes, I'll be camping.
A reviewer of Naked Spirituality, thinking about the "12 simple words" which the book explores, wondered what words didn't "make the cut."
That's a great question. The book could easily have been built around 20 or 50 words ... but space made that impossible, of course. But here are some of the words I considered using ...
How (as in "how beautiful" or "how great thou art...")
Alleluia
Now
This
Open
Surely
Amen
Amazing!
How
So ...
Never!
Here's the Q:
Hey there!
I'm currently studying for a degree in theology & biblical studies in sunny England and have really enjoyed reading much of your work, especially admits the academia, thank you for all that you've brought to this big table! Whilst reading A New Kind of Christianity, I found your chapter, 'The God Question', profound and to have been pulled together and articulated beautifully!It got me thinking however, to your thoughts on this idea of a maturing image of God, how God is like Jesus and the 'highest, deepest and most mature view of the character of the living God.' I can agree wholeheartedly with this, and yet at the same time wonder if there is yet more for us to comprehend, and in doing so, are we going 'past' Jesus, or in fact just understanding him more?
i.e. Do you truly see Jesus as the penultimate image of God in the sense that the progression stopped all those years ago? And in this, where does the Holy Spirit lie, is the Spirit too a view of God (that possibly unveils a 'more mature' image of God) or an extension rather than a progression with the former being a potential excuse for revelations 'outside' of the Bible?
My application and thinking for this has come through looking at ethical issues such as IVF, homosexuality, euthanasia etc. and the cultural, historical and scientific constraints Jesus was under as a result of becoming flesh (the same constraints we find of the Scripture). I find at times this 'most mature view of God' fraught with ambiguity on important issues, that seem new because of various recent developments, and thus we see the Bible able to support a plethora of ideas, even when used as a 'cultural library'. Is Jesus enough?
Continue reading Q & R: A question about Jesus from a seminarian in England...
I received this email invitation yesterday:
Pastor Paula along with Mr. Donald Trump would like to extend a special invitation to Brian McLaren for a time of dialogue & leadership meeting with Mr. Trump. This private meeting will take place on Thursday, May 12th, 5:30pm at Trump Tower in NYC.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Please confirm availability by Tuesday, May 3rd.
Pastor Paula is Paula White, a televangelist I never heard of until reading the hilarious and excellent book Salvation on the Small Screen by my friend Nadia Bolz-Weber. A televangelist and a tycoon ... sounds like a match made in ... err, another dimension of reality. Apparently the Donald is serious about reaching out the the religious community. What a crazy world. What a crazy religion. What a crazy country.
I'll be back from Europe by then. Maybe I should attend?
Being in the UK, I got the news about Osama bin Ladin's death earlier than a lot of folks in the States. The news here showed President Obama making the announcement, and then shifted to American college students reveling outside the White House, shouting, chanting "USA" and spilling beer. I flipped through channels and saw the same scene repeated.
I can only say that this image does not reflect well on my country, especially in contrast to the images that have been so strong here in recent days ... revelers celebrating a wedding.
Joyfully celebrating the killing of a killer who joyfully celebrated killing carries an irony that I hope will not be lost on us. Are we learning anything, or simply spinning harder in the cycle of violence?
I just got this email from an American friend:
... When I received the news of his death, I must confess that my primary emotion was not excitement, but sadness...deep sadness that his life did not reflect reflect God's intent for the world...deep sadness as I anticipated the rhetoric that awaited me on Facebook, the internet, and TV.I do not understand a world that allows for a man to cause so much pain and I do not understand a world that rejoices in the death of that man who just happens to be created in the image of God. I have no answers or alternatives, but it saddens me that the best response we have to true brokenness always seems to be death.
Perhaps everyone is right. Perhaps the death of Osama Bin Laden has made this world more safe. I do not believe, however, that his death has made this world more beautiful.
As you talk about this news, I hope you will consider how your response can counter rather than reinforce the cycles of violence that spin around us. And please God, help us bring healing beauty to the ugliness of violence in whatever small way we can. Today.
A reader writes:
First of all, thank you. I see in your site that you get thanked a lot and I image at many of your speaking engagements you have many teary eyed people coming up to you just to say thanks. Please don't let this feel common place. It is holy. The gratitude we feel is deep and it is beyond a blessing to be able to tell you in word or letter. You came to a very small venue last week and if not for the "smallness", my husband and I would never had been bold enough to get you to sign a book and share a few words. I remember much of what you said and questions you answered from the group but what brought me to tears and what I will forever remember is when you said, "You are good parents."Just a background note. My husband and I have both been raised in fundamental households. Both are parents were pastors. We met at bible college ,went to seminary, have been youth pastors, bible college teachers, missionaries over seas and here in the US, pastors, associate pastors, christian school teachers, and all within our denomination.
When our oldest son was in college he gave us "A New Kind of Christian" to read. I was scared to death reading it. It challenged everything I have questioned internally, because as you know we could never question audibly without condemnation or someone trying to cast a demon out of something. The road since then has been stressful to say the least but not one I would change. ... We are still growing, figuring things out but so happy to see we are not alone in this process. Our church and past have put much guilt upon us.... Your words the other night were like oil on a deep wound.
[personal information about a difficult church situation follows...]
... Thanks again and bless you! Thank your wife too! God bless her for sacrificing the time away from you so that we can grow. I don't take that lightly.
A stage 3 (i think) wife and mother ...
Thanks for your kind words. I remember meeting you, and I wish I could advise you what to do about your church. Probably the best I can offer in these situations I shared in the last few chapters of A New Kind of Christianity. That is, in a nutshell, stay as long as you can, and if you have to leave, do so graciously and with a blessing, not a kick. And to be sustained spiritually in an environment that is difficult rather than edifying, I hope what you read in Naked Spirituality can be of help.
I think many of us can identify with what you implied - that we raise our children for a dozen years or so, and then they raise us, challenging us to the next stages in our own growth. God bless you, and thanks again for the encouragement, which I promise to take to heart.
Would you believe that when I arrived in the UK I was informed that I had been invited as a special guest to the royal wedding? That it turns out the Duke and Duchess are big fans of my books and sent a limousine to bring me when they heard via Facebook that I was in the UK? That they even provided a rental tuxedo when i explained I didn't bring any dress clothes? That I sat in the seventh row for the wedding and was a special guest at the luncheon for friends and family? No, I didn't think so. Actually, I'm in Wales and speaking at a conference full of wonderful people ... will be here through the weekend, then on to Derbyshire and then to Amsterdam.
Mountaintop removal. Read more here.
I was really grateful for your post about Donald Trump and the evangelical support he is getting. I must confess, as a non-American, US politics sometimes baffles me, but the idea that Trump could be seriously considered as a candidate makes me wonder what American evangelicals are thinking! I mean, seriously? And, if I may be so bold, I wonder how they expect the rest of the world to take America, or evangelical Christianity seriously when they allow themselves to fall into this (what I can only call) ridiculousness. I guess it's not unlike the strange "marriage of convenience" that has happened in South Africa between one of our better known charismatic leaders and our polygamist and rather sexually promiscuous (over and above his many wives) President! There's no question in my mind that party politics and institutional religion make dangerous bedfellows!Anyway, I am grateful that there are voices like yours and Jim Wallis' to offer some sanity in the madness
Thanks for the encouragement. We've got a lot of work to do - wherever we live. (BTW - at the moment I'm writing from a train with wifi in Wales after about 35 hours in transit ... )
I've been blogging on the American political-religious landscape lately (here and here - and also here) and it's hard not to be cynical or depressed.
But then Chuck Gutenson's book comes along ... Christians the Common Good. It restores my faith in the possibility of Christian sanity in the public sector. Thanks, Chuck!
... so posting may be a bit less frequent. I'll be in Wales, the Midlands, and then Amsterdam. In Amsterdam, I'll be working with Samuel Lee, author of A New Kind of Pentecostalism. You can learn more about this book (for which I wrote a foreword) here:
Here are the links:
or for info about the book:
http://web.me.com/slwe/ANKP/About_the_Book.html
I've shared this in gatherings around the world ... It's based on a simple ascending scale, up for 5 notes and then down. If singers add in some improvised harmonies, it can be downright majestic, but it's beautiful to hear voices singing in simple unison too. We so often rush through the prayer on autopilot ... slowing down by singing/chanting helps break that pattern and instead savor the meaning.
If not, why not buy fair trade through Trade as One?
Here's info.
http://tradeasone.com/shop/mothers-day.html
It's simple, the gifts are great, and there's a lot of meaning behind each gift...
(Don't tell my wife or my mother, but that's where their gifts from me are coming from ...)
You'll enjoy this beautiful reflection by NormanWirzba ...
And then, take in this brilliant piece by Cassidy Dale ... The Knight and the Gardener.
Then go get your hands dirty.
I think I've watched UHF more than any other single film. So my secret is out. Don't watch this, or you might catch the infection, or be inoculated forever against it.
A reader writes:
I was in Dallas this past Saturday to hear you speak. It was an honor getting to meet you.Your reading of that passage in Acts was very enlightening. And the explanation of the four spiritual stages was also very eye opening.
I grew up in church [Assembly of God] and was around the bible and christians all of the time. I was raised to believe that everything was either black or white, right or wrong and knowable. Very knowable. Of course I don't regret growing up this way because in a lot of ways it helped shape who I am today.
In 2006 I became aware that a guy by the name of "Brian McLaren" existed. I was 19 and I was attending the one year internship at the Honor Academy in Texas, it's connected to Teen Mania Ministries. I learned that we were in a culture war and I, along with many other interns helped organize the first "BattleCry" which was held in San Francisco.
So my first knowledge of you wasn't in a positive light. You seemed to be on the other side of the culture war, from what I was told. I got the impression that reading any of your books would be slipping into heresy. So I stayed away.
Fast forward four years and I'm back in my hometown and am becoming increasingly restless with church, my current theology, etc etc. I read the bible and look around and I feel like we are missing something big.
So I get a Kindle for my birthday and the first book I buy for it is your book "A New Kind of Christianity".
And the journey began.
A year later and I feel like I can breathe again. Jesus is real and relational and beautiful. I haven't felt this way since I was a little kid. It's like for the first 23 years of my life I was seeing everything in black and white. But this last year I have finally been able to see life in color. I have finally been able to hear sounds I have never been able to hear. I have finally been able to see things I have never seen before.
My faith is real now. Not just some set of beliefs but a real, vital, moving, breathtaking faith.
My friends think I have now shipwrecked my faith and gone into heresy but, if a faith causes you to love more passionately then I think it's a faith worth keeping.
And that's what your book "A New Kind of Christianity" helped do to my faith.
I was nervous at first. I felt everything falling down around me. Every previous held belief had to be reconstructed but I am better for it and I love Jesus more now then I ever had.
So, Mr. McLaren, thank you. Thank you for causing me to question and wonder and seek. And thank you for helping me find what I have been looking for for a long, long time.
So for every critical comment you receive just know that there are people out there who, like me, have been eternally influenced by you and will be forever indebted to you.
Thank you again.
On a slightly different note, I do have one question for you.
Continue reading "My first knowledge of you wasn't in a positive light." Q & R about demons...
This song took shape in recent days as I saw myself in the crucifixion story as one of the soldiers, working for the Roman Empire on the day of the crucifixion ... I haven't had time to record the music, so here are the lyrics, in hopes they'll add to your meditation and celebration of Easter. Happy Easter, everyone!
Metal barbs on leather strips - we whip him with that thing, Interrogating whether he really is a king. We weave a crown of thorns and beat them down upon his head. When someone speaks the painful truth we’d rather see him dead.We spit on him and strip him and cast lots for his clothes.
We nail him upon a cross, naked and exposed.
But maybe he has turned the tables. Maybe it is we
Who are exposed for who we are in violent cruelty.Where is God in all of this? Where upon this stage?
Is God with the torturers, venting holy rage?
Or is God with the tortured one, gasping for a breath?
Is God man-forsaken in the one condemned to death?What is he now saying? What’s he trying to do?
“Father please forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
No vow to get revenge on us, no promise to repay …
If he is a king, he surely rules a different way.I worked for the empire of Caesar ‘til today.
But all my faith in wealth and power and violence drains away.
I have had a change of heart. I'll put away the sword.
I will walk a different path and serve a different Lord.... My former life has died with him, and now I am restored.
I am resurrected to follow Christ the Lord.
Here's the Q:
6(AF)While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and (AG)after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."
27And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you;
28for (AH)this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for (AI)many for forgiveness of sins.
Brian,
In lieu of your stance on the Christian Gospel or the Atonement, how do you justify your stance on this verse in Matthew concerning the last supper? If you don’t think that Jesus came to “save the lost” and to provide forgiveness of sins through his life, death, resurrection and ascension then how do explain this verse?
Thanks for your question. It will allow me to offer a few comments on some of the meanings of the Last Supper.
First though, before answering, if we were talking in person I'd let you know that I'm curious about a few things. What exactly do you think my "stance on the Christian Gospel or the Atonement" is? How did you come to that conclusion about my stance - have you read any of my books, or relied on how others present my views? If you've relied on others, who, and why? Does your question imply that "Christian Gospel = the Atonement?" And if so, which theory of atonement do you want to equate with the Christian gospel?
My conviction is that the original Christian gospel was the gospel of Jesus: the good news of the kingdom or commonwealth of God, at hand and available to all. That is a message of liberation and transformation (the core meaning of "salvation" - more on that in a minute); any particular atonement theory is at best a corollary to or rationale for that central message, not the message itself.
OK - on the verses you quoted - thanks for asking my opinion on them. I share this brief meditation not to justify myself (!), but to celebrate the meaning of these rich verses on this Holy Saturday. Of course, this isn't an exhaustive commentary, but more of a devotional meditation.
While they were eating
They were eating the Passover meal, a meal which recalled God's primal saving act for the Jewish people - God's liberation from slavery in Egypt. Jesus, like Moses, was leading people to freedom - freedom from domination and exploitation by Rome, freedom from a corrupt religious-industrial complex, freedom from enslavement to sin in all its dimensions: personal immorality, social oppression, dehumanization, injustice, cycles of violence, and all forms of evil. By identifying himself with those who are crucified, not the crucifiers, Jesus would also be imitating Moses - who didn't identify with the house of Pharaoh but those Pharaoh victimized. For me, the primary Biblical context of the eucharist is the Passover meal, not one of the later Levitical meals.
Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."The next day, Jesus would be handed over to suffering and execution. In the ancient world, execution was widely understood as the separating of blood from the body. The cross was a torture technology for doing so ... excruciatingly. Now, by consuming his body and blood (metaphorically, sacramentally, transubstantially, consubstantially ... however you wish to understand it, this meaning can apply), his disciples will reconstitute and reintegrate within their bodies what the Romans will separate. They will become, in this way, the body (or ongoing embodiment) of Christ ... a theme Paul will celebrate some years in the future.
And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you
Even Peter is included, even though he will soon deny the Lord. Eating and drinking involve personal choice, personal surrender ... and at the same time, this personal involvement takes place in a communal meal. So in the eucharist, the realities of personal commitment and communal participation are perfectly integrated.
This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.
An old covenant is coming to an end. That is the covenant centered in circumcision, law, ethnic purity, animal sacrifice, exclusive atonement, Temple, priesthood, and holy city. By his death, Christ puts an end to the need for circumcision, law, ethnic purity, animal sacrifice, exclusive atonement, Temple, priesthood, and holy city. A new covenant is being inaugurated. This is a covenant of ...
Repentance and faith, not circumcision
Love, not law
Grace for all people, not ethnic purity
The once for all self-giving of Christ, not animal sacrifice
The ministry of reconciliation through the love of Christ, not exclusive atonement through a sacrificial system,
A temple made of living human beings who embody Christ, not a temple made of stones
A priesthood of all believers for all the world, not an exclusive priesthood by a few for a few,
The commonwealth of God "for all nations," not a holy city for one nation.
For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.... All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. (2 Cor 5)
My HuffPost piece, Good Friday Evangelicals, is here.
My Washington Post piece on Passover is here.
You can learn about a theatrical presentation of The Shack in Seattle, San Diego, and Boise here. It's called Stories from the Shack.
Here's the Q:
I have been reading Naked Spirituality and have found it to be a tremendous blessing and a comprehensive approach to discipleship. I have prayerfully considering developing a year long calendar, with each month focusing on each word. As the lead pastor, I would envision develop sermons and small group materials on each word/process. I am writing to see if there are any curriculum that have been developed or if previous commentors on the website had expressed interest in developing something like this.
Thanks for this question. I'm not aware of any comprehensive resource like this ... yet. But I hope you'll be the one to develop these resources and share them - I created a site to support the book where lots of folks have begun sharing resources. Thanks so much for your partnership in helping people live an authentic life with God. Here's the site ...
http://nakedspirituality.wordpress.com/
A fascinating summary and analysis of recent data on the Catholic church in America's 30% loss of members - half of whom became Protestant. Quotable:
The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life has put hard numbers on the anecdotal evidence: One out of every 10 Americans is an ex-Catholic. If they were a separate denomination, they would be the third-largest denomination in the United States, after Catholics and Baptists. One of three people who were raised Catholic no longer identifies as Catholic.Any other institution that lost one-third of its members would want to know why. But the U.S. bishops have never devoted any time at their national meetings to discussing the exodus. Nor have they spent a dime trying to find out why it is happening.
Thankfully, although the U.S. bishops have not supported research on people who have left the church, the Pew Center has.The Catholic church is hemorrhaging members. It needs to acknowledge this and do more to understand why. Only if we acknowledge the exodus and understand it will we be in a position to do something about it.
This powerful poem by John Van de Laar came in from emergent village today:
Naked death
Yours was a naked death, Jesus:
Not for you the fine linen of a rich bed
surrounded by wealth accumulated over a comfortable lifetime.
Not for you a well prepared service of farewell
with time for proper grieving and departures.
Not for you a carefully chosen shroud,
or a tenderly nurtured grave.
When you kept your rendezvous with death
All was stripped away except your determined love
and the life that lay dormant for a moment
waiting for the morning
When your naked glory would break free again.
Amen.
John Van de Laar
I wrote this a few years ago for Worship Leader Magazine and it got a lot of attention. I've referred back to it several times on this blog, but then recently discovered the link no longer worked. So - here it is, re-posted with some updates.
An Open Letter to Worship Songwriters Brian McLarenGreetings, fellow songwriters, fellow worshippers, fellow leaders in worship, fellow musician/artists, and fellow followers of Jesus:
For the last few years, I have been privileged to be “on the road” a lot, speaking mostly with young emerging leaders. I suppose I was asked to speak to them because of some over-forty quota system, and also because many emerging leaders are grappling with the issue of postmodernity, an issue I lost most of my hair grappling with myself – and about which I have written some books. For twenty-four years, I served as a church planter and pastor serving a church that committed itself to enter the postmodern transition and deal with its issues boldly and confidently.
I say “boldly and confidently” knowing that there are as yet no maps to guide a church in this adventure – so none of us have a firm idea of where we’re going except that we’re on a quest to honor God, follow Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit, rooted in the Scriptures and educated by our rich Christian traditions. I guess we feel very much like the children of Israel having left the Egypt of modernity and crossed the Sea into the unknown wilderness … we’re trusting that a God-sent cloud-pillar and fire-cloud will guide us by day and night.
One of the side benefits of travel – as a musician myself, I have truly enjoyed hearing dozens of worship bands and worship leaders, and spending literally hours at almost every event being led in worship. There are many observations and affirmations I could imagine sharing with you who are worship leaders. There are so many encouraging trends, along with a few persistent problems. But one observation stands out. It is actually a request more than an observation: a request for the songwriters among us to explore and then lead us into some new lyrical/spiritual territory.
One hears a lot of complaints about lame music, trite lyrics, theological shallowness, etc., etc., in the world of contemporary Christian music. Some of these complaints come from people who secretly wish we would go back to singing hymns, like they did back in the -50’s (18- or 19-, your pick). I am not interested in complaining, and I have little interest in the -50’s (except maybe the 2050’s).
No, here’s what I’m after: Many of us believe that we are entering (or well into) a significant theological/cultural/spiritual transition period, very possibly as significant historically as the reformation period, when the medieval world gave way to the modern world. Now, as the modern gives way to the postmodern world, we should expect to see a revolution in theology (in the end, helping us be more Biblical, more spiritual, more effective in our mission – and, please God, more clear about what our mission is). But here’s the rub.
In the modern world, theology was done by scholars, and was expressed in books and lectures. In the postmodern world, many of us believe that the theologians will have to leave the library more often and mix with the rest of us. And the best of them will join hands and hearts with the poets, musicians, filmmakers, actors, architects, interior and landscape designers, dancers, sculptors, painters, novelists, photographers, web designers, and every other artistic brother and sister possible … not only to communicate a postmodern, Christian theology … but also to discern it, discover it. Because one major shift of this transition is the shift from left-brain to whole-brain, from reductionistic, analytic rationalism to a broader theological holism – a theology that works in mind and heart, understanding and imagination, proposition and image, clarity and mystery, explanation and narrative, exposition and artistic expression.
Our songwriters could play a key spiritual role in the rooting of this more holistic theology in our people.
But sadly, as I have sat in scores of venues listening (and usually participating in) extended times of worship around the country, I have sensed that our song lyrics are too seldom leading us into this new territory. They are in some ways holding us back. Please, please, don’t hear this as criticism, but as a suggestion – a gentle but heartfelt request – for change.
Let me make this specific: Too many of our lyrics are embarrassingly personalistic, about Jesus and me. Personal intimacy with God is such a wonderful step above a cold, abstract, wooden recitation of dogma. But it isn’t the whole story. In fact – this might shock you – it isn’t, in the emerging new postmodern world, necessarily the main point of the story. A popular worship song I’ve heard in many venues in the last few years (and which we used to sing at Cedar Ridge, where I was a pastor) says that worship is “all about You, Jesus,” but apart from that line, it really feels like worship and Christianity in general have become “all about me, me, me.”
If you doubt what I’m saying, listen next time you’re singing in worship. It’s about how Jesus forgives me, embraces me, makes me feel his presence, strengthens me, forgives me, holds me close, touches me, revives me, etc., etc. Now this is all fine. But if an extraterrestrial outsider from Mars were to observe us, I think he would say either a) that these people are all mildly dysfunctional and need a lot of hug therapy (which is ironic, because they are among the most affluent in the world, having been materially blessed in every way more than any group in history), or b) that they don’t give a rip about the rest of the world, that their religion/spirituality makes them as selfish as any nonChristian, but just in spiritual things rather than material ones. (That last sentence may be worth another read.)
I don’t think either of these indictments are as true as they would sound to a Martian observer; rather, I think that we songwriters keep writing songs like these because we think that’s what people want and need. The scary thing is that even though I don’t think these indictments are completely true … they could become more true unless we take some corrective action and look for a better balance.
It’s embarrassing to admit, but some of us are thinking right now, “If spiritual songwriting is not about deep, personal intimacy with God, what else is there?” Let me offer a list of Biblical themes I think we would do well to explore in our lyrics:
1. You’ll be surprised to hear me say “eschatology” first – and let me assure you that I don’t mean putting the latest apocalyptic novel to music. (Please! No! Not that!) By eschatology (which means study of the end or goal towards which the universe moves), I mean the Biblical vision of God’s future which is pulling us toward itself. For many of you, raised like me in late-modern eschatologies, you’ll be surprised to hear that there is a whole new approach to eschatology emerging (led by some theologians like Walter Brueggeman, Jurgen Moltmann, and the “theologians of hope”). This approach doesn’t indulge in future-telling charts or shaky predictions. Rather, it bathes itself in the Biblical poetry of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Revelation … poetry which, when it enters us, plants in us a vision of a world very much different from and better than ours. And when this hope grows and takes root in us, we become agents of it. What joy I can imagine being expressed in songs that capture the spirit of Isaiah 9:2-7, 25:6-9, 35:1-10, 58:5-14! Who will write those songs?They need to be written, because people need hope. They need a vision of a good future. They need to have in their imaginations images of the celebration, peace, justice, and wholeness towards which our dismal, conflicted, polluted, and fragmented world must move. This is much, much bigger than songs about me being in heaven. It’s not about clouds and ethereal, other-worldly imagery. Dig into those passages, songwriters … and let your heart be inspired to write songs of hope, songs of vision, songs that lodge in our hearts a dream of the future that has been too long forgotten … the dream of God’s kingdom coming, and God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven.
2. You may be equally surprised to hear me suggest that we need songs of mission. Many of us believe that a new, larger sense of mission (not just missions, and not just evangelism, but mission – participating in the mission of God, the kingdom of God, which is so much bigger and grander than our little schemes of organizational self-aggrandizement) is the key element needed as we move into the postmodern world.
This strikes at the heart of our consumeristic culture, which is “all about me, all about me, me, me.” Jesus came not to be served, but to serve … and as he was sent, so he sent us into the world. The very heart of our identity as the church in the new emerging theology is not that we are the people who have been chosen to be blessed, saved, rescued, and blessed some more. This is a half-truth heresy that our songs are in danger of spreading and rooting more and more in our people – inadvertently, of course. No, the heart of our identity as the church in the new emerging theology is that we are the people who have been blessed (as was Abraham) to be a blessing, blessed so that we may convey blessing to the world.
For many of us, the world exists for the church. It is like a strip mine, and people are mined out of it to build the church, which is what really matters. In the new emerging postmodern theology and spirituality, that image is terrible. It mirrors the raping and plundering of the environment by our modern industrial enterprises. In it, the church is another industry, taking and taking for its own profit. How different is the image of the church as the apostolic community, sent into the world as Christ’s hands, feet, eyes, smile, heart. We need songs that celebrate this missional dimension – good songs, and many!
For inspiration, we have to again go back to Scripture, and read the prophets, and the gospels, and engage their heart for the poor, the needy, the broken. Shouldn’t these themes be expressed in song? Don’t they deserve that dignity? As I write, I am struck by this thought: perhaps we have so over-emphasized the role of songs in worship – to the exclusion of many other liturgical options (poetry, historic prayers, silence, meditative reading, etc.) -- that we have forgotten the role of song in teaching. Remember Colossians 3,where Paul talks about singing the teachings of Christ to one another in songs of the spirit?
3. You may be equally surprised to hear me recommend that we re-discover historic Christian spirituality and express it in our lyrics. As Robert Webber, Thomas Odin, Sally Morgenthaler, and others are teaching us, there is a wealth of historic spiritual writings, including many beautiful prayers, that are crying for translation into contemporary song. Every era in history has rich resources to offer, from the Patristic period to the Celtic period to the Puritan period. On every page of Thomas a Kempis, in every prayer of the great medieval saints, right up to the work of Walter Rauschenbusch, Karl Barth, and Dr. King, there is inspiration waiting for us. When we look at the repetitive and formulaic lyrics that millions of Christians are singing these days (because that’s what we’re writing, folks), the missed opportunity is heartbreaking. These “alien voices” will stretch our hearts and enrich them immeasurably … and eventually, these voices will become the voices of friends, of brothers and sisters, because that is what they are – if we invite them into our worship through songs.
4. You will likely be less surprised to hear me say that we need songs that are simply about God … songs giving God the spotlight, so to speak, for God as God, God’s character, God’s glory, God's beauty, God's wonder and mystery, not just for the great job God is doing at making me feel good. And similarly, we need songs that celebrate what God does for the world – the whole world – not just for me, or us. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read the Psalms, because they love to celebrate what the Lord does for the whole earth, not just the people of Israel.
Many of the songs we need will also celebrate God as Creator … an important theme in Scripture, but not for most of our churches. We have lacked a good creation theology in the modern era, and we need songwriters/artists and theologians to join together in the emerging culture to celebrate God as God of creation, not only 15 billion years ago (or whenever) but today, now … "Lord of the starfields" (as one of my favorite songwriters put it), the God who knows the sparrows that fall, whose glory still flashes in the lightning bolt, whose kindness still falls like the morning dew, whose mysteries are still imaged in the depths of the ocean and the vast expanse of the night sky.
5. I should also mention songs of lament. The Bible is full of songs that wail, the blues but even bluer, songs that feel the agonizing distance between what we hope for and what we have, what we could be and what we are, what we believe and what we see and feel. The honesty is disturbing, and the songs of lament don’t always end with a happy Hallmark-Card-Precious-Moments cliché to try to fix the pain. Sometimes I think we’re already a little too happy, excessively happy on a superficial level: the only way to become more truly and deeply happy is to become sadder, by feeling the pain of the chronically ill, the desperately poor, the mentally ill, the lonely, the aged and forgotten, the oppressed minority, the widow and orphan. (In my newest book, Naked Spirituality, I explain this lack of lament in terms of stunted spiritual development, and I try to center a constructive understanding of spiritual pain in the simple words when?, no!, and why?)
This pain must find its way into song, and these songs must find their way into our churches. The bitter will make the sweet all the sweeter; without the bitter, the sweet can become cloying, which is why too many of our churches feel, I think, like Candyland. Is it too much to ask that we be more honest? Since doubt is part of our lives, since pain and waiting and as-yet unresolved disappointment are part of our lives, can’t these things be reflected in the songs of our communities? Doesn’t endless singing about celebration lose its vitality (and even its credibility) if we don’t also sing about the struggle?
While I’m at it, I'd like to offer a few stylistic observations and requests. Again, I'm not trying to be critical, but trying to be helpful, and to offer ways which you, with your gifts, can better serve the church and our mission in these critical times. I’ll offer them in the form of some questions.
First, is it not time to fully and finally get over King James English in our new lyrics, even if we choose to retain it in our old? Enough said.
Second, may I suggest that we be careful about using gratuitous Biblical language – Zion, Israel, go forth, on high, etc., etc.? If there is a good reason to use such language – in other words, if we are using it intentionally, not just for a “spiritual feel,” then fine. Otherwise, if we can find contemporary language and imagery that would communicate more crisply, poignantly, immediately, and deeply to people who don’t already have a lot of pew time … then let’s use it, in the spirit of I Corinthians 14, where intelligibility to the spiritual seeker is a gospel virtue.
Third, in an era of Quran-burnings, terrorism, and counter-terrorism, is it wise to perpetuate in our songs the language of war? I know such language is common in both the Bible and our tradition. Maybe there is a time and place for that imagery (properly transformed within the gospel). But these days I consider it irresponsible to use warfare language that can easily be co-opted by political forces that don't distinguish between spiritual warfare and flesh-and-blood, bullet-and-bomb warfare. We all need a strong dose of Anabaptist (actually, Sermon-on-the-Mount) peaceableness right about now, in my opinion.
The same goes for language that dehumanizes the other - terms like "the lost," "the nations," "the unsaved," and so on. If we're not careful, these words turn us into smug insiders and render others depersonalized outsiders, which is all the more tragic and ironic when we claim to follow a leader who identified with the outsiders.
Fourth, musically, am I the only one wishing for more rhythmic variety? Why is it that I am being blessed so much by creative drummers and percussionists wherever I go?
Fifth, can our worship leaders enrich the musical experience by reading Scripture, great prayers of the historic church, creeds, confessions, and poems over musical backgrounds? You may not like rap music, but it’s trying to tell us something about the abiding power of the spoken word, the well-chosen spoken word that is. (I think you'll agree that we have far too many less-than-well-chosen spoken words already.) And speaking of confessions and creeds ... is it time to confess in contemporary terms what we most poignantly regret and what we most sincerely believe?
And finally, can our lyricists start reading more good poetry, good prose, so they can be sensitized to the powers of language, the grace of a well-turned phrase, the delight of a freshly discovered image, the prick or punch or caress or jolt that is possible if we wrestle a little harder and stretch a little farther for the word that really wants to be said from deep within us? Sadly, while many of our songs have better and better music, but the lyrics still feel like “cliché train” – one linked to another, with a sickening recycling of plastic language and paper triteness.
Isn’t our God, our mission, our community worthy of more lyrical quality than we are offering so far?
Thanks for considering these things. I hope this will contribute to an important and ongoing conversation.
Your fellow servant,
Brian McLaren
Some readers often wish I would disassociate from certain people. (And I know that many of my friends have been pressured by others to disassociate from me. Disassociation is a frequent game in religious circles - "Prove you're one of US by throwing THEM under the bus, or else we'll consider you one of THEM.") In the process of replying to a more generously expressed concern (below, with comments inserted), I wrote:
If I start disassociating from people to protect my reputation, I feel I will be betraying the example of Christ, who wasn't afraid to be known as the friend of sinners. Since I am one of the sinners Christ has befriended, and since in the incarnation and in the crucifixion Christ wasn't ashamed to be associated with a sinner like me, how can I, simply to protect myself from the criticism of judgmental people seeking to find fault, refuse to be associated with other sinners?
Continue reading Hell and the River of Fire, plus some critiques...
A reader writes ...
Just a quick note to let you know how much I am appreciating Naked Spirituality. Just completed the "sorry" chapters, which I am finding helpful to reflect on during this holy week. You offer great encouragement to become more transparent with God and others about who we truly are and where we struggle individually, as a church, as a nation. Spent some time this morning reflecting on the picture you painted of Jesus in the garden, and his willingness to love and serve others unconditionally, knowing that suffering and death awaited. How naturally it is for us to take the path of least resistance -- such a struggle each day for me I find, so I found these chapters also an encouragement to stay on that narrow road that leads to abundant life.Thanks -- looking forward to reading more of NS and reflecting on it.
I'm so glad to know the book is meeting a need. The theme of nakedness hits especially strong as we move through Maundy Thursday, where Jesus reaches a moment of emotional nakedness ... to Good Friday, where (as I explain in the book) he was stripped three times. The power of it all goes quickly beyond all words.
A reader writes:
I am not sure if you will read this as I am sure you are a very busy person with all your reading, writing, speaking, traveling and such, particularly with a new book coming out (congratulations by the way and I look forward to reading it!). But in your books it seems that people flood your in box with messages asking for your input and advice into their lives, so, seeing as your books have helped me so much, I figured I would give it a shot.I am a 23 year old living outside the US. Ever seen I was 15 all I wanted to be was an Anglican Priest, and straight out of High School I went to college to get my Degree in Theology. When I turned 21, I was allowed join the Anglican Seminary and begin my training as a Priest. However it was not what I thought it was going to be and I really clashed and struggled with the Program and with the Leadership of the Seminary. I loved my Parish Placement, learning 'Priestcraft' as my training priest called it but I just hated living at the Seminary and the expectations on my study, training, formation and spirituality were far too great, particularly when I had to support myself finically. Anyway, I decided to leave the Seminary and now I feel really directionless. It's like something I have wanted all my life (as short as it is) has been ripped away from me.
All I want to do is serve God and make the Dream of God a reality on Earth as it is in Heaven. Sometimes I consider my options in Church Planting, but I am afraid that the part of me that is afraid that it's only because I "could't cut it" in the "real" thing. Sometimes I think I will go back one day, but that frightens me so much and I just feel so embarrassed. Sometimes I consider branching out into a different denomination, and Metropolitan Community Church has really attracted me of late and maybe I am being called to be a Pastor there, but at the cost of losing my Anglicanism? That upsets me.
I just feel so lost at the moment and unsure of what to do with my life. I am not one of those people can "just" be a Sunday Christian. My hunger and drive is to preach, teach, lead, listen, minister, pray, heal, and comfit people. I know I am called to minister and lead in some where. I just don't know.
I am not asking for you to guide me or to reveal the answer to me. I am just wondering what advice you could give a 23 year old Kingdom-hungry man?
Continue reading Q & R: From a 23 year-old reader...
Prior to 2005 I hated Muslims. I would not have admitted that openly, but my deepest feelings toward them were resentment, distrust and bitterness.That's how Jeff Burns' recent blogpost begins, which you can read in its entirety here. A beautiful story of growing from us-versus-them to one-another.
... about Naked Spirituality here.
And you can eavesdrop on a conversation with novelist Greg Garrett here.
A reader writes:
I am on page 72 of A New Kind of Christian and I itch! I want to jump up from my desk and rush to my next door neighbors who is also a student at XXYY Theological Seminary as I am and make him read each chapter with me so we can discuss it! Or email my pastor, or I'd love to sit down with my high school sunday school teacher who just passed away at the age of 86. The list is continuing through my head and I want to deeply thank you for it. I am currently in Seminary as I mentioned and I am pursuing being ordained into the Methodist Church so that I may be a Chaplain and I thought my "heretical" thoughts were due to my calling to Chaplaincy and the inclusiveness and different thinking which that entailed but now I have a new perspective.
Thanks for the note - so glad you're enjoying the book! I've noticed that chaplains often "get" what I'm writing about sooner than others because - as you say - they constantly encounter diversity, and they see God at work in "them" as well as "us," without discrimination.
Here's the Q:
I'm curious about your thoughts on how the Church can better serve people with mental illness.Y'see, I've been struggling with depression, anxiety, and ADD (all at the same time, too!) since I was a boy. If it wasn't for God coming into my life when I was a teenager, I probably wouldn't be here. I think the Church has a lot more understanding of mental illness than it did years ago (it used to be that if you had depression, you just didn't have enough faith), but I think there's still work to be done.
Since depression makes you feel like the only person in the world, how do you think the Church can serve people suffering from mental illness?
Continue reading Q & R: Christians and Mental Illness...
I talked recently with the good folks of the iowa emergent cohort ... also here.
It reminded me how important it is to find a few friends with whom you can speak and seek freely. More information here.
The Y Article is well worth reading - more echoes of Everything Must Change. Quotable:
Courageously, the authors make the case that America continues to rely far too heavily on its military as the primary tool for how it engages the world. Instead of simply pumping more and more dollars into defense, the narrative argues:
By investing energy, talent, and dollars now in the education and training of young Americans -- the scientists, statesmen, industrialists, farmers, inventors, educators, clergy, artists, service members, and parents, of tomorrow -- we are truly investing in our ability to successfully compete in, and influence, the strategic environment of the future. Our first investment priority, then, is intellectual capital and a sustainable infrastructure of education, health and social services to provide for the continuing development and growth of America's youth.
Through Everything Must Change, I got to know Todd Johnson. I'm a fan of his work, and especially of his efforts to form a new category of business entity.
OVERVIEW
Today's breed of entrepreneur often faces a terrible binary, "either/or" decision -- "Should I be a for-profit or a non-profit." The implication of the decision often destines the organization to either creating private wealth for investors or helping the planet and its people to flourish.Now, that could change!
California stands to be one of a few states in the country that will lead in the effort to adopt a new organizational form where both goals can be seamlessly built into one organization. No, this won't provide for tax deductible contributions for "for-profit" organizations, so it will not take money away from important philanthropic endeavors. But California's proposed Flexible Purpose Corporation legislation would allow for a new breed of organization where sustainable flourishing of people and the planet could be achieved in one organization.
Unlocking the private capital markets for these types of endeavors presents an unharnessed resource in tackling some of the world's toughest problems -- extreme poverty, malnutrition, infant mortality, lack of access to clean water, lack of access to education and electricity, transparency of supply chains to ensure freedom from slave labor, protection of the environment -- and the list goes on and on.
Please let the California legislature know that you want your voice counted as one supporting this type of organization. Please sign this petition and pass it along to your friends.
Isn't it about time that we encouraged "Business for Good?"
Gathering for public worship is, among many other things, about recollection, and this note from a reader reinforces that thought beautifully:
I have read several of your books and have just started reading book 3 of your trilogy. Your struggles in the faith have helped me to think differently about my faith. You have opened up new vistas for me and I am grateful. When reading about the notion of God drawing us toward the future, I was reminded of a quote I once heard. Paul Lehmann was a Presbyterian theologian who taught one of my ministerial colleagues at Princeton Seminary. He said, "God comes to us out of the future, picks up the pieces of our broken past, and creates for us a meaningful present."
For days, Jesus and his disciples meet secretly outside Jerusalem. They plan where their weapons will be stored, where horses will be waiting, where various militia will assemble and wait until they receive the word to strike. They also organize crowds to hit the streets at just the right moment to create intimidation, distraction, and fear in the Romans and all those in Jerusalem who collaborate with them. "Operation Sacred Vengeance" is about to begin.
Then on Palm Sunday, Jesus mounts a white horse. He is carrying a huge sword, but has it hidden in a palm branch. His disciples are similarly well-armed with swords, daggers, and shields, all camouflaged behind palm branches. They are mounted on warhorses, prepared for battle. The word goes out and the crowds assemble. In each man's right hand is a sword or dagger raised to the sky, concealed beneath in a palm frond or coat. Each left hand is raised in a fist. Younger men and boys carry concealed torches, ready to light them, march on the city, and create mayhem when the battle begins. "Hosanna!" the people shout. "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord to execute vengeance on our enemies!"
Word spreads and people stream out from the city to welcome the freedom fighters.
As they cross the brow of the hill near Bethany and the city comes into view, Jesus gives a rousing speech. "It is wrong for the heathen idolators to have power over the faithful people of God!" he shouts. "That wrong must end today! We have suffered enough. Now we will make our persecutors suffer!" The people cheer and chant, "Victory! Victory! Crush the Romans! Kill the collaborators!"
"Who is with me in our holy cause?" Jesus asks. The crowds shout, "We are!" in a roar that echoes across the valley into the streets of Jerusalem. "Who is willing to fight to the death and avenge the blood of our ancestors?" Again the crowds shout, "We are!" "And who will shed a gallon of Roman blood for every drop of our blood that is shed?" Again the crowd erupts. Then the branches and coats are thrown to the ground and blades glisten in the sun.
The Pharisees hastily interrupt, nervous now that bold words are brimming over into action. "Shouldn't we wait a little longer until we have more weapons and troops? Some of our advisors think this battle is premature." "Are we trying to be Goliath, or are we David?" Jesus asks defiantly. "Those who live by restraint will die by restraint. Now is the time. Now is the day of annihilation for our enemies."
And so the battle for Jerusalem begins.
No. That is not what happened. And the differences are at the heart of the story of Holy Week.
want to remind you that you can download a year's worth of podcasts that give an overview of the biblical story.
Hello Brian, i am very happy with the 50 pod casts of the biblical story. It brings harmony, peace and insights. See you in the Netherlands 7 may.
Downloading this series - for about the price of one book - makes sense especially for people who live in countries where my books are hard to come by. (You'd think in this day and age that book distribution wouldn't be a problem, but a lot of people have more access to the internet than they do to books.)
I'm grateful to all who helped break the Guinness World Record for charitable giving by supporting Steve Chalke in his marathon run. Here's the note Steve just sent out:
I've broken the offical Marathon World Record. Thank you!
I've just reached £1,949,653.72And every single penny will go to support Oasis work to bring education, health care, youth work, children's centres, resources for mums and dads, housing, training and employment opportunities to communities around the UK.
That means that, tomorrow, as long as I cross the London Marathon finishing line, I will break the Guinness World Record for the most sponsorship money ever raised by an individual through a Marathon, or any sporting event.
So, if you've given to our fund - THANK YOU for giving so generously.
And, if you've not had the opportunity to give so far, we would love to top £2 million and I think we can get there with your help!
If you can, please give on line today or tomorrow morning at www.virginmoneygiving.co.uk/stevechalke
Thank you so much.
Steve
Steve Chalke MBE Founder, Oasis Global, Faithworks & Stop The Traffik
UN GIFT Special Advisor on Community Action Against Human Trafficking
Here's the Q:
I am involved with a group of Jesus followers in N'Ireland and are currently looking through the book of Acts and last week we had a lengthy discussion about the subject of judgement / violence and Peter's involvement in the story.The particular story is found in Acts Chapter 5 verse 1-10. Looking at the story it initially seems to stand out and be incredibly 'matter of fact' about the death of two people involved in the early church. We have looked at commentary/theology mentioning this particular passage and found some to be incredibly convoluted and confusing. The involvement of Peter in the story is also interesting/confusing as he seems to be incredibly blasé about the fact and very quick to pronounce judgement resulting in the death of the husband and wife.
If you have any comments it would be greatly appreciated.
Continue reading VIOLENCE WEEK, Q & R: Peter and Violence...
A reader writes:
I just wanted to say thank you for writing. Finding Faith, A Generous Orthodoxy, and Everything Must Change helped me feel sane again in a church where everyone seemed to be getting a different message than the one I've been getting all my life. A Naked Spirituality gives me hope that I can help provide a spiritual education for my young son that will help him feel blessed, included, and ready to be the change he wishes to see in the world.
ps. I traveled to Richmond to hear you speak a few weeks ago at St. Paul's. It was a great message.
http://faithinpubliclife.org/content/news/2011/04/fasting_budget_cuts_and_nation.html
Quotable:
I
n 1993, as a Member of Congress, I fasted for twenty-two days, water only, to protest the lack of conscience of the U.S. Congress towards poor and hungry people. Now, almost twenty years later, the stakes are even higher, with Congress proposing budget cuts that will hurt the poor even more than the cuts provoking me to fasting and prayer two decades ago.Budgets are moral documents by nature. They reflect the priorities of individuals, households and even nations, exposing our real notions of who and what is valuable. As elected leaders in Washington engage in shouting matches over how to solve America's looming sovereign debt crisis, the voice of the poor is still getting drowned out. They're obviously not our priority.
Every day 25,000 people worldwide die from hunger and preventable diseases. 50 million Americans go to bed hungry at least two or three times a month; 17 million of them are children. So when I saw a recent poll showing that my fellow evangelicals were among those most supportive of cuts to foreign aid directly benefitting vulnerable people, it broke my heart.
Here's the Q:
I am currently in a Bible study where we are reading through the Bible. I have been immensely grateful that I read 'A New Kind of Christianity' before reading the first 5 books of the Bible. Your writing gave me so much freedom and the framework to see these books as 'timely truths', keeping in mind the spiritual development of that time. I have also tried to not approach the Old Testament as a 'pharisee'- getting caught up in the details, and missing the beautiful theme that God is creating love and relationship with His people.
We are now reading Joshua, and I feel derailed. I feel as if I've been kicked in the gut reading about the violence, the genocide, and I can barely rally the will to keep reading. What I find most unsettling, frightening, abhorrent is Joshua seems to imply God's approval, even initiating these actions. Many parts of Joshua record miracles from God so the Israelites could better obliterate other peoples (eg. making the sun shine hours longer to finish a battle). I couldn't describe my thoughts to my Bible study group any better than just saying 'I really don't think this is God.' I received answers, from truly kind Christians, about how the wrath of God is as real as the love of God, that God had to fulfill His promise to give His people this land, and how the surrounding people were truly godless. I felt alone, different, and misunderstood. I also feel concerned that we are accepting ideas like this about God, although I don't have answers either.
I am eager to read 'Naked Spirituality' next, as I just finished 'Love Wins' by Rob Bell. It made me want to dance and cry in a rain of tears 'He really loves us.... He really LOVES us!!!' I want to shed ideas about God's wrath as an old wineskin, and partake in something new.
I know you must be busy with your new book, but if you have any insight into Joshua I would appreciate it.
Here's the R:
Continue reading VIOLENCE WEEK: Q & R about Joshua, kind Christians with cruel interpretations...
I had the privilege of speaking at Western Kentucky University last week, where Paul Markham teaches. This excellent article is worth the attention of folks interested in Evangelicalism (either as insiders, outsiders, or in-betweeners). Quotable:
A vital, and often overlooked, aspect of human social life is the power of narrative and its role in the formation of social systems. There is substantial literature on this subject, but for the purposes of the present article, I will assume personal and public narratives to be the means through which humans establish their sense of individual and collective identity. In his investigation of Christian social movements, David Gutterman stresses that “Narratives provide the scaffolding that offers the degree of stability we create in our world . . . [they] do not just describe or reflect, but rather define and give meaning to, human existence” (2005: 28). Likewise, Alasdair MacIntyre suggests, “Man is in his actions and practice, as well as in his fictions, essentially a story-telling animal. . . But the key question for men is not about their own authorship; I can only answer the question ‘What am I to do?’ if I can answer the prior question ‘Of what story or stories do I find myself a part?’” (216). The present article captures a degree of irony in the emergence of new evangelicals because respondents in the study seem significantly disconnected from the progressive tradition of evangelicalism. In this way, the search for a “new story” is sociologically and theologically based not within the long tradition of evangelicalism, but in a reaction against contemporary forms of Christian fundamentalism.[25] It is through the telling and retelling of stories that we create boundaries protecting us from an otherwise endless flux of social circumstances. Our sense of time and context is dependent upon the stories we tell ourselves; thus, narratives are the means by which we make connections between past, present, and future (Ricoeur). A key reason for my brief review of the historical development of “new evangelicalism” is to demonstrate that a sense of tradition is critical to the development of narrative. Hannah Arendt writes, “Without tradition – which selects and names, which hands down and preserves, which indicates where the treasures are and what their worth is – there seems to be no continuity in time and hence, humanly speaking, neither past nor future, only sempiternal change of the world and the biological cycle of living creatures in it” (5). It is plausible to assume many of the problems noted in the organization of new evangelicals is due to this disconnection from tradition and some of the essential practices that make social cohesion possible.
For more, spend some time with these friends for peace in Afghanistan.
You can read it here. Quotable:
Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in 12 Simple Words Brian McLaren (HarperOne) $25.99 I have to admit I went into this with my guard up. I love Brian and yet realize that many think he has gone a bit too far in reconstructing "a new kind of Christianity." I disagreed somewhat with Scot McKnight, for instance, in his serious critique in Christianity Today a year ago of that previous McLaren book although I share McKnight's concerns. Still I am wary. I hope that isn't an indication of a lack of generosity in my reading but just my evangelical scruples reminding us to not take lightly serious deviation from "mere Christianity" (as most of the church has understood it for most of church history.) Some may roll their eyes at my theological concerns, while others have rolled me out the door for daring to suggest that we read widely and host tough questions.And so, with a small chip on my shoulder and a heart aflutter with anxiety, I started my early preview copy of Naked Spirituality. And was absolutely hooked from the first page. I loved reading it! I read it carefully and with great interest, found it to be one of the most stimulating books on spiritual formation I have read in ages. Mr. McLaren has a rare gift--a considerable and blessed gift--of speaking to those who have not been attracted to church, or to those who have drifted, or been "de-churched" by toxic congregations or have big questions that they feel (rightly or wrongly) are permitted in the religious groups they know. (He had a whole book, now divided into two smaller ones, which was essential a letter and ongoing dialogue with an unchurched seeker he came to know, inviting her step by step, without propaganda or pushiness, to consider what she believed about deep things, about Christ and about the gospel.) McLaren speaks plainly, honestly, with gentle solidarity with those who are "spiritual but not religious." He makes sense in ways that some of the more obtuse spiritual writers---from contemporary liberal mystics to old Puritan divines--simply don't. I don't mean just to say he is easy to read and comprehend (although that isn't a bad thing in a book, of course.) He speaks about life as most of us experience it, down to Earth and honest, candid about struggles and perplexities and disappointments. He notes in the video promo clip above that this book is really close to his heart. It shows.
Here's the Q:
I've read several of your books, starting with your latest one (A New Kind of Christianity) and then going back through some of your older ones. The latest one I've been reading is A Generous Orthodoxy, and even the mere acquiring of it caused me to realize sometimes, "words are cheap"! You see, I'm an associate pastor at a fairly large church in the South and was given the task of buying copies of a book for a clergy retreat for our church a little while back. Of course we didn't decide on a book until less than a week before the retreat so I had to bounce from bookstore to bookstore in our metroplex. One of the bookstores I went into was a really conservative one (Mardel's) and when I bought the only copy they had of the book I needed, the cashier kindly said "would you like to look through our free box?" I reluctantly said 'sure', thinking for sure there would be nothing of interest to me. As I rummaged through, though, my eye caught the attention of A Generous Orthodoxy! As I wondered how this gem found it's way into this bookstore's free box, I thought to myself, "I bet they stocked the book because of the publisher (Zondervan) and once they saw how 'heretical' it was they had to give it away as quick as they could!" Whatever the reason, I consider myself lucky to have found it - even if the words in it are considered by some to be so cheap!All kidding aside, I do have a question about the book. In Chapter 10 (Why I am Biblical) - which is as far as I am in the book so far - you attempt to justify God's commandments to the Jews of old to kill the Canaanites, saying "it was a really violent time back then". Since 7 years or so have passed since you wrote that book, do you still believe what your wrote for this chapter? I mean, it would seem to support the "Just War" theory which seems counter to some of your other writings and certainly counter to the way I read the Gospels. One could argue that we live in a violent time today and therefore we are justified in going to war against all our enemies. I'm wondering if this is a case of seeing Brian Mclaren's theology evolve over time, or whether I'm simply reading the chapter wrong?
Thank you for all your hard and courageous work throughout the years. I look forward to picking up a copy of your next book, Naked Spirituality, and this time paying the worth of the words it contains!
Here's the R:
Continue reading VIOLENCE WEEK, Q & R: Violence and God, Cheap Words...
A reader writes:
I read your post this morning about Friendship with Muslims, and thought I’d share with you an event that happened in our community that I was privileged to take part in. Here’s a link to Sundays front page newspaper article. http://www.newsminer.com/view/full_story/12611430/article-Muslims--Christians-join-in-Fairbanks-to-foster-acceptance-of-diversity?
I met Susan, the pastor at Christ Lutheran Church, through the Emerging Church Conference a year ago in Albuquerque. We didn’t actually meet at the conference, but I ran across an individual, who when he found out I was from Alaska, said he had met a pastor from Alaska the day before. With the help from the people at the CAC, I was able to track her down, which you wouldn’t think would be too hard in such a small town, but was. We met shortly thereafter to compare notes about the conference, and since then have started our own “Emergent Cohort” with folks from our respective churches. It was through this chain of events that I was able to attend the dinner at her church. My hope is to reconnect with some of the people I met and continue the beginning friendship.
Thanks for your writings that encourage and challenge us to participate in, and foster, events such as this.
Continue reading Friendship with Muslims...
(A few days ago I mis-titled my entry on this important conference.)
I wish every church with an eye towards missional or emergence Christianity could send a representative to be part of this important international conference, May 7-10, 2012, in Washington, DC: Children, Youth, and A New Kind of Christianity.
You'll find information below. Click "I'm attending" or "maybe" and keep informed ... and please spread the word to Christian educators, children and youth workers, pastors, and parents you know. In my opinion, this is one of the most important - and under-appreciated - issues facing us.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=137069156365650
Here's the Q (referring to my Sojourner's article, "Is God Violent?":
Aspiration: Read more Brian McLaren books. I heard you speak in Edinburgh 2008. I am still inspired by that talkAnyway, I am telling you that to try and give you an idea of where I am at in order that you might respond knowing my thinking inclination (middle-aged son of a protestant evangelical Billy Graham convert who was called Moses... Attending a pretty chilled, Scottish, mildly pentecostal gathering. Married to a saint, with children). In your article I was struck by your statement about reading the OT as a library. This is very helpful. Since my mid 30's I have never been comfortable with violence of any kind and struggle with the OT. Of your 4 categories I am a natural 4, however comfortable in 3. and I believe Jesus was non violent and a manifestation of God's non violent character. I am reading the bible in a year for the first time in 20 years and loving it however struggling with all the violence in the OT
Finally to the question: If God isn't violent, how do we interpret 2 Samuel 21 vs's 1 to 6. David gave 7 of Saul's descendants to the Gibeonites as a sacrifice to stop a famine. Result: After the hangings, God let it rain and we assume the famine stopped. Why is this story part of an "inspired and authoritative library"?
Here's the R:
Continue reading VIOLENCE WEEK, Q & R: God and Violence and the Old Testament...
This week I'll have a daily post relating to the issue of violence.
Here's the Q:
Having just read LGen. Romeo Dallaire's "Shake Hands With the Devil", followed by the Q&A in your blog today. I 've read and on the whole agreed with what you say about war, However, how should the world, icluding Christians, deal with problems such as the genocide in Rwanda. Prayer seems to have been ineffective and nonviolent UN action not much better. Similar situations are continuing in this world so what do we do? Please help. We need a better way, but what if not military force?
Continue reading VIOLENCE WEEK: Q & R re intervention...
I'm so impressed with the quality of daily quotes that come from Emergent Village. If you want to sign up for these daily emails, you can do so at emergentvillage.com.
Today's beautiful quote from Elizabeth Cunningham goes right to the heart of one of the key themes of my newest book, Naked Spirituality.
Praying the heart
You can only pray what's in your heart.
So if your heart is being ripped from your chest
pray the tearing
if your heart is full of bitterness
pray it to the last dreg
if your heart is a river gone wild
pray the torrent
or a lava flow scorching the mountain
pray the fire
pray the scream in your heart
the fanning bellows
pray the rage,
the murder and
the mourning
pray your heart into the great quiet hands that can hold it
like the small bird it is.
Elizabeth Cunningham
... were deeply meaningful to some people. But others cringed, and others felt oversaturation in some areas and a vacuum in others. This is the second note I've received recently relating to the need for new songs, hymns, and spiritual songs. I wrote about this in the past - you can download the article here.
I'm still pondering how, practically speaking, we can take action in response to pleas like this one:
I'm a Lutheran pastor with nearly twenty-five years in the parish.Some time ago, you were a featured speaker at an event (along with Richard Rohr). I attended this event with a colleague.
I've read several of your books, and I'm just a few pages away from finishing "A New Kind of Christianity." I'm thankful that you have the ability to put on paper what I've been struggling with for years.
Of all the books that you've written, this one has been the most helpful to me. Some of what you mention I learned in seminary, long ago. However, when I got to the parish, there wasn't an environment to support that teaching. We would still recite the Creeds, sing the songs, and focus on one kind of atonement.
Obviously, I also learned some very helpful, "new" things from your book. I'm so thankful! ..."Constitutional Christianity" combined with the "six line Greco-Roman framework" has given me a great deal to chew on!
In 2009, my wife and I attempted to write a hymn. It's close to completion, but still needs a little more work. We took on this venture in order to write a patriotic hymn that we could actually sing without cringing. I believe it has some good theology, but I also think it may not go far enough -- the words that speak of the Church and its current "markers."
In "A New Kind of Christianity," you call for people to create new hymns, creeds, liturgies, etc. I'm wondering if you, and others, could do more to make this happen? Folks held a couple of gatherings in Nicaea some time back and agreed upon words that expressed their beliefs. Why not do this again? Do we rely upon individuals in the lawn of grass roots to sprout loosely and "fill in" eventually -- or can this be a more deliberate and concerted effort by laying down some solid sod? I wonder if the latter could be "the ticket?"
Just a thought.
Blessings to you and your work!
As we ponder more comprehensive responses, I'm hoping nakedspirituality.wordpress.com can be of some help.
Here's the Q:
Obviously, you’re not NT Wright, but I find your writing easier to comprehend, hence my question to you.
It is my understanding that Wright argues that this world will be redeemed and that Heaven will come to Earth. This I readily agree with, but he then uses this as a basis for care of this creation. Essentially, since this world isn’t just being thrown away, we need to take care of it. Here I want to agree and like the conclusion, but I struggle with the rationale in that can’t God redeem the world to a heavenly state regardless of how bad it becomes? Using Wright’s reasoning, we should oppose the practice of cremation of the dead, right? Since we want to keep everything in as good a state as possible.
Continue reading Q & R: Heaven coming to earth?...
If you haven't caught this podcast about Naked Spirituality, check it out here.
Rene Padilla offers an incisive analysis of the Lausanne Movement here. And you can now learn about Kairos and Integral Mission in an English version of the Kairos website - here. Here's a wonderful introduction to Kairos by Elisa Padilla.
Here are two of the best short reflections I've come across on the US budget debate, which has only just begun, even though government shut-down has been temporarily averted:
This from Michael Gerson. Quotable:
"We estimate, and I believe these are very conservative estimates, that H.R. 1 would lead to 70,000 kids dying. Of that 70,000, 30,000 would come from malaria control programs that would have to be scaled back, specifically. The other 40,000 is broken out as 24,000 who would die because of a lack of support for immunizations and other investments, and 16,000 would be because of the lack of skilled attendants at birth."...Fiscal conservatives tend to justify these reductions as shared sacrifice. But not all sacrifices are shared equally. Some get a pay freeze. Some get a benefit adjustment. Others get a fever and a small coffin. This is not fiscal prudence. It is the prioritization of the most problematic spending cuts -- a disproportionate emphasis on the least justifiable reductions. One can be a budget cutter and still take exception to cuts at the expense of the most vulnerable people on earth.
This from Wes Granberg-Michaelson. Quotable:
I celebrate the way many congregations, including those in the Reformed Church in America, are deeply engaged in meeting the needs of the hungry in their communities. But let's remember this fact, shared by David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World: Of all the food provided to meet the nutritional needs of those threatened with hunger, 94 percent comes from the government, and 6 percent from private charity. Even modest reductions in government programs will quickly overshadow all the good done by church and private groups.
If you haven't signed up for MinEmergent (emergent village's daily communique), I highly recommend it. You can do so here. Here's a poem that came in a recent minemergent ...
Continue reading Links Update...
I wish every church with an eye towards missional or emergence Christianity could send a representative to be part of this important international conference, May 7-10, 2012, in Washington, DC: Children, Youth, and A New Kind of Christianity.
You'll find information below. Click "I'm attending" or "maybe" and keep informed ... and please spread the word to Christian educators, children and youth workers, pastors, and parents you know. In my opinion, this is one of the most important - and under-appreciated - issues facing us.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=137069156365650
Here's the Q:
How are you? In serious gentleness and fairness, let me say at the start, I'm not in your camp. I'm also not going to be venomous in my attacks...
[I am involved] with a ministry to the gays and lesbians; led by a couple of brothers who have found victory in Christ over their own battle with homosexuality. I pray for them regularly. They, indeed, are my heros!
I met one of them the other day and asked "should I quit interceding for you?". Of course he said "no" and then told me what to pray for. He, with deep shaking tenderness and concern said, "The church is softening its position on homosexuality". I've thought about this deeply and here's what's coming to my troubled mind.Isn't this the ultimate act of betrayal? A couple of gentle warriors for Christ have come through to victory; and now the very institution that should be backing them up is turning her back on them.....
How can this be? I believe this should make us weep with Jesus and cause us to repent deeply... Troubled and in prayer,
Continue reading Q & R: I'm not in your camp ... on homosexuality...
I'm always careful to preserve the anonymity of folks who write in, but especially so in this case. I think you'll find this worth reading on several levels:
Continue reading From a military chaplain: What I needed to stay Christian...
I had the privilege of talking with Cody Stauffer here: http://becomingprocess.blogspot.com/2011/04/getting-naked-spirituality-with-brian.html
And here's a mutual interview with author/friend Greg Garrett - on my Naked Spirituality and Greg's The Other Jesus.
A reader writes ...
Continue reading Q & R: On friendship with Muslims ...
I'm with a wonderful group of leaders in Rochester, NY, today - and will be in Boston tomorrow (Wednesday) evening. Here's the information:
http://www.trinitychurchboston.org/calendar/view/3740/58.html
Price Lecture: Brian McLaren: Life With God In 12 Simple Words
Adult Christian Formation
Date: Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Time: 7:00 pm
Trinity Church in the City of Boston 2011 | 206 Clarendon St, Boston, MA 02116 | (617) 536.0944
Bill Dahl writes:
Beyond Beautiful - or - It's Wednesday but Sunday's a Comin', March 31, 2011
...Here's the honest truth about the impact this book had on my life:I had just finished Chapter 20 "Why - When You Have Come to Zero." My wife arrived home from work. She began to prepare dinner and I wandered into the kitchen to catch up together on the day's events - an uneventful Wednesday.
As we stood there chatting, the phone rang. It was our daughter Liz calling from her home in Utah. Liz and her fiancée Aaron had buried Aaron's mother on Monday - just two days ago. They had just received a phone call - Aaron's father had been killed in a car crash.
We concluded the tearful call with our daughter. I went into another room and sat silently - questions, remorse, sorrow, anger, dismay, confusion - ricocheting throughout my being. We ate half our dinner and adjourned to a couch. Jacki looked at me - sorrow and befuddled are two words that were embossed on her facial expression. We were both at zero - in shock - wounded - naked and fully exposed to the unconscionable in life. I leaned forward, grabbed my reading glasses and Brian's book. I turned to the first page of Chapter 20 and read the chapter aloud to my wife.
I looked up and closed the book. "Beautiful?" I remarked, gazing at my wife. - "Beyond Beautiful," she replied - as restorative waves of soothing, healing truth rolled through our souls.
In Naked Spirituality - A Life With God in 12 Simple Words Brian McLaren gets real with God, with life, the seasons inherent within human existence - sharing his boots on the ground experience as a fellow sojourner. Another formulaic, step-by-step, overly simplistic, bogus promise-laden landmine from an over-caffeinated evangelical Christian? Not Hardly.
At this stage in life, I need to learn from the experience of others...others who live in my world...the real world - the world of faith that Brian McLaren lives in. I'm worn out on opinions, perspectives and narrative nonsense of people trying to sell books - suggesting that "if you do this, you'll be fine."
In this book, Brian shares his own personal life lessons that are raw, real and uncut. McLaren's dance with language provides hues of color that I had overlooked in the life of. He provides vistas and vantage points where the reader can stand side-by-side with him gazing beyond what we are presently able to visualize. There's no artificial ingredients in the flavors McLaren serves up.
Take a seat with Brian McLaren - at his table - The table of life with the living God. Enjoy the feast that Naked Spirituality provides - one course at a time. Savor the tender, succulent, mysterious seasonings contained in each course: Here, Thanks, O, Sorry, Help, Please, When, No, Why, Behold, Yes and Silence.
No, this is not another fast-food systematic theology or another bland narrative. For us, Naked Spirituality is a unique and nutritious innovation from Brian McLaren - as he continues to evolve his craft in delivering fare for the faithful. There's one thing that separates Brian from the rest of the authors in faith and culture - he has eaten his own stuff before he allows anybody else to sample it in print. He readily identifies the faith dishes he has dined on, admits the tastes he has worn out, the spices that have turned out to be bland, the sinew of life he has choked on - the wards of people he has encountered, hospitalized after being poisoned with the fare of faith served up with a seal of God attached to it.
"Beautiful?" - "Yes - Beyond Beautiful."
For us, this book was, and shall be, both a timely and enduring blessing. For us, it was It's Wednesday - But Sunday's a Comin'.
Forgive me Tony - Thank you Brian!
Please pray for our daughter Liz, son-in-law Aaron and their daughter Rebekka.
This book is precious - so is life - so is the privilege of relationship with the living God - here - today - in any and all circumstances - even when you're at zero....or not.
I hope you'll join us this Friday and Saturday ... here:
http://www.saintmichael.org/article/distinguished-lecture-series-brian-mclaren/
... is running a marathon and seeking to break the Guinness world record (which he previously set) for charitable donations pledged. If you'd like to help (the funds support Oasis Charitable Trust, one of the best, most creative agencies I know of anywhere) ... I'd be grateful!
www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/oasisuk
Here are the real questions that "inspired" the April Fool's replies. First, do I ever think "they" are right?
I appreciate your blog, your ministry and your writing so much! I have another question for you. I have grown and changed so much since reading "A new kind of Christianity". While it has been a difficult journey "messing me up" at times - I am really starting to experience how beautiful this way of seeing and believing is. I love it - I don't want to go back to my old way of thinking. I am part way through Rob Bell's new book and also find the questions so fitting to the journey I am going through. Unfortunately - for some reason I keep getting pulled into reading what all the nay-sayers are saying about it. Anyways I feel this awful mixture of anger, an (un)holy? passion to share my thoughts in return, hurt over disunity in the body and worst off fear. I worry - what if they're "right"? I don't want to give up everything I've gained on this journey. I don't want God to be wrathful and selective. I started crying today when I was thinking about these things because I was so sad and scared thinking if "they" are right then millions of people are going to hell. And even worse I realized that only now that I don't believe that will happen have I finally cried over it possibly happening. I was so emotionally removed from it before I don't know that I ever wept over that thought. Anyways, I guess my question really is - do you ever wonder if these ideas of 'love wins' are actually wrong? Do you ever question if we're just making God in our own image? I sure hope we're not - but I wonder if you ever struggle with that or what you do with it when you do. Brian - really thank you so much for everything.
Second, do I think unity is even possible?
Continue reading Q & R: Two questions on current controversies....
We've added a few last minute dates in April, related to the release of my new book, Naked Spirituality. I hope I'll get to meet many of you this month -
- in Rochester, NY on April 4 - 5. (www.crcds.edu)
- in Boston, MA on April 6 (trinitychurchboston.org)
- in Dallas TX on April 7 (journeydallas.com)
- in Dallas, TX on April 8-9 (www.saintmichael.org)
- in Dallas, TX on April 9 (http://www.smu.edu/Perkins/News/UpcomingEvents/McLaren_Visit.aspx)
- in Louisville, KY on April 10 (http://www.kybf.org/home/2011/3/14/walter-brueggemann-and-brian-mclaren-to-visit-louisville-in.html)
- in Bowling Green, KY on April 11 (http://www.wku.edu/pcal/events-2)
- in England, April 28 - May 2 (http://www.ecgevent.org.uk/)
- in England, May 3 - 5
- in Amsterdam, Netherlands, May 6-7 (symposiums@foundationuniversity.com)
If you're in the Dallas area, in addition to the book signing events for Naked Spirituality, I especially hope you'll consider coming to the workshops at Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal, Friday evening and Saturday morning, April 8-9. The registration fee is only $10 for each of the two sessions. These workshops give us the chance to go deeper and have more interaction than we could in a single presentation . You'll find more information here.
A reader (and friend from the church I formerly served as pastor), wrote:
It has been a while! After reading your response to John Piper I thought the following was unfair:
"I doubt he, or many like him, will ever change course because this kind of explanation, for them, is fidelity—to their way of reading the Bible, to their understanding of God, to their tradition of strict Calvinism. To propose another way of thinking about the issues must seem like proposing infidelity." From what I have gleaned from more than one of your books--I think it would be safe to say that if we jumped back 20 years your response to the Japan earthquake would have been similar to Piper's. And while I agree with your response, I can say with confidence that if we were to jump back 10 years my response would definitely be the same as Piper's. So, when you state that you doubt that "he, or many like him, will ever change course" I believe it leaves God out of the equation. I honestly believe that God has changed both of our hearts to be more compassionate and that same God is capable of changing the hearts of everyone in this world including Piper's. Of course, the last sentence of the previous paragraph makes the assumption that we are right and Piper is wrong which is narrow-minded. While I agree with you that simple answers for the sake of comfort is not what God has called us to, there is the possibility that Piper is correct. Anyway, if we are correct in our thinking and approach to our creator, while Piper and others with similar cognitive processes are incorrect with theirs, I am hopeful rather than doubtful that God will mold them into who he wants them to be, just as I am hopeful that God will continue you to mold you and me into who he wants us to be.Thanks for this note. I think you're right. That comment of mine wasn't fair, nor was it helpful. That became all the more clear to me when I read this piece from a Presbyterian pastor who came to an "I was wrong" moment on the issue of homosexuality.
I suspect that my "they'll never change" comment was in part an expression of cynicism, in part an attempt to be understanding rather than judgmental, and in part a way of publicly expecting the worst while secretly hoping for better. So thanks for your comment and your challenge to have more faith and hope. You're right.
Wow - if you haven't seen Alter Video Magazine, it's excellent. Check it out here.'
And I also just learned about the Peaceful Christian website ... No doubt this is needed!
http://thepeacefulchristian.com/
A trusted friend in Egypt gives an update on the situation there.
"Why don't more Muslims denounce violence and terrorism?" many people ask. The truth is, they're doing so constantly, but nobody listens. Here's a collection of Muslim voices denouncing violence and terrorism.
Bill Dahl reviews Naked Spirituality ... here.
And this isn't a link, but it's an encouraging note from a reader:
Continue reading Links Roundup ......
Two good - and related questions recently came in relating to the big Rob Bell controversy. First, do I ever think "they" are right?
I just read Rob Bell's book "Love Wins," and it won me over. Then I started reading the online attacks on the book, and the venom and vitriol there staged a counterrevolution. Now I think love doesn't stand a chance. Don't you think you're just making God in your preferred image to say that love wins? Don't you fear that the critics could be right, and that God is as mean/nasty/arrogant/pompous as his/her followers? I think you and Bell are fools to fight against these guys. They have all the firepower.
Second, do I think unity is even possible?
It's nice for McLaren and the so-called emergents to talk about love wins and give peace a chance, blah, blah, blah. But we know what really wins in the end. Money and fear. How can love and peace bring unity when they refuse to win through money and fear? Yeah, I know Paul wrote about the dividing walls coming down, but you're fooling yourself if you think you can pull that idealism off in this world. McLaren is a fool, so forget big-tent Christianity and get some pup tents and warm sleeping bags. You're all gonna need 'em 'cause it's cold out there.
Continue reading Q & R: McLaren is a Fool...
Emergent Village sent out this note from my friend Gareth Higgins about a chance for a gaggle of us to flock together in North Carolina, June 23-26 ...
Dear Emergent Village friends,
As you may have heard, the Wild Goose Festival is taking place for the first time this June 23-26, at Shakori Hills, near Raleigh-Durham, NC. Our goals seem audacious, just as Emergent Village's goals seemed audacious just over a decade ago when they were pioneered: We're gathering at the intersection of justice, spirituality and art with the firm intention of becoming a unique and significant space promoting social change in the US and elsewhere. Our roots in the traditions of social justice, creativity, and Celtic spirituality are perhaps most clearly exemplified by our friends at the Greenbelt Festival in the UK (see http://greenbelt.org.uk). It has had as many as 30 000 people attend, and has become a culture-shaping movement in Europe. We want Wild Goose to do the same in North America. I'm writing to you today to ask you to be part of the founding Wild Goose community by buying your ticket and encouraging your friends to do the same - or volunteering, and encouraging your cohort to do likewise.
Greenbelt has, over the years, seen provocative engagement from speakers, performers and musicians like Rowan Williams, Anita Roddick, U2, Bruce Cockburn, Richard Rohr, and Michael Franti. The Jubilee 2000 campaign to end developing world debt was launched at the festival; Greenbelt has become a UK center for spiritual activism on climate change, poverty, social inclusion, and prejudice. But it wasn't always like this. Once upon a time, Greenbelt had only a few hundred people show up to a farm in England, in 1974. This original Greenbelt community gave birth to the festival that has become the axis of the year for so many people. A space where tens of thousands of people come to connect with friends and make new ones; to experience kaleidoscopic art; to be intellectually transformed and resourced for activism; and to have a fantastic time.
Wild Goose can become something similar - but not without your help. Just as Greenbelt depended on early adopters to get the festival off the ground, Wild Goose will only take flight if communities like Emergent Village come to the first festival, and show up strong.
I'm privileged to serve as Executive Director of the Wild Goose Festival, and I can say without hesitation that this first year has one of the most diverse, provocative, entertaining, and just flippin' exciting lineup of speakers, musicians, performers (and food vendors!) I've ever seen in the US. Haven't seen our lineup yet? Stop reading this & go to http://bit.ly/WildGooseLineup right now! We'll be confirming more musicians, speakers, artists & comedians in just a few days, but this gives you a generous helping of just who will be present.
We're seeking to build a festival that will collapse hierarchies between performers and the audience - so we'll all have the chance to interact with each other as equals. This really is your festival to make of what you wish. If you want to debate Jim Wallis about the future of US politics, go to a workshop led by Richard Rohr, have a conversation with Phyllis Tickle about the future of spirituality in America, or listen to civil rights hero Dr Vincent Harding imagine how we can pursue the teachings of his friend Martin Luther King today; if you want to participate in music experiences with the Psalters, Michelle Shocked, Derek Webb and David Wilcox; if you want to interact with Native American liturgy, or interfaith conversations, or engage with our major social justice theme of prison and restorative justice; if you want to be part of conversations about urban violence and foreign policy, movies and spirituality, or sexuality and theology, then you should come to Wild Goose, because we're offering all of this and more.
Your willingness to come, and to contribute financially by buying a ticket today will make you part of a potential tipping point in the history of justice, faith and creativity in North America. Just as it is for the people who came to the first Greenbelt, being part of the first Wild Goose Festival will carry a significant legacy - a legacy that you're already a part of by participating in Emergent Village beyond its perceived trendiness or infamy, liability or cool cachet. When the talking heads have died down, that's when the real conversation and action begin. It is here where we can meet on uncommon ground.
So I'm asking you to become part of the original Wild Goose Festival community: to join the group of people who are and always will be responsible for kicking off this important movement that already has a great history through our sister festival in Europe. It's a chance to be part of something bigger than yourself, and to genuinely help make it happen. We're not asking you to join a church, or to make a daily commitment, or to do something that you don't already want to do. We're asking you to become part of something that could actually help change our society for the better. And because - like it or not - the US still extends huge influence around the world, maybe Wild Goose will have a reach far beyond the borders of the country where it's taking place.
Can I count on you to do two things?
1: Please buy your ticket to the festival today at http://wildgoose.eventbrite.com Our ticket price is subsidized to be as low as possible; there are good rates for families, groups, and students; but the price must go up as we near the festival. In fact, if you can purchase your tickets before next Thursday, April 7, at midnight, you can get $10 off each ticket by entering the code 'Emergent-Village' at the checkout.
2: Please commit to recruiting 3 other people to attend. We have limited the number of tickets to help nurture a community spirit - so we want you to bring your friends. We expect tickets to sell out, and after this has happened, we cannot add anymore tickets for sale. So don't wait: buy your tickets today.
This first Wild Goose Festival will be a gathering we all remember - I hope you'll want to be a part of the original Wild Goose community. We can only do this together; and if we do it, the possibilities are endless.
Please feel free to contact me at any time.
In peace and anticipation, Gareth
A reader of Naked Spirituality writes:
I'm not sure if this email gets to Mr. McLaren or not, but I just wanted to say that I started Naked Spirituality last night and I find the words themselves to be a soothing balm to my wounded Christian soul. I'm eager to finish the book, and yet I find myself compelled to savor it as well. I just wanted to say thank you.
A reader writes ...
Dear Brian,
with all the hubbub surrounding Rob Bell's new book, i had to read that one first.
Naked Spirituality sat on the coffee table tempting me like a 4 star restaurant's dessert tray and now i know why...i only got to PAGE TWO and the laughter and tears began!
Thank You... Thank you for putting into words such a loving and gentle way to shed the all the religious garb and return to God, naked and beautiful.
I really felt a strong hug and gentle push to think that all the religious garbage collected over the years has actually smothered out my walk with the Creator and Lover of my soul...it has, in a sense, made me walk away from God....He is still there but it is my tuner that got turned to low frequency so as not to be hurt again.
the flame is lit...the joy is returning!!
i couldnt put the book down until my eyes closed and i found myself several minutes later asleep on the couch with the book still in my hands...
thank you!!
and best of all...
Love never fails....Love Wins........lets act like it.
i found that you will be visiting a city near me in October and i am excited!!
i wrote to laci to find out who the hosting party will be and where....you better believe i will be in the crowd on Oct. 6, cheering you on.
thank you so much for the work you are doing....
A reader writes ...
Your writing just gets better and better. Thanks for the diligence and prayer you obviously put into your writing.
I am a third of the way through Naked Spirituality. It is incredible. I have developed a personal plan for reading and applying the book for the next 12 months. If you think it would be helpful to share this plan and have others contribute to it, please do so. If not, no hard feelings. The plan is this:
Between now and March 31, read the book all the way through.
Beginning in April and going through March 2012 I will take one practice a month for a focus, corresponding with the seasons of the year.
Being an avid reader I am planning to not only reread the two chapters per practice but to supplement that reading with another book devoted to that practice.
I am wondering if something could be set up on your website listing other books and perhaps recording experiences of each practice. Anyone could add to the list of books or write of experiences to share with others.
This is a new idea to me so I don't have suggestions for each practice, but some I do have are as follows:
April - HERE - Richard Rohr, The Naked Now
May - THANKS - David Stendl-Rast, Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer
June - O - Robert Benson, That We May Perfecly Love Thee
July - SORRY - Barbara Brown Taylor, Speaking of Sin
December - WHY - Rohr, Job and the Mystery of Suffering
Let me know if I can do anything to help.
I hope to see you at Highland Baptist Church in Louisville on April 10. I pastor another church in Louisville. It will depend on how The Masters is shaking down that afternoon!
Thanks for writing, and for sharing these preliminary thoughts on a reading plan. This is exactly the kind of response I was hoping for - so I'm really encouraged to hear this from you. Yes, you can help - and here's how:
I created a simple site for the book, with each practice listed. The idea is that people can share songs, prayers, exercises, stories, etc., as a "comment" to the relevant practice. And resources related to the book as a whole - like your reading plan - could be posted as comments to the front page. The site is:
https://nakedspirituality.wordpress.com/
I just received this note from someone who is reading Naked Spirituality:
I am currently reading Brian’s book, Naked Spirituality. I keep experiencing some diabolical problems with this book: 1. I keep tearing up – it slows my reading immensely.2. I have to put the book down and ponder it --- again, slows my consumption.
3. The book is causing questions to arise – I have to pause to ponder these.
4. There is uncanny practical application to my life – at this juncture – as well as my future plans.
5. The book is making deposits in my life – at a time when I found myself overdrawn.
6. I think the book is rearranging some spiritual/behavioral DNA for me in a new --- and yet-to-be understood configuration.
7. Brian’s dance with language is enchanting – again – slows the pace of my reading.
This book is dangerous – you should have put a warning label on it – or provided a packet of Kleenex. Yet, it’s also an incredibly beautiful, heartfelt invitation to become something more – vastly more --- an invitation I distinctly appreciate at this time.
Two recent questions on this important subject ...
First, a friend sent this note in response to my post a while back:
I recently read your post in reply to a question about the Fogel family. I wanted to let you know I very much appreciated the way in which you handled such a volatile question, answer honestly and compassionately and without backing down. The incident was horrific and extremely disheartening. What I find interesting is the need to find fault with the other instead of simply sitting in the overwhelming tension of the moment. The cycle of violence has continued and will continue: the Israeli government announced 1,000 more housing units in retaliation, and the previous week an all-girls school near Nablus was threatened with bombs, a Palestinian home was firebombed, and 5,000 olive trees were burned or uprooted. CNN didn't cover that. I am haunted by this cycle and increasingly Jesus becomes more and more a life-threatening and life-giving interpeter of time. May those who have been subjected by this story actually take heed.
The comment about "finding fault with the other" strikes me as terribly important, and suggests three habits we all need to develop.
1. Blaming whole groups for the actions of subgroups perpetuates the cycle of violence.
One crazed Palestinian extremist group does something horrible, and (in the minds of some) all Palestinians are to blame. A unit in the Israeli Defense Force does something horrible and (in the minds of some) all Israelis are to blame. So much evil in our world comes from group blame - races, religions, parties, and so on. To break the cycle of violence, we have to develop a new habit: the habit of refusing group blame.
2. Discounting the suffering of the other perpetuates the cycle of violence.
Can we say - often and firmly - what is so obvious, but so seldom acknowledged? Both sides have suffered greatly. The suffering of Israelis doesn't discount the suffering of Palestinians, or vice versa. Rather, each side, as it suffers, can seize an opportunity to empathize with the other: "Ah, so this is how my counterparts feel when violence is perpetuated against innocent people in the name of my people." This kind of empathy can help break the cycle of violence.
3. The media aren't disinterested or neutral, so it's dangerous to trust only one source for news.
Those of us who have visited the region know that reality on the ground is very different from the picture given by the largest US media corporations. Here, filtering tends to favor the Israeli side and disfavors the Palestinian side. In other countries, the most powerful media no doubt favor and disfavor the opposite sides. It takes work to hear all sides of a story, and as the ancient Proverb says (18:17), "The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him." We all need to develop the habit of withholding judgment until we've heard multiple perspectives.
Another reader writes ...
Continue reading Sitting in the Overwhelming Tension of the Moment in Israel-Palestine...
Ken Shephard offers a review of philosopher Charles Taylor here. Quotable:
From the vantage point of faith we might recognize in Taylor’s recent work a kind of negative or apophatic theology: in attempting to clarify the stakes of our moral dilemmas today and their connections to one another in a shared history, Taylor has made it apparent that returning to an earlier point in our history is so unlikely as to be impossible, not to say undesirable. What is more, for the Christian this longing for a return rigidly expressed is actually unnecessary: every generation of the church has “realized anew” the meaning of the Christian proclamation. Such creative renewal today confronts the complicated challenge that is our ethical world.
Awkward Silence ...a new blog about an ongoing conversation between an Evangelical and a gay Christian.
A hunger strike ... to draw attention to the misguided budget cuts being promoted by some of our national political leaders.
Here's the Q:
I read your blog on an almost daily basis, thank you for the continual reflections and stimuli that you bring so regularly. I've often wondered who are these people that send in so many questions, and now I know - because I have one of my own.
Continue reading Q & R: Heterosexuality...
From a reader in Indonesia:
I know that what I'm going to say probably you've already heard thousands, if not, millions of times from people across the globe. But still, I think, I really need to say:THANK YOU, Sir.
For giving me a relieve, that it turns out that I'm not the only one who's thinking that we missed the questions to our world's problems. The answer is JESUS, no doubt about it. But we missed the question for years and decades.
I believe that one of JESUS' principles on teaching is RELEVANCE. And this principle doesn't generally apply in all denominations of Christianity. If only, all Christians have the RELEVANCE principle, then we would serve better, share the gospel better, became a more effective witness on this world, and do our best to cope with the problems of our post-modern age and to have it answered with the wisdom and the grace of GOD.
Once again, thank you Pastor. I myself still struggling for my thoughts upon humanity as global and Indonesia as local. I will kept grow my mind to have concern of these problems, to promote these problems *and of course, to promote your books also* to those around me.
Thank you, thank you.
May all Christians know the truth, both young and old, both senior or newborn Christians, so that the truth shall set us free, and eventually, hopefully, to ease the world's devastating problems.
Thanks for writing.Be assured, I haven't sold millions of books - not even close - so I am grateful for all the encouragement that comes my way. Especially from the other side of the world!
Frederick Schmidt asks some tough questions about how we train church leaders ... here. Quotable:
Seminarians often head off to school, uproot their families, and begin paying tuition bills with little clear indication from their churches that their denominations share their enthusiasm for their vocation; and there is little honest information about the shape of the opportunities that lie ahead. In some cases a seminarian can wait five to seven years before learning if she will be ordained, and in the meantime he is forced to run a gauntlet of committees and requirements that is more akin to hazing for membership in a fraternity, than it is serious preparation for ministry.So, should we throw the system out, disband our seminaries, and launch even more deeply into the brave new world of clergy preparation? Should we throw the task back on the churches, requiring each one to grow its own clergy? Or should we rely on regional choices and an array of on-line approaches? All of those options are currently in play.
... Realistically speaking, I am afraid that we will limp along with a struggling seminary system and a church that never quite clarifies what it wants from its clergy. As one bishop told me, "We (bishops) don't have strategic conversations about this or anything."
Years ago, I suggested that the seminary of the future should be one part seminar (on Scripture, theology, church history, leadership, etc.), one part monastery (focusing on spiritual formation, including emotional maturity and character development), and one part mission agency (deploying the student into experiences and internships among the poor, the sick, the mentally ill, the imprisoned, refugees, migrant workers, the elderly, children, and so on). More recently, I've wondered whether new church development requires a radically different kind of training from ministry in an established or declining church. I've also wondered if what we really need are pastoral orders - think the Franciscans or the Benedictines - where postulants become members of a lifelong community of lifelong learning, mutual support, and friendship. This is truly an important subject, and kudos to Dr. Schmidt for getting the issue on the table.
Here's the Q:
http://www.brianmclaren.net/archives/000018.htmlThe above link is from 2003 in response to Mclaren's letter to Chuck Colsen's "unfair" description of post modernism. While reading it, I kept wondering, ok, since Colsen has it wrong about what post modernism IS, what are the TRUE beliefs of adherents to Post Modernism? How are they different from Classical Evangelicals?
Continue reading Q & R: Postmodernism redux...
Here's the Q:
Full disclosure, I work for BP...I graduated w/ a degree in chemical engineering and entered the energy industry. I found your book everything must change very interesting w/ my great observations. I am not writing this in defense of anything, but as one seeking some advice...
Back in 2008, I attending an Emerging church conference in Albuquerque, NM hosted by Richard Rohr. Yourself, Shane Claibou\rne and Phyllis Tickle were speakers. It was an awesome experience. I am still trying to catch up w/ all the books I bought there - so much to learn!
But, I always felt like I didn't fit in b/c I worked for an energy company, and that was before tragic events of April 2010. At one point at the Sojourners booth, the volunteer was so taken back by the fact that myself, and my friend, both of us employees in the energy industry, were looking at purchasing a "Green Bible".
And then every Sunday at my church, I might not necessarily be judged b/c of my place of employment, but I would if they really sat down w/ me to hear how my heart beats. No offense,but in some conservative circles, saying you have read, appreciate and learned from Brian McLaren literature is slightly frowned upon. But maybe you haven't noticed (wink, wink)...
So at it never seems like I can quite "fit in". I am always on the outside. An "oil man" at an emerging church conference, or too "liberal" at my local church. Whatever either of labels actually means, I don't know. Personally, I don't think they define me b/c they are just so superficial.
So my question is, how do I stop feeling like such an outsider?
Continue reading Q & R: I Never Fit In...
Here's the Q:
Continue reading Q & R: From a graduate student, on my journey...
A reader writes:
My name is xxx and I'm from Rochester, NY. I was both delighted and disappointed to see that you're scheduled to visit here at the beginning of April. I was delighted, of course, to see that our little city rates! But I was disappointed because family and community responsibilites keep me from attending. Ah, well, maybe next time. :)
I wanted to to let you know how much I am enjoying Naked Spirituality. It is exactly what I needed, at just the right time. My first impulse was to do what I always do with a good book--devour it nearly whole. But I found that isn't how this one is best enjoyed. It has to be consumed slowly, and savored. It's so refreshing. Keep up the good work, and don't listen to the negative voices. Not only are you saying what so many of us have been thinking, now you're calling us to grow deeper, too. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I'm so sorry I'll miss meeting you in person in Rochester. As you said, maybe next time - and I'm thrilled both that you're enjoying the book and that you're reading it slowly. It's really a book to do and work with, not just to read and think about ... as you'll notice, about a dozen times in the book, I ask readers to put the book down and stop reading and engage in some practice with the postures or attitudes of heart that I am trying to present. It's great to hear that this is just what you're doing. Thanks for the encouraging words.
I was invited to respond to Dr. John Piper's recent blog on the Japan earthquake, which I found as striking in its clarity as it was disturbing in its assumptions and conclusions. Here's my response at The Other Journal.
Here's the Q:
I just finished reading “A New Kind of Christianity” while being a deployed Air Force Chaplain and I have one request…please expand (or point me where he has already expanded on) his line on the bottom of page 255: “…nor do I believe Christianity (or any religion) is the answer in itself. Of course, I believe it can be part of the answer, but only if it doesn’t see itself as the answer.”
Here's the R:
There's a beautiful song by Noel Paul Stookey that deserves to be shared before I say anything. Here's a simple version of it I found on youtube:
Continue reading Q & R: One request ......
In an earlier post I mentioned the predictable negativity of one category of response to Rob Bell's new book, Love Wins. But there have been some surprisingly positive responses too - refreshingly open-minded and irenic voices that have argued for giving the book a fair hearing rather than foreclosing upon honest exploration. Doing even this much in many settings requires courage, and I imagine each of these people will get a generous helping of critical response from those who wish they had either stayed silent or sided more with the "to hell with Bell" perspective.
This from Richard Mouw of Fuller Seminary. Quotable:
I find their attitude puzzling. Maybe they think that folks like Rob Bell and me go too far in the direction of leniency, but what about folks who go in the other direction? I just received an angry email from someone who pulled a comment out of something I wrote a few years ago in Christianity Today. A prominent evangelical had criticized those of us who have been in a sustained dialogue with Catholics for giving the impression that a person can be saved without having the right theology about justification by faith. My response to that: of course a person can be saved without having the right theology of justification by faith. A straightforward question: Did Mother Teresa go to hell? My guess is that she was a little confused about justification by faith alone. If you think that means she went to hell, I have only one response: shame on you.Why don’t folks who criticize Rob Bell for wanting to let too many people in also go after people like that who want to keep too many people out? Why are we rougher on salvific generosity than on salvific stinginess?
Mark Galli, in a largely negative review that resembles in all material aspects Dr. Albert Mohler's, does strike a positive note or two. Quotable:
...Bell has raised crucial questions that evangelicals have been whispering about for some years. We should thank him for bringing these issues to light, so we can openly examine them afresh today. Is the Bible mostly creative human thinking or the revelation of God's Word? Has blood atonement become too bloody for modern ears? What does the Cross actually accomplish? Is liberalism the way of the future or just a tempting rabbit trail? How do we talk about the gospel so it is unmistakably good news? And so on.
I happen to believe that the center will hold, that orthodoxy will show again that it has the truer and thicker grasp of the Bible and of life. Still, we would be foolish to ignore the questions Bell has raised, because the ensuing conversation will force us to find fresh ways to talk about all this.
Scot McKnight, who will probably come forward with his more critical comments soon, boldly validates the importance of the issue. Quotable:
My own estimation is that somewhere near 75 percent of my students, many if not most of them nurtured in the church, are more or less universalist. They believe in Jesus and see themselves as Christians but don’t find significant problems in God saving Muslims and Buddhists or anyone else on the basis of how God makes such decisions. The Baylor Study of Religion, if my memory is correct, asked a question or two that reveals that an increasing number of American evangelical Christians think the majority of humans will be saved. That’s the issue, and Rob Bell had the moxie to write a book about it. He’s rattled cages with his promo video, and he will undoubtedly stir the waters in the book....My contention is this: the approach to this generation is not to denounce their questions, which often enough are rooted in a heightened sensitivity to divine justice and compassion, but to probe their questions from the inside and to probe thoughtful and biblically responsible resolutions. We need to show that their questions about justice and God’s gracious love are not bad questions but good questions that deserve to be explored.
Rob himself has written a beautiful post about the inspiration behind the book - here.
Here's the invitation:
Brian, I talked to you after your presentation to church leaders in Iowa City several weeks ago. I noted your comment that lay people are flocking to seminaries seeking spiritual and theological deepening, and asked if there are any venues for this kind of learning outside the option of seminary. You asked if I could write and tell you what I would hope for or imagine. My answers are not very specific, but here are my thoughts.
1) Could there be a place of theological and spiritual reflection that, instead of primarily training for a pastorate, would focus on training people for engaging the workplace, their communities and families?
2) I also imagine a safe place for questions for Christians or seekers struggling to deepen their faith and understanding.
3) I also see a need for a place to learn practices which help free us from what binds us and help us receive God’s love and enable us to offer it to others.
4) A place to be in healthy dialogue with those of other perspectives (i.e. other denominations, other faiths, and those outside established faith traditions).
When I read my list it occurs to me that maybe that is what church is for . . . but I think what I’m hoping for is more than what churches can really offer.
I'd love to see folks pick this up for discussion on my facebook page here:
http://www.facebook.com/brian.d.mclaren
What would you be looking for in a seminary for "normal" people?
Have you experienced this kind of learning environment somewhere already that you can share about?
Have you see this sort of learning community provided by churches?
Here's the Q:
In your book “Adventures in Missing the Point”, there was something that really disturbed me. When addressing homosexuality, both you and Tony seem to be saying that Gays and Lesbians should wrestle with their desires and live a celibate life. I know this book was published in 2003 and am wondering if you have changed your views on this or do you still feel that way. I hope not. Why should we be required to suffer for our entire lives? I can’t believe you think we should live that way.
I have greatly enjoyed your books and in some of them you seem quite clear; in others you seem ambiguous. I came to peace with God on this a long time ago (30 years) and God has been faithful. I am tired of trying to deal with folks who want us to go to Hell when we die and also want us to live in Hell while we are yet breathing. It seems to me that Jesus said something about us being “judged by the same measure with which we judge”. That certainly leaves a lot of people in big trouble, doesn’t it?
Continue reading Q & R: Adventures in Missing the Point about Homosexuality...
I received this email recently:
I must confess that I haven't read A New Kind of Christianity. But I do have a burning desire in my soul, and I feel like this is a safe outlet to bring it to the table. I was raised Christian, and after much questioning and rebellion, my awareness opened up several years ago, closed again a year and a half later (was convinced by christians that my new found awareness and mystical experiences were demonic), and now has bursted forth out of the box I have lived most of my life in. Things are making much more sense now, and I feel much more intune with the world and the people in it- what a relieving breath of fresh air.I suddenly have desires to pursue disciplines of other faiths...namely, kundalini yoga and attending mystery school called nine gates. Why? Because I feel potentiality bursting forth from within me without the appropriate channel to pour out of....if that makes any sense at all.
There's part of me that feels so incredibly drawn to this. But then there is this caution...fear I have about pursuing these new horizons...mainly that I could be deceived or devoured spiritually or something. I don't know if that's God guarding my heart, or simply the manifestation of the systematic theology I was raised to hold absolute.
So I'm wondering....are these things dangerous in your opinion? I feel like there's so much more potential that Christianity is benign to at this time...is it wrong to pursue it in other traditions?
Continue reading Q & R: A burning desire ......
I'm looking forward to being in Upstate New York at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School in a few weeks.
Date: Mon. Apr. 4 & Tues. Apr. 5
Location: Third Presbyterian Church, 4 Meigs St., Rochester, NY 14607
Schedule:
Apr. 4, 7–9 p.m. “Everything Must Change”
Apr. 5, 9 a.m.–4 p.m.
Morning session – “Christianity as Way and Practice”;
Afternoon session – “Public Worship as Spiritual Formation”
You can register here.
I hope to meet many of you at the workshop!
My friend Paul Rauschenbusch will be speaking in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, 29 March ... you can sign up here.
Want to be a Questian? Check this out ...
Because of my own experience as a writer, I've been anticipating the baptism in hot water (or worse) that Rob Bell was about to experience with the publication "Love Wins." And because of the old saying that it's not the attacks of your critics but the silence of your friends that hurts the most, I've been looking for an opportunity to speak up in Rob's defense.
I couldn't help but predict who would be first at bat with critique, what they would say, and how they would say it. A prominent Southern Baptist leader, Dr. Albert Mohler, put it well: "We Have Seen This All Before." His response to Rob's book, in an article under that title, will be judged by fans a veritable home-run of a response. It stirred up a few responses which I'd like to share.
Continue reading Will "Love Wins" Win? We're early in the first inning ......
... we used a confession of sin that resonated with me very deeply. I've expanded and adapted it a bit below. It has obvious connections to the fourth word/practice in Naked Spirituality. By the way, if you haven't checked out the site, you'll see that some beautiful songs and other liturgical resources have already been added there. Thanks to all who have added things - especially Sara Kay for her gorgeous songs. I hope many more of you - songwriters, poets, liturgists, artists, dramatists - will add resources and links too.
Leader: Living God, like the prodigal son,
People: We have run away from our true home in you.
L: Like the older brother,
P: We have held ourselves aloof from those we consider unacceptable.
L: Like James and John,
P: We have slept through others' sorrow.
L: Like Peter,
P: We have boasted of our fidelity, and then denied and betrayed you.
L: Like Pilate,
P: We have asked what truth is, without truly wanting to know.
L: Like nine of the ten lepers you healed,
P: We have been blessed but have not been thankful.
L: And yet, as with the woman at the well,
P: You give us living water in the heat of the day.
L: As with the man born blind,
P: You open our eyes.
L: As with Simon the Pharisee,
P: You teach us the wideness of your mercy.
L: As at the wedding of Cana in Galilee,
Y: You turn our water into wine.
L: As with the disciples,
P: You wash our feet.
L: As with the rebel hanging near you,
P: You promise us paradise.
L: As with Peter,
P: You restore us in your love and reinstate us in your mission.
L: As you did for those gathered in the upper room at Pentecost,
P: Your pour out upon us all the gracious Holy Spirit.
L: And so, O Lord,
P: We open our hearts to receive your grace and be transformed by your invincible love. Amen.
Here's the Q:
I hope my greeting isn't too familiar, but your writings make you seem so personable. And despite the differences in our backgrounds, I feel a kinship with you in your vision of what Christianity can be. I wrote to you several months ago - I was the angsty Mormon whose email you published in January.My wife and I were in the audience Friday night in Iowa City (and fourth in line to have our copy of A New Kind of Christianity signed by you). We had a terrific evening and thoroughly enjoyed the lecture. My wife, whose familiarity with your writings was limited to knowledge that I've read some of them, really enjoyed it. We are grateful that you made the trip here, and that we were able to attend.
I loved the Lord's Prayer exercise we did - the simplicity of the chant - with hundreds of our voices echoing in that big sanctuary - was moving. Where did that version of the prayer come from? Is that from a translation that I'm just not familiar with, or is it one that you've devised? Could you point me to a place where I could read it (and transcribe it)? I'd love to have it be a part of my spiritual practice.
I love having the familiar rendered unfamiliar - it helps me see a new how radical Jesus' message was.
Continue reading Q & R: The Lord's Prayer...
Something Beautiful Podcast ... with Travis Mamone: here.
Homebrewed Christianity podcast ... with Bo Sanders: here.
I think you'll enjoy both of these. It's been a good and interesting experience for me to be doing these interviews on the new book. I feel more like a pastor in these interviews than I have in a long time: there's just something right about focusing on the spiritual life, you know?
This question recently came in:
You write a lot about the plight of the Palestinians. Do you have anything to say about the murder of the Fogel family in Israel this past week, and the wider terror war Israel has endured for decades?
I am against all violence because I am a follower of Jesus. I believe Jesus was right when he said that those who live by the sword die by it - which means, in part, that violence leads to more violence. Dr. King echoed Jesus when he said you can murder a murderer, but you can't murder murder. The act of violence as a response to violence breeds more violence and creates systems of violence. The way of Jesus is a way out of this temptation; he came to deliver us from this evil. This is, I believe, in large part what those lines of the Lord's prayer mean: Do not lead us into the time of trial/temptation; liberate us from the evil.
If we ever hope to see swords beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks, we must realize that Jesus was right, beginning with his call to love our enemies instead of hating them and wiping them out. Truth, justice, and reconciliation lead to peace - not half-truths, injustice, and cycles of domination/revolution.
So I believe the murder of any Israeli is evil, as is the murder of any Palestinian. I believe that expanding settlements are land theft, much like (not exactly like, since no two historical events are exactly alike) the land theft our ancestors in the US perpetuated against Native Americans. I believe that violent reprisals against settlers like the Fogels are equally wrong. And I believe the ongoing occupation of Palestine is also unjust and wrong. Each represents a violation of the commandments and a breach of international law. Compounding evil with more evil - on any side of a conflict - is all too human and common, but that doesn't mean it's right.
Regarding Israel and Palestine, I always say the same thing: we need solutions that are pro-Israeli, pro-Palestinian, pro-Jew, pro-Muslim, pro-Christian, pro-peace, and pro-justice. Those solutions aren't easy, and violence only sends us farther away from good solutions, whether that violence is done to or by Israelis or Palestinians, or anybody else.
When people use religion - Islam, Christianity, or Judaism - to defend violence and even to glorify it, we see the darkest side of religion. Sometimes angry religious people focus their darkest energies on members of their own religion, seeing them as traitors when they try to show the same love to stranger and enemy they show to their religious brothers and sisters. This was the case recently for my friend Rabbi Michael Lerner. Why should a religious leader be attacked for calling for justice for all?
With all this in mind, I was especially pleased to read Paul-Gordon Chandler's even-handed and sane account of recent religious violence in Egypt. Thank God for people of every faith who reach out to the other in love.
Wherever you are, whatever your religion, I hope you'll open yourself towards the possibility of a deeper conversion - a deeper conversion against violence and hate in the name of your faith, and a deeper conversion towards peace and love that extends even to those you consider your opponents and enemies. God isn't on the side of hate, so if we want a life with God, we must start by turning from hate.
Thanks for your question.
A reader writes:
Wow - I noticed that the first amazon.com review of your new book was pretty negative, and it came up within hours of the book's release. I've heard you usually don't read reviews, but I wondered if you had a response to that first one that came up?
Continue reading Q & R: Wow! That was fast ......
A reader writes:
Just a quick note to say how much I appreciate your writings at the moment I am reading A New Kind of Christianity and it has brought hope back to my life. I was brought up in a Plymouth Brethen background in the UK and for a number of years I have struggled with my faith but since reading your books and some books from other authors in the postmodern genre, I have felt a great weight lifted from me and an excitement about my faith again. This poem came out of that.
A little acorn of hope grew within my heart
I watered and cared for it and it put roots deep within my soul.
With wisdom, love and my spirit able to be free,
My hope grew so tall and started growing leaves,
Spreading branches to the corners of my mind
Now when the winds of doubt and uncertainty blow through,
I swing and sway but my roots hold true.Sian Steel Nov 2010
On women in the church ... a beautiful piece by Dr. Serene Jones.
You'll find a truly unflattering statistical portrait of American Evangelicals - in graphic form - here. If this isn't a call to action for mainstream Evangelical leaders, I don't know what is.
For a beautiful portrait of an Evangelical Christian's response to the recent rise in anti-Muslim rhetoric, here is Lynne Hybel's recent blog. And here's a great short interview with Jay Bakker.
Bill McKibbin gets it right as usual, on the Kochs and the CoC, here. And Bill Moyers/Michael Winship also get it right, on NPR, here.
This excellent piece deals with an emerging generation of young theologians and theological reflection in our multi-faith world ... Quotable:
Spiritual, not religious. One should not be too quick to condemn the “I’m spiritual, not religious” mantra of many students, for it may express a desire for more depth than they are being fed in mainstream religious education.Two dimensions of Christian faith have deep appeal to many of these students. First is their discovery that faith is not the same thing as assent to dogma or adherence to religious duty. Religion in these senses attends faith but does not describe it. Rather, faith is the acceptance of the gift of God’s love in the person of Jesus. It is a relationality “more intimate to me than I am to myself,” to quote St. Augustine. When shared and communicated, that relationality establishes a community of faith. When students see it this way they are freed to focus on the heart of the matter and to appreciate the classical expressions of faith, like the creeds and council teachings.
The second dimension is the notion of God as mystery: God as incomprehensible, ineffable, endlessly knowable and lovable yet not possibly contained or summed up within a single doctrinal formulation. God is not an object alongside others. This too is freeing. It allows students to discover how their search for the spiritual dovetails with the deepest parts of their religious selves. The choice is not between atheism and faith but between simplistic formulations of faith and a journey through life into their own transcendent depths. Many students seek to be religious with spiritual depth.
This beautifully captures the relationship between "religious" and "spiritual" that I'm working with in Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words.
If you live in the DC area, you can hear one of our best contemporary theologians, Dr. Michael Gorman, this weekend ... I wish I could be there. Here's info:
Continue reading Links Roundup ......
Thanks for following this countdown of quotes from my new book - available today.
I hope you'll consider running out to your favorite bookstore and buying a copy, and maybe even an extra copy or two for friends and family members. Please know how grateful I am for and to my faithful readers!
Naked we came from the womb, Job said, and naked we shall depart this life, but in between, we clothe ourselves in a thousand fascinating ways. Think of the immense variety and meaning of clothing in human society – military uniforms, academic regalia, religious robes; clothing as status symbol, designer labels as the mark of belonging to an in-group, festive costumes to celebrate a holiday or season; a prom dress, a wedding gown, bikini, burka; white lab coat, faded blue jeans; bright green shirts or bold red jerseys to proclaim political protest or team loyalty. We all learn to speak verbal languages – English, Chinese, Spanish, and so on – but we all must become fluent in the finely nuanced languages of dress as well. If clothing means and expresses so much, then of course so does nakedness. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Preface)
Here's a way you can build a human connection to Afghanistan on March 20. I've participated in this call before, and highly recommend it ....
Continue reading Want to contribute to world peace?...
Today's the release date for Naked Spirituality. Here's what the first readers of the book have said.
***** “Wise, easy to read, and practical.” (Fr. Richard Rohr, author of The Naked Now )
***** “Brian McLaren is a bridge builder. In these simple yet profound spiritual practices he perfectly marries his evangelical heart and contemplative soul, and we are all richer for the union.” (Cynthia Bourgeault, author of Centering Prayer and The Wisdom Jesus )
***** “A rich, brilliant and important book: wonderfully readable and personal, filled with insight and wisdom, it invites us into practices that can transform our lives.” (Marcus J. Borg, author of Speaking Christian )
***** "I first discovered Brian McLaren’s writing over a decade ago in the midst of a personal crisis of faith. The Christianity I’d espoused since childhood no long answered the deep questions of my mind and my soul. It was a frightening, lonely time—until I found my spiritual journey reflected in the pages of Brian’s books. Ah, I’m not crazy! Yes, I can move through this crisis into a deeper, truer faith! Since then Brian has become a trusted friend whose path I’ve crossed time and again as we advocate for healing in the Congo, peace in the Middle East, fair trade practices, or respectful interfaith relationships. As an author and as a friend, Brian continues to challenge me to follow Jesus more faithfully—more radically.Reading Brian’s latest book, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in 12 Simple Words was
like going on a spiritual retreat. After several years of extensive international ministry
travel—a very outward life—I needed a spiritual retreat! I needed to be drawn inward,
down into the groundedness of quiet, prayerful attention to God. Brian’s twelve simple
words offer a response to God that moves through various seasons of spiritual life:
simplicity, complexity, perplexity and harmony. Though simple, each word captures
a vast and profound meaning. I’ve written the words on note cards which I use every
morning, and the words often come to me in sleepless moments during the night,
guiding me gently into prayer.Amazingly, my list of people who absolutely need to read this beautifully written book
includes long-time followers of Jesus as well as spiritual-but-not-yet followers of Jesus.Surely that is an indication of the wisdom and authentic depth of Naked Spirituality." (Lynne Hybels, author of Nice Girls Don't Change the World)
***** “Medicine for the soul. ‘Naked Spirituality’ is filled with uncommon honesty. It is a tonic for all those who yearn for practical help with the development of rhythms of life – free from the stifling tyranny of legalism – that will foster a depth of Christ-centred spirituality.” (Steve Chalke MBE Founder, Oasis Global, Faithworks & Stop The Traffik, UN Special Advisor on Community Action Against Human Trafficking)
Here's the next-to-last quote in our countdown ...
Jesus was right. Paul was right. John was right. The Buddha was right. Even the Beatles were right. It all comes down to love, or call it compassion if you prefer. Love is the vital connection. A life with God is a life of love. You know God by loving God. You know God by loving others. You know your neighbour, a stranger or an enemy by loving him or her. You know a tree or a bird or an ecosystem or a planet by loving it. Even yourself – you only know yourself by properly loving yourself. We are trained to see the universe in terms of fundamental forces – gravity, electromagnetism, weak and strong atomic forces, and so on. But might these physical forces serve as metaphors or scaffolding for the one ultimate fundamental force in the universe, love? Could love be the gravity that brings us together, the magnetism that attracts us, the electricity that makes us shine, the powerful, tender force that holds us strongly together in community – but not so strongly as to fuse us? (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Afterword)
Here's a brand-new site for resource-sharing in response to Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. It releases tomorrow!
Here's the Q:
I just finished reading your book “Adventures in Missing the Point.” In the chapter about doubt I thought about the verse In James that says “But when he asks, he must not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” Jesus also used the word doubt many times exhorting his disciples not to doubt. This seems to be in contradiction to what you seem to be saying about “embracing doubt.”
I am wondering, “Who is missing the point?” I don’t think we need to feel inferior, defeated or unworthy when we doubt; as you have pointed out that all of us have doubts from time to time in our lives, but I am concerned about how people will engage your words in their lives. As scripture points out doubt is not good for your lives, faith is, and believing is. A mature believer will overcome his doubts by his faith and by knowing the truth of God’s word and the steadfastness of the Holy Spirit being active in our lives. Doubt comes to us in many ways, some through our own lack of faith or knowledge but “undoubtedly” through the schemes of Satan also. We must not be unaware of these schemes. Maybe after reading this chapter I am the one missing your point; let me know if I am.
Doubt, I believe, should not be “embraced” but used as a barometer to seek out the truth, strengthen our faith and grow deeper in our relationship with God. I believe you point this out also but you also say doubt can be a good thing, as well as a bad thing. That is almost like saying “sin, although bad, can be good for you because it can lead to repentance and then a receiving of God’s blessings through forgiveness.” See Romans 6:1.
Brian, I enjoy reading your books. I find them challenging to me to think, to explore and to grow. Please continue using the gifts God has given you in this way. I don’t always agree with everything you propose. That neither means either one of us is right or wrong, but it means we all “see through a glass darkly” and in the end (or is that the beginning) we will have answers to our questions and clarity to our thoughts.
Continue reading Q & R: Missing the Point on Doubt?...
There is a river that runs like a song through this world, a river of sacredness, a river of beauty, a river of reverence and justice and goodness. I know that some people have only rarely seen or barely sensed it. But I also know that you and I are learning to live like green trees along its shore, drawing its vitality into us, and passing it on for the healing of our world. Its waters are clear, refreshingly cool, and clean, and if you dare, you can strip naked, dive in, and swim. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 27)
This Tuesday, Naked Spirituality will be available. Thanks for your interest!
That, of course, is no argument for passive pietism and quietism; it is, rather, a call to the most costly, radical activism, the one that calls us to be the change we want to see in the world. It is the call to be the light of the world – not merely to complain that the world is too dark. It is the call to be the salt of the earth – not merely to protest the world’s rottenness. It’s fruitless to argue being versus doing: you can’t do what you won’t be. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 27)Naked Spirituality will go on sale in three days. Thanks for your interest, and I hope you'll find the book meaningful and deeply helpful - for you and for family and friends as well.
My post yesterday was carried on Huffington Post and Sojourners, and among other responses, this came in:
Brian - just a note of applause for your most recent post.Mother Teresa remarked the spiritual poverty in America was worse than the material poverty in Calcutta.
We are suffering the consequences of our idolatry. Our motto "In God We Trust" is printed right on the front of the God in which we trust.
Grace and I have four amazing adult kids, all (for the moment) in their twenties. (We also have a wonderful son-in-law and daughter-in-law, and 1.5 cherished grandchildren.) Today is the birthday of our younger daughter, Jodi, on the right in the picture.
A great short piece on Rob Bell's upcoming book ... which I blogged about previously here and here. The realities of resisting ambiguity and creating black sheep, explained in the article, are deeply related to several of the simple words in Naked Spirituality, especially please, sorry, behold, and yes.
Naked Spirituality will go on sale on March 15. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. Thanks for all who have helped spread the word - and special thanks to all who have ordered the book, or who plan to pick it in person up at your local Barnes and Noble or other bookstore on Tuesday.
Earth’s outer ecology will, inevitably, mirror our inner ecology. So there can be no lasting poverty reduction in society unless we grapple with greed reduction in the soul. If we want loving relationships, joyful communities and peaceful nations in society, we must cultivate an inner fecundity of Spirit. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 27)
IMPORTANT: Many readers of the book will want to share songs, poetry, liturgy, prayers, and other resources relating to the 12 words in the book. I just created a simple blog to facilitate that sharing:
http://nakedspirituality.wordpress.com/
With all the angst about the economy, the deficit, and a looming government shut-down, I'm still concerned that we're treating symptoms rather than diagnosing the underlying disease.
I know something about this. I spent a week in the hospital last year having loads of tests done -- blood work, heart scans, stress tests, sonograms. I was discharged without a diagnosis, merely with hopes that by treating the symptoms, whatever was wrong would go away. It didn't. It turned out my real problem was a tick-born disease, and once it was diagnosed, a ten-dollar prescription of antibiotics cured me. Without that ten-dollar prescription to treat the real problem, I could have experienced life-long disability.
We know our primary symptoms in the body politic these days: rising deficits, a bubble-bust cycle, too-big-to-fail banks, dysfunctional electoral politics, overdependence on fossil fuels in spite of their threats to our environmental and national security. And we know our secondary symptoms as well: excessive consumer credit, the mortgage crisis, high taxes, oil spills, climate change, record gaps in income and wealth between a super-rich minority and the rest of us. Too often, what we get instead of diagnosis is blame shifting, with Republicans and Democrats pointing across the aisle: "It's their fault!" Or even less helpful, we get vicious scapegoating, where we vent our frustration and anxiety on some minority group -- Muslims, gays, and immigrants for starters.
Most of our spiritual leaders seem to be shirking their responsibility in this regard, leaving it up to MIchael Moore, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert to challenge our conscience. When will more and more pastors, priests, rabbis, and imams join together and lead their people in a process of national self-examination to deal with our spiritual deficit? Using the best resources from our spiritual traditions, what might we discover through honest and sober spiritual self-examination -- the kind, by the way, that is associated with the season of Lent?
We would, among other things, have to face our humility deficit. When things go wrong in the world, we have a well-practiced habit of blaming others -- extremists, Al Queda, liberals, conservatives, and so on, without soberly facing our own role in creating these problems. Charlie Sheen and Muammar Gaddafi might just offer us an exaggerated reflection of our own unacknowledged denial about our national arrogance. It's astounding, when you think about it, that "American Exceptionalism" hasn't been exposed as a cover for American arrogance; every time we pull out that verbal credit card, we add more to our national humility deficit. We all know what, according to the old Scripture, "pride goeth before."
We would also have to face our compassion deficit. What portion of our anti-government sentiment, truth be told, flows from a legitimate concern about government waste, and what percentage flows from a "what's mine is mine and to hell with anybody else" mindset? What will future generations say about us when they discover we cut services to poor, the elderly, the sick, minorities, and to children while we expanded protections and advantages for the richest and most privileged few among us?
At the root of all our deficits, we would have to face our basic spirituality deficit. Yes, I know America is at the top of the heap for religious observance, and public God-talk is already in the yellow zone if not the red zone for many of us. But recent comments from several political leaders who also make great claims for religious zeal and fidelity -- Baptist Mike Huckabee and Roman Catholic Newt Gingrich come to mind, not to mention Sarah Palin and a boatload of others -- show that religiosity and spirituality aren't the same thing. Our "dress-for-success" religiosity, aimed at sending "vote for me" signals to winnable religious constituencies, will take us to a very different place than a sincere pursuit of naked spirituality will.
Could it be that oil spills in the outer environment manifest our spiritual failure to restrain greed? Could rising sea levels reflect the rise of spiritual recklessness? Could melting ice caps manifest an over-heated spiritual condition? Could our insatiable budget for more and bigger weapons betray a lack of faith in the power of nonviolent peace-making, that our nostalgia for a mythical good-old-days betrays our lack of hope in God's guidance to a better tomorrow, and that our demonization of the other signifies our lack of love for God, neighbor, stranger and enemy? In short, could our fiscal financial deficit be revealing a spiritual deficit -- not just in "them," but in all of us?
Is this our moment for spiritual leaders to step forward and offer a more penetrating spiritual diagnosis of what ails us? Could our spiritual deficit be the issue nobody's talking about? Are we ready to go into treatment?
Over the last several years, I have asked readers of this blog to take action on a number of projects. One of the projects dearest to my heart has been the project to help the Batwa in Burundi. Here's an update on what's happening there ... Truly amazing - a little taste of the commonwealth of God.
Here are some of my previous posts about my experiences with the Batwa ...
A poem
A video
More developments
The request that many of you responded to - that resulted in this.
You can put "batwa" in the search box here on the site and see more.
Thanks, friends.
This note came in recently ...
During our stay with my folks, who are former Evangelical missionaries, my mom was talking about her views of the church at present, and how it seemed many were overly upset about recent trends, and just too protective of past ways. I threw in my two cents about the emerging crowd's comments on the need to challenge certainty of such positions and she got this curious look. She'd been thinking the same thing, albeit in different terms. Then she sort of smiled and said--so it's like that Brian McLaren fellow wasn't so crazy after all.
I was a little surprised by this. She and I have talked over the years about emerging stuff, and I've tried to explain what you've been proposing/advocating/etc--but I wasn't quite sure where she was with it all. That comment, however, dropped a few things into place. Also sounded like she had a lot of sympathy for your views on this, as well as some ire that you're getting so much flak.
So, I wanted to pass this along, to let you know that there are still some 80+ year-olds out there who think you're on to something. More than a few 50+ year-olds as well.
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. Here's a preview:
If you fight for peace with an unpeaceful spirit, you guarantee that unintended consequences will trump your intended ones. If you struggle for a sustainable economy with unsustainable effort, you guarantee your own failure. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 27)
Some Episcopal priests hit the streets with ashes for Ash Wednesday ...
Are you an engineer? Consider how you can use your skills for the common good.
Getting informed about modern-day slavery and fair trade? Nathan George offers a series of informative posts here.
I had a wonderful time last weekend in Iowa. A beautiful group from a variety of denominations co-sponsored the event, and I came away encouraged and energized. We were treated to some wonderful music by local songwriter Sara Kay. A special benefit - I got to hang out with my daughter and son-in-law, who are expecting their first child (our second grandchild) in June.
Today I leave for Richmond, Virginia, and then Atlanta, Georgia. Maybe I'll see you there?
There is nothing more radically activist than a truly spiritual life, and there is nothing more truly spiritual than a radically activist life. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 27)Next week, on March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then.
Here's the Q:
First of all, I want to express my utmost appreciation for your writings, which have been by and large the greatest influence on my faith and journey. It all started several years ago when I downloaded your interview with Leif Hansen, which opened me up to a new vision of the scriptures which had previously been dark to me. The question of hell as metaphor rather than a real place of condemnation just destroyed the conservative, literalistic, fundamentalist faith in one fell swoop - so much so that I went immediately into a crisis, a 'dark night' if you will, leaving the church and my devotion to God. It happened exactly like you describe in note 1 of Chapter 10 in A New Kind of Christianity: "For this reason, I would grimly prefer atheism to be true than for the Greco-Roman Theos narrative to be true." For a long time atheism seemed the only viable alternative, for the only God I knew of was precisely that which you characterize as Theos.Fortunately the story did not end there, for God is not capricious, not intent on my destruction, but is probably best represented like the father in the story of the prodigal son. My recent journey back to faith really began upon listening to The Advent of Evolutionary Christianity and thrilling in the fact that everything I've learned about the world since my faith crisis is completely compatible with a new appreciation of God, Jesus, the Bible, and the Church. Of late I have found myself in a new church home which unfortunately is rather conservative but not constrictive on my own journey. I also managed to purchase a range of your books at a very good discount, am working my way through A New Kind of Christianity, and have A Naked Spirituality on order.
Now to my question. In Chapter 11 of A New Kind of Christianity, you write of your disturbance with the account of the flood, and how through the narrative of scripture God moves from a capricious deity to be ultimately represented in the person of Jesus as love, mercy, and grace. Out of curiosity I put the keyword 'flood' into my Bible software, checking for the New Testament references, and was pointed to Second Peter. The character of God represented there does sound an awful lot more like Theos and Jehovah of early Genesis. For Peter first speaks of a kind of salvation by works (2 Pet 1:10-11), and later uses the genocide accounts of Noah and Sodom and Gomorrah as examples of God's judgment. He really does paint an awful picture in these verses!
How do you reconcile one of the latest documents in the Bible with your understanding of an evolving narrative? Is it possible that Peter was captured under an ancient worldview, making his writings more representative of an earlier rather than later stage of development? If so, this narrative business is messy stuff!
I really appreciate how your thoughts have captured my focus back to a vital and living faith. I have suffered greatly through my departure from God and the church, and am now appreciating the healing that is just beginning. May God richly bless your efforts.
Continue reading Q & R: hell and 2 peter...
I frequently lead people in a simple sung version of the Lord's Prayer and receive requests afterwards like this one:
Rev. McLaren spoke at the Episcopal Diocesan Convention in Dover, Delaware, this past weekend. The Lord's Prayer chant was particularly beautiful and moving as presented. I was unable to write fast enough to get all but the last slide. Where might I find the lyrics?
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
There is, to be sure, an opposite kind of blindness, where people freely confess social sins of racism, chauvinism, homophobia and consumerism, but keep their personal sins in the closet – whether it’s a cruel way of treating one’s spouse, neglect of one’s children, drinking too much, sexually harassing subordinates, or whatever. And to be sure, nearly all of us are willing to confess sins in general; after all, who wants to appear so arrogant as to claim perfection? But we hesitate a bit more when things start getting specific – socially or personally, when we feel that the real ‘me’ or the real ‘us’ may be brought out of the closet and into the light – exposing us as less holy than we normally try to appear.
One of the things I'm most looking forward to at the first-ever Wild Goose Festival (in Shakori Hills, NC, June 23-26) is the chance to meet folks and hang out. So often when I'm traveling, I'm "on stage" nearly all the time, or am rushing in and out, and this makes it tough to get a chance to hang out in a more relaxed way with folks. But at Wild Goose - especially this first year - we're trying to have a good crowd but not a huge one, and although I'm "on stage" several times, I'll also be camping with everybody else and looking forward to throwing a frisbee, taking a walk, catching a meal, and chatting by a campfire with old and new friends.
I think those of us who are part of the first-year gathering will have something to look back on together in the years to come, because my hunch is that everyone who tries Wild Goose once will start building their annual calendar around it.
The lineup includes people from various communities - the arts, writing, spirituality, justice, music, and more. Here are some of the names: T-Bone Burnett, Richard Twiss, Lynne Hybels, Jim Wallis, Michelle Shocked, Derek Webb, David Wilcox ... actually, you need to see the names and pictures for yourself here. But the additional appeal of the festival is that folks will all come to share - so bring your guitar, harmonica, kazoo, dancing shoes, magic act, juggling pins, or whatever. This is a festival, not a "conference!"
If you haven't signed up yet, I know there's still room - I hope you'll set aside the dates now and register. (It's incredibly reasonable - just $149.) While you're at it, why not be one of the volunteers and get the full experience?
Jon Stewart points out the stunning hypocrisy going on in our national debate on the economy.
Once again, he shows how contemporary economics turns Mary and the Magnificat upside-down, sending the poor away hungry and giving the rich more and more good things (Luke 1:46 ff). While Stewart hits a home run, Mike Huckabee has been swinging low and striking out ... leading even George Will feeling embarrassed.
Thankfully, some Christian leaders are making some sensible proposals on the economy ... And Catholic film-maker/activist Michael Moore sounds more and more like Amos or Isaiah sometimes. Especially provocative:
America is not broke. Not by a long shot. The country is awash in wealth and cash. It's just that it's not in your hands. It has been transferred, in the greatest heist in history, from the workers and consumers to the banks and the portfolios of the uber-rich.Today just 400 Americans have more wealth than half of all Americans combined.
Let me say that again. 400 obscenely rich people, most of whom benefited in some way from the multi-trillion dollar taxpayer "bailout" of 2008, now have more loot, stock and property than the assets of 155 million Americans combined./blockquote>
So let's scapegoat teachers, firefighters, and other public workers, so we can make it even easier for the richest of the rich to get an even bigger share? Really?
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
If Nehemiah’s contemporaries were leading us in prayer today, imagine the issues and groups they would name in American history: ethnic cleansing of Native peoples and enslavement of kidnapped Africans; discrimination against Irish and Italian Catholic immigrants and Jews; group profiling of Germans, Japanese and now Latin Americans and people from the Middle East; McCarthyism; segregation; deaths of civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki; denial of the vote to women and tolerance for domestic violence; mountaintop removal and climate change; oil spills and toxic waste; corporate plunder; the disproportionate recruiting for military service among the poor; pre-emptive and elective wars. What would corporate repentance for these kinds of sins feel like? What effects would flow from it? (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 9)
... as you can imagine, it does my heart good to receive a note like this:
I am not sure if this will ever come to be read by you, but in case it does I just wanted to say that your book “The Secret Message of Jesus” has brought me back from the precipice of pessimism and disgust towards Christianity and the human race. For the past few years I have been flirting with the idea of practical atheism in response to the twisted and ugly misinterpretation of Christ’s message that I have been indoctrinated by since birth.
I am a sophomore at [a] Christian University, and your book was an assigned text for a class taught by []. I honestly didn’t expect much going in, but by the time I was finished I found myself blurting out loud, “Yes!” and “Finally! Someone gets it!” every other page. I love love LOVE how you stress that we are to build relationships and networks HERE on earth instead of escaping it and running away by going to heaven. I feel as though you have so elegantly summarized what I have been screaming at the top of my lungs for years to fellow Christians. As an information technology major, the metaphor of God’s network really, really clicked with me.
Once again, I can’t express how much you’ve changed the way I feel about being a part of something bigger than I can even imagine. For awhile, I really thought I was alone. Now I can’t wait to begin plotting goodness with others.
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
This blindness (itself a kind of social sin) explains why in many churches in my childhood, people could passionately confess certain personal sins (within polite categories) – dishonesty, greed, jealousy, and so on – but remain absolutely oblivious to our racism, anti-semitism, Islamophobia, environmental irresponsibility, homophobia, nationalism and denominational pride – not to mention the sins of our ancestors that created structures of privilege that we took for granted. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 9)
A reader writes:
I wanted to write and thank you for your books and the way that they have accompanied me on my spiritual journey the past decade. I grew up in Evangelical Christianity and initially went to a bible college before getting a degree in Youth Ministry at another Christian college. I worked as an associate youth pastor for a year at a church after graduation. I was first introduced to your books when I was a senior in college. Some of my friends in the religion department were reading your books and recommended them, although other students warned me about them. Going through college, getting a ministry degree and working at a church, I found myself growing more and more disillusioned with the faith I had grown up with. I wanted to thank you for making me feel like there was still a place for me in the faith and that I could still consider myself a christian. Throughout the years I feel like your books have articulated the messy thoughts I have had and been working through and all this has culminated in A New Kind of Christianity. Reading this book I realized that my issue over the years was with the Greco Roman narrative and the bible being read as a legal constitution. A few years ago I quit working at the church and did a year-long volunteer program working in [my city]. During that year and since then I feel like so much of what I grew up with has been deconstructed and questioned but often I feel like I have been rendered inactive and feel stuck in place, not knowing what to do next. I greatly appreciated your [tenth] step and your words about what it looks like to translate the quest into action and living the questions in community. Reading the book I felt energized to move forward and excited about doing so. Thank you so much for making me feel that there is room for me still in the faith and thank you for making me feel like I wasn't crazy or the only person wrestling with certain thoughts, ideas and theological issues. I will continue to consider you a trusted guide on this quest, thanks again!!
The fact is, we are all hypocrites to some degree. None of us wants to be known for our worst moments. Sometimes, like too many religious leaders of recent years (who, as religious broadcasters, were rewarded for projecting an image), we preach most loudly and passionately against the sins to which we are most subject – hiding our secrets out in the open, so to speak, fighting our personal demons ‘in here’ under the guise of fighting culture wars ‘out there’. Sometimes, we find the best way to keep guilt at bay over our own inconsistencies is to pour guilt on others. As we do so, our souls go dark and dangerous, as do the religious communities we lead. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 9)On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then.
People like me, who for most of our lives have been paid to be spiritual leaders, live constantly in the orange alert of spiritual danger: it is perpetually tempting for us to desire to appear more spiritual than we are. But I think any person who is part of a faith community of some sort also faces this danger. Forget keeping up with the Joneses: I’m projecting a false Jones image that I want others to think is real, and I’m struggling to keep up with that. Forget holier than thou; I’m seeking to appear holier than moi. That kind of pretence piles layers of clothing and cosmetics on naked spirituality, which makes our next practice all the more important. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 9)In eleven days, on March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'm sharing a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
I frequently receive emails like this ...
As an avid fan and an aspiring writer, do you have advice for a peon like me about strategies for success in light of your post on 2/22/11 about the challenges of publishing in this economy? Thank you for your work and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Of course, first off, I feel like a peon too ... and I'm just a beginner in grappling with the shift underway from a print to a media economy. So I can't offer strategies for success - but I can pass on a couple things I've found interesting. I've written on this several times here on this site: here and here for starters. (If you've never tried searching keywords on my site ... there's a lot of useful stuff archived here!)
I'd encourage folks to learn everything they can from Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones and their Social Phonics bootcamps.
I'd pay attention to what smart writers like Frank Viola are saying about writing and publishing ... I think Frank is spot on. Here are some other useful articles folks have passed on to me lately on the subject:
10 Awful Truths
On a pioneer e-book writer ...
Finally, my friend Ed Chinn passed along this 22-year-old quote from Microcosm, from economist George Gilder:
"Throughout previous human history, the creation of wealth depended chiefly upon the extraction, transport, combination, and modification of heavy materials against the resistance of gravity, the constraints of entropy, and the constrictions of time and space. When things are large and approached outside-in, it is expensive to move and manipulate them. Their costs derive from the weight, rarity, entropy, and resistance of matter. But, small things, virtually devoid of matter, move less like weights than like thoughts. In the microcosm, the costs of fuel and materials decline drastically; the expense devolves from matter to mind. Just as quantum science overthrew Newtonian matter in the explanation of the universe, the quantum economy overthrows Newtonian matter in the creation of new wealth." (page 30).
This video (thanks BC) is fascinating and really fun ...
This statement from Sabeel deserves your attention ... especially if you are a Christian in America.
Continue reading The Sabeel Statement on Palestine...
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
Once I invited Carlos to speak at a weekend retreat for the leaders of the church I served. I won’t go into the practical jokes that we played on each other that weekend, even though they were pretty funny and involved rubber snakes and showers. During a serious moment on the retreat, he said something to our little group that has stayed with me ever since. ‘A secret to the spiritual life,’ he said, ‘is desiring to actually be more spiritual than you appear to be.’ Then he added, ‘The secret to hypocrisy is desiring to appear more spiritual than you actually are.’ (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 9)
Here's the Q:
I am reading through 'A New Kind of Christianity' and am enjoying it immensely. I have not yet finished it, and should probably wait until I have to ask questions, but I fear I will forget. My question concerns the Greco-Roman interpretation of our faith. I know you look at it from before Christ onwards, but I think Paul is a valid advocate of the faith. He writes in Colossians 3:1-2:
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
This implies to me a plain above, and one below, as Plato suggests. What do you make of this with regards to your argument? Thank you for helping me continue my faith journey,
Continue reading Q & R: New Kind of Christianity and Colossians 3:1-2...
Joel writes ...
Brian,
a huge thanks to you. Been reading all your stuff for about 6 years, since I was a youth pastor/ worship leader at a non-denonimational evangelical church....which has been my family for 30 years. As many others have said more eloquently, I found my voice and questions in your writings (as well as others in the emergent circles) and remain hopeful. If I hadn't read your stuff, gone to your conferences (Off the Map in Baltimore, EMC in NY City) I may have thrown out the whole story (or box of puzzle pieces to use a metaphor of yours). I know a lot less than I was "certain" about before, but I know and am trying to live into a few very core and seemingly solid values/practices in the way of Love. Much more to my story, but I thought I might pass on a piece I wrote which may encourage others on the journey...peace and thanks Brian and friends....
A Psalm Of Exile Joel Usher January 2011
Leaving is part of finding...disillusionment and failed certainty
Fuel the agonizing pregnancy of desire to be free.
Free from that world of half truths and of bad "good news"
Leaving that which, in Loves name, excluded the "other"
It sometimes healed, but it sometimes smothered
The crushing yet hopeful choice to move from the familiar,
To push away from that cadence of myopic pseudo-living,
Which impeded my daily breaths.
That choice....invites me into a new but ancient journey,
Escaping a half-lived, partially tasted story...
But for now I'm...
In this place of in-betweens
Where the path behind is hardly seen
In this place of in-betweens
Being drawn to where I've never been
Letting go is no substitute for holding on,
But it's a necessary middle place.
Hands have to be emptied in order to grasp well,
But emptiness sometimes wishes to own us,
Before we grasp the life we know we were meant to loudly live
Continue reading A Poem/Song from a Reader...
As I mentioned yesterday, controversies like this often put a lot of people "under the gun," being asked to repudiate this or that person or book to prove one's good standing in some circles. Lots of folks responded in various venues, and I thought it might be helpful to link to this older post on dealing with criticism. I should hastily add that I often fall short of my own high ideals in this ... and find myself perpetually in the corner with the Publican in Jesus' parable, praying, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner."
McLaren, Brian D. Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in 12 Simple Words. HarperOne: HarperCollins. Mar. 2011. c.270p. ISBN 9780061854019. $25.99. REL McLaren (A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith), a leading evangelical author, here addresses America’s ever-growing population of the unchurched—the many who consider themselves “spiritual, but not religious.” McLaren is considered one of the foremost exponents of postmodern Christian theology, as well as of the “emerging church” movement; this work uses 12 words, such as “here,” “now,” “sorry,” and “help,” as the foundations of counsel, insight, and advice for the perhaps extra-ecclesial reader. VERDICT McLaren’s trademark persuasiveness is put to good effect as he continues to shatter paradigms for spiritual seekers.
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
But the scandalous truth – known by mystics throughout history and affirmed in the pages of our sacred texts is that when we connect with God, it is as if we are plugging our souls into a pure current of high-voltage joy. The joy that surprised me under the stars in my teens was exactly what the ancient Psalmist knew (16:11): that God is a joyful being and to enter or awaken to God’s presence is to enjoy a bracing jolt of invigorating delight followed by increasing levels of unending pleasure. Yes, there is indeed a place for quiet reverence, the dignity of robes and the noble tranquillity of marble columns and pipe organs. But my suspicion is that among the barefoot poor, we learn something that the well-heeled seldom discover: God is joyful, and God’s joy is contagious. When we tap into the joy of the Lord, when we step into the pure joy that burns like a billion galaxies in the heart of God, we’ll soon find ourselves shouting, dancing, singing, leaping, clapping, swaying, laughing, and otherwise jubilating and celebrating. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 8)
Bo Sanders is blogging about the book here.
Here's an introduction to the book ...
Two weeks from today, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
I get back to our dusty car and I lean against the trunk, waiting for my companions. I realise the little swimming hole is now empty. A few white ducks sit placidly on the rocks where the children were laughing an hour ago. The kids have gone home to dinner. Smoke is rising from dozens of cooking fires around town, and I smell chicken and onions cooking. A dog barks, a rooster crows, I take a deep breath, and I am smiling without even meaning to. I feel full, and buoyant, and alive. Something in me wants to sing. I’m too inhibited to dance here alongside the road in the golden late-day sun, but I nod my head and sway a little to the song I hear from a nearby radio. Life with God is good. This day, this moment is good. I feel the vital connection. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 7)
Rob Bell's new book is stirring up big waves - and it isn't even out yet! As someone who has experienced a lot of the same pushback Rob is about to get deluged with (from many of the same people), I have a sense for what the next three months or so will be like for Rob. Here's an article about the kerfuffle ...
What's quite pathetic, as I see it, is that many critics won't even begin to get Rob's real point. (I've read the book, so I'm not just going by conjecture....) It's not that he's being given a multiple-choice test between a) traditional exclusivism and b) traditional universalism, and he's choosing b) instead of a). Rather, it's that Rob has come to see that the biblical story is bigger and better than a narrative about how souls get sorted out into two bins at the end of time.
One can only hope that after the initial inquisitorial tsunami has crashed, more and more people will realize that a deeper conversation is going on, deeper questions are being asked, and something very powerful and important is afoot. Obviously, I'm eager to see these deeper questions be grappled with - I made my position clear in A New Kind of Christianity.
I originally tackled this issue in my New Kind of Christian trilogy, especially the second and third installments, The Story We Find Ourselves In and The Last Word and the Word After That.
It was fascinating to see people throw the "h" word around at that point in my writing career ("h"eretic) ... without actually grappling with the issues and questions the books raised (such as the fact that the concept of hell never exists in the Old Testament - an obvious fact, but one that is surprisingly little known in the average pew). My hunch is that many Evangelical leaders will adopt a defensive, combative position towards Rob and his book, worried about their status in front of the most conservative wings of their constituencies, without giving even twenty minutes to considering the possibility that their traditional understanding of the biblical narrative is compromised - with Greek philosophy, with imperial/colonial politics, and so on.
The right wing of Evangelicalism will, I imagine, require people to answer the "Bell question," and in so doing, pass or fail the latest litmus test. Those who fail will be purged - which appears to be the purpose of John Piper's already-infamous tweet, "Farewell, Rob Bell." (Fare "well?" - is this a sign of sympathy? It could have been - "You're going to hell, Rob Bell!" - Ah, perhaps John Piper is a closet universalist too? - Just kidding, of course.) Many, subjected to these litmus tests, will capitulate and throw Rob under the bus, even though in their heart they think he's onto something. Others will try to stake out a pseudo-middle position, respectable with conservatives without being needlessly mean-spirited towards Rob, but they'll make sure to distance themselves from him. Hopefully more than a few who in the end disagree will do so in a fair, honest, charitable way, having truly and openly considered what Rob is proposing.
A courageous minority will become more courageous because of Rob's courage in this book. I hope readers of this blog will be in this third category and prepare themselves to seize this opportunity, displaying the courage to differ graciously ... and speak up for Rob whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Wow - lots of good things are going on at Emergent Village. If you haven't signed up for the daily email MINemergent, it's really worthwhile. The Moltmann podcasts are tremendous. And Julie Clawson (a gifted writer/thinker/leader you should get to know if you don't already) reports on a fascinating new project - The Faith Collaboratory.
Here's a heartbreaking and insightful post about the state of religious communication these days ... (Thanks, Rick!)
My friend Chuck Collins gets it right on Tax Dodgers and the Deficit ... here. And here's my Huffington Post piece on the deficit issue.
A good article on America's Four Gods ...
David Gushee helpfully complexifies the legal issue of gay marriage by showing the tensions between John Lock and Christendom (note: Christendom does not equal Christian faith), here.
I've been on the road and so will catch up today with quotes from my upcoming book that will release on March 15, Naked Spirituality.
Every time you eat, drink, or draw a breath, you are demonstrating that you are not a self-contained unit. Your skin might give you a sense of boundaries, but in reality, you are interconnected not only with others, but with all creation. You are an organism in an environment, vitally connected and utterly dependent on resources outside yourself – elements and minerals; chemical, biological, geological and even astrophysical processes; friends, family, mentors, public servants; ecological, social, political and economic systems. Your story flows from and into a million other stories; it’s hard to know where your story ends and others begin. At a funeral, when the officiant says, ‘From dust you came, and to dust you shall return’, he or she could just as easily have said, ‘From stardust you came, and to stardust you shall return’, because even earth’s dust has a story beyond itself. Ingratitude makes us foolishly forget the fragility of our skin and proudly deny our interdependency and interconnectedness. If true spirituality and authentic religion are about vital interconnectedness, you can see how essential the practice of gratitude must be. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 7)
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
Like the sparrows flying overhead or the day lilies blooming beside the roadway, we live within creaturely limits, and we depend for our survival on resources outside ourselves. This awareness of our creaturely limitations, dependence and vulnerability doesn’t make us less happy, Jesus suggests: it actually increases our happiness. It liberates us from the addictive drives of the never-enough system: more food, more drink, more clothes – always more, more, more. It liberates us to see ourselves as God’s beloved creatures within God’s creation instead of as self-made consumers in a self-made economic system. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 7)
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. Here's an excerpt for today:
The attitude of gratitude is more valuable than any insurance policy. You may lose your job, but you can still be grateful for what you have left. You may lose popularity, but you can still be grateful for what you have left. You may lose a loved one, or facet after facet of your physical health, but you can still be grateful for what you have left. And what if you lose more, and more, and more, if bad goes to worse? Perhaps at some point, all of us are reduced to despair, but my hunch is – and I hope I never need to prove this in my own life, but I may, any of us may – having lost everything, one may still be able to hold on to one’s attitude, one’s practiced habit of gratitude, of turning to God in Job-like agony and saying, For this breath, thanks. For this tear, thanks. For this memory of something I used to enjoy but now have lost, thanks. For this ability not simply to rage over what has been taken, but to celebrate what was once given, thanks. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 7)
A reader writes ...
I was just reading "adventures in missing the point" for the 5th time and came across your question of what the postmodern age will eventually be called. I almost wrote last time I read it but don't want to bother folks I have never met. This time, when I read it and the thought hit again I decided to follow through and write.
In proverbs, our Sister, Wisdom say she was outside of God from even before the beginning and "delighting in God's inhabited world and the children of men". In the chain of progression from knowledge (which is increasing) and insight (which is also increasing) we get to Wisdom, which should be definable as knowing what to do with knowledge and insight in bringing the fullness of the Kingdom.
Since this facet of God (think perichoresis ala Moltmann) was spun out from God to steward the innocent blood (The Wisdom of God made sure the blood from Abel to Zechariah leads to the cross.), She will be the force that brings the "children of men" into fullness of Wisdom. After all, she is the one who delights in His inhabited creation.
With this in mind, I respectfully submit, the age we live in will be known, in the end, as the "Age of Wisdom".
Thanks for this hopeful reply. We have some many crises facing us ... Wisdom is desperately needed! Let's all whisper a simple one-word prayer again and again today - help! please! wisdom! - for ourselves, for our colleagues, for our leaders, for our world.
A reader shares her story of pain, love, hope, and God's faithfulness ...
Continue reading A reader's story ......
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
And just as addiction ultimately leads through insanity to misery and even death as the addict ‘hits bottom’, an economy driven by ingratitude – whether global, national, family or personal – races through overextension towards collapse. That’s why gratitude is important, not just as a personal practice, but also as a group practice: it is a kind of immunization against both personal and corporate addiction. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 6)
You'll be hearing in coming days, if you haven't already, about the What Would Jesus Cut? campaign, launched by Jim Wallis and the good people of Sojourners. It assumes that massive budget cuts are coming, but raises the question of where we start. If budget cuts are a fiscal necessity (more on that in a minute), asking what we cut is a moral necessity, hence the campaign's title, intended to attract the attention - and stimulate the conscience - of American Christian voters. We all need to be reminded in the midst of what can become budget-frenzy that budgets are moral documents, and that the love of money can cause people to all sorts of evil things.
I agree that living within our means is a financial necessity, and long-term deficit spending is stupid and short-sighted. I think it's sad that Republicans have managed to paint Democrats as the bad guys on this, since it was a Republican administration that most recently turned a surplus into a deficit through tax cuts for the wealthy and two unfunded (and at least one unfounded) wars. I also think it's sad that our discussion of the deficit jumps too quickly to prescription, not taking adequate time for careful diagnosis.
Such diagnostic examination would explore a number of causative factors, including the possibility that our national debt is in large part a consequence of a broken political campaign system where votes can be bought with the currency of short-sighted, self-interested promises. In this system, Republicans can buy votes and loyalty from rich people and want-to-be-rich people through tax cuts and promises of more security through an ever-bigger military. And Democrats can buy votes and loyalty from poor people and want-to-help-poor people through entitlements and promises of a stronger economic safety net. The latter strikes me as a more honorable form of vote-buying, I suppose, since poor people need help more than rich folks do. But buying votes isn't a great way to run a democracy either way. One hopes more attention will be paid to these dimensions of our deficit in the process of reducing it.
The Republican House recently unveiled their plan for deficit reduction. Their proposal represents what Republican Michael Gerson rightly calls a squandering of an important Republican legacy. That's why it's important for more and more Republicans to speak up - not against getting our fiscal house in order: that's a necessity, but about what should be cut and why. And Democrats need to enter the fray not as anti-Republicans but as responsible partners, and probably in this case, balanced and thoughtful leaders, in telling the whole truth that needs to be told, inviting the American people to be grown ups and face the facts, not fearful fictions.
Cutting programs that save lives in Africa, Asia, and Latin America is morally unacceptable. Far better to ask questions like these:
How can we increase taxes on what we want less of (pollution, waste, pornography, tools of violence) and reduce taxes on what we want more of (work, earning, education, research and development, alternative energy, etc.)?
Why does a small segment of the super-rich control a larger and larger portion of national wealth, what are the consequences of this trend, and what should be done about it?
What percent of the national budget should be spent on the military? Are we heeding Eisenhower's well-known but too-little-heeded warning and advice about the "military-industrial complex?"
Eisenhower, we should remember, was a Republican. Like Gerson, he had a broader and more intelligent vision than the narrow, one-dimensional, reactionary one we see sweeping today's Republican party like a tsunami of tea. Perhaps this is a good time to remember his parting words as he left the presidency fifty years ago this year:
So -- in this my last good night to you as your President -- I thank you for the many opportunities you have given me for public service in war and peace. I trust that in that service you find some things worthy; as for the rest of it, I know you will find ways to improve performance in the future.You and I -- my fellow citizens -- need to be strong in our faith that all nations, under God, will reach the goal of peace with justice. May we be ever unswerving in devotion to principle, confident but humble with power, diligent in pursuit of the Nation's great goals.
To all the peoples of the world, I once more give expression to America's prayerful and continuing aspiration:
We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings; that those who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love.
That is the kind of American moral ethos I hope will prevail in re-calibrating the American budget in the weeks and months ahead.
The story of how Nathan Clark and I became friends will have to be told sometime down the road, but for now, check out this beautiful post on his site.
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
Economists tabulate the gross domestic product, but whose spreadsheet measures the gross domestic destruct? – the losses extracted in advance from our great-grandchildren when wild elephants, giraffes, thrushes, tortoises, sea turtles, chimpanzees, horseshoe crabs and swordfish have gone the way of the dodo? (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 6)
Here's the Q:
Continue reading Q & R: Homosexuality, from a European young adult...
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
Consumerism thus robs the soul of happiness while it sells the soul more stuff. But this petty larceny on the individual level leads to far greater crimes. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 6)
John Shore's reflection on John 14:6
I explore John 14:6 in some depth in A New Kind of Christianity under "The Pluralism Question."
I was honored to write a foreword for this book by my friend, Samuel Lee, a truly fascinating and creative person who lives what he teaches. It deserves wide readership, especially among charismatics and classic Pentecostals. What an amazing journey so many of us are on, coming from so many diverse backgrounds, but waking up in the same world facing the same challenges, and bumping into the same Holy Spirit "in whom we live and move and have our being!"
Three weeks from today (!), Naked Spirituality will be available. Here's today's quote:
A lot of people spend a lot of money every day trying to keep you from being grateful. They want you to think a lot more about what other people have than what you have, so you’ll want more. They want you to think a lot more about what you don’t have than what you do have, so you’ll want more. And if you want more, you’ll buy something from them, so they’ll have more. But will they appreciate the money they gain from stimulating your greed? Probably not, because they too have been sucked into the whole ‘never enough’ vortex of consumerism, so they’re seldom grateful and therefore never satisfied – which keeps them needling you to give them more of your money. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 6)
For my friends in (or interested in) the publishing world, here's an interesting article about the state of things - challenges and opportunities. (Thanks, E.C!) Articles like this make me especially grateful for all my faithful readers. I appreciate you! Thanks for your ongoing interest in my work. I don't take for granted the privilege of writing for you.
Here's the Q:
First let me say thank you for writing what you do. While I may not agree with everything you write, you do it in a way that challenges my faith and puts me in a humble position before God like no other author or speaker does, except maybe for Rob Bell.
I want to ask you a question, or make a comment I am not sure where my thoughts are going on this.
Ok, I have read through “A New Kind of Christian” and am in the process of re-reading it again. My question has to do with the conflict between reading the Bible as a constitution influenced by the Greco-Roman six line graph, and reading it as a narrative unfolding, expanding, ever changing and growing. My basic question is this: You seem to indicate that if I give up my constitutional reading and approach the Bible in the unfolding narrative way that there are still set in stone doctrinal ideas that I will have to accept? In other words, you seem to be assuming that if I read it in the manner in which you propose that I will no doubt end up philosophically and theologically where you are. Isn’t that the same thing as constitutional reading? I mean, it seems like its just a dressed up dogma.
For example...you assume that if I read the Bible in the manner that you propose that I will naturally fall in line with vegetarianism because your reading of the Bible supports that ideal based on global food source and environmental sustainability.
I don’t have the book in front of me, but there are other examples of this that trouble me. Having said all that, I don’t want you to think for a minute that I don’t still value your words and wisdom. I can say in all honesty that you have me wrestling with my faith right now in good way and that is something that I would not change for the world.
Continue reading Q & R: constitutional reading?...
Am really struggling to find Jesus in church, find meditating on the bible & prayer, reading books like yours 'n doing voluntary outreach work v fulfilling...& then i go to church/bible study..& i just cant find Him, there's so much noise & being told we're sinners 'n what to believe.. you try to communicate what you feel but people just look at you like you're mad. We also had a bad experience at church - my husband & i were turned down as members as my husband isn't prepared to do the ABC & isn't able to articulate what Jesus means to him, he did nearly cry when he had to give his testimony.. but that didn't enable them to tick their membership boxes, so it was a no I am thinking of starting my own group, where people who are interested God, but have fragile hearts can have a safe place to chew the cud, without having to "visit hospital", what do you think & where would i start ?Here's a reply ...
Continue reading Q & R: church won't accept us, where do we start?...
The West Coast Gathering of TransFORM Network and the Parish Collective, in partnership with Mars Hill Graduate School, invite you to the Inhabit conference in Seattle, April 23-30. Lots of amazing missional practitioners will be coming together for this conference, and one of the really exciting things will be the keynote by Majora Carter, who's been dubbed "The Prophet of Local" (http://www.thepromisedland.org/majora-carter). If you live in the Pacific Northwest, check it out -
http://www.inhabitconference.com
Here's the Q:
I've recently been enjoying the first two episodes of a podcast series that I understand Brian made looking at the whole bible.
I found info but as far as I can tell from emergent village, the subsequent 5 episodes/parts aren't readily available. From where can I access these please?
Here's the R:
You can get the first three episodes for free here on my site - and you can purchase additional podcasts for $1 each, and the whole series of 51 for $19.95. A great way to turn your commute into a seminary-on-wheels.
In just over three weeks, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. Here's today's quote ...
Walking through that town in Guatemala, I remind myself of something we all know but don’t take seriously enough: it’s not how much you have that brings happiness; it’s how much you appreciate however much or little you have. Again, it’s not the amount of stuff you have that counts; it’s the amount of appreciation you have that matters, and appreciation means ‘gratefully holding’ rather than simply ‘having without gratitude’. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 6)
A reader writes:
at last - having bought ANKOC after hearing Richard Rohr recommend it at Greenbelt four months ago - I've finally finished reading it. It's
been one of those books read in v short chunks requiring thought and
then discussion with anyone in the house with whom I could engage. No
book has held me like this since I read Frost & Hirsch's ReJesus.Thank you for inspiring this 50 year old Liberal Democrat whose journey
began in a Methodist church but who lately has felt increasingly
marginalised in an evangelical anglican community.
Here's the Q:
Thank you for the positive influence that your books, podcasts and blog-writing have had on my life. NT Wright has also influenced me so much, and I have experienced such a rich view of God, the Bible, Jesus and our world as a result.
But I have a question, which is really pressing my mind these days. And it has to do with the fact that I find it so difficult to understand, how I can see, from reading the scriptures, that my life and your lives are eternal. I mean, my view of the gospel has changed from just providing the opportunity to get eternal life from believing in Jesus to God’s kingdom coming to us through Jesus so that we can live it today – project heaven and earth, as N.T. Wright puts it, the combined reality. And it is so utterly beautiful to me. But, now and then I tend to get confused, because I fail to see how my own life will be eternal. How can I see this in the bible? I mean, I know it sounds like a very selfish question, but nevertheless this is the ultimate hope we all have – not to die from this beautiful world with friends, families, trees, birds, mountains, avocados, apples, strawberries, etc. and just turn into dust (even though I also see the beauty of becoming the earth, but nevermind). How is it that I can read that we all will be resurrected and live together again in this new world – not meaning heaven, but life after heaven i.e. the resurrected reality after heaven/paradise. It seems so subtle to me so I really don’t know how to understand it. As I have come to understand, eternal life as put in the gospels should correctly be translated to “the coming of the ages”, but what about the eternal life of people in flesh and blood after their death – how can I get some understanding to this relationship between project heaven-and-earth and the eternal life of me and you? Do you follow my confusing description? Hope to find an answer from you some day. Thank you Brian, for all your efforts in this.
Continue reading Q & R: Afterlife...
Here's today's quote from Naked Spirituality. It goes on sale March 15. Thanks for helping me spread the word!
Naked spirituality differs from magical religion as love differs from lust. Where magical religion tries to harness cosmic powers so that ‘my will may be done’, naked spirituality seeks to unleash my powers so that ‘God’s will may be done’. Where magical religion tries to possess God for one’s own benefit, naked spirituality seeks to be yielded to God for God’s will, the common good. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 4)
If so, I hope you'll consider being part of an important gathering in May 2012 in Washington, DC. I'll be there, and I hope you will too. You'll find information and a provocative article at the site of the gathering's organizer, author Dave Csinos.
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
During a paradigmatic experience of God, one is capable of quarrelling, questioning, debating, and doubting. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 4)
Here's the latest on denominational growth and attendance statistics....
Here's a report on the relation between faith and higher education ...
Here's my recent post on the Egyptian revolution at Huffington Post.
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
How much higher and wider and deeper and richer our lives become when we awaken to the presence of the real, wild, mysterious, living God who is bigger than our tame concepts of God, when we sense an inward vocation from God and toward God, and we respond with presentation, saying, Here I am, Lord. I present myself to you, presenting yourself to me. We live with a perpetual Here I am, and here you are, in our hearts, inviting constant, vital connection, unbroken communion, lifelong friendship … starting right here, starting right now. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 4)
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
To plug into the naked here, sometimes we need to unplug from the thousand distractions and demands that keep us not-here in fantasy or render us only half-here in anxiety. To awaken to non-virtual reality, we may need to unplug from the video game or website. To resituate ourselves in the down-to-earth presence of God, we may need to unplug from our heady -isms, whether economic, political, or even theological. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 4)
Here's the Q:
I am a 22 year-old newlywed who grew up in the Southern church. After moving to the Midwest and working in a church for 16 months as an intern and preacher, I grew theologically to the point that I became what you could call a "conscientious objector" to much of the hierarchical nature of the church. My wife and I are on the same page, so we stopped going to a church building entirely about two months ago. We felt immense guilt for a couple weeks, but that wore off as we began to enjoy uninterrupted Sundays and the freedom to say and think what we want without the brooding nature of the church to filter it. Yet, a feeling of emptiness has crept in as we find it hard to connect with others our age. We feel like we are in theological terra nova, so to speak, and trailblazing has its many blessings, but constantly being on the forefront of what feels like something new and exhilarating can be exhausting when you don't know where you're headed exactly. So we feel a tug to go back to what's comfortable, even though we've outgrown it, because we don't know where to go from here. Can you speak to this?
Continue reading Q & R: "A conscientious objector to the hierarchical nature of the church ..."...
A reader writes:
I am thoroughly enjoying reading your book "Everything Must Change." I must say that I nearly fell out of my chair, as I read your two burning questions:
1- What are the biggest problems in the world today?
2- What do the life and teachings of Jesus have to say about these problems?
Because of my spiritual awakening a few years ago, I walked through the dark nights of my soul, and emerged on the other side born-again. I entered this, years long inner journey, a wounded Christian and emerged on the other side one with God. Through the loving grace of God, I was lead to the pearly gates and entered the kingdom of Heaven. In this inner kingdom, I discovered that everything Jesus spoke of has been available to us all along, but in my Christian upbringing, I had never been taught how to access it. My experience helped me uncover the "how to steps" to Jesus' teachings.
My work, for the past 4 to 5 years has been sharing answers to your questions, not only so I could experience a deep and unshakable connection with God, but also for my own spiritual healing, which I call "whole-ing," as well as the healing of my clients, family, and friends.
I am very excited that you are coming to speak at my church, Sandy Springs Christian Church, in Atlanta, GA, in March, 2011. While you are in town, I would love to meet with you and share my answers to your questions. I am blessed to be in a position where my work, is not only my life's purpose, but is also one of my greatest source of fun and joy, as I share the truth that has set me free!
I am truly grateful to have found your book, and look forward to being exposed to more of your work. Years ago, I had an inner knowing that one day, I would return to the Christian community and share the good news that God is magnificent. And that each and everyone of us has the divine birthright to experience the kingdom of heaven - NOW! The world's crisis has created an opening and I am ready to step it up a notch. Thank you for inspiring me with your book.
Thanks so much for your note. Long-time readers will see that my more recent books haven't moved on from the topic of Everything Must Change - I think I've been marked for life by the writing of that book. Instead, my more recent books are trying to approach the same issues (the four global crises described in the book) from a variety of angles ... pastoral, theological, and formational. I look forward to meeting you in a few weeks in Atlanta - and I trust that we'll be able to get a cup of coffee. Thanks for writing.
I spoke in Georgia last month at January Adventure, and a participant wrote:
I just returned from a mountain top experience with you and Barbara Brown Taylor at January Adventure. Thank you for your gift of exploration. I wish I had a photographic memory in order to be able to recall all the powerful images, thoughts, insights the two of you provided me. I look forward to your new book Naked Spirituality. The four stages speak powerfully to me. As a person who desires to live in stage 4, realizing how easy it is to fall into the other stages, i look forward to the excitement of the journey.
It was my pleasure being there, and a special honor to work with Barbara. I think a lot of people will be helped by the idea of four stages in the upcoming book - but it's important to remember the first three stages aren't something a person can "fall into," but rather indispensable growth periods we live into and, in the fullness of time, grow through. Like the inner rings of a tree, the first three stages are always with us, central to our soul-structure. We don't erase them as we "add a new ring," but embrace them into something bigger; we don't leave them behind, but build upon them. Thank God for groups like January Adventure that encourage that process! And thank you so much for your encouraging note.
A reader writes ...
When I hear you making the case for "A New Kind of Christianity" I keep thinking of something the former head of the National Cancer Institute said: “Human beings...have this endless ability to think they are at the end of history.” One of the sites I frequent is the Long Now Foundation (http://www.longnow.org) where they're teaching long term thinking; obviously something many of us in the west don't do well. They encourage writing the date like this: 02010 (like looking at the odometer and realizing you're just breaking the car in). I'm an advocate for women/girls. I'm acquainted with blank stares; the kind I get when talking with evangelicals about how first century interpretations of the Corinthian passages, combined with short-term thinking are not helping the cause of women around the world. Imagine the paradigm shift across the board of realizing that maybe we're not at the end of history but the beginning! Then people couldn't say, "Well, it has been this way for two thousand years." Don't get me wrong, I'm all for being at the cusp of Christ's return, just sayin'. We all have a lot to learn and miles to go but our inability to ourselves as a link and not the last "man" standing might have something to do with the challenge we face. In the mean time we can work toward "A Kind New Christianity."
We get stronger as we go. Be well.
Here's the Q:
I
'm currently reading your book and intro to the spiritual practices series called "Finding Our Way Again". I have become extremely interested in the ancient practices of the church and was very excited to read your book. While I don't always agree which you, I have benefited and been challenged by your books, thoughts, and insights in the past. While reading this particular book I came across a paragraph that sort of caught me off guard, maybe even concerned me, I was wondering if you could offer me some clarity and explain a little more of what you mean. In one particular paragraph you state that 'Muhammad, like Moses and Jesus' had an experience with God.' Do you believe that Muhammad actually had an experience with God? If so, what are the implications of this train of thought? There is much more I would like to ask, but really it is difficult until I understand what you mean by the above statement. Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my question. May you be blessed.
Here's the R:
Continue reading Q & R: Mohammed...
A couple days ago I posted on inclusion and exclusion, and later in the day, while catching up with the mountain of emails that accumulate in my inbox whenever I'm on the road, came across this relevant article on a Ugandan Christian and retired bishop who has experienced exclusion for refusing to exclude lgbtq people. I have close friends who hold a wide array of views on this issue, but I hope that all will feel the pathos of this story.
Sound interesting? Want to join us? You can learn more about it here ...
I have a piece on Huffington Post today about the Egyptian Revolution.
Amy Butler gets it right (again) ... Here.
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
When we want our spirituality to be naked, simple, and authentic, we resist escapism, realising that a God who cannot be found here is not really God. So we say, ‘Let’s start … here. Now.’ (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 4)
Here's a recent interview with Matt Litton about the book if you'd like some more information ...
I thought I'd include this note with only a brief comment in light of the other post today on atheism ...
Continue reading From a former atheist...
A reader writes ...
Your recent comment on CS Leiws re: sexuality has brought a thought to mind. Lewis was also much broader in his approach than many give him credit for. His circle of friends in the Inklings, for instance, also represent a very broad approach to faith. Charles Williams was the mystic whose spiritual explorations would put most pentecostals to shams, Owen Barfield was a philsopher of language/lawyer whose work continues to inspire scholars working in the 'new age' and he was greatly influenced by new age thinker Rudolph Steiner. And of course their was Tolkien who was much more 'liberal' in his theology and considered Lewis to be a hack theologian. Maybe we can all be inspired by Lewis in his commitments to communty and diversity, if not his every thought.
This is an especially interesting question, from an atheist. Here's the Q:
Hello Brian, I have just read your book “A Search for What Makes Sense - Seeking Faith” and this raised some questions for me, that I would be very interested to hear your thoughts on. They centre on your point that atheism and theism both require some level of faith and are therefore on a ‘level playing field’ in terms of faith and reason.
One of the points you make is that “It does mean that the playing field is level. The atheist does not have the high ground of logic, reason, science, knowledge and certainty”.
However, in my understanding a religious position is centred not on reason or rationale, but on feeling the knowledge and love of God. That is why it is a faith position, it is not founded on reasons. Based on this I think atheism can claim the high ground on logic, reason, science and rationale. Whilst religion can claim the high ground on faith, security, community, support, ritual and practice. Religion has many facets that recommend it, but I don’t think that reason and logic are among them. It strikes me that ‘good faith’, secure faith, could recognise and accept this, which would spare us from pointless, and often destructive, arguments about proofs for God’s existence, creationism, life after death, the source of morality, science etc. I think the best that can be claimed is that while reason doesn’t rule out the existence of a god, it doesn’t support the position well.
Continue reading Q & R: on atheism...
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
Through invocation, we are calling inward to our own souls, summoning ourselves to wake up so we can attend to the Presence in whose attention we are held and in whom we live, move and have our being. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 4)
In my travels, I constantly meet wonderful people. A few years ago, I got to know Andy Barwick. He has a rare, debilitating disease ... and I want to ask my blog readers to pray for him - and if you can help him in additional ways, I hope you will. Here's his website:
http://andybarwick.com//
And here's a bit about his story:
Andy Barwick Benefit Film from Keith Roberts on Vimeo.
... going on here in the US, in Kentucky, regarding Mountaintop Removal. Wendell Berry (one of my heroes) is participating. Here's an article ...
And here are two short interview clips ...
If you're in Kentucky today, it would be great to join them.
This email reminds me of the struggle we all face in leading communities of faith. How do we decide who should be included/excluded?
I just wanted to say that I really appreciated how you handled the [pluralism] question from this most recent writer. I think you did so gracefully and lovingly, and in a way that encourages a way of being rather than a mere acceptance of where he is currently in his feelings and thinking.I find myself in a similar tension, having started an intentional spiritual community in [the Pacific Northwest] where not all of us are Christians. Originally the intention was for the community to be made entirely of Christians, but a friend of ours who is a [post-Christian] lesbian was moving to Portland and really wanted to live with us and be a part of our community.
My wife and I spent a long time sitting with this, even though up front we both wanted her to come and live with us. We didn't want to compromise on our house being intentionally communal and spiritual. And, it was challenging to consider how to lovingly encourage her to participate with the vision and mission we were started on, without having her feel pressure to convert back to a religion that had hurt her terribly.
Eventually we settled on some thoughts that we hoped would frame what living in an intentional spiritual community would look like, and we put them out to everyone who wanted to live with us, not just her:
1. Being a part of the spiritual community meant that we would all be moving in the direction of God as we currently understood Him/Her to be.
2. There were certain things, mainly sexuality and drugs, that we wanted to be absent from our house out of a desire to make the community a place of health and healing for anyone and everyone who passed through our doors. Of course if anyone wanted to engage in any of the above, they didn't have to feel compulsion to live by these outside of the home, it is simply meant to be a way of living within the house.
Our hope was that these would help everyone be able to engage in our mission - to partner with God in bringing about the kingdom within our house and outside in our neighborhood as we felt invited.
But even then it has been a challenge - for our friend who is a lesbian, it is hard for her to feel our acceptance without us declaring anything and everything okay. I feel like there must be a third way, and I'm worried we might have missed it in how we went about it. What are your thoughts?
Continue reading Q & R: Inclusion? Exclusion?...
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
Just as all higher mathematics depends on learning basic arithmetic, and just as all more sophisticated music depends on mastering the basics of tempo, melody and harmony, the spiritual life depends on learning well the essential lessons of this first season of simplicity. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Simplicity)
Emergent Village is beginning a daily email service - they explain:
Each weekday you will receive a Communique from Emergent Village. You don't need to do anything to receive them for the next 3 weeks, but if you want to continue receiving the Daily Communique after March 4 then you will need to subscribe here. The Communiques will include inspirational, leadership, culture, theology thoughts as well as poetry and music. We would love to include your voice in the Daily Communique. Send your contributions to MinEmergent@gmail.com
For all my recovering Evangelical friends (and those who love them) - you need to check out Recovering Evangelical. Be sure to read the pieces on voting, ripoffs, and hip-hop.
Some upcoming open-to-the-public events you might enjoy:
I'll be in Iowa City March 3 - 4 - info here.
I'll be in Richmond, VA, March 9-11 - info here.
If you're not familiar with Richard Hughes, you should be. Two incisive articles ... here and here(where his reference to an early letter from Ho Chi Minh to President Truman is fascinating to ponder in relation to recent American responses to the Egyptian revolution).
If there is such a thing as emerging Islam, and I think there is, it is represented by young leaders like Soraya Deen. You can get a feel for her spirit in her short inspirational book for Muslims called Serve: A Call to Muslims.
This is in response to my recent Sojo article, Is God Violent?
First, please forgive my error in grammar. I was an atheist for many years, and an especially die hard one at that. About two years ago I discovered God, not in rhetoric, lore, a captivating speaker, a passionate priest, or some sort of miracle saved for by fantasy writers. Am I a Christian? No. But does it really matter? I love God the way I believe he loves us in how we are suppose to love each other. I can only hope one day we evolve enough to get it right. I found God through that of human love. Ok, so what's the point right? I recently read your article on "Is God Violent". Thank You. Violence through the means of God has bothered me for months now. Estranging me from the worlds organized religions. If we love as our hearts have the ability to, then why do we take up arms, or blame disease, nature, and other unfortunate events as the "wrath" of God or to kill in Gods service? It just doesn't compute. My idea of sin is whatever taints the love within. World religions can thrive, and be wonderfully connected if they fundamentally dive into true love as I know we are all capable of. I am of no particular religion, I instead live in the one great power we have, and that is to love. Your article gave me hope into what my idea of what Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Wiccans, and atheist should be. Without violence. Without hate. Without prejudice. Again, Thank You very much for a great and promising read.
Spring is an amazing mixture of fragility and vitality. Each new sprout is delicate, but what can compare with the combined power of millions of leaves bursting out, drawing energy from the sun? The first season of the spiritual life similarly combines tenderness and toughness as tiny seeds sprout and display the magnificent power of life and growth. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Simplicity)
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
Through these seasons we shape a spiritual life that is deep, honest and strong. The point isn’t to stay in spring or summer forever, nor is the point to get to (or through) winter as soon as possible … any more than the point of life is advancing from infancy to old age as soon as possible. No, the point is to live each stage well, to learn well what each day and season has to teach, to live life and enjoy life and bear the good fruits of a life with God through all of life’s seasons. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 3)On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
Here's the Q:
Thank you for your books and website. I just wanted to know your thoughts on the scientists views regarding how long the earth and the galaxies have been around. they talk about things being here for millions of years. In regards to scripture etc what should I believe is correct? I don't want to put God into a box etc.
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
I was learning – the hard way, no doubt – that there are predictable stages or seasons in the spiritual life. A period of relative coherence and stability was followed by a period of restlessness and turbulence, after which a new period of coherence and stability would unfold, followed by yet another period of restlessness, and so on. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 3)
I've been a huge fan of singer-songwriter Steve Bell's music and ministry for about a decade now. I think his newest album, Kindness, is his best yet. I'm especially grateful that a song I wrote is included on the album. Learn more here.
I leave today for Phoenix and Sacramento, but am still savoring last weekend in Winnipeg (where the temperatures were balmy - relatively speaking). I just got this encouraging and moving note from someone who attended the conference ...
Continue reading Thanks, Winnipeg!...
I normally don’t read the one-star reviews of my books on amazon.com for a variety of reasons. But recently, for some reason one caught my eye, and I felt I should send a question to a reviewer. You can read his original review and my response, and then his reply, here.
http://www.amazon.com/New-Kind-Christianity-Questions-Transforming/product-reviews/0061853992/ref=cm_cr_dp_synop?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending#RESTMX8PRGA4L
That rather unpromising beginning led to a fruitful dialogue, which I include below. I hope you will find it as positive and helpful as I do.
Continue reading Worthwhile Dialogue ......
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
If the only people who can embark on a spiritual journey are those blessed with a lot of self-discipline and sufficient free time, many of us are in trouble. That’s why we need simple, doable, durable practices that can be integrated into many things we are already doing … taking a walk, commuting, cooking or eating, resting in bed, relaxing at home, taking a break at work, waiting for an appointment, enjoying a hobby. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 3)
Here's the Q:
Brian: In your recent clip on working preacher you talked about developing a four year "curriculum" for your preaching and teaching in the congregation.
Would you share what you did in that? It was a very thought provoking idea, especially for a long-term pastor who will probably spend five or six more years in my current parish. Or, if this is covered in one of your books, would you tell me which one?
Thank you for this and for your ministry.
Continue reading Q & R: Curriculum for preachers?...
Naked Spirituality will go on sale on March 15. Between now and then, I'll share a short quote from the book. I hope you'll pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
How can we nourish a naked life with God that is rich in spiritual experience, with or without dramatic experiences? On this question both our ancient religious traditions and our contemporary theories of education and human development agree: a way of life is formed by practices. By practices, we mean doable habits or rhythms that transform us, rewiring our brains, restoring our inner ecology, renovating our inner architecture, expanding our capacities. We mean actions within our power that help us become capable of things currently beyond our power. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 3)
Here's the Q:
I have already preordered your new book and looking forward to receiving it in March. Will you be doing video introduction to each "word" like you did for the questions in New Christianity? I have done two reading discussion groups on New Kind of Christianity which went very well and we used your video introductions. Already have some asking that we do the same discussion group for your new book, which we will do. Thanks again for your ministry to us through your writings.
I just heard from the good folks at HarperOne yesterday that yes, we'll be creating some video resources for Naked Spirituality. I don't have details yet (I'll be on a conference call later today about it), but I'm thrilled to tell that something will soon be forthcoming.
For those who haven't seen the New Kind of Christianity video resources, here's a link.
A reader writes:
I'm a follower of your blog and have read many of your books. I read today the criticism by Kevin DeYoung. I would offer the following perspectives from an Eastern Orthodox following the conversation from the outside.Continue reading Criticism, viewed from the East...
A reader writes ...
I heard your podcast with Michael Dowd on evolutionarychristianity.com and thought I would take the opportunity to write. I have read several of your books and have found them very helpful.I am very glad that the emerging "conversation" incorporates the possibility that modern science can inform our Christianity. This has been a hobby horse of mine for the past 10-15 years and I feel like a Lone Ranger sometimes when it comes to the Evangelical community. In the last 10 years it seems like my local church has become ever more rigid with respect to some of these hot button Evangelical issues. I have also been doing a lot of soul-searching recently with respect to gay rights issues, mostly due to find out about 5 years ago that my cousin is a lesbian. "Love the sinner, hate the sin" is a lot harder to put into practice when it is a close family member. Having just returned from seven years in the Middle East, we are also on the bleeding edge of Christian-Muslim interfaith dialogue, as compared to most of our friends.
Thanks for your bravery and faithfulness in blazing new trails for Evangelicals.
Thanks for writing. Your story reflects a process that is going on in so many people. Sometimes it seems glacier-slow ... but sometimes it seems like "global warming" is a spiritual phenomenon too, and the process is accelerating. Thanks again for your encouragement.
A spiritual life is a Spirit life, a life in the Spirit, and Jesus’ life and work come into proper focus when we realise his goal was not to start a new religion – and certainly not to create a new religion that would seek to compete with or persecute his own religion of Judaism! No: his goal was to fill with Spirit-wine the empty stone jars of religion – his own religion and any other one, I’d say. His goal wasn’t to start a new religious argument about dogma-mountains; it was to fill hearts with Spirit-fountains. His goal wasn’t to replace one group of powerful religious grown-ups (like Nicodemus) with another, but to help everyone become like little children through Spirit-birth. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 2)On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. Here's today's excerpt:
But naked spirituality is different. You don’t argue about the fountain: you drink from it and experience its movement and flow within you. It’s flowing under everyone’s feet, as it were, and can well up in the soul. When you have the fountain flowing within you, you don’t need to travel to some distant mountain to find what you’re thirsty for. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 2)
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. Here's a short excerpt from the book:
That’s why in the end, I don’t think we need to pit religion against spirituality, any more than we would pit clothing against nakedness. Nakedness is a good thing, and clothing is a good thing too. In the middle of a blizzard, a parka and boots come in handy, just as sturdy jeans and a long-sleeved flannel shirt do when you’re walking through a forest full of nettles and mosquitoes. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 2)
The Old Ceremony - Til My Voice Is Gone from Sam Griffith on Vimeo.
(Thanks, BC!)
My publisher, HarperOne, offers a monthly newsletter called News and Pews. You can subscribe here ...
For all who care about the Congo ... this update from the Enough Project is really important. My hope and prayer is that in the years to come, "fair trade/ethical buying" will extend to every economic sector - from coffee to gifts to lumber to high-tech gadgets.
Continue reading Is your cell phone dirty?...
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. Here's today's quote:
The root of the word religion is lig, which you see in the word ligament. It means to connect, to join together, to unite, to bring everything together in one body or one wholeness. And of course re means again. So you might say that good religion is about connecting us together again. Most deeply it is about binding us together into one body with God, acknowledging that different religious denominations and families have differing ways of describing and relating to God. It is also about bonding us and uniting us again with one another, and with all creation – the trees and the mountains and the animals, the stars and space and wind. In this light, true religion and naked spirituality are two names for the same thing: seeking vital connection. And seeking vital connection, it turns out, is another name for love. So, we might say, both spirituality and religion are, at their best, two names for love. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 2)
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
Fourth, spiritual people seek practical ways to nourish that sense of integration and communion. It might be meditating, hiking on a wilderness trail, volunteering at a soup kitchen, doing yoga, going to art galleries, participating in festivals, or going on pilgrimages. It might be fasting, feasting or having deep talks with a few friends. Whatever the specifics, spiritual people have – or at least wish they had – some set of moves, rhythms, habits or practices, that to some degree at least, keep them from sleep-walking or going on auto-pilot, so they live with a greater sensitivity to the sacred aliveness and meaning that surround them. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 2)
Here's the Q:
I've been pondering what I think is a grave mistake for environmentalist Christians when talking about Creation care. I'd like to know what you think of what I think are parallels between how environmentalists encourage people to join the cause for Creation Care and how fundamentalists evangelize for salvation.Fundamentalism makes hell the core issue in salvation, and the fear of hell was one of the core driving forces behind evangelism. "Without hell," a preacher would say, "There's be no reason to evangelize." Hell is the destructive and damning result of people ignoring the warning and refuse to join Christianity.
From where I sit, environmentalists do the same thing with respect to Creation care. It seems as though catastrophic effects of global warming seem to be the driving force behind encouraging people to join the cause. Perhaps you see it as a necessary warning (as do fundamentalists with hell), but most of us who are unconvinced of the problem see it as a fear-based tactic. I've done plenty of research from both sides, and to the best of my understanding, I'm not convinced global warming is as problematic as you believe it to be. I'm even less convinced in the so-called "solutions" to the problem.
I don't believe in the traditional view of hell, but that doesn't change at all my commitment to a missional lifestyle and evangelism. In fact, in many ways my new views on judgment and restoration means an even deeper commitment to sharing my faith with others. Likewise with Creation care, I see the threats of global destruction and catastrophic calamity as functionally "hell" for environmentalists, and I'm equally disturbed by the tactic.
Regardless of my position on the global warming debate, I'm still adamantly committed to care for the creation. We don't do enough nor do we think of this as a Christian responsibility. But I think the "hellish nightmare" scenario that global warming advocates depict should be abandoned with haste in favor of a more restorative and biblical call for the care of our environment. I think you'll find that those Christians who are skeptical of global warming will be unable to use what they see as a fear-mongering lie as an excuse to do nothing. Instead they might feel compelled to listen.
Continue reading Q & R: Why Be Green?...
In case you haven't read his comments at the National Prayer Breakfast this morning ... I hope you will!
Continue reading What the President prays for ......
... on the streets in Egypt.
My friend Graeme Codrington writes:
Have a look at this photo of Christians protecting Muslims while they were praying during the protests in Egypt yesterday: http://www.futurechurchnow.com/2011/02/03/christians-in-egypt-protect-muslim-prayers-from-protestors/A new kind of christianity?
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
Third, the word spiritual signals for them an inner sensitivity to aliveness, meaning and sacredness in the universe. They can’t in good conscience assign God, heaven, meaning, values, souls, worship, the afterlife and eternity to the sacred category and consign everything else – including bodies, sexuality, work, animals, plants, the earth, daily life and history – to the profane. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 2)
Here's the Q from a young leader:
This may sound like the strangest, most ridiculous question ever, but do you think grace might actually come with terms and conditions?It seems like it does sometimes. In order to be a "real Christian," either you have to believe in the right doctrines and go to the right church and read the right theologians, or you have to be a super-radically-inclusive-peacemaking-humanitarian-who-loves-everyone-the-way-Jesus-does. In fact, just think of the message of the Gospel: we're not perfect, so God had to butcher His innocent sin instead of us. Yeah, that's really good news!
Perhaps I'm just being too hard on myself. I've always been hard on myself ever since I was a little boy. The strangest thing is my parents never pushed me to be perfect; I somehow managed to learn how to be a perfectionist all on my own. And I guess I brought that perfectionism over when I started following Jesus.
Sorry if none of this makes any sense. I guess what I'm asking is this: can grace ever be truly unconditional? Is there a grace that allows us to be human?
Continue reading Q & R: Conditional Grace?...
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
Second, they mean that organised religion doesn’t have all the answers for them either. They’re concerned that religious institutions are complicit in too many of the world’s problems, and that they lead their adherents on too many adventures in missing the point. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 2)
A reader writes:
I've been taking a refresher law course at Stanford, and this week we are looking at the US constitution. I was going through the readings and came across something I think you'd find interesting.Following on from your discussion in aNKoC, encouraging bible-readers not to view the cannon as a Constitution, but a diverse library, I'd like to submit that for those who find it hard to 'demote' the Bible to an (inspired) collection of historical sacred works, truly viewing the bible as a constitution may not be such a bad thing at all.
This isn't an original thought, but I think the problem with many fundamentalists...... scratch that. The problem with many of us is that, rather than take the Bible seriously (as they/we evidently try to in earnest) (and don't hesitate to remind us/others), they/we denigrate the scriptures by not taking them seriously enough. I'd argue we err by treating the scriptures akin to a book of spells which fell from the sky, rather than respectfully submitting them to the same (if not more) scrutiny than we would a Constitution.
In case you don't want to read it all.. two quotes which sum up the argument:
"Fidelity to the Constitution requires judges to ask not how its general principles would have been applied in 1789 or 1868, but rather how those principles should be applied today in order to preserve their power and meaning in light of the concerns, conditions, and evolving norms of our society."
...
"Ultimately, what accounts for our enduring faith in the Constitution is not that we have rigidly adhered to original understandings frozen in amber or to so-called strict construction of the text. It is that we have continually interpreted the Constitution’s language and applied its principles in ways that are faithful to its original purposes and to the social context in which new challenges arise. "
There's a really interesting discussion towards the end of the chapter looking at the fallacy of judicial activism/restraint, and a critique of "originalism".This is not to say I don't 'get' what you mean in aNKoC re a Constitution - for me at least, a more helpful analogy would be a Statute or Regulation.
No need to reply Brian, I know you're busy, just thought I'd share with you.
A Generous Orthodoxy is on Frank Viola's must-read list ...
Gregg Garrett refers to A New Kind of Christianity in his recent article on guns and faith.
Last year about this time, I was on a life-changing trip to the West Bank and Israel. My friend Jeff Wright is leading a trip there now - and they're blogging about it over at Patheos. Well worth checking in on!
In turtle-related news, it was a tough year for sea turtles ...
Emergent Village has a new facebook page ... right here.
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
What do people mean when they say, "I'm spiritual, but not religious"?
First, when people say ‘I’m spiritual’, they mean that secular science, politics and economics don’t have all the answers for them. They believe life has a sacred dimension that can’t be reduced to formulas, rules and numbers. They believe we have hungers that can’t be fed by facts alone, votes alone, or even the quasi-religious ‘invisible hand of the market’ alone. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 2)
Last year we produced some short videos introducing the ten questions in A New Kind of Christianity. You can easily access all ten here. Here's the first one ...
You still have six weeks to read A New Kind of Christianity in time for Naked Spirituality, which will be released March 15 ... Here are two short videos that provide a good introduction to A New Kind of Christianity:
Some contacts in Egypt forwarded this update from some Christian leaders in Cairo ... (names omitted for security reasons):
Continue reading Egypt Update...
Aradhna's newest. If you're not familiar with them, here's a taste ...
Amazing song, amazing video ...
Check out What Matters Now in Children's Ministry, and Dave Csinos' reflections on the online event. Dave's new book - Children's Ministry That Fits - is now available. I was honored to write the book's afterword.
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
I want to acknowledge that dramatic spiritual experiences happen, but they are, by definition, pretty rare – otherwise they wouldn’t seem dramatic. Beyond that, although they solve some problems, they can create others. Some people, for example, seem to develop an addiction to dramatic spiritual experiences that disrupts their life as other addictions would. Most important, dramatic spiritual experiences simply aren’t the point. Whatever the value of extraordinary dramatic spiritual experiences, to which some people seem more prone than others, I’m convinced that what matters most – and is available to everyone – is daily, ordinary spiritual experience. With or without dramatic experiences, we can all find, expand and hold a quiet, sacred space at the center of our lives, a space where we experience vital connection to the living God. We can all learn to tap into the quiet current of sacredness and love that runs from the Creator through all creation. Dramatic experiences can awaken some of us to the reality of the spiritual life, but they are not sufficient to strengthen, sustain and deepen us as truly spiritual people. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 1)
Here's what Publisher's Weekly says:
Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in 12 Simple Words
Brian D. McLaren. HarperOne, $25.99 (272p) ISBN 978-0-0618-5401-9
Christian evangelical author, teacher, and pastor McLaren (A New Kind of Christianity) started his writing career helping nondenominational evangelical churches adapt to the emergent, post-modern, post-Christendom era. His most recent books, however, are directed to those outside the church who identify as “spiritual, not religious” or those who find church lifeless. Using personal narrative, simple language devoid of church-speak, and self-deprecating humor, McLaren’s intimate voice envelops the reader with a sense of safety to match the vulnerability his title suggests. Beginning with a story of St. Francis of Assisi stripping naked before his father to reject his inheritance, and concluding with an invitation to skinny dip in the “river of sacredness,” McLaren presents four spiritual “seasons”—simplicity, complexity, perplexity, and harmony—accompanied by 12 prayer practices. Each practice, described as “simple, doable, and durable,” is rooted in a single word (e.g. here, thanks, sorry, help, why, yes, behold). Conventional Christians may not welcome McLaren’s extravagant invitation to those on the religious margins, but anyone wanting to conserve the spiritual spark in themselves or someone else will find this book a gentle and generous tract. (Mar.)
What Doug said, you can read here: http://dougpagitt.com/2011/01/i-never-knew-how-backhanded-and-cutting-brian-mclaren-could-be/
What he didn't tell you was that he won nearly every game. So, if being a pastor, radio guy, author, speaker, and trainer don't work out, this former college basketball player may have a future on the pro tennis circuit. Watch out, Novak Djokovic ...
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
Now, almost four decades later, I cringe when I hear the teachings that were standard fare back then. I have discarded those theological wineskins … but I treasure more than ever the wine of the Spirit that was somehow conveyed to me through them. That suit of theological clothing doesn’t fit me any more, but the naked spirituality that sustains me today originally came to me dressed in it. I hope you can see that even if a particular style of religious clothing now feels stiff, tight and ill-fitting for you – Roman Catholic or mainline Protestant, Evangelical or Pentecostal, Sunni or Shiite, Reform or Orthodox – the possibility of naked spirituality remains a live option. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 1)
Here's the Q:
I am a raving fan of your books, as is my family. Unfortunately, I have not had the time to read your new book yet as I am busy with college (I'm an English Literature major). I recently came across a very negative review of your new book, located here:Of course, I strongly disagree with the ideology behind the review, and I believe the writer was unfair. However, I would like to see you respond to main question at stake: how different do you see Paul and Jesus' gospels? Or are they the same beneath the language and metaphors used? Obviously Paul had his own constellations of metaphors he used to communicate the gospel, different from many of the ones Jesus would have used (considering Jesus was a Jewish rabbi, and Paul aimed to communicate to non-Jews quite frequently). I would love to hear your thoughts on how different or the same Jesus and Paul are.
Continue reading Q & R: Jesus and Paul...
A reader writes ...
Just saw on your website that "A New Kind of Christian" was reaching its tenth year. That book changed my life and ministry! It's caused lots of trouble for me over the years, but it's been worth it to me and many the Lord has led me to minister to. When I was leading the Emergent Houston cohort about 9 out of 10 people said "ANKofC" was the reason they began to engage the world and gospel differently.When I read "ANKofC" the first time my heart leapt within me and I remember thinking, "This is what I've believed my whole life." Thank you for your wrote; for taking all the slings and arrows with grace, and for continually calling many of us to a deeper engagement with the Jesus of scripture.
Looking forward to "Naked Spirituality."
A reader sent this link, of obvious interest to me in light of my book Everything Must Change:
Continue reading On Economics...
On March 15, Naked Spirituality will go on sale. I'll share a short quote from the book each day until then. I hope you'll tweet or otherwise pass on the ones you find most meaningful.
I walked several paces away from my friends and lay back in the grass, fingers interlocked behind my head, looking up, feeling strangely quiet and at peace. Something began to happen.I had this feeling of being seen. Known. Named. Loved … by a Someone bigger than the sky that expanded above me. Young science geek that I was, I pictured myself lying on a little hill on a little continent on a little planet in a little solar system on the rim of a modest galaxy in a sea of billions of galaxies, and I felt that the great big Creator of the whole shebang was somehow noticing little tiny me. It was as if the whole sky were an eye, and all space were a heart, and I was being targeted as a focal point for attention and love. And the oddest thing happened as this realization sank in. I began to laugh. I wasn’t guffawing, but I was laughing: at first gently, but eventually almost uncontrollably. Profound laughter surged from within me. (Brian D. McLaren, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words. HarperOne, 2011, Chapter 1)
Here's the Q:
Thanks for all your writings, both books and blogs, as well as the few responses to e-mails that I've sent. Often in your books and most recently in your blog posted (1/25/11) Original Sin and Responsibility, you mention Lesslie Newbigin. Where would be the best place to begin with his works to expand on what you've touched on in this blog post? Thanks a million!
Here's the R:
Continue reading Q & R: Newbigin...
Over on my facebook page, Gary offers this as a video chill-pill when religious controversy suffers from excessive seriousness:
Thanks, Gary!
A reader writes ...
Hi Brian,
I really enjoyed the reader email about the mainline church; as this is an issue I think a lot about. I grew up in a mainline Presbyterian environment, but I've grown weary of the denominational and doctrinal divides in the Christian church. Two things strike me with regards to "A New Kind of Christianity" and the issues you are exploring. First, during the second half of the twentieth century, the mainline churches were the ONLY home for the kind of cutting edge theology that you and your movement engage in. Evangelicals simply have not tolerated preachers or theologians with "liberal" theological or political views. So most Christians who have wanted to reexamine or question traditional Christian teachings have been in the Presbyterian, Methodist, or Episcopal tradition. You yourself can point to your own treatment as an example of how Evangelical churches tend to treat those who dissent from the accepted teachings.Second, paradoxically I think the "emerging church" movement is rooted in the evangelical tradition. Evangelicals have been theologically conservative but much more liberal in their understanding of church planting and worship structure. Mainliners have traditionally been much more conservative than evangelicals in these areas. I think what the emerging church has done is combine this evangelical approach to church with a much more flexible and inclusive theology. Someone like Peter Rollins could be considered quite radical in his theology. But he is still an evangelical in the sense that he is out there preaching what he believes; he is going out in the midst of secular people and sharing his own view of the Christian faith. That is the most evangelical thing one can do.
I agree very much with you that mainline and emerging churches have a lot to offer each other. Mainline churches have buildings, a rich history of tradition and thought, and space and openness for the kind of theology emerging churches engage in. Emerging churches offer a freshness, vitality, and YOUNG PEOPLE, that has been lacking in Mainline churches as young people have dropped out. So instead of a bunch of gray heads sitting in the mainline pews; and a bunch of twenty and thirty somethings meeting in bars; why don't these two groups ever come together and share their visions of the Christian faith? They might have more in common than they realize.
So there are just a few thoughts in me that you have stimulated.
Thanks for this. I couldn't agree more - "mainline and emerging churches have a lot to offer each other." And the good news - they are coming together and sharing their visions of the Christian faith. I'll have to share more on this in the weeks ahead.
May 2-6, 2011 ...
Gospel Economics: Land, Labor, and Love
http://www.amahoro-africa.org/amahoro_africa/amahoro-gathering-2011.html
Here's the Q:
It seems that the ‘emergent’ position is that Jesus is the awesome and excellent hero , who had the way-humanitarian heart, dude. But that He had to bleed, and that His(God’s) blood was the only blood that could help our dire human circumstance, seems to be The-Lost-Point. I love a radical heart. I love asking hard questions of the “established” church. Believe me ..I understand the heart of a zealot. That’s not the question..Who does McLaren say that Jesus is? And what are The Scriptures?
Brian,
Above is a copy of a statement I recently made and a couple of questions I had. I asked this question of someone who responded, "Have you asked Brian, Himself?" So here I am Brian, asking you " Who do You say Jesus is?
Here's the R:
Continue reading Q & R: Have you asked Brian?...
More on the love life of Lonesome George. And did you hear about the woolly mammoth's possible resurrection?
From time to time I receive emails like this one:
Subject: Blasphemy is More like it
You try to show God's love in your lifestyle, but deny them the truth.
That's it, unedited and in its entirety.
As I read this, I thought back to times in my life when I might have sent an email like this to someone. I remember what it felt like - the need to pronounce judgment on people whom I saw as in error, the feeling of being unfaithful if I didn't speak out and name them as a liberal, a heretic, a hypocrite, whatever. I wonder now if my need to condemn others was a projection of some subconscious insecurity of my own, but then, on a conscious level, the only thing I felt was that I was faithfully standing for the truth.
Of course, I probably wouldn't have had the good sense to keep my message as short and to the point as this respondent. I probably would have gone on for page after page, specifying the errors and failures of my "target" audience. And I probably wouldn't have had the good sense to at least acknowledge something good in "the other" either - in this case, "you try to show God's love in your lifestyle." So I feel a certain respect for the person who wrote this. He is farther along than I probably was at his age, and life has a way of keeping us all learning, even when we think we've already learned enough to render judgment on others. Some of the people I wrote off earlier in my life I later learned had a lot to teach me, and now I thank God for them.
The comment raises an interesting question, perhaps the flip side of this one: If someone is trying to proclaim the truth, but does so without showing God's love in his or her dealings with others, how should we respond? I'd love to see some responses over at my facebook page.
Here's the Q:
Apparently, Jeremy Bouma has taken up issue on several of the things you write on, specifically human sin. As he himself embraces original sin and total depravity, he claims that your view does not set responsibility on human beings, but instead upon systems and "frameworks." From what I have read of your work, I've always assumed that you give humans responsibility for sin, and I, personally, reject the traditional view of original sin and total depravity because I believe that actually THAT view is the one which removes human responsibility. How would you respond to Jeremy's accusations?
Continue reading Q & R: original sin and responsibility...
I'll be on the live broadcast of Evolutionary Christianity with Michael Dowd. You can listen in on a 90-minute, live panel discussion featuring Gretta Vosper, Ian Lawton, Bruce Sanguin, Sally Morgenthaler, and me, with host and moderator Michael Dowd. Questions that will be discussed include:
How has an evolutionary faith perspective made a difference in the life of your congregants?
What is the role of the Christian church (and individual Christians) in a time of increasing secularization?
Where have you needed courage in bringing an evolutionary view into the pulpit, or into religious education, and what were the consequences of your doing so?
If most people think of Christianity in mythic, otherwordly terms, why call a religious orientation that is concerned with this world and this life "Christian"?
In addition to questions folks have already submitted, there will also be opportunity to pose your questions during the broadcast (live, via computer interface).
WHEN: 5:00pm Pacific, 6:00pm Mountain, 7:00pm Central, 8:00pm Eastern [1:00am UTC] HOW TO LISTEN BY PHONE: dial (248) 464-6062, then enter Access Code: 874720# HOW TO LISTEN ONLINE: go to http://InstantTeleseminar.com/?eventid=17027985 JOIN THE CONVERSATION: About one hour into the discussion, we'll take your questions, via instant message in the teleseminar window on your computer. You may also send us your questions in advance, for today's panelists as well as for any of the upcoming panels, on the Live Seminars page of our blog.
For more information, go here: http://evolutionarychristianity.com/blog/live-seminars/#bio_fourth
If you haven't yet read A New Kind of Christianity - the softcover release is February 1. Here's an introduction to the book.
Coming March 15:
“Brian McLaren is a bridge builder. In these simple yet profound spiritual practices he perfectly marries his evangelical heart and contemplative soul, and we are all richer for the union.” (Cynthia Bourgeault, author of Centering Prayer and The Wisdom Jesus )"How does one man have so much to teach us? And it is always wise, easy to read, and practical besides!" (Fr. Richard Rohr,O.F.M.)
“Medicine for the soul. ‘Naked Spirituality’ is filled with uncommon honesty. It is a tonic for all those who yearn for practical help with the development of rhythms of life – free from the stifling tyranny of legalism – that will foster a depth of Christ-centred spirituality." (Steve Chalke MBE Founder, Oasis Global, Faithworks & Stop The Traffik
UN Special Advisor on Community Action Against Human Trafficking)
Here's some additional information on the book...
Here's the Q:
Dear Brian,
I enjoyed your presentations at the recent conference at Gloria Dei Church (Huntingdon Valley, PA) very much. I was able to sneak in a question toward the end about an ongoing narrative within the Bible--a 3-D view, as you described it, on a graph with three axes.The question was a little disingenuous, I decided later. I already believe the Bible contains infinite truth--obviously not all accessible to an individual--bound together by some central themes--narratives, even. The Bible is, on the surface, a tangled and often unpleasant document. However, I think it contains deeper threads that tell readers about the life and reformation of the individual and the nature of God. I started reading Swedenborg in college a few years ago and have continued to do so. I find his explanation of an "internal sense" to the Bible compelling. What do you think of that theory?
Continue reading Q & R: The Bible and Symbolism...
Here's the Q (with some of my responses interspersed):
Brian,
I understand very well that if we accept that the Bible as a library of debates and partial accounts from the perspectives of generations of people struggling to express and understand God, then we don't read it as a list of facts that are objectively true or false. Such categories are not available to us under this rubric. But one would suppose that there is something essential on the other side of the lens, right?Okay, the Bible has been misread and misused. Okay, good. So there's no hell, per se. That's mostly a misreading of the narrative, and mostly even, a misreading of the intent of the writers themselves. Okay good, God is not predatory or tribal. That's an old understanding that the Community has outgrown. Great. The book of Romans, it turns out, is more about coalition building than it is about theology. Very helpful. Christians aren't supposed to convince Muslims to not be Muslims. Great, we can all live in the Kingdom together. Organic Goodness has nothing to do with Sterile Perfection. Got it.
I would quibble with the ways you've expressed some of this. For example, I'd agree, yes, that we've misread the text in the traditional articulation of a doctrine of hell. But that's not the same as saying "there's no hell, per se." It would be more precise (to me) to say, "Traditional articulations of hell describe something that does not exist as described." And I would never say Romans isn't about theology: I would say it's about a very robust theology in which coalition building is normative. But putting those quibbles aside ...
Continue reading Q & R: Really, Resurrection?...
... was the fiftieth anniversary of one of the most important speeches of the twentieth century. This short excerpt deserves your 2.5 minutes.
Gareth Porter offers an important analysis here (and after the jump).
Continue reading Three days ago ......
A friend writes ...
Since you are blogging about the increasing acceptance of gays by evangelical leaders, I thought I'd drop you a note on a revealing personal fact about CS Lewis that you might want to mention to your readers.
Continue reading More on sexuality, and C. S. Lewis...
The Big Tent Christianity conference is bringing together an amazing assortment of my favorite speakers ... plus I just learned that Derek Webb (courageous and gifted singer-songwriter) will be there as well. More info here ...
The folks at undocumented.tv want to influence your attitude.
A reader writes:
I've been a fan of yours for several years now since hearing you at the Greenbelt festival in the UK. I'm so glad the vision for an equivalent festival in the USA has materialised.It seems a "biggie" that has come up quite a lot recently on your blog is the old chestnut (hot potato?!) of penal substitutionary atonement. I've never really had to struggle with this coming as I do from a relatively liberal Christian background, but I have tried to understand where this particular view of the work of Christ comes from.
I've recently become interested in the work being down on Temple Theology by Margaret Barker (heard her at Greenbelt too). I don't know if you've come across her and her work? Her work relating the work of Christ on the cross to the true meaning of the ancient Day of Atonement rite has been really important for me. It's drawn on very heavily in this article by another theologian I find fascinating, James Allison (you guessed it, ANOTHER Greenbelt speaker!):
http://www.jamesalison.co.uk/texts/eng11.html
His take on the substitutionary element of the Atonement is that God substitutes himself for the victims of OUR sacrifices thus exhibiting them for what they really are: ritualised murder.
I don't know if you'd have time to read James Allison's article, but as I say it's been incredibly important to me in opening up a new window on the cross. The rest of his stuff is very good as well, especially a Catholic reading of Romans 1...
Greatly looking forward to your next book. I thought your earlier book on spirituality was one of your best, so I can't wait!
Thanks so much for this link. What a beautiful and meaningful article by James Allison. That simple distinction between theory and liturgy is wonderful.
I'm really thrilled about the Wild Goose Festival - bringing the tradition of the Greenbelt Festival to this side of the pond. It looks like I'll be at both this year - I hope to see lots of friends in the US and the UK in June and August.
Another example of how all species are connected in an intricate web of life (or body of life), and if one part suffers, all suffer. Ever heard of fibropapillomatis?
Jonathan McRay has written a book that tells the story through they eyes of Palestinian and Israeli followers of Jesus: You Have Heard It Said.
Here's the Q:
I found your discussion on YHWH vs Theos thought provoking. My question is regarding Jesus' promise of the Holy Spirit ("He will guide you into all the truth"). Was the Spirit guiding the church into the truth through the use of classical concepts with the church fathers, or is He guiding us now with this move to return to our Hebraic roots in how we think of God?
Continue reading Q & R: Was the Spirit guiding?...
I met a theologian at a conference recently who passed on the following note (being presented here anonymously). It's interesting from a number of angles, but especially in relation to today's other post about not casting Greco-Roman culture in an all-or-nothing black-and-white light.
Continue reading New Kind of Christianity - response from a theologian...
In her recent Huffington Post piece, Cathleen Falsani notes that more and more Evangelical Christian leaders are breaking with the traditional position on homosexuality. There's a high cost to be paid by those of us who do so - including blacklisting, disassociation, and vilification.
But in spite of the sometimes harsh opposition, I think the tide is beginning to turn as more and more people begin prayerfully re-opening what I call (in A New Kind of Christianity) the Authority Question and the Sex Question. Many people share my own experience: the more gay people you actually get to know - friends, work associates, family members, public figures - the less tenable the traditional position becomes, and the more you are forced to go through a rethinking process very much like the processes past generations have had to go through regarding anti-Semitism, anti-evolution, anti-feminism, pro-segregation, pro-apartheid, and pro-slavery.
This doesn't involve rejecting Scripture, as some folks often claim, but rather it involves questioning past interpretations of Scripture ... exactly the kind of re-interpretations we see going on in the New Testament. In my book, I look at the then-traditional assumptions about Gentiles and eunuchs that are boldly re-considered in Acts 8. People who had been considered unacceptable and unclean are boldly accepted when the gospel of God's reconciling kingdom takes root ... and that, I believe, is what is happening now. For more traditional Evangelical readers who are willing to give this issue additional consideration, here are four suggestions.
1. Get to know some gay folks, Christian or otherwise - not to argue, not to fault-find, but to listen to their stories and be open to new perspectives. You can listen in at the Gay Christian Network for starters.
2. Read some helpful books - like Jay Bakker's new book Fall to Grace, or William Stacy Johnsons' A Time to Embrace, or Jack Rogers' Jesus, The Bible and Homosexuality. I would hope A New Kind of Christianity would also be helpful.
3. If in the end you don't change your view, you'll be better informed and you can help each side better understand the other, seeking to be a peacemaker and minimize polarization and misrepresentation of either side by the other.
4. If you do change your view, you'll have the challenge of advocating both firmly and graciously, showing the patience and courage to others you would have wanted to be shown to you.
Of the many good and meaningful tributes to Dr. King I've read in recent days, this from my Australian friend Jarrod McKenna is among the very best. I hope you'll enjoy it and take it to heart.
WHAT WOULD MARTIN LUTHER KING JR DO? CHRISTIANS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
By Jarrod McKenna
ABC RELIGION AND ETHICS | 17 JAN 2011
The legacy of Martin Luther King Jr and the reality of climate change are both victims of western culture's remarkable capacity to accommodate and neutralise that which is most critical of it.
Continue reading On Dr. King, Santa Claus, Global Climate Change ......
A reader writes ...
I was at the Faithworks 2010 conference at Enfield, England and really enjoyed the whole experience. I am currently reading my friend's signed copy of "A New Kind of Christianity" and I am loving it! (The Jesus Question next). I am a bit surprised that more people aren't talking about such thinking (perhaps I am too far away from London- but I wouldn't limit Jesus or such thinking to the capital).
I also read the New Kind of Christian trilogy, and wish I had read them 10 years ago- again I am surprised people had not mentioned them before.
It is through working with the Oasis Church Network that I read "So, you don't want to go to church anymore" (Jacobs?), and then heard about your books. Naturally, with my Oasis UK connections I have read a few of Steve Chalke's books.
I love the open minded and open hearted approach that has dawned with your writing as well as others, but I fear that there need to be serious breakdowns in more established areas of "the church" for Jesus to be "right here, right now".
Many thanks to you for your ongoing work and works.
Here's an important report that emphasizes the sigificance of small-scale farmers and local food security.
You can find him at @TonyCampolo. He's blogging at http://www.redletterchristians.org/author/tony/
Not long ago I announced the launch of an informative free online series of dialogues, The Advent of Evolutionary Christianity: Conversations at the Leading-Edge of Faith, featuring 38 Christian leaders and esteemed scientists:
http://evolutionarychristianity.com/blog/live-seminars/
The series thus far has focused on the relationship between faith and reason and how a science-informed worldview can enrich our lives, deepen our faith, and bless our world. It has attracted thousands of Christians from all denominations and has been a huge success: http://evolutionarychristianity.com/blog/our-diversity/
Today I want to draw your attention to the second phase of this two-month long "event"... Starting this Saturday, January 15, will be the first of six interactive seminars (via phone and internet, twice a week) featuring speakers from his series. You'll be able to engage with the panelists and submit questions either ahead of time or live during the roundtable discussions. I'll be involved with the session on Tuesday, January 25, at 8 pm eastern.
Learn more here: http://evolutionarychristianity.com/blog/live-seminars/
If you think "Jesus OR Darwin" is a false choice and you'd like to experience a multitude of bridge-building approaches, don't miss this historic series of discussions.
If you haven't already registered for the free Evolutionary Christianity series, see here: http://evolutionarychristianity.com Once registered, you will be emailed information regarding how to listen live, via phone or internet, or later, at your convenience.
Here's his post. Quotable:
From the Executive Summary of the just released Global Risks Report 2011, an initiatve of the Risk Response Network of the World Economic Forum:The world is in no position to face major, new shocks. The financial crisis has reduced global economic resilience, while increasing geopolitical tension and heightened social concerns suggest that both governments and societies are less able than ever to cope with global challenges. Yet, as this report shows, we face ever-greater concerns regarding global risks, the prospect of rapid contagion through increasingly connected systems and the threat of disastrous impacts...Two risks are especially significant given their high degrees of impact and interconnectedness. Economic disparity and global governance failures both influence the evolution of many other global risks and inhibit our capacity to respond effectively to them.
In this way, the global risk context in 2011 is defined by a 21st century paradox: as the world grows together, it is also growing apart.
Globalization has generated sustained economic growth for a generation. It has shrunk and reshaped the world, making it far more interconnected and interdependent. But the benefits of globalization seem unevenly spread – a minority is seen to have harvested a disproportionate amount of the fruits. Although growth of the new champions is rebalancing economic power between countries, there is evidence that economic disparity within countries is growing.
Issues of economic disparity and equity at both the national and the international levels are becoming increasingly important. Politically, there are signs of resurgent nationalism and populism as well as social fragmentation. There is also a growing divergence of opinion between countries on how to promote sustainable, inclusive growth.
To meet these challenges, improved global governance is essential. But this is another 21st century paradox: the conditions that make improved global governanceso crucial – divergent interests, conficting incentives and differing norms and values – are also the ones that make its realization so difficult, complex and messy. As a result, we see failures such as the Doha Development Round of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the lack of international agreement at the Copenhagen Conference on climate change. The G20 is seen as the most hopeful development in global governance but its efficiency in this regard has not been proven.
When an institution such as the World Economic Forum--long the showcase of self-congratulatory global plutocrats and corporate elites--admits that a minority seemed to have "harvested a disproportionate amount of the fruits" of the economic growth of the past decade, you know things are bad.
If you're interested in understanding more about the four main dimensions of our global crises, my book Everything Must Change should be of help.
This short interview with Spencer Burke and Kent Annan deserves your attention. I read a lot of manuscripts, but Kent's Aftershock (a theological-spiritual reflection on the earthquake) is probably the best-written book that's come across my desk in a long time - moving, insightful, disturbing, genuine, and humane.
Mike Morell said this song reminded him of my book Everything Must Change.
When evil people plot, good people plan. When evil people burn and bomb, good people must build and bind. When evil people shout ugly words of hatred, good people commit themselves to the glories of love. Where evil people would seek to perpetuate an unjust status quo, good people must seek to bring into being a real order of Justice.(Adapted from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)
All that is necessary for the forces of evil to win in this world is for enough good people to do nothing.(Adapted from Edmund Burke)
I'm in Richardson, TX, today, meeting with youth workers, after spending the weekend in Austin. This coming weekend I'll be in Georgia, working alongside Barbara Brown Taylor. A full week, but a good one.
Here's the Q:
I have been having a difficult time finding a church that I can feel comfortable with.
Having grown up Catholic and totally rejecting that, I don't feel comfortable in Baptist or other biblical "fundamental" churches. Reading on Beliefnet.com and taking a few surveys resulted in my being led to your information and that I most probably think in line with your ideas.Do you know of anywhere in the Fort Smith/Van Buren Arkansas area where
there is a community of fellow believers that I could connect with that seem to be in agreement with your thoughts?
Continue reading Q & R: Finding a hospitable church?...
One of my many blessings in 2010 - getting to meet and interact with some of the insightful, creative, and courageous people who are leading many of our denominations in America (and elsewhere too) ... leaders like Gradye Parsons of the Presbyterian Church. If you had the chance to meet these leaders, you'd see why I am hopeful about the future of the church. Here's a short interview Gradye and I did recently.
Religious violence (how strange and sad that such a term exists) is horrible whoever is the perpetrator. Most recently, it was extremist Muslims in Egypt. Here is an update from a friend, Paul-Gordon Chandler, who serves in Egypt. It always helps to have on-the-ground reports from people you trust ...
On New Year's Eve, just after midnight, a bomb exploded outside a church in Alexandria, Egypt just as worshipers were beginning to leave the church. 21 were instantly killed (four others died later) and more than 90 were seriously wounded. Since the terrible explosion last October in a Catholic Church in Baghdad, El-Qaeda terrorists in Iraq have threatened to attack churches in Egypt as well. Despite increased security by Egyptian police at the more than 3000 churches in Egypt, with thousands of worshippers entering and exiting services, it is humanly impossible to prevent ill-intentioned incidents like that in Alexandria on New Year’s Eve.
Due to the media showing quite horrific pictures of those who were killed in the attack, many frustrated Christians across the county took to the streets in anger and significant violence. Many have a sense that they are discriminated against as a minority, and the incidents of attacks on Christians in the past few years, and the general economic crisis, all have built up frustration which, when sparked by this tragedy, finally erupts.
All church leaders are distressed by the violence and anger expressed by mobs of “so-called Christians” around the country at this time and have been working hard to calm and restrain this mob reaction, which is against the spirit of forgiveness and peace. Also, the majority of Muslims have expressed deep sorrow about what happened in Alexandria. Last night, Thursday, the night of Feast of the Epiphany (January 6th), the Coptic Christians across Egypt celebrated Eastern Christmas. While many people were afraid, church attendance this Christmas Eve was most probably greater than ever before. Also, there is a considerable movement throughout Egypt among Muslims to stand in solidarity with the Christians at this time, and many Muslims therefore attended the services with Christians, to show unity with them and to send a message to terrorists that if they attack churches they will be harming Muslims as well as Christians. Christmas Eve is also the time when the Muslim government officials (Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers, City officials) attend services with Christians to share with them in their feast. Hundreds of Muslim government officials were at Coptic churches last night.
To help give some context, here is a little overview of the situation of Christians in Egypt. The Christian minority (up to 12%) in Egypt is unique in that it represents a remnant of the original Egyptians (descendents of the pharaohs). In spite of the discrimination felt by many Christians here, and in spite of the many limitations they experience and the perception of some that they are "second class" citizens, many Christian business persona have thrived with the new free market economy brought in by President Sadat in the early seventies, and it is estimated that they now control nearly 30% of Egypt's wealth.
Many churches in Egypt are flourishing with plans to expand their facilities to accommodate the growing numbers of weekly worshipers. In spite of the great difficulty in getting permission to build new churches, many new church buildings are opened every year. And Christian ministries of all sorts are also booming, with expanded programs and modern facilities to help accomplish their activities.So while often Christians in Egypt experience hardship as a minority, they are nevertheless a thriving community. One of the primary challenges at this time is the escalating tension within the country between the vocal advocates of an Islamic State (which would undoubtedly be more restrictive than at present) and the majority moderate Muslims and Christians who are working peacefully within the present legal system for a more balanced democracy which respects human rights for all. In response to this tragedy, coalitions are being formed between the faith communities and actions are being planned to seek ways to increase solidarity, to bring greater peace to the nation and to ensure full citizenship be applied to all Egyptians.
Here's an additional story about peace-loving Muslims serving as "human shields" to protect their Christian neighbors from violence-loving Muslims. I wonder how many of us Christians are ready to put ourselves in harm's way for our Muslim neighbors?
Canadian singer-songwriter Steve Bell's new CD includes a song I wrote ... You can read about the album here.
Nicholas Kristof explains an important dimension of long-term help for those in need:
trade that picks up where aid stops.http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/06/opinion/06kristof.html
A reader writes:
I apologize at the outset for the length of this email. I admire your work tremendously, and would be honored to hear (read) your thoughts on my experiences.a few months ago, after hearing about you in the news and around the blogosphere, I picked up A New Kind of Christianity at my local library. I enjoyed it so much I ended up buying it. After years of being something of an agnostic Mormon, your book made me thrill at the thought of having God operating not just in my life, but in the world again.
Continue reading From a Mormon seeker...
Here's the Q:
I wanted to ask you something that's been on my mind lately. Do you think systematic theology sometimes over-complicates things?The reason why I ask is because while I'm not a trained theologian, I love to study theology. I love gaining new insights about Scripture. After a while, though, I get confused about what I should believe about sin, the cross, the resurrection, etc. Is substitutionary atonement the right way to interpret the cross, or is it Christus Victor? (After re-reading all four gospels, I now lean towards the latter.) Is sin something you do, or a state of being? And if you're as over-analytical as I am, you can really drive yourself crazy with all of these questions!
I think that's why I take a more narrative approach to the Bible. A good story can change your whole perception on life. You end up thinking about things you never thought about before. And if a regular story written by man with no divine inspiration can change your perception, how much more can the divinely inspired biblical narrative change us!
Here's a response:
Continue reading Q & R: Systematic Theology...
Greg Metzger, a regular reader of this blog, shares my belief that we all need to work towards a nuclear-weapon-free world. He wrote the following essay and offers it for your consideration ... (Thanks, Greg)
Continue reading On Nuclear Weapons...
A reader writes:
...there's something that's been festering with me a long time I wanted to write about. Again, I recognize you get a lot of correspondence so no worries if there's no response. I'm a twentysomething single male still staying involved in church within a mainline context. My problem is it's very lonely for my demographic within the church. I don't know how it is in other churches, but in mine I'm usually the only one in my age group who shows up. And I really do like the theology and the people I worship with; but it is difficult sometimes when they are so much older and at different places in their lives than me, and there's no one else in my situation who comes in to worship. I never address this with anyone in the church, because it's just kind of embarrassing and awkward. And I suppose I could try to invite friends to worship, but it's just so hard to speak about my faith with friends because I live in a rather "hip" city and most people my age that I know are very set in the notion that Christianity is backwards and reactionary. I know I should have more courage and hope, but there are times when the loneliness of it overwhelms me.
Thanks for this note. I have a quick suggestion. I wonder what might happen if you met with one or two of the leaders of the church and shared your frustration and asked them if they would be willing to support you in making your church more youth-hospitable... You wouldn't be complaining to them; you wouldn't be asking them to do something; you would be asking them to support you in doing something.
A possible first step might be creating a "listening group." You would announce to the church that the church wants to do a better job of inviting, welcoming, and including young adults. Then you would ask for older adults in the church whose young adult children have left the church to consider inviting their kids to a listening group. This group would ask, "What factors in the church led you to leave, and what would need to change for you to want to come back?" There would need to be a firm promise that the group wasn't an excuse for re-proselytism, and that there would be no argument or defensiveness, and that frankness and honesty were sincerely desired. A small group of church leaders, including you, would host the groups, after doing some reading/training/practice in active listening. You'd probably want to promise the listening group wouldn't last more than 90 minutes, including refreshments.
With local folks, the groups could be held at the church or a person's home, or even a restaurant. With distant participants, it could be done via skype or conference call. The group of leader-listeners would then have data to share with the church ... and an important transformative process could begin.
You're very kind to not want to create any "embarrassing and awkward" moments for the older folks at the church. But I think you are an incredible gift to them, and they need to listen to you, and others like you. My prayers are with you today!
Presbyterians love to make jokes about themselves (God's frozen chosen, declining in a decent and orderly way, etc.). But the 900+ young adults I met this week in Montreat, NC, exemplify an inspiring future for the Presbyterian church ... if they're taken seriously and listened to and encouraged. The quality of conversation and interaction was at the "wow" level. My level of hope and enthusiasm about new things breaking forth in Mainline Protestantism continues to rise. What a great way to start the year - with tremendous young disciples like these!
I'll be starting off the new year in Montreat with a wonderful group of young adults today. I'll be sharing some key ideas from my 2008 book Everything Must Change - and from my upcoming book, Naked Spirituality. The new year has begun!
Here's a beautiful poem from Denise Levertov (thanks Craig and Cindy!):
On the Mystery of the IncarnationIt's when we face for a moment
the worst our kind can do, and shudder to know
the taint in our own selves, that awe
cracks the mind's shell and enters the heart:
not to a flower, not to a dolphin,
to no innocent form
but to this creature vainly sure
it and no other is god-like, God
(out of compassion for our ugly
failure to evolve) entrusts,
as guest, as brother,
the Word.
enjoying conversation by phone with some young afghan peace volunteers ... May God help us, this year, be agents of true peace: in our families, in our communities, in our world.
Stay tuned for more opportunities like this one, friends (without borders).
Happy New Year, everyone!
Here's the Q:
My name is yyy and I had a couple of questions. I read your article "Is God Violent?" in Sojourners magazine and as I looked at your example of Jesus as nonviolent. It is true Jesus did not kill, but he did run the money changers out of the temple with a scourge. I do not know if he hit them with it, but they knew to get out of the temple on that day. I do not believe this gives an excuse for war, but Jesus has a point where he does not accept certain things. I also think it is interesting to see what set him off (using God's house for dishonesty and consumerism...did I just say that?). I just wanted to know if there was anything I am missing in my thoughts. I am very new (3 days) to your perspective on christianity and wondered which book of yours I should start off with especially understanding the Bible as a library and not a constitution. I am [in my 30's] and have been born again since [childhood]. I am entering new territory and am understandably nervous about the possible massive shift in belief and understanding this may have.
Here's the R:
Continue reading Q & R: God, Jesus, and Violence...
Have you ever wondered why a salad costs more than a Big Mac? Here's the answer ... (see graphic)
The US Government subsidizes certain sectors of the food industry. The impacts of these subsidies are far-reaching, contributing not only to obesity and ill-health here, but also to poverty and economic distress around the world. The Farm Bill will be debated in the year ahead and voted on in 2012 ... it's one of those pieces of legislation that those of us concerned about social justice need to stay informed about. Bread for the World is a great place to check in with on the subject. Here's a good resource...
Here's a message from some friends in Afghanistan:
Please call us on New Year's Day; every soul, resist the war!On New Year's Day 2011, from 7.05 pm Eastern Standard Time on the 31st of December 2010 to 7.05 pm Eastern Standard Time on the 1st of January 2011, from wherever in the world, you can:
• Call from your Mobile or Home phone by dialing (661) 673-8600 & access code: 295191#. Please arrange to talk by sending an email to CallAfghanistan@gmail.com
• SKYPE: Please arrange to call Afghanistan by sending your Skype ID in an email to CallAfghanistan@gmail.com
• Send an email message to DearAfghanistan@gmail.com
• Text or sms by mobile at +93 7791 84146 or +1 727-248-0308 (001-727-248-0308 if text messaging from outside U.S.)
• Facebook: Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers
• @DearAfghanistan on Twitter
I can't think of a better way to end one year and begin another!
In a post yesterday, an important and interesting question was raised about boldness and humility. I've been thinking about how each quality can bequeath - or undermine - a sense of authority. For example, years ago I remember speaking to a group of visiting scholars from Mainland China ... still during the years of the Cultural Revolution. I remember one of the scholars said to me, "Thank you for not telling us what we should think. In our political setting, when anyone tells us what to think, we know he is a liar." So for them, humility trumped boldness.
But I also remember during the last presidential campaign when two "surrogates" for the candidates were being interviewed on NPR. McCain's surrogate began nearly every sentence with, "Senator McCain believes ... Senator McCain values ... Senator McCain is committed to ..." It was bold and, frankly, attractive (even though I found McCain's campaign deeply disturbing). Obama's surrogate, in contrast, began many sentences with, "That's a complicated question.... It's hard to answer that question ... It's really too complex to answer with just a yes or no." There I was, a big supporter of Obama, but his surrogate was making his candidate seem confused, lackluster, and unsure of himself in comparison to McCain. I remember writing to a few of my friends who were on the campaign staff and urging them to school their surrogates on communicating with confidence/boldness rather than complexity. (There are other situations, of course, where people gain authority by acknowledging the complexities of a situation.)
Anyway, I've been thinking about different ways people gain power ...
Power by position
Power by appearance
Power by scholarship
Power by inspiration
Power by pedigree
Power by story-telling ability
Power by domination/fear
Power by results
Power by confidence
Power by acknowledging complexity
Power by example
Power by humility
Power by vulnerability
Power by enthusiasm
Power by servanthood
Which kinds of power earn the most confidence for you? Which turn you off? Why? (I'd be interested to see some replies over on my facebook page.)
Here's the Q:
Thanks also for your great blog posts and your wisdom - I've been just loving all of the topics. I have really appreciated your thoughts on Christmas too. I also am really anticipating your next book, looks awesome!!I have a question, that I don't know if you can shed some insight or point me to something to help me with this. I am going to be teaching a 1 day morning class at a nearby Bible college. Anyways, the class is going to be on sexuality. I liked in your book how you mentioned the tension and difficult task our young people have of navigating our society as they try to walk with God in their sexuality. You didn't say a ton about it there, but I'm wondering if you've done some thinking on how to talk to young adults about this, or resources you've seen that you would recommend. I really value your opinion and thoughts.
Continue reading Q & R: Talking about sexuality...
Here are a couple of interesting insights and a really valuable question:
Continue reading Q & R: humble AND prophetic?...
Jesus came ... and Jesus still comes, in and through human beings like us. Here's a story from Lynne Hybels that will warm your heart and remind you, on many levels, what Christmas is all about.
When Jesus Comes, Everything Changes.
And here's a song that celebrates the same good news.
Merry Christmas!
Thanks to all my friends and colleagues for a wonderful year ... and Merry Christmas! Here's a simple gift - about 7 minutes of quiet meditation on some pregnant phrases from Luke's Christmas story.
Then together we need to keep this conversation expanding ... on spiritual formation of kids and youth. Thanks to Dave Csinos for his important leadership on this subject!
You can breathe a little easier.
Thank God, wisdom prevailed and the New Start treaty passed the Senate today. That thirteen Republicans voted for the bill is encouraging, but that the rest did not is disconcerting. The process that has been unfolding over several months has exposed how an issue of this gravity and magnitude can become so highly and dangerously politicized by the extremist, powerful right-wing fringe that has a strong foothold in the US government.
I was a signatory to a document by religious leaders urging ratification. Our document gave a good summary of why this vote was so important:
New START is the successor to President Reagan’s original START treaty, which expired in December 2009. The first START treaty was a historic step in calling a halt to the arms race and giving the U.S. the ability to inspect Russia’s nuclear weapons. Now, for the first time in 15 years, those weapons are going unmonitored and the danger that they could fall into the hands of those bent on terror increases every day. New START is essential to putting U.S. inspectors back on the ground and, according to the Bush appointed head of the Missile Defense Agency, enhances our ability to modernize and improve our existing weapons and missile defense systems.The treaty has the support of virtually every living Secretary of State and Defense, including Henry Kissinger, George Shultz, Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, and James Baker.
No one of good will wants to see the devastation - the loss of life, the destruction of creation, the political and economic fallout – that would occur if a nuclear bomb were to go off on American soil or anywhere. As Christians, we live in the tension between working toward the time in which “nation will not take up sword against nation” and confronting the realities of a fallen world. We wrestle with the Apostle’s conviction that the state “does not bear the sword in vain” and our call to be peacemakers.
If you'd like to stay informed on this important subject, here's a site I trust: http://faithfulsecurity.wordpress.com/ Let's keep moving in the direction of peace ... through wisdom, justice, reconciliation, and moral courage.
Here are some causes I'd recommend ...
DTJ - helping save kids from injustice. See their short video for a taste of what they're about ...
amahoro - building leaders in africa.
wiconi and eagle's wings- addressing one of America's original sins.
del camino connection - supporting church networks for integral mission
According to a recent article, the Pope is calling Catholic leaders to radical self-examination in reference to the escalating abuse scandal:
We must ask ourselves what we can do to repair as much as possible the injustices that occurred... We must ask ourselves what was wrong in our message, in our entire way of configuring the Christian being, that allowed such a thing to occur. We must find a new determination in faith and goodness.
To suggest that there could be a problem in "our message" and "our entire way of configuring the Christian being" ... these are among the Pope's strongest and most searching reflections on the scandal yet. The kind of self-examination he urges is, I think, in line with the ten questions I've tried to raise in A New Kind of Christianity, questions about our understanding of God, the shape of the biblical narrative, the Bible, Jesus, the gospel, the church, sexuality, other religions, and our view of the future.
Protestants (and Eastern Orthodox) need this kind of self-examination no less than Roman Catholics. Sexual abuse certainly isn't restricted to Roman Catholics, nor are other symptoms of deep problems in "our message" and "our way of configuring the Christian being" - symptoms like:
Incivility
Resistance to environmental stewardship
Misrepresentation and prejudice towards Muslims, Jews, LGBT folks, and people of other political parties.
Tolerance of torture
Hawkishness (as opposed to dove-ishness) in regards to war
Marital infidelity
Consumerism and financial indebtedness
Nationalism
The alienation of younger generations
Carelessness towards the poor
Injustice towards Indigenous Peoples
Lack of concern about the lasting effects of colonialism, white privilege, male privilege, etc.
Religious, racial, political, and national supremacy
It's been acceptable for some time to admit problems in our methodology, but our message was unquestionable. We had that right, no questions asked. But I think the Pope is right: there comes a time when the symptoms tell us our disease is not just cosmetic in nature, but systemic. That kind of admission makes possible a deeper level of repentance, which in turn opens the way for a new kind of Christianity.
Another Roman Catholic, Fr. Vincent Donovan, said it like this in his seminal book, Christianity Rediscovered:
Never accept and be content with unanalyzed assumptions, assumptions about the work, about the people, about the church or Christianity. Never be afraid to ask questions about the work we have inherited or the work we are doing. There is no question that should not be asked or that is outlawed. The day we are completely satisfied with what we have been doing; the day we have found the perfect, unchangeable system of work, the perfect answer, never in need of being corrected again, on that day we will know that we ar wrong, that we have made the greatest mistake of all.
With every crisis comes an opportunity - for self-examination, for learning, for change and growth, and it is indeed encouraging to see the Pope urging leaders to fully seize the opportunities presented by present crises.
If you order before noon (Pacific Time) on Thursday, you can purchase the audio version of Everything Must Change for just $2.98! Here's the link:
http://christianaudio.com/72hours
To repeat (tweetable): "Everything Must Change" is available for only $2.98 for the next 72 hours from @christianaudio http://christianaudio.com/72hours
Here's the Q:
I have read many of your books and I am currently in the middle of A New Kind Of Christianity. As best I can recall, you do not address tithing. My wife and I have had several discussions about tithing and what is included and how are the charities not supported by the church included. How do you interpret tithing?
Continue reading Q & R: a new kind of tithing?...
I've been finishing final edits for my next book, coming out March 15. Someone asked me recently what I was hoping the new book would do, how it would advance important conversations, etc., and I here's what I said:
My hope and prayer for this book is that it will help people render themselves increasingly vulnerable to a growing and deepening experience of God in their daily lives.
You can pre-order it (for starters) from ...
bn.com
amazon.com
A reader writes ...
I have read several of your books, recommended to my husband and me because of the unique situation we found ourselves in. And after following comments on your blog, perhaps where we find ourselves is not so unique afterall.
Being fed up with the general 'country-club' atmosphere in our local church, having not lost our faith in God at all (as many thought after we left our church...I guess that not attending church makes us automatic unbelievers), having faced the disappointments I have in God, life and in fellow believers...all this left me wondering and searching.
So reading a few of your books has helped me to think things through. Quite honestly, you've made statements in your books (particularly A New Kind of Christian) that I have thought too; it was comforting to know I am not alone. Cause it really does feel alone at times.
Continue reading This blog keeps me feeling sane...
some Evangelicals who are speaking out on behalf of the environment. Today I saw this video produced by their opposition:
This looks like a parody, folks, but it's not. Sheesh. Lord, have mercy!
Here's a helpful summary of a recent day I spent with Presbyterian leaders. Good things are afoot.
Many tellings of the Christmas story are highly personalized, sometimes even rendering the story "cute" - like this lighthearted one:
While the Christmas story is indeed highly personal, Matthew's and Luke's accounts take seriously its public, social, economic, political, military, and inter-religious dimensions.
Matthew's star is about as public as anything can be ... visible to all on any clear night.
Mary's song in Luke (1:46 ff) speaks of the arrogant elites being scattered and brought low, while the humble are lifted up - a major social upheaval.
She additionally speaks of the rich being sent away hungry, while the poor are filled with good things - a powerful economic message contained in the nativity.
Matthew doesn't tone down the horrific story (2:3-18) of a paranoid militaristic regime slaughtering innocents - surely a commentary on the ways of empire.
Matthew's story of the Magi (2:1 ff) suggests that Jesus will be a figure whose influence and attraction transcends religious and cultural boundaries.
May we be able to hold multiple dimensions together as we ponder the story anew this year.
It's not news when progressive, post-, radical, and otherwise non-typical evangelicals speak up on behalf of the environment. And it shouldn't be news when centrist Evangelicals do so, but sadly, too often it still is. That's why I'm so grateful that Jim Ball has addressed climate change in his new book, Global Warming and the Risen Lord. Jim is a solid centrist Evangelical who can help uninformed and misinformed Evangelical Christians move from being part of the problem to becoming part of the solution. Along with a few other key leaders like Rich Cizik and Jonathan Merritt, Jim understands both Evangelical convictions and ecological realities. I hope and pray his book will help lead Evangelicals to become better caretakers of God's beautiful creation, the stewardship of which is a human moral responsibility.
I hope you'll invest two minutes in this well-done video ...
And then maybe take three minutes to respond here.
And then forward this post to a bunch of your friends, OK? It's time for all of us to get our basic education on conflict minerals - we're all implicated.
Congratulations to HP, Intel, Nokia, Microsoft, and Dell.
Not so much to Blackberry, Acer, Apple, Phillips, Samsung, and LG.
Boo to ScanDisk and Toshiba.
Will the Really Useless Film Company win an Emmy for this provocative, unprecedented, and unhinged 5-minute documentary?
You can learn a lot in about two minutes ...
And you can still order online fair trade gifts here...
A great article about a great ministry - addressing a great problem: here.
Quotable:
We must reverse the trend that has created an America with less than 5 percent of the world's population but over a quarter of the world's prisoners. And we must dismantle the pipeline to prison that places one in three black and one in six Hispanic boys born in 2001 at risk of incarceration in their lifetime. It is completely unacceptable that in our rich nation the only thing we will guarantee every child is a jail or detention cell after s/he gets into trouble. It's time to guarantee all of them health care, a fair chance to get ready for and achieve in school, and safe and stimulating summer and after school programs with quality caring teacher-mentors. We need to end the galloping poverty that leaves them hungry and homeless and hopeless. We need jobs in their future so they can see that school leads somewhere. It's time for a critical mass of Americans to demand and work for a fundamental paradigm shift which prevents and breaks up the Cradle to Prison Pipeline and makes successful prisoner reentry a more likely by-product.
This will be a major concern at the Wild Goose Festival, June 23-26, 2011.
He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich--both come to poverty.
Not a highly encouraging economic outlook regarding Republican priorities (and Democratic capitulations) in the USA these days. For commentary, check this out. (Thanks, Sheldon)
In the first six minutes of this interview with Jarrod McKenna, you'll gain some deep insights into some essential themes in the life of Jesus ... and the meaning of Christmas.
The whole interview is really worthwhile ...
Bill Moyers' speech at Boston University. The theme is the growing plutocracy (rule by a rich elite, e.g. "not democracy" or "fake democracy"). He concludes ...
But let’s be clear: Even with most Americans on our side, the odds are long. We learned long ago that power and privilege never give up anything without a struggle. Money fights hard, and it fights dirty. Think Rove. The Chamber. The Kochs. We may lose. It all may be impossible. But it’s OK if it’s impossible. Hear the former farmworker and labor organizer Baldema Valesquez on this. The members of his Farm Labor Organizing Committee are a long way from the world of K Street lobbyists. But they took on the Campbell Soup Company – and won. They took on North Carolina growers – and won, using transnational organizing tacts that helped win Valasquez a “genius” award from the MacArthur Foundation. And now they’re taking on no less than R. J. Reynolds Tobacco and one of its principle financial sponsors, JPMorgan-Chase. Some people question the wisdom of taking on such powerful interests, but here’s what Valasquez says: “It’s OK if it’s impossible; it’s OK! Now I’m going to speak to you as organizers. Listen carefully. The object is not to win. That’s not the objective. The object is to do the right and good thing. If you decide not to do anything, because it’s too hard or too impossible, then nothing will be done, and when you’re on your death bed, you’re gonna say, “I wish I had done something. But if you go and do the right thing NOW, and you do it long enough “good things will happen—something’s gonna happen.”Also quotable ...
Continue reading One of the best and most disturbing things I've read in quite a while ......
A reader writes:
Thank you for writing A New Kind of Christianity. It caught my eye at the local library because it was mistakenly shelved in the fiction section. I picked it up, thinking to shelve it where it belonged, and it looked interesting, so I checked it out. God uses interesting ways of getting my attention!
I’ve had a rather circuitous religious history: from Methodist to Mormon to Wesleyan to agnostic to Presbyterian. Some of the same questions have followed me and even plagued me in each step of my spiritual journey. Your book is answering those questions.I just finished reading chapter 17 on human sexuality. Besides providing some great entertainment in the opening section (I was sure you were deliberately misleading the reader but wasn’t sure exactly where you were going), you have given me some theological peace. I have never been able to hate or condemn homosexuals. The old “loving the sinner but hating the sin” approach never worked, either. It’s always been a source of religious guilt for me that I love the people I’ve been told I need to judge. And what’s worse, love them—whether homosexual or Muslim or atheist or whatever—without feeling the need or desire to try to change them.
Your eloquent paragraph listing those whom we often exclude really struck me deeply because my son has schizophrenia (and is one of the unfortunate fifty percent whose disease prevents him from knowing he has the disease) and my grandson (my daughter and son-in-law’s first child) has Down Syndrome. Your explanation of the Greco-Roman lens of Bible interpretation versus your three dimensional view gives me great hope, articulating concepts that were barely in my conscious view. Your rendering of Romans makes so much sense to me.
Again, thank you. What a loving God we serve!
Thanks for this encouraging note. Thanks especially for sharing about the schizophrenia and Down syndrome in your family. All our families are touched with various realities like these, and I think it's important for us to stop stigmatizing and hiding them. Which reminds me ... I was with Tony Jones last week, and he led in a brilliant thought experiment that went along these lines: "What is the image of God in human beings?" Most people will respond with answers like our rationality, our God-consciousness, etc. Then he said, "What about a child with Down syndrome or schizophrenia. Do they not possess the full image of God?" Of course we immediately see how damaging it would be to speak or think as if they did not. As soon as we honestly move into a more problematized space around what it means to be image-bearers of God, we can start to think more humanely about other people.
[By the way, Tony has a really odd picture of the two of us on his site. He's inviting captions ...]
I was also with Tony Campolo last week and he offered (as usual) a brilliant one-liner about the "love-the-sinner/hate-the-sin" saying. He said it was unhelpful because it went against what Jesus taught, which was, "Love the sinner, and hate your own sin. Then, after you've thoroughly dealt with your own sin, you can more compassionately deal with what you perceive to be the sins of others." (Matthew 7)
Consider fair trade gifts ... available online here. Or a gift in someone's name for someone in greater need ... here.
For my resources, here's a link.
An evangelical reader writes ...
I find it facinating that so many critics of your work fail to recognize the fact that Jesus' death and ressurection are what ultimately give weight, power and authority to the gospel of the kingdom. This, I assume, should be a baseline assumption - shouldn't it? I know there are people who think that Jesus was a person who just said a lot of really good things, but without his submission to death and subsequent ressurection none of what he said really has any weight. How can the kingdom be upon us, or how can the kingdom of God be a reality if the person who proported himself to be the King of the kingdom is just some phoney?I understand that Evangelicals do tend to spend a lot of time focusing on 'the death, the blood, the suffering' etc. But I wonder if a wise course of action in regards to Evangelicals would be to point our attention (if only for a moment) to the fact that the death, the blood, the suffering and the resurrection all work to validate and give weight to the Gospel of the Kingdom. I wonder what would happen if we evangelicals started to grasp this. I wonder how much more compassionate, loving, inclusive, grace-giving and merciful we evangelicals might be if we fully embraced this.
Here's the Q:
My name is xx I'm 25 and live in xx I am
contacting you because you have inspired me and had an influence on my life.
I work for [a youth ministry] and I'd like your advice and wisdom.
Last summer we ran a pilot trip to [east africa] for 12 young people (aged 15 -
22) and we took a 'manageable group'! The dream though is to take youth that
we work with most of the time, which in our case are young people who live
in disadvantaged areas, struggle at school (or are excluded), are at risk of
youth offending and so on. All that said they have plenty of good about
them. It is my belief that the process of going on such a trip to volunteer
in a different community and be given responsibility and experience Tanzania
culture, beauty, gratitude, generosity and faith will have a real impact on
them. I knew it would be a roller coaster ride with this group of young
people and it certainly has been so far (since September) and the trip isn't
till next July.
I really just wanted to ask you two things - one if you
could offer a prayer for the group and the vision and secondly if you have
words of wisdom when pursuing a dream that has lots of barriers along the
way. Thank you so much.
Continue reading Q & R: mission trip...
From Naked Spirituality, coming March 2011:
‘So what do you do for a living?’ you might ask if we happened to sit next to each other on a flight, mutually ignoring the flight attendant’s spiel about how to turn our seat cushions into a flotation device and what electronic devices we need to turn off before take-off. ‘I’m an author,’ I might whisper, which might then prompt you to ask what I write books about. I’d probably reply, ‘I write books on spirituality, cultural change and social issues,’ or something like that. More often than not, we’d end up getting into an interesting conversation that would last until well after we reached our cruising altitude. (Unless you want to take a nap – I promise I wouldn’t bother you in that case.)Since we haven’t actually met, I ...
Continue reading A quote from Naked Spirituality...
Here is a meditation on the Magnificat, transposed into today's context:
All the parts of my innermost being - intellect, imagination, emotions, intuition, desire, volition - unite to celebrate aloud the magnificence of the Lord. My innermost being jubilates in the God who liberates me. God has smiled upon me, God's down-to-earth servant, so I know all will be well. Countless descendants from future generations will look back, Knowing I was blessed, For Divine Power has worked powerfully on my behalf. May God's mysterious Name be ever revered.God's kindness falls like rain and shines like the sun
On those in every generation who hold God in reverence.
See what transpires when God's arm flexes in human society:
Arrogant egotists in the centers of power tumble,
And find themselves out off office and on the margins of nowhere.
High-finance high-rollers go bankrupt; party leaders get fired; pundits make fools of themselves,
And the power-hungry look pathetic and weak.
Meanwhile, welfare moms and minimum-wage workers finally get ahead,
And the third-world finally goes first class.God welcomes the hungry and malnourished to a first-class feast, and
God sends the rich out with growling stomachs and empty plates.God's oppressed people, God's servants, finally experience God's uplifting presence.
God hasn't forgotten us after all,
But God has re-activated the age-old promise to be gracious,
In unending fidelity to our ancestor Abraham and all his descendants.
Tonight, December 12th, you can catch an interview I did with Michael Dowd of Evolutionary Christianity.
WHEN: 5:00pm Pacific, 6:00pm Mountain, 7:00pm Central, 8:00pm Eastern / GMT-8
HOW TO LISTEN BY PHONE: dial (248) 464-6062, then enter Access Code: 874720#
HOW TO LISTEN ONLINE: go to http://InstantTeleseminar.com/?eventid=16309974
There are lots of fascinating interviews with Michael available here: http://evolutionarychristianity.com/
You can download the interviews as podcasts too.
Here's the Q:
I appreciate your person and work, but why are you still an evangelical, emergent or not?
Here's the R:
Continue reading Q & R: Why are you evangelical?...
A reader writes in response to yesterday's post:
For what it's worth, I wanted to pass a message along (if that's possible) to the writer of the "Anguish and despair" letter to you. There's so much I could say, but I'd sum it up with: "wow, man. I've been there. You're not alone. I've walked through the depression and anxiety and doubts and fears. But I've found brighter times and places and can only hope that you will too. And as awkard and painful as the journey was and still is, I'm glad I'm on it."
I grew up in a Bible Chapel (brethren) in Ontario and have walked through an extremely painful (and all-encompassing) transition. Lots more to summarize, but I'll stop there.
Strong and painful words from a former seminary student ...
Continue reading Anguish and despair...
I'll be at Busboys and Poets for a Theology Pub at 6:30 pm - you can sign up here. Looking forward to seeing many of you!
In Jesus' birthplace, all is not well. We need just and peaceful solutions that are pro-Palestinian, pro-Israeli, pro-peace, and pro-justice. This Christmas, I urge you to pray for the peace of Bethlehem, and Jerusalem, and all.
And as you pray, educate yourself. You should start by hearing the voices of Palestinian Christians on the subject ... here.
This comprehensive article by Ben White would also be helpful, and I'd also recommend an important book by my friend Mark Braverman, a Jewish author and activist, Fatal Embrace.
So much of what we've been told - through the corporate media, and by our political and religious leaders - is simply wrong. As a person who has tried hard to learn the truth about Jesus' homeland - and who continues to learn - I urge you to do the same so that together we can reduce our complicity in injustice and add our voices and efforts to the ongoing work of the Prince of Peace. I can't imagine a better birthday present to Jesus than this.
An Invitation to Justice from The Justice Conference on Vimeo.
For more, check out thejusticeconference.com.
When I mentioned the other day that New Kind of Christian was reaching its 10-year anniversary, several folks wrote in. This from the Netherlands:
I just wanted to write you to thank you. You mentioned next year it will be 10 years ago that you started with the Trilogy "A New Kind Of Christian". A month ago my son wrote in a testimony that these books, that I gave him, have been instrumental in reviving his faith, together with some of Henri Nouwen's and even with some discussions with me. I guess it all fitted together.Anyway, I know you get more than your fair share of criticism, so let me be one of those who sends encouragement. Keep on thinking and writing!
Another reader responds to Secret Message of Jesus:
Continue reading More from readers ... comments and a question...
Q: I'm really interested in your PowerPoint on Stages of Faith. How can I get them?
R: Thanks for your question. Nearly all of my presentations are available via my website's link to slideshare.net. The slides on the four stages are here: http://www.slideshare.net/brianmclaren/stages-of-faith-1920055
By the way, the four stages provide the framework for my upcoming book, Naked Spirituality, so if you're interested in seeing these stages integrated with a fresh approach to spiritual practices, I think you'll enjoy the book.
[For some reason, this didn't seem to go up on facebook last week. Hopefully it will this time. I'd love to hear from some students at Christian colleges ...]
I shared some of my thoughts on Christian higher education recently here ...
http://faithoncampus.com/making-space-for-students-to-grow/#comments
I'd love to hear from Christian college students themselves (over at my facebook page) on this question:
How would you describe the spiritual ambience on your campus these days? Open? Closed? Tense? Encouraging?
How would you respond to my article?
Thanks for your input!
David Peck blogged about our time in Cambodia here. Be sure to learn about SoChange and read the linked article "What's The Big Idea?"
A reader writes ...
Brian, what can I say. I loved your "A New Kind of Christian" trilogy. Thank you so much for engaging in the kinds of questions that many Christians have but don't feel comfortable they can ask or talk about to just anyone. All too often in churches, it seems, questions are disregarded as unimportant or insignificant, rather than the vehicle for learning and understanding truth, and life, and God. That's why I so appreciated this book trilogy. They help create a safe environment to think freely, and they have become great resources to use when discussing many of the questions we all have. I also appreciated how each of the stories shed light on what often goes on behind the scenes in ministry for pastors and others in clerical work. Having been a youth pastor previously and taken on a variety of ministry roles over the past 10 years, I have first hand experience of what sometimes happens when we begin to rethink or critique currently held Christian beliefs and practices. These stories give a glimpse of how we can live healthier lives a followers of Jesus. Being open with one another, challenging each other, and growing together in this incredible journey with Jesus. So a big thank you Brian!
Here's the Q (in English):
Continue reading More from a Spanish-speaking reader ... Harry Potter?...
My upcoming (March 2011) book Naked Spirituality is an exploration of the spiritual life ... in four seasons or stages from simplicity to harmony. Becky G and Carl M offer some good food for thought regarding what I describe as the fourth season here.
I know a year or two ago some folks were saying "emergent is dead," etc., etc. My experience is very, very different, of course, but I don't see too much harm in people who wish emergent were dead thinking that's the case.
It's true that several well-placed conservative/moderate leaders have succeeded in making the emergent conversation "non grata" in terrain under their influence, and that's fine. What else could anyone expect? Even under ideal conditions, it takes a long time for new ideas to gain acceptance in any community ... each proposal passing through many dangers, toils, and snares in the process. So many things progress through the three-steps-forward-two-steps-back method.
As I said earlier this year in New Kind of Christianity, I'm confident that the missional and theological questions being raised within and beyond the emergent conversation aren't going away. Even if some folks manage to suppress the conversation for a while in one sector, it will eventually rise again. (I've just read a couple bombshell manuscripts from well-respected Evangelicals that will come out next year - making that point abundantly clear.) And where it is inhibited in some sectors, it will thrive in other sectors
So my sense is that fresh missional thinking and action are emerging in encouraging ways. Take, for example, the recent announcement about Steve Knight's work in 2011 within the Disciples of Christ (http://churchextension.org). Steve will be organizing a missional learning track at the DOC's general assembly in July (http://www.disciples.org/ga), where I've been invited to speak as well. I am so impressed with the Disciples' bold and creative support for new church development ... this is a well-led denomination on the move. I'm really thrilled about Steve's work with the TransFORM Network (http://www.transformnetwork.org/), and eager to see what develops among the Disciples and other denominations and networks that are stepping out in faith, creativity, and fresh vision.
Whether in Evangelical, Mainline, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal, Anabaptist, or other settings, and whether under the banner of emergent or missional or whatever, and whether publicly suppressed or supported, the new wine of the gospel finds new wineskins through which to be poured out in God's world. That's how I see it.
There has been a fascinating and important dialogue going on this week over at Washington Post's On Faith site. I contributed here.
Continue reading On American Exceptionalism...
Here's a letter to the President I signed this week ...
Continue reading On Tax Cuts ......
... and let your heart be sensitized to the dreams, hopes, disappointments, struggles, and requests of our brothers and sisters with disabilities and special needs. Right here.
Strong but needed words of advice here. Quotable:
Non-Believers like me certainly enjoy the company of “leavers” and the “de-Converted” in our existential abyss, but I don’t feel they’d be too hard to re-convert or bring back into the proverbial fold. You’ve just got to stop insulting their intelligence, misappropriating their faith and diminishing their hopes for humanity.
(Updated with additional information)
Does someone on your shopping list have a long commute? This Bible overview podcast series could give them twenty minutes of input for 50 days - or a year's worth or weekly input. (If you're really cheap - or hard up! - you can give them the first three installments for free!)
Want to give a gift that builds anticipation until March? Give a pre-ordered copy of my upcoming book, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words.
If you want to give them a companion book that also addresses the spiritual life, Finding Our Way Again would be an ideal option.
How about a college student or young/young-at-heart adult who cares about ecology, poverty, and peace? Everything Must Change would be a great choice - not to mention this collection of songs (CD or download) that serves as a soundtrack to the book.
Also ideal for young adults would be my fictional trilogy:
A New Kind of Christian
The Story We Find Ourselves In
The Last Word and the Word After That
Or you can buy all three for $31.01.
For a thoughtful Christian - or someone who has left the faith - or a pastor or church leader? A New Kind of Christianity, my newest book, would be a great gift.
A lot of folks ask me which of my books is the best introduction to my work - whether for a lifelong churchgoer, spiritual seeker, or anyone in between - and that would probably be The Secret Message of Jesus.
Also ...
Glen Soderholm is a gifted singer-songwriter in Canada who recorded a song I wrote called "God Bless the Poor." It's on an Advent-Christmas-Epiphany CD you can listen to and order here. It's a beautiful CD ... full of heart and soul.
OK ... I hope that helps you with at least a few folks on your holiday shopping list. And don't forget about these options too.
Continue reading Help with your holiday shopping ... all for less than $20...
I had the privilege of being interviewed by Michael Dowd as part of a larger "evolutionary Christianity" project he's involved with ... more info here.
Aaron Niequist just returned from a second trip to Israel and Palestine. You can read his reflections here. He includes this powerful short word from Fr. Elias Chacour. Well worth your time!
A reader writes:
Hi Brian. I recently read ‘A New Kind of Christianity’ and really enjoyed it. I thought your take on how we read the Bible was beautiful, particularly the idea of reading the Bible through the lens of Jesus to help us assess previous revelations of God. This did help me reconcile the apparently violent, tribal God with the non-violent Jesus. I am still really struggling with this though. Though Jesus practiced non-violence he still presented what seemed to me to be a violent God: (Matthew 22:13, Luke 12:47, Luke 19:27, Matthew 18:34) I think of the Ananias and Sapphira being killed by God and the NT writers referring to the coming wrath of God (“it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God” – Hebrews 10:31). From what I understand the carnage and destruction of the temple in AD 70 was predicted by Jesus as an act of God’s judgment.
Any thoughts or anywhere you can direct me.
Thanks
Your work is a real encouragement to many of us caught between “something real and something wrong”
Continue reading Q & R: Violent God?...
This year I'm encouraging my friends and family to give me something I want more than a toy or trinket for Christmas: the opportunity to help others.
Want to give a chicken, goat, or eco-latrine, or tree to a person living in rural poverty? These are gifts that really make a difference in their quality of life. Plant With Purpose makes it easy and convenient to give gifts like these: https://app.etapestry.com/cart/PlantWithPurpose/default/index.phpWant to give a beautiful gift that was made in socially and ecologically responsible ways? A gift that workers were paid fairly to make? Trade as One has excellent options:
http://tradeasone.com/
You might want to put one of these on your Christmas list ...
This has been a year of great blessing in my life ...
Enjoying life's simple pleasures with Grace - sharing a cup of early morning coffee, reflecting on a movie late at night, cooking together, taking a walk - even a kayak ride.
Times with our extended family together - including my parents, my brother and his family, and others - birthdays, anniversaries, other milestones.
Watching our kids grow and thrive as adults, welcoming our first grandchild into the world.
Getting good medical care when I got very sick, and after recovering, enjoying health more than ever - swimming, hiking, running, gardening.
How many great books came across my desk? How much wonderful music did I hear? How many important interviews or lectures - in person, by radio or podcast?
How many experiences of worship and wonder?
How many fascinating people did I meet in my travels?
How fortunate am I to write and speak for such dedicated and open-hearted, deep-minded people, all around the world?
Time alone - enjoying God's sacred creation, finding myself in the middle of a school of dolphins or under a dozen graceful birds circling, watching the simple awkward grace of a lumbering tortoise or seeing a pelican plunging and lunging into the sea for a meal, watching precious strangers in an airport or writing on a plane somewhere over the Pacific Ocean as a new day dawned.
It's interesting: the more we are aware of how we have been generously blessed, the more generously we want to pass on the blessing. In that spirit, here are a few paragraphs from my upcoming book, appropriate to Thanksgiving day:
Continue reading A Thanksgiving Excerpt from my upcoming book ......
Here's a Q about the Canon (i.e. recognized list of books in the Bible):
Thanks for continuing to have the courage to speak...providing a place for unanswered questions to land. I really appreciate your willingness to continue to put your processing public. I think I have read most of your work, including A New Kind of Christianity in a graduate student community gathering through the summer.I do have a question.
I'm not sure how, given an ongoing development of our understanding of God, that an open canon would not be acceptable. If Jesus is the final cornerstone of the foundation, and the foundation is declared "complete", I'm not sure I understand particularly why it is complete.
I put an addition on my house a few years ago and seamlessly added another foundation beside the one that already existed. The house fits together as if it were built at once. It was in keeping with the original architecture and landscape, but the interior is now all updated and contemporary. I don't anticipate adding more, but a water feature addition would be nice.
Jesus, certainly represents a more mature way and view of God, but he points forward to more mature ways as well. After all, we still see through a lens darkly, but one day we shall see clearly.
Continue reading Q & R: Open Canon...
A reader writes:
I've read and loved many books--most of them novels--but I've never before written to an author expressing my appreciation for what they've written. Maybe I should do so more often--writing is a lonely, solitary activity, and those who do it deserve all the encouragement they can get. In any case, I'm doing it now.I picked up A New Kind of Christianity a few days ago, and devoured it. It felt like it was written directly to me, directly to my experiences and struggles with God and the church, and it made me feel like I wasn't alone. You see, for a while now, I've felt like I've been living a double life: my faith life and my real life. In my faith life, I've heard others in my faith tradition pay lip service to the idea God calls us to live out shalom, the peaceable kingdom, in all areas of life, while in reality just preaching the same old Greco-Roman-influenced gospel of getting to heaven through faith and stressing personal piety in the meantime. In my "real" life, meanwhile, I've been trying to live out what I feel is God's true calling in my areas of giftedness and passion--literature, the arts, social action, and politics. In my "faith" life, I'm ashamed to speak my true feelings, and in my "real" life I'm ashamed to speak the name of God or claim the "Christian" label, so damaged is the brand among my real-life friends.
But when I read your book, I felt for the first time in a long time that the double-life I was leading could someday, perhaps soon, become more like a single, authentic life. I can't tell you how happy this makes me.
So, I hope you'll accept my sincere thanks. And, if you'll allow me, one small critique.
The one place that I was disappointed in your book was in your handling of the authority question. I didn't disagree with anything you wrote--far from it, I felt myself murmuring "Amen" as I was reading it. But I feel like you aimed too low with the question, and left a much bigger question unanswered. In your book, the authority question was cast as "How should the Bible be understood?" or "How is the Bible authoritative?" To my mind, the more difficult and much more pressing authority question is, "Does the Bible have any authority at all, and if not, then where now is our authority?" In other words, why bother with the Bible?
Perhaps this question is foremost in my mind because before I picked up your book I had just put down Phyllis Tickle's The Great Emergence. You're no doubt familiar with her argument: every 500 years or so the Church goes through a big rummage sale, and we're going through one now. The overriding question in such moments of reconfiguration is "Who or what is the authority for faith and life?" In the MIddle Ages, the authority was with God's representatives on earth, the pope and other church leaders. Gradually, events conspired to make this answer unsatisfactory, and the Reformation's answer to the authority dilemma was Sola scriptura: only Scripture has authority. Recent advances in science, new understandings of history, the study of comparative religion and myth, and changing perspectives on social issues like slavery, gender equality, and sexual orientation have rendered sola scriptura untenable.
These threats to the Bibles authority lead to two questions, I think--only one of which you truly address. The first question is asked by people who are a little embarrassed by some of the things in the Bible, but whose belief in the Bible's authority remains unshaken. Their question is the one you ask, "How should the Bible be understood?" The second question is asked by people whose belief in the Bible's authority is profoundly shaken. Their question is the one you don't ask: "Does the Bible have any authority at all, or is it merely a book like any other?"
I would call your answer to the authority question "Sola scriptura, plus caveats." You assume an audience who regards the Bible as a unique book with special authority. For this audience, I imagine that your answer is very satisfactory: it updates their view of the Bible's authority so they can stil regard the Bible as God-breathed, but live with the parts of the Bible that our postmodern minds now find embarrassing. But for an audience for whom the authority of the Bible is an open question (like me), your caveats may have the effect of leading us to dispense with the Bible entirely. If the Bible is a community library, representing an ongoing conversation among God's people about God and God's relationship with humans, and an evolving understanding of who God is--then what makes the Bible special? What makes it different from any other book? Don't the novels that I read, the sacred texts of other religions, and the discarded myths of various ancient societies also fit these same categories?
A lot of words for a small quibble. Again, my main reason for writing is to thank you for your book. So, thank you! It was exactly what I needed at a difficult, formative time.
Thanks for your encouragement - and quibble. A few responses come to mind ...
Continue reading Thanks and a (fascinating) Quibble/Sola Scriptura with Caveats...
Here's the Q:
Hello. Just wondering what you may think (if you're aware of it) of Kevin DeYoung's review of your book A New Kind of Christianity:
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/files/2010/02/Christianity-and-McLarenism2.pdf
Continue reading Q & R: on Kevin DeYoung...
Regular readers of my blog know I get a lot of questions on these subjects. More and more people are feeling uncomfortable with the conventional equations they were taught the cross was meant to solve. (What I call the Narrative Question in my most recent book.) Lutheran pastor Nadia Bolz-Webber recently preached a sermon showing how powerfully an alternative understanding preaches. Be prepared to read this slowly so its full impact - about God, Jesus, the cross, junior high school, and you today - can sink in. Even folks who fully support the conventional view will see dimensions of the meaning of the cross here that - as the old hymn says - demand "my soul, my life, my all."
Here's Greg Boyd's 6-minute related reflection - passionate, clear, and challenging, and well worth your time!
Here's his open letter to President Bush. (Included after the jump.)
For a lengthier and more scholarly response, see this by David Gushee.
Continue reading Rich Cizik gets it right on torture. (So does David Gushee.)...
Really worth reading - here. His big three ways to reduce the deficit:
1. Reduce excess military spending.
2. Roll back tax cuts for the wealthy to Clinton-era levels.
3. Eliminate farm subsidies - which would help poor people around the world in ways that Bread for the World makes clear.
On health care ... Quotable:
The pope lamented the great inequalities in health care around the globe. While people in many parts of the world aren't able to receive essential medications or even the most basic care, in industrialized countries there is a risk of "pharmacological, medical and surgical consumerism" that leads to "a cult of the body," the pope said."The care of man, his transcendent dignity and his inalienable rights" are issues that should concern Christians, the pope said.
Here's the Q (with replies inserted):
Continue reading Q & R: The Propitiation Question...
A reader writes:
I have just started reading NKCy and let me start by thanking you for it. What I have read so far articulates my own struggles extremely well and it has helped me to re-grasp faith to some extent. A book hasn't had that effect on me since Dave Tomlinson's "Re-enchanting Christianity". Thank you!A few comments based on what I have read so far... Although on the whole I agree with your analysis of the Greco-Roman influence on the shape of traditional "salvation history" I do think you are a little brutal about it.
Continue reading Agreeing and disagreeing...
Here's the Q:
Greetings from Cambodia. I am a Filipino missionary serving in Cambodia ... I teach at our Bible Institute, training young people to be pastors. On October 6, you spoke at the ICF center, and I am one of those that attended. In fact, two Cambodians and myself chatted with you after your lecture. I wish, the lecture was longer :) I would like to hear more about the new paradigm. I have not read any of your books because they are not available in Cambodia, so I am not sure whether or not the question I am about to ask has been addressed in your previous writing. My question would be, what type of pastoral training is needed for postmodern culture. Do you have thoughts about non-traditional way of pastoral training?
PS: Occasionally, guests from the US visit Cambodia, in fact one is coming in December. Is it possible to order some of your books from you? I would really like to read some of your books, if possible all your books. Thanks for your radical yet biblical ideas for the church.
Continue reading Q & R from Cambodia: Pastoral Training...
With several other posts today on leadership, this message from a dedicated unpaid minister might be helpful for some folks.
I am not a seminarian and I do not do full-time ministry. However I am a minister in my life (w/my NON-Christian friends) and when I do my volunteer prison ministry with KAIROS (part of the Emmaus movement). I am also trained through Willow Creek as a small group leader and have developed and lead a woman's group for 5 years.
I am writing to say thank you for your commencement address at VTS -- I just read it in the journal that I get periodically... But when I saw your title "Four Friendships" I had to check it out; and now I have forwarded it on to the many pastors and volunteer ministers that I know.
Again, thank you. I hope to meet you some day.... I would ask that you keep me and my ministry in prayer. It is my greatest desire in my retirement (looming soon) to either do a halfway house for women coming out of prison, a thrift shop coop or a combination of the two.
A reader/podcast listener writes:
Hi Brian. Just listened to your Bible podcast #34, episode 6, Church.
I find them very inspiring. Having grown up in UK and now living in
Switzerland, I've had to adjust to both a change of language and of
culture. Both are relevant to this message.
1. You talk of disciples rather than Christians. Luther chose to use
"Jünger" which then was used for apprentices; literally it means
"younger" but nowadays is only used as a noun by the pious and is thus
IMO not very helpful. Follower (Nachfolger) or apprentice (Lehrling)
of Jesus would be much better.
2. In the UK everyone wants to study. In Switzerland few do; most do
an apprenticeship, learning from a master of their trade and becoming
competent by imitation. On the whole this works really well. I just
wish Swiss Christians would learn to use the apprentice of Jesus
terminology; it would be so meaningful!
So, thanks for introducing that term.
Here's the Q:
The conclusions you've come to in your books appear to be a much more accurate and beneficial way to read the gospels. I am very grateful. However the orthodoxy seems to unravel a bit when venturing into the Epistles, primarily Paul's. Do reject parts of Paul's teaching? And if not, can you point me in the direction of how to better understand his writings?
Here's the R:
Continue reading Q & R: Paul too?...
Here's the Q:
After reading "a generous orthodoxy", I went back and studied it. It came at the perfect time for me, helpful in my own journey.There is one concept in the book that I can't get my head around - "The Bible...recounts by standards of accuracy acceptable to its original audience what happened". I feel like I need a "for dummies" book for this one. How can we get in the heads, into the multiple cultures of the people whose stories are contained in the Bible to a sufficient degree to be able to know what their "acceptable standards of accuracy" are? I've struggled with this one for months, and am making little progress.
Here's the R:
Continue reading Q & R: Acceptable standards of accuracy...
Unas canciones de mexico relacionadas con El Mensaje Secreto de Jesus.
Y una pregunta de un otro lector, de Chile.
Continue reading En espanol...
It's June 23-26, 2011. You can learn about it here.
I just registered here. (Early Bird rates have been extended until Nov. 15.) You should come!
Bryan Sirchio gives you a memorable 6 minute introduction to why Haiti's misery must matter to all of us ... here.
Here's the Q, in its entirety:
What is your view of predestinaion?
Sola scriptura?
Continue reading This questioner gets to the point ......
A reader writes ...
My fellow church members are open minded, loving, gracious, and compassionate people. They embrace far more folks who are "different" from themselves than most in their own circles actually do. It's quite a "home" for our family, in particular the smaller groups we discuss issues of faith.I even have opportunities to teach and lead discussions about those issues of faith. Yet I am always being cautious and careful about what to say and what not to say. Certain doctrines seem to be non-negotiable, and questioning them openly would leave me too vulnerable. Which ones aren't important to this email, but my question is this:
As somebody who feels like I'm "on the other side" (to use a title of your first book), how do I help others ask better questions without being demeaning, condescending, or perceived as blasphemous? I really want to help them ask better questions, so I'm curious what tips you have.
Also, a completely different topic, I think many of your blog readers would love to know how you personally pray for your small sphere of friends and family members. Not details, of course, but just a gist of what your prayer life is like.
(If you were to pick one of these to answer, please answer the prayer one!)
Thanks for these excellent questions. On your first question ...
Continue reading Q & R: Asking better questions ... and prayer...
Here's a draft of the UK cover for my upcoming book, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in 12 Simple Words. You'll notice a mistake that needs to be fixed.
Here's a story about my friend Jay Bakker - someone who embodies the motto "survival is underrated." His upcoming book is a reading of Galatians in light of his story. It's good.
I only have four open-to-the-public events for the rest of the year. It would be great to connect with you via one of them!
1. Anywhere, this Thursday - a webinar, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern. Info here.
2. In the Philadelphia area - this weekend, with Tony Jones: info here.
3. In Louisiana - this Monday. Info here.
4. In Dallas, with Richard Rohr, Tony Jones, Suzanne Stabile, and Phyllis Tickle ... December 3 - 4. Info here.
I plan to travel a good bit less in the next several years, which makes each of these events feel more important.
A reader writes:
I am a 40yr old mother of scientifically minded teenagers. I have been reading your books on "new kind of Christian" as well as many other sources of expanded thinking,such as the Naked Now. My mind is cracking open and I would like to be directed to resources that would expand reputably on the God--Evolution discussions that Neo began. Do you have his teaching syllabus?There are so many books out there, could you please recommend a few that will prepare us to be God people in the world and especially in the university science world. (Are any written for the adolescent thinker? Really this is where the world will be changed!!) My upbringing has been strongly dualistic and would covet resources to prepare my children for a better balanced and intelligent life.
Thank you for your time I look forward to your response
This is such an important question on 2 levels. First, the issue of science and faith is huge, as you say. Second, the need to target books to an adolescent audience is also huge.
On science, and especially evolution, I am a big fan of John Haught. His "God After Darwin" is a great place to start. There are a number of other helpful writers exploring faith and science from a similar vantage point as well, including my friend Philip Clayton, Keith Ward, Danny Harrell, Ted Peters, John Polkinghorne - I'm sure an online search would turn them up.
The question is how many of these a high school student would find too academic. I would hope a book of mine (the sequel to NKOC) would help in this regard - The Story We Find Ourselves In.
On the related issue of how we read the Bible (science textbook?), my most recent book (A New Kind of Christianity) could be helpful. Just yesterday (I'm at a conference in Boston) a father told me it had really helped his 19-year-old daughter. "This guy understands my questions," she said.
A reader writes ...
Please accept my informality -- Your new book, ANKofC, reveals you to me.My comment -- Re: pages 187-188, a critical issue could have been added to your list. I offer:
Beyond the images of sexual perfection, the individual's expectations of the sexual experience (frequency, intensity, etc.) are commonly disappointing next to that which is portrayed in print, on-screen and online media.
Americans are "screwed" up, and I include myself.
Reflection on ANKofC -- I'm sure I would not have chosen your book to read had it not been selected for me my a member of our book club in Colorado. Being a 60-something, life-long Lutheran and terminally slow reader, I'm also chewing, chewing, chewing on this one. Thank you for providing me with great insight into the bases of my own faith.
That's a great addition to the list of sexual issues in the book ... No partner in a sexual fantasy ever said, "Is the door locked?" or "Did you take the trash out?" or "You need to brush your teeth and put on some cologne" and so on. Whether via pornography or sexually oriented books, tv shows or movies, people are immersed in all kinds of sexual/relational fantasy that can make real sex seem problematic, real partners (not airbrushed) flawed, and real life disappointing. Glad the book has been helpful! I think you'll enjoy my next one too.
I'll present a 90-minute webinar next Thursday ... The theme will be A New Kind of Christianity. Here's some information ...
Thursday -- November 11 -- 2 PM e.s.t -- 11 AM p.s.t
So what IS this new kind of Christianity?
How is it revolutionizing churches of all kinds of stripes?
How can it transform mainline churches?
I'll present on the theme, and then we'll have plenty of time for questions. The cost is $29.95 for the 90 minute-long Webinar.
PS - If this time doesn't fit into your schedule, you can check back a day or two later to purchase the Webinar for download into your computer to view at your convenience (same price).
I'm looking forward to connecting with many of you through this webinar.
Like this (evoking Mark 11:12-14 the way some other folks evoke other verses):
Then there's this ...
Here's a good reflection on the recent DC rally ...
I'm thrilled to announce the title of my next book, set to release in March 15, 2011. Here's the current draft of the cover (for the US version - UK version TBA).
Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in 12 Simple Words
Will you help me spread the word to my current and potential readers?
The book can be pre-ordered here.
I'll share more about the message of the book in the coming weeks.
Thanks for your interest!
On Monday, November 15, I will be in Shreveport, Louisiana, to lead a seminar hosted by the Christian Leadership Center at Centenary College of Louisiana. "Servant Leaders as Agents of Social Change" will begin at 9:30 am and end at 4:30 pm, and we will spend the day engaging questions about the gospel, servant leadership, and social change. If you're in the area, please consider joining us. Visit www.centenary.edu/clc/mclaren to learn more about the schedule and to register. I'm looking forward to meeting some new friends in Louisiana!
Christian leaders would be wise to reflect on this recent study on religion, politics, and young Americans. Quotable:
As recently as 1990, all but 7% of Americans claimed a religious affiliation, a figure that had held constant for decades. Today, 17% of Americans say they have no religion, and these new "nones" are very heavily concentrated among Americans who have come of age since 1990. Between 25% and 30% of twentysomethings today say they have no religious affiliation — roughly four times higher than in any previous generation.So, why this sudden jump in youthful disaffection from organized religion? The surprising answer, according to a mounting body of evidence, is politics. Very few of these new "nones" actually call themselves atheists, and many have rather conventional beliefs about God and theology. But they have been alienated from organized religion by its increasingly conservative politics.
But a majority of the Millennial generation was liberal on most social issues, and above all, on homosexuality. The fraction of twentysomethings who said that homosexual relations were "always" or "almost always" wrong plummeted from about 75% in 1990 to about 40% in 2008. (Ironically, in polling, Millennials are actually more uneasy about abortion than their parents.)
Just as this generation moved to the left on most social issues — above all, homosexuality — many prominent religious leaders moved to the right, using the issue of same-sex marriage to mobilize electoral support for conservative Republicans. In the short run, this tactic worked to increase GOP turnout, but the subsequent backlash undermined sympathy for religion among many young moderates and progressives. Increasingly, young people saw religion as intolerant, hypocritical, judgmental and homophobic. If being religious entailed political conservatism, they concluded, religion was not for them.
Evangelical Protestantism, which saw dramatic growth in the 1970s and 1980s, has been hit hard by this more recent development. From the early 1970s to the late 1980s the fraction of Americans age 18 to 29 who identified with evangelical Protestantism rose to 25% from 20%, but since 1990, that fraction has fallen back to about 17%. Meanwhile, the proportion of young Americans who have no religious affiliation at all rose from just over 10% as late as 1990 to its current proportion of about 27%.
Nevertheless, predictions of the demise of religion in America would be premature. More likely is that as growing numbers of young Americans reject religious doctrine that is too political or intolerant for their taste, innovative religious leaders will concoct more palatable offerings. Jesus taught his disciples to be "fishers of men," and the pool of un-churched moderate and progressive young people must be an attractive target for religious anglers.
To be sure, some of these young people will remain secularists. Many of them, however, espouse beliefs that would seem to make them potential converts to a religion that offered some of the attractions of modern evangelicalism without the conservative political overlay.
If so - check this out. Fair trade gifts educate as they thank, celebrate, etc.
Especially in Iraq. Here's the story.
Can we move to a new day in our relationship? Can wise and humble Christians and Muslims around the world respond in harmony to this hateful, murderous crime with a renewed commitment to loving our neighbors of all religions? God help Christians and Muslims in Iraq to respond to this senseless violence with the healing wisdom, restorative justice, and reconciling love of God. Lord, have mercy.
... will release 1 February 2011. More info here. The less expensive softcover version makes it even easier to use the book for discussion groups - more and more of which I keep hearing about.
On Wednesday I'm planning to announce the title and cover for my new book in 2011. Stay tuned!
Republican writer Michael Gerson offers a good summary here.
I was recently in Asia, speaking in a variety of settings. I had the chance to meet several young Asian mission leaders, including many who work in mainland China.
In one setting, I shared a reading of Acts 16 - highlighting how Paul carried Jesus' message of the Kingdom of God to a colony of the Kingdom of Caesar. In particular, I highlighted the word "saved" - spoken first by a slave girl and then by a jailor. What would they have meant by the term? They certainly weren't thinking within the theological framework many of us have been trained in, derived largely from 5th century Mediterranean and 16th century northern European theological debates ... with assumptions about original sin, total depravity, hell, etc. I proposed that the words "saved" and "salvation" used on their tongues would have meant very much what it did to the ancient Jewish people - liberation, as in liberation from Egypt in Exodus. When you read the whole chapter in that light, you see the gospel of the kingdom of God starting at the lowest rung of the socio-economic ladder and then spreading upwards - ultimately confronting the local political authorities with a holistic message of liberation: spiritual, personal, social, economic, etc.. And of course, Paul ends up proclaiming this gospel of God's kingdom in Rome itself by the time we reach the end of the book of Acts.
I recently received this email from a sharp young Chinese leader (details changed for obvious reasons) who heard me speak on this subject:
Continue reading Chinese engagement...
A reader writes ...
Continue reading When I am tired of questioning ......
Here's the Q:
I wrote to you a couple of weeks ago asking about what salvation is. You responded to my question on your blog. Thank you very much for taking the time to do so. I had already read your two books that you referred to and was secretly hoping I could talk you into writing a book focusing on just the topic of salvation. It would be sure to get lots of attention!
I'll keep that in mind. I understand that Marcus Borg and Dom Crossan are working a book that addresses key biblical terms - I'll bet they deal with this key term "salvation" in some detail. (More after jump)
Continue reading Q & R: More on Salvation (follow-up)...
I was flying from Ft. Myers, FL, to Toronto, ON, today ... which meant I couldn't be part of the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington DC, as much as I would have liked to. BUT my Continental (aka United) flight had direct TV, so I was able to watch nearly all the rally live at 39,000 feet. Sweet. If you missed it (actually or virtually), here's a good rundown. That was the best I've felt about my country in quite a while. Way to go, Jon and Stephen and an estimated 100,000+ more or less sane citizens!
I'll be delivering the Snell Lectures in Toronto these next few days. Hope to see many of you there.
After a recent trip to Tennessee, I received this:
I heard you speak recently at The Buechner Inst. event at King College in Bristol, TN. Your references to Paolo Freire and Ivan Illich were esp. inspiring to me as I spent time at CIDOC in Cuernavaca in 1973 and have been under the influence of Illich ever since. Anyway, Dale Brown handed me a copy of Songs for a Revolution and I've been playing Today, Let's Confess, and If We Don't Have Love over and over again. I've been unable to find the lyrics for Today so if you can direct me to them that'd be greatly appreciated.
So glad you enjoyed the songs. You can download the CD here. And the lyric sheets were available before, but I can't find them at the moment either! Stay tuned ...
A friend sent this link to a recent article from three UK development organizations, noting the resonance between its approach and my book Everything Must Change. (It's on sale for $5.82 at amazon, by the way!)
A friend sent this link to a lecture (for a business audience) that helps explain a lot of the work many of us are doing in pursuit of a new kind of Christianity. We're moving from mystery through model-making (what he calls heuristic) to formulae/framework-development (what he calls algorithm).
Especially useful - at around 0:30:00 - a five step process for introducing new ideas in hostile territory.
Q: A reader of A New Kind of Christianity writes ...
I hope you are enjoying and soaking up your trip to Asia! What a wonderful experience it must be.I know you are busy, so I understand if you don't have time to respond to this, or maybe you could even jot me a quick place to look for more thoughts on this.
I know Revelation is a different sort of text and difficult to interpret. But I am wondering about Revelation 21. What do you do with the verses about a lake of burning sulfur that the cowardly, vile, liars etc go to in the second death? This just sounds so much like the "theos" form of God.
I loved what you said about 1)giving myself permission to not like a verse and then 2) to see if there is another way this could be understood. I am stuck with this one though...
I want to scratch it away.
Continue reading Q & R: Revelation 21...
At a recent international gathering, Josh Dubois spoke about the power of multi-faith collaboration for the common good.
Quotable:
But first, I would like to reflect just a bit on the imperative before us – the reasons why it is more important now than ever for religious and moral actors to collaborate on the great social challenges of our time.And I actually do not wish to extol the positive virtues of interfaith cooperation. So many of us already know that when we embark upon an interfaith encounter – whether being invited to experience a Passover Seder that connects us with the stranger, the oppressed and with redemption; breaking bread with our Muslim brothers and sisters at an Iftar as we appreciate the strength of community and the holiness of the month of Ramadan; or sharing an Easter dinner between Christian friends as we reflect upon Christ’s sacrifice – in those moments we develop expanded compassion, deeper empathy, even a greater notion of the divine. There is little argument about this, this basic idea that, as Pope John Paul II so eloquently stated, “By dialogue, we let God be present in our midst, for as we open ourselves to one another, we open ourselves to God.”
So the positive benefits of interfaith cooperation are known, and they should motivate us to interfaith action.
But it is another motivation for interfaith service that I would like to focus on, another reason why we must join across religious lines to tackle our common challenges together. This motivation may be a bit darker, more difficult than the positive desire for compassion and understanding. But, when properly mined, this motivation might provide the energy we need to build the ‘bridges of hope’ upon which this conference is premised.
The motivation I would like to reflect upon is that of pain and suffering. And I would like to explore with you how the presence and memory of pain might spur us towards ever greater interfaith action.
You can read his speech here ...
A friend passed on this thoughtful book review ... Readers of A New Kind of Christianity will see a strong resonance with the themes I raise there about the "six-line" narrative.
Learn more here ...
Quotable:
“Christian” often equals “conservative” in the public mind, as the mainstream media typically consult a white, male, evangelical Christian or conservative Roman Catholic for the “Christian” perspective on the issues of the day.
Finally, progressive Christianity is unlikely to garner the same amount of media attention in today’s marketplace because thoughtful and nuanced articulations of tolerance, love and mercy from a progressive Christian simply do not win the same ratings as a frothing rant against “the gays” or “the immigrants” or “the terrorists”...
Rather, the problem lies in the narratives we inherit and continue to tell ourselves in order to make sense of the world and navigate our way through it; the scripts we follow when living our lives. History does not unfold blindly, nor does it stretch bare before us for interpretation. We understand the world and the events of our lives always with the aid of a certain narrative, a comprehensive framework from which we draw meaning and value. We follow scripts prepared for us, often unknowingly, that instruct us on how our lives should unfold and we chart our paths forward with their aid, often, understood as “the way things are.” We inherit them from our culture, from our history, from politicians, media and corporate advertising, and, yes, from our religious traditions. But there is nothing inevitable or obvious about these narratives; nor is there any reason why they cannot (and, Schultz argues, must) be changed if we are to chart a new course for our national life. From Brueggemann, then, Schultz borrows this theme of narratives to unravel the stories we tell ourselves and to reveal what we have long suspected, that our unexamined scripts are corrupting the “soul” of the nation and leading us into an unsustainable, perilous future.
Continue reading Scripts and Scripture...
A Presbyterian responds to A New Kind of Christianity:
Continue reading Q & R: Evangelicals and Mainline Protestants ......
Presbyterian Outlook is hosting a 90-minute interactive webinar at 2 pm EST, 11 AM PST, November 11 where I'll be talking about A New Kind of Christianity, and church, and Christian life and mission ... info here. Please consider joining us.
A friend writes ...
Hi Brian, I hope you are doing fine. I've just read your article on Cambodia and the DR Congo and I wanted to personally thank you for all you are doing to raise issues that have been overlooked and to thank you especially for what you say about Congo.
We have prayed as congolese and many intercessors are tired and when I think about our challenges, they are overwhelming. So your article is a great encouragement to me and many others.
Those few words make me want to pray and speak out more than ever.
If you'd like to hear the recent interview I did with the good people of God Complex Radio, here's the link ...
And if you haven't checked out my podcast series giving an overview of the Bible - here's the link.
And for today's musical interlude ... Here's Wilco singing "Theologians." (Lyrics after the jump)
Continue reading Podcasts ... musical interlude...
... from a young Afghan "friend without borders" - Khamad:
He's reaching out, helping that people will see him as a human being with a face, a story, a name. If his poetic soul touches yours, then follow up with this article about him.
Wars happen, among other reasons, because people like you and me decide to stop seeing others as neighbors. We obscure their names, stories, and faces, and put them under the dehumanizing category enemy. Perhaps in that light, we will no longer see Jesus' words about loving neighbors - including enemies - as quaint and familiarly pious platitudes, but rather as the seeds of a peace/love/reconciliation revolution.
And if you're willing to invest a few more minutes ... here's a message to us all from Khamad's group of friends.
Continue reading There's something about this video...
I have a lot of respect for E. J.'s consistent sanity in a sub-sane election year. Here's what he has to say about the state of the system. He begins:
Imagine an election in a Third World nation where a small number of millionaires and billionaires spent massive sums to push the outcome in their preferred direction. Wouldn't many people here condescendingly tut-tut over such a country's "poorly developed" sense of democracy and the inadequacy of its political system?
That, of course, is what is going on in our country as you read this.
Continue reading election 2010, part 1: E. J. Dionne gets it right...
Providence, RI, you should check out the School of Liberation and Change. If you don't, maybe you should try starting a school like this where you live ...
One of the most important questions raised in my most recent book, A New Kind of Christianity, is the pluralism question. A reader writes ...
Continue reading Q & R: The Pluralism Question...
I recently returned from Cambodia, a place that has been close to my heart for thirty years now, all the more because my wife and I had the privilege of hosting Cambodian refugees in our home as they fled from the horrible genocide of the late 70's. I had the chance to visit the strangely horrific torture center known as Tol Sleng, outside of which was an unforgettable sign, a monument to resilient entrepreneurialism, whatever else we might say about it:
AFTER VISITING TUOL SLENG MUSEUM, DO NOT MISS YOUR CHANCE TO BUY HANDMADE SILK PRODUCTS MADE BY POLIO AND LANDMINE ARTISANS.
In the coming days, I plan to watch The Killing Fields again, now that I've seen in person some of the scenes from the movie. All this brings to mind the killing (and raping) fields of today - in Eastern Congo.
Continue reading A PUBLIC INTEREST MESSAGE FROM REALITY...
On Israel/Palestine -
The Vatican’s Middle East Synod gets it right in “urging the international community to take necessary legal steps to put an end to the occupation of the different Arab territories.”
And the Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church gets it right in voting to join the BDS (boycott, divest, sanctions) movement by boycotting goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories.
Meanwhile there are two bills in the Israeli Parliament which threaten to limit Palestinian life in the city of Jerusalem. One bill proposes that only Israeli citizens may lead tours in Jerusalem - which would exclude Palestinians tour guides (who are already limited to those select few with a Jerusalem ID or work permit), and which would mean that even fewer tourists would both sides of a very complex and important story. Another bill makes Jerusalem "a national priority zone" - which could be used to increase Israeli building projects in East Jerusalem.
A reader writes ...
I have just finished reading A New Kind of Christianity (10 minutes ago) and I want to express my deep gratitude to Brian for speaking out - in print - ideas that have been ruminating in my soul for a long time. THANK GOD THESE THINGS ARE BEING THOUGHT, SPOKEN AND ARGUED. Brian writes with such enthusiasm about the Jesus life and the Kingdom of God (Jesus version) that I feel like celebrating my thoughts instead of supressing them in fear that they undermine the whole Christian church. Carry on. I, for one, support you - without, of course agreeing with all you say. I will continue to explore possibilities for a new kind of Christianity with you.
A life-long Christian, seminary trained, 20-years a pastor, 10 years an itinerant teacher, multiple-church member & non-member, and almost-exile from the Church.
A reader writes ...
A warm hello to Brian. My name is Y, and I live in the UK. I've not even finished A New Kind... yet but I just need to tell you that through your words I have received from Christ the faith I lost 3 years ago. I am so thankful. Your ideas resonate so strongly with me I can hardly contain it. Everything I have thought and wished someone would say has been written the book, even my inexpressible feelings. It's like Jesus handed me the book Himself and said 'here, I know your heart, have faith in Me again'. My disillusion with God has been exploded. Thank you, I pray for you, your work and your persecution as a 'heretic'. I wish you peace and a close connection with Jesus always. With love in Christ
Here's the Q:
I have read your books A Generous Orthodoxy, A New Kind of Christian, and A New Kind of Christianity. All of them have helped me grow in my faith, as there was a time when I thought that I couldn't be a Christian anymore as I didn't toe the conservative party line on issues like homosexuality, and i also didn't think that just because you didn't find Christ in this life you were destined for hell. In fact I was not even convinced that hell was eternal. How could someone be punished eternally for a finite number of sins? It didn't make sense to me. After reading A New Kind of Christianity. I decided to read the gospels again. I started with Luke. I recently read Luke 16:19-31. This passage really confused me. It seems to me that Jesus is using Abraham to say that some people will never get to be with God because of their decisions in this life, and that there is no way to cross the divide. This upset me greatly. I wouldn't say I believe in universalism because I don't see enough scripture in the Bible to back it up, but I am a hopeful universalist. I am hopeful that after death there is a chance for those who have not followed God to turn to him. I don't want anyone, however awful they have been in this life, not to get to be with God. It makes me so sad to even think of that. This passage seems to suggest that some people will be separated eternally from God. Is there another take on this passage? Or is it as self explantory as it seems? What do you do with the passages in the Bible which suggest some will be separated from God in the end? Do you think some people would honestly choose that after encountering God? Even if their encounter comes after death? Or do after death encounters not hold any validity?
In Romans 8 Paul said nothing can separate us from the love of God. Is he only talking to Christians when he says this, or to the whole world?
If you don't have time to answer my questions I understand. You are very busy. Thank you for your time anyway.
Continue reading Q & R: Hell and Luke 16...
Bill O'Reilly took it to new levels on The View a while back. Here's some data that shows graphically how far this irrational fear has taken its hosts from reality.
Continue reading Two Frustrations with New Kind of Christianity...
As I said in my most recent book (the Sex Question), I think there are many issues being addressed at the same time in the debate about human sexuality. Here's a new resource that I had the honor of contributing to ... I think it will be helpful on many of those levels.
From Bart Campolo ...
Continue reading The Smell of Justice in the Morning...
Here's another poem by Drew Gillies, shared with permission:
http://chuvv.blogspot.com/
My Gospel Leaves
My gospel is flat-topped, sold out and tired
Four laws from uninspired
My gospel is fog, and haze, and hope,
Like a cloud, dangling from a rope
My gospel needs to fall away
To stop its descriptions without delay
My gospel lacks definition--it defines
Too precisely
My condition.
Perhaps it's reached its autumn
In its long forgotten heat
And as its leaves turn gold, and drop
I gaze within its lingering canopy
And look for what's forgotten
A temperate underneath
My gospel was once a brilliant green
Broad reach to ends unseen.
I'd never have denied it
Until the day I found myself.
Outside it.
My gospel is now on floating leaf
Swirling on a gust of grief.
This autumn just got colder
It seems I, and the world, just got older
Perhaps, if I can see
The outline of the tree
My gospel remembered green
Will again find something to mean.
Perhaps the empty branches
Will in time provide the answers.
But wait. The fog is clearing.
Is the revelation nearing?
A jolting recognition reels me,
as warm realization steels me.
This was never a tree at all, even from the start.
It always was, and always will be,
a heart.
My gospel is old and never grows
Now crunching brown beneath my toes.
But yours is pumping, vibrant, now.
My soul, at last, can see it. Wow.
Episcopalians should be the first to enjoy my friend Ken Howard's new book Paradoxy: Creating Christian Community Beyond Us and Them.
A reader writes:
I know that the current state of "worship songs" has been discussed many times and I'm in complete agreement that a) we use too much King James language b) we no longer lament c) we talk way too much about blood and penal substitutionary atonement d) we don't speak of the bigger world issues and on and on it goes...The problem is this: where are the new songs that we need?!? We're only three weeks into a new church plant and we're already desperate to get away from some of these songs but are finding it hard to come up with the alternatives.
Is there a magic vault of these things somewhere? Or even just a few links to some you would recommend? I'm scouring the net but just not finding anything.
Keep up the great work!
Here are a few resources for starters. I hope some folks over at my facebook page will add some more ...
Continue reading Q & R: Worship Music...
Research confirms that secular conservatives and religious progressives are becoming rarer ... and religious-political polarization is driving more (especially young) people away from the church. This certainly matches what I'm seeing and hearing in my travels. Thankfully, more and more churches are deciding to buck the trend ...
Quotable:
In religious affinities, as in taste in music and preference for colas, habits formed in early adulthood tend to harden over time. So if more than one-quarter of today's young people are setting off in adult life with no religious identification, compared with about one-20th of previous generations, the prospects for religious observance in the coming decades are substantially diminished.
A reader from Africa writes (my replies are inserted)
Dear Brian,
Hi there! Hope you are well and healthy! I have been enjoying your latest book 'A New Kind of Christianity' and chewing through it as slowly as I can - the temptation is to rip through it in a day! I must also commend your writing style that betrays your years teaching language! Very nice to read.I had initially skipped parts of the book to look at the chapter on church, mainly because it addresses my current questions on church. ... In Africa, we are all to ready to agree intellectually, but in practice the default is to stay 'safe' and within 'community' boundaries - the way things are done. I now have a theory that perhaps the violence in our society is partially fuelled by these strong community bonds that eject and repulse any opposing views. If you don't live/marry/bury/circumcise/vote as our community says, you ask for trouble.
Yes. We all live in conflicting loyalties - family, tribe, party, denomination, etc. (We're having a resurgence of this us/them thinking in the US, as you probably see from the news....) I think that Jesus' "kingdom of God" was meant to be a new, big loyalty, so that being loyal to it makes us loyal to everyone else, including those considered enemies by "small loyalties."
So despite my 'urbanisation' and supposed education and exposure to other ways I find that I was content to sit through church when something fundamentally felt wrong about how we do church, the things we say (especially in the songs!) and paradigms espoused. Having been involved in the leadership for a while, the dysfunction in our church was all too clear - focusing on many other things except what the Church is for. At first I simply stopped going, but now [a small group of us] are exploring an 'organic/home' church structure. (The act of seeking God as I hear his call alone has been quite liberating in itself!)
My curiosity on the subject has led me to some internet resources and I managed to get a copy of 'Re-imagining Church' by Fank Viola. Are you familiar with it? [The book] ... has some good points to raise. The most catching for me is the role of the clergy in 'suppressing' the growth of faith in the congregation by essentially monopolising authority, audience and access to matters spiritual. Only the professional ministry will speak and decide what truth, interpretation or even needs of a church community are. The majority of us are just the 'audience' and our participation is limited to the tithe and attendance (too cynical?).
-- Frank is a friend, and I agree that he has a lot of good points to raise. I think what is trying to be born through us has a radically new idea of authority ... and that's something Frank, you, I, and lots of us are seeking to understand and practice ...
So finally my question: do you not think that perhaps it is the professional clergy that have led to some of the authoritarian views of 'Theos'? Philosophically it supports their role in a hierarchy of access to truth - we know (and have spent years studying) the truth (should I say Constitution) and you just listen. Perhaps the organic/home church structure is part of the solution? A network more concerned on living as Christ did and not church buildings, staff and attendance levels?
- I agree to a point. We should expect that people with interests (all of us have vested interests of one sort or another ...) will tend to prefer images/views of God that protect/advance those interests. So people who are profiting from the status quo will tend to privilege views of God that reinforce the status quo. (Priestly views in Scripture lean in this direction, I'd say.) People who find the status quo uncomfortable/unacceptable will tend to privilege more revolutionary views of God. (Prophetic views in Scripture lean in this direction, I'd say.)
The problem is that power games can happen at all levels. Patriarchy, for example, can show up in one family and in a local Protestant congregation and in the Roman Catholic Church and in a house church. You can have big authoritarian institutions and small authoritarian movements. So I don't think there's any fool-proof structure, simply because human foolishness is so darned clever. ... In the end, I think any form can be subverted by bad "lordly" attitudes, and almost any structure transformed by servant attitudes ... This is one of the many reasons I can't help but revere Jesus: he modeled servant leadership, leadership that suffers rather than causes others to suffer, cruciform leadership. He goes to the heart of the issue.
Hope that helps! So glad to hear about your experimentation ... Let me know how things go - the good, the bad, the ugly, and the beautiful.
Here's the Q:
The teacher told us the greatest commandment is to love God. I'm afraid that I'm not sure if I love God anymore, and I would appreciate any help you might be able to provide.My story is the one of the kid who grows up in a conservative church, leaves home, goes to college (Bible college!) and suddenly finds that his doctrine doesn't match up with his view of reality (or of God). As many of your readers, I have gone through a process the past several years trying to find what I really believe and who I really worship. About six months ago I started reading your blog and saw all your hype for A New Kind of Christianity. As I had not read any of your (previously heretical) books yet, I went through the New Kind of Christian trilogy, Generous Orthodoxy, and a couple of others before I tackled your new book, which I am currently enjoying. The way that you and other authors (especially Bishop Wright--I love him!) respect the Bible and Jesus and can come away with a radically different yet valuable interpretation has really taken root in me. I feel that my mind is becoming reborn. As Paul says (1 Cor 15:36), nothing can grow until it dies.
Continue reading Q & R: Lost my love for God...
Here's the Q:
You probably don't remember me, but I had the great pleasure to meet you [earlier] this year. I'm the Southern Baptist Seminary student ... who admires your work at my own peril hahaha.I know you get a lot of questions, but I've really been thinking a lot about the idea you touched on in A New Kind of Christianity that the character God in some Biblical stories like Job can be distinguished from the true living God we see most fully in Jesus' life and message. I am very drawn to this idea, but the other day I had someone object to it saying if we say God is just a character in some Old Testament stories how do we not also have to say that Jesus may just be a character in the Gospels? I know many "Historical Jesus" scholars have espoused ideas close to this, but to me Jesus as portrayed in the Gospels is central to my faith. If you ever have time, I'd love your thoughts on this.
Here's the R:
Continue reading Q & R: Jesus, God ......
I just got back from a wonderful trip to Hong Kong with the people of Asian Outreach. Then I went on to Cambodia, a place I have wanted to visit for years. (Our little house church was deeply involved with resettling Cambodian refugees back in the early 80's in the aftermath of the genocide there.) Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures in Hong Kong, but in Cambodia, though, I took loads.
My host there was David Peck. We stayed in Phnom Penh, but planned to go out to the countryside east of the city to visit some of the health clinics he's involved with there. Here we are on a ferry, crossing the Mekong River.
There was a constant downpour, which meant that we only got to see one of the clinics. Anybody who has traveled on third world roads knows why! Here's our truck, stuck in the mud.
We were hanging out for a while (waiting for the downpour to stop) in a little roadside cafe and a couple of the local guys showed us this "snack." It's in alcohol - eventually they'll eat it, probably as an aphrodisiac.
Here are some kids who were intrigued to have some visitors in their little village. (I don't know if the one boy is decorated or bandaged - I think decorated.):
By far, the highlight of the trip was making some new friends - like Romanea and Naroth ...
Travel is hard work and it loses some of its glamour when you do it as much as I do. But I always come home feeling blessed when I meet such wonderful people who are seeking to love God and neighbor, especially those who are poor and vulnerable.
Here's the Q:
I have read many of your books and love them! I have been waiting for what I find in them for a very long time.When I read "A New Kind of Christianity" I really did (do) want to read the Bible again in this story telling way. My question is, "Which version (or does it make any difference - barring the King James) lends itself to this kind of exercise most readily?" I haven't read the Bible in so long because of the way it was (and is still being) used by so many. I haven't been able to see it in this new way. I would appreciate any help that you could give me.
Continue reading Q & R: Reading the Bible again...
I just read A New Kind of Christianity, and I am so grateful for this book for both myself and my students. I’m going to use it in classes in the coming year to help students understand some of the shifts we are facing, and to help them overcome their fear of asking the big questions that are already in their hearts.You are helping me to have courage in my own journey as a teacher, scholar, preacher, and instigator of Christian communities. While I do not have as high a profile as you, I am increasingly subjected to the kinds of accusations and suspicions you face daily regarding heresy, heterodoxy, etc. At the same time, I am increasingly alive and fruitful. ...Thanks for all that you are doing to help blaze the trails for those who are coming after us.
Over recent days in Hong Kong and Cambodia, meeting with large numbers of both Asian and expatriate Christian leaders, I feel more than ever that many, many people really do have these questions "already in their hearts," but they feel alot of fear about bringing them into the open. As this writer says, it takes courage to break the sound barrier, but as we do, we feel "increasingly alive and fruitful."
A reader writes:
I am a regular reader of your blog and see that one of your readers has recently posted a piece entitled “CS Lewis and Big Tent Christianity”. He ends his post with the following words:
My point is that Lewis participated in a space of feast and drink in which he and his friends gathered to hear each other, debate each other and...in the end....love each other.It was a big tent approach.
Of course, one cannot argue that Lewis and his friends were giants. I grew up reading both Lewis and Tolkien and Lewis’s “Mere Christianity” made a huge impact on me as a young and, of course, impressionable teenager. Here was a writer who could write clearly and appeal to commonsense and reason as a basis for the Christian faith.The problem with Lewis is that he worked hard to maintain and promote a closed religious space from which women were carefully excluded. Worse still, Lewis then made the inexcusable mistake of presenting this closed space as “Christianity” and proceeded to write vociferously about this “Christianity”. As a result, he did enormous damage, damage that was all the more pernicious because it was couched in such a rational and persuasive style and because it reached such a large audience.
A case in point is his “The great divorce”. A marvellous tale, but Lewis can only present us with a Dickens-like caricature of women: the “angel of the home” who endured much at the hands of an unpleasant husband, the “siren” who smears her dead lips with lipstick in an attempt to flirt and seduce male spirits. Sensible remarks and serious spiritual utterances are placed entirely on the lips of men.
In his prose writing, Lewis confidently tells us that women priests are a laughable suggestion, and that Christian women are bound to obey their husbands (including, one assumes, unpleasant husbands). He acknowledges the mysticism of Evelyn Underhill, but in the most patronising and condescending manner.
Lewis, in fact, made it clear that female spirituality is not to be taken very seriously and that theology is best left in the hands of men. Yes, he and his male friends did indeed laugh and drink together and they were perfectly happy to debate with each other, but theirs was a narrow space, and certainly not a big tent.
Like you, I have great respect for C. S. Lewis. But I share your disappointment about his attitude towards women. A lot of the worst things any of us say and do flow from inherited ideas that haven't yet run up against contrary experience - and sadly, sometimes those inherited ideas lead us to shut out or deny contrary experience. I suspect that after his relationship with Joy Davidman, he may have retracted and corrected much about women that he wrote or implied earlier in life. At least I hope so! Thanks for bringing this up.
We arrived last night in torrential rains. The water level must have come into the trunk of our taxi, as my suitcase was soaked from the bottom up ... I'm dressed in clothes that are a bit soggy this morning, but they'll dry quickly.
I'm really excited about getting out into the countryside today - we're supposed to visit a church-sponsored maternal-child health clinic, a place I've heard great things about. I'm happy to feel some of my Khmer coming back to memory - after virtually no use for 30 years. Yes, no, one, two, three, hello, thank-you, good by, it's raining, that's crazy ... I'm hungry, it's beautiful today ... one by one the phrases come back. So many good memories come back of our experiences as a church and family welcoming some wonderful Cambodian families into our lives and community back in the early 80's.
Later in the day I'll meet with a mix of mission workers, local pastors, and Cambodian Christians. Looking forward to it! Thanks for your prayers ...
Most of the folks I'm talking to fully and enthusiastically support the recent peace prize award to a jailed Chinese dissident named Liu Xiaobo, even though the government has called it blasphemous (interesting choice of words). The mainland chinese I talked to feel that confidence in their government is at or near an all-time low, but they're not hopeful about other alternatives either. Many people are just putting their heads down try to make some money, since they never know when the rules of the game will change.
The government is suppressing news of the award, but word gets around - and in one nearby city, we hear that thousands of people are out in the streets, not rioting, but simply walking around smiling. Who knows what could be happening in the days to come? A hint of change is in the air.
I think of change as a fresh spring breeze ... promising your senses that better, brighter days are ahead. I pray it will be so. Oh, Lord, for peace! Bless all peacemakers and raise up more like thim. Move readers of this blog to get some peacemaker training.
"Don't be overcome with evil," Paul said. "Overcome evil with good." amen!
Greetings from Hong Kong - having a meaningful time with really interesting and energetic people here ...
I've been a big fan of Canadian singer-songwriter Steve Bell for years. His lyrics have made it into my writing - especially in Finding Our Way Again (which, along with More Ready Than You Realize, has gotten the highest Amazon reader ratings of any of my books).
He recently blogged on one of my favorite songs of his ... Burning Ember. I'm honored that his upcoming CD, Kindness, includes one of my songs. So will the CD of another gifted Canadian singer-songwriter, Glen Soderholm.
Last week I was with Dr. John Franke in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Beautiful weather, tremendous people, important conversations ... John even got to take in a hockey game (which would be like me getting Bruce Cockburn tickets).
I leave today for Hong Kong and Cambodia. I'm looking forward to meeting a wide variety of Asian mission workers in Hong Kong, and learning all I can from sisters and brothers on that side of the globe. And back in the 1980's, Grace and I helped sponsor quite a few Cambodian refugees ... so getting to visit Cambodia will be a special trip for me. I actually remember quite a few Khmer phrases - we'll see how many come back when needed.
This is the heaviest season of travel for me, so if I'm a little less active blogging than usual, I hope you'll understand.
A chance for dialogue:
Just wanted to say thanks for your latest book, your message really is helping a lot of people... [I] just wanted to let you know we're setting up a discussion group based around the questions of your book (see here) so if anyone contacts you from over here looking to hook up with some like minded people please feel free to point them our way!
Hi Brian,I'm not 100% sure why I'm emailing you this, I think perhaps its partly because there's an excitement about doing something unusual in life and this is one of those things, but a friend of mine asked me about my views on you and your work (I tend to get asked these kinds of questions for reasons you might realise in the email below - or not, as the case may be) and after a couple of days and some more research I wrote her an email). I also sent it to my family, some of whom like your work. My brother also suggested I sent it to you for your thoughts because he said you like to reply to 'readers'. Apparently you have replied to him before. Whilst not being wholly convinced that you'd have the time to respond to something like this, also assuming this email address is really THE Brian McLaren, I thought it worth an email.
So here's the email I sent. I would be fascinated to know your thoughts if you did indeed want to respond as my brother says you will.
Thanks for the note. Just to adjust expectations - I can't respond to all the emails that come in. Often, people ask questions that I have responded to on the blog many times before. But I do try to respond to questions/comments that come in when I can ... I'll intersperse a few comments below:
Continue reading Communicating across paradigms ......
a reader asks ...
Love Brian, his wisdom and his words.Just trying to find out how soon we can expect A New Kind Of Christianity in MP3 format on iTunes?
I have already read the book and love it, but have found that recently I retain more, especially "Brian specific language", when I hear it.
Continue reading Q & R: New Kind of New Kind of ?...
Good questions about survival being asked by Mennonites - here. Similar questions are being asked across denominational lines. What good do you think can come from asking questions like these?
Here's the Q:
I have a question for you on what you think about Mormons. You seem to have a very inclusive theology about who's a Christian and who's not--actually I suppose you would make the point that drawing battle lines is not overly helpful, but still I'm wondering what you think. Traditionally Christians have seen Mormons and Jehovah's witnesses as a cult and I'm wondering what you think of them. Are they a cult? And also, what is the criteria of determining if a church is a cult or not?
Continue reading Q & R: Mormons...
Here's the Q:
My husband and I recently read 'A New Kind of Christianity', and are planning to hear you speak this Saturday in Edmonton.
We appreciated your book in more ways than I can write. God used it to continue to nudge/guide us in a direction He has been leading for many years. Your book brought out a plethora of emotions. We feel so much hope and excitement to pass onto our four young children a fresh portion of faith. We have long been finding some aspects of the faith we had grown up in had become hard and stale, to us. After reading your book, we are hopeful to pass along a burning faith-torch that loves God, His people, and His creation with great reverance.
Your book has also brought out many other emotions as well... fear, doubt, and at times, a profound grief. I'm not sure why or where this grief is coming from. Is it the loss of my childhood faith I am feeling? Is it a fear that God is unknowable? Is it the loss of one faith before another is formed to replace it? Have you, or any other individuals you have encountered, found this deep grief to be part of the faith-growing journey as well? Any advice for a fellow searcher would be valuable.
Amidst all these swirling emotions, God has continually spoken a poem of hope to my heart. It whispers to me that His perfume will permeate through searching, and the fragrance found will be magnificent. Thank you Brian, and may your search be fragrant.
I took off petal after petal, as if you were a rose,
in order to see your soul,
and I didn't see it.
However- everything around-
horizons of fields and oceans-
everything, even what was infinite,
was filled with a perfume,
immense and living.
by: Juan Ramon Jimenez
Continue reading Q & R: Grief?...
I've never met them in person, but I feel these young peace activists in Afghanistan have become friends now - thanks to email and the internet.
Now, whenever I hear about bullets and bombs over there, I think of these names and faces. And their question - why not love? - stays with me.
If you'd like to build some friendships with amazing young Afghan people, check out this blog. And stay tuned for more information about Friends Without Borders.
A new friend recently shared this beautiful TED talk by Elizabeth Gilbert. I think it's interesting for those who struggle with the biblical language of angels and demons ... showing how parallel language has been used in other cultures to try to access the profound and mysterious depths of human experience. But more, I think it's useful for all of us who experience the creative process - preaching sermons, writing books, cooking meals, dancing dances, painting paintings, writing songs, raising kids, living life. Enjoy ...
Here's the Q from a European podcast listener:
Yesterday I listenend to your Bible Overview podcast #6 about Cain and Abel. Once alone as I walked by the brook between the station and my work place. And then again at home in the evening together with my wife, a guest couple from [another country] (I discovered he also listens to podcasts of yours), [and my adult kids] .... It was a good moment for all of us, I think.Comments from [some in our little circle] ("Should we go back to being nomads?") and reflections on my part led me to the following Q: If the progression from hunter-gatherer to nomadic herder to farmer to city-dweller represents a move away from God and into increasing violence and perversion, is it wrong that man has made this move? To express it another way: Is what people generally see as advance actually contrary to God's will? What would that mean regarding industrial and technological developments over the past century or two?
Continue reading Q & R: Bible and Progress...
What a great year for books ... I've been enjoying some new ones and some old ones lately. Here are a few in various categories -
Ministry:
Jerome Berryman's Godly Play and Children and the Theologians. I continue to feel that we need a revolution in kids ministry, and I think people like Jerome Berryman, Tom Boomershine, and John Westerhoff are saying what we need to hear.
Human Interest:
Kathleen Koch's Rising from Katrina chronicles the devastation of the hurricane on the Gulf Coast - and the hard work of recovery in its aftermath. It's fascinating as an eyewitness story, but it also offers a window into a CNN journalist's engagement with a story that touches her own life - and a window into the gritty reality of faith struggling and triumphing in a tragic situation.
Fiction:
This summer I read Frank Schaeffer's trilogy - Portofino, Saving Grandma, and Zermatt. I laughed out loud more times than I have reading any other fiction, except maybe Candide ... The three constitute a coming of age story, but also a comic/tragic window into the kind of American fundamentalism I know from my own background. Portofino captures love of place, Saving Grandma is poignantly hilarious, and Zermatt captures the simultaneous, furious, sexual angst of adolescent boys and adult fundamentalists.
Theology/Mission:
Too many great books to name - more in another future post.
I had the opportunity to watch Ken Howard's new book Paradoxy take shape. Ken invited me to write the foreword, which includes this:
Here’s what I know: again this year, literally tons of new books will be published – shelves, libraries, trucks, dumpsters full – and most among them won’t carry a fraction of the substance this book holds. A bunch of them will become big sellers too, even though they don’t hold a candle – in terms of content or readability – to this one. There are many reasons for this paradox, including this: too many people want simple, easy, quick, and formulaic answers to the problems they face, and those books deliver what the customer wants – at least they deliver information that is simple, easy, quick, and formulaic.
Last week was a special pleasure - being with an Episcopal-sponsored gathering in Minneapolis and then with Episcopal Village in Baltimore.
In a couple of public settings, plus in several private conversations, I kept hearing how people are struggling with the Bible. How do we deal with the violent passages in the Bible? How about science-Bible conflicts (including conflicts about how we look at human sexuality)? How can we keep the Bible being used in the cause of injustice?
Each of these conversations had obvious connections to my 2010 book, A New Kind of Christianity ... but also with the series of podcasts I put online earlier this year, which provide an overview of the whole Bible.
You can download the first three for free, and all 51 (a year's worth) are only $19.95. It's over 15 hours of input, in 20-minute segments ... I hope a lot of folks will find it helpful.
My friend Caleb in Uganda has done beautiful things - helping kids in Kampala get off the streets and become a supportive community to one another. He was once one of those kids himself. The kindness of one person made a difference in his life, and now is multiplied out to others. He included this quote in a recent note:
Start by doing what is necessary;
Then do what is possible;
Suddenly you are doing the impossible.
Claude and Kelley Nikondeha over in Burundi have been watching the impossible happen lately. I got tears in my eyes as I read the latest news from Matara. I hope you'll take a minute and see this beautiful sign of God's love in the five hills of Matara, Burundi.
You can read it here. Thanks be to God!
Many of us were inspired by Donovan's Christianity Rediscovered. Lately I've been reading his 1989 work The Church in the Midst of Creation. Here's a representative quote:
We can imagine that we are sole possessors of the truth, that we have a monopoly on the truth, that we have no need of dialogue, no need of mutual fecundation and interpenetration with the non-Christian cultures that surround us, the Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic, traditional-religious, Marxist, scientific-technological cultures that make up our world…. We can refuse to admit that we must commit ourselves to an exploration and discovery of a form of the church and its ministry and sacraments, a form of Christianity and of Christ, that we have not known. We can refuse to do all this, of course, but if we do refuse, we have to ask whether we, the current bearers of the Christian message, will not die and pass from history, just as surely as did the Judeo-Christians, or later, the African Christians of Augustine’s time. They, too, had their day in the sun. (Fr. Vincent Donovan, The Church in the Midst of Creation, [Maryknoll, 1989], 35-37)
Quite amazing that Donovan, a Catholic priest and missionary, was saying these radical things a full ten years before many of us Protestants were. He explores Karl Rahner's three-era theory: The Jewish-Christian era (before about 140), the Hellenistic era (similar to what I call in my most recent book the Greco-Roman era) and the world Christian era - emerging in the 20th century, and continuing to emerge now.
Donovan watched the hopeful signs of Vatican II, but lived long enough to see many of those opening doors being shut again. You can read more about how even Donovan's own work in Africa was largely reversed in John Bowen's upcoming edition of Donovan's letters, to which I had the honor of writing a foreword. Info here.
Here's the Q:
I'm only very new to your work and look forward to watching your impact on the 'faiths' debate with curiosity and excitement over the coming decades.I was hoping you could answer something for me - Over the last few years, I am now in my mid-20s, I've noticed some of my friends from church who I've shared some incredible, edifying and intellectual discussions with, have eventually left the local church community. A number of them follow your blog though but use your work as a reason to separate themselves from a faith/church community. Because they read your blog I want to ask you, what would you say to those who use your work as a justification to separate themselves from the church?
I'm not implying that this is your intention at all. I just miss my friends and know they would listen to you.
Continue reading Q & R: Where are my friends?...
Here's the Q;
I am reading your book A New Kind of Christian. I have a question, which I am sure you have been asked before: Is your theology regarding intertwining different religions (Not just different cultures) into Christianity biblically sound? I think your idea of mixing cultures into Christianity is brilliant! However, I would like to see some biblical backing regarding the mixture, not just a C.S. Lewis quotation. If you are not sure to what I am referring, I am specifically dealing with the quotation brought up by C.S. Lewis regarding Tash and Aslan. To be completely honest, I was loving your book until that passage. I wanted to recommend it to others and now I question whether or not that is a good idea unless you are backing yourself up.
Continue reading Q & R: Hell, Tash, Aslan...
Two questions from a pastor:
Continue reading Q & R: Forgiveness and Inspiration...
1. This Friday and Saturday, if you live anywhere near Darien CT, this event deserves your attention...
2. It's been too long since Tony Jones and I had a chance to work together (although we did at least cross paths briefly last week in Raleigh) - but we'll be speaking at Gloria Dei November 13 in the Philly area. Hope you can join us - Information here ... (We'll also be working together in Dallas in early December. Details should be available on my calendar soon.)
3. Here's a report many readers of this blog will be interested in ...
4. A PhD student writes ...
Continue reading Two events, a report, and some good questions ......
This is one of those events you'll want to commit to now and build your schedule around: The Wild Goose Festival - it's all about music, the arts, spirituality, and justice.
Here's what I posted about Wild Goose ...
Continue reading Where I'll be June 23-26, 2011. Hope you will too!...
Guy Chmieleski was my host at Belmont University last week. He posted summaries of my presentations here. Next best thing to being there ...
This week I'll be speaking with Episcopal groups in Minneapolis and Baltimore. I'll be heading off to the airport soon, grateful for a restful weekend with Grace.
A reader writes ...
Continue reading seeing the gospel with fresh eyes...
For the next couple days I'll be resting up ... and getting closer to finishing up my next book. Stay tuned for more information on that!
It's been a full and fulfilling week at Belmont University and King College in Tennessee. I'll spend today in transit back to Florida, where I'll get a couple days of needed rest over the weekend (and maybe a little fishing?) before heading to Minnesota and Baltimore Monday. Grateful for free internet at Charlotte airport!
I think David Gushee gets it right:
I remember the first time it became crystal clear to me that there is no such thing as Christianity, but only competing Christianities. It was when I was working on my doctoral dissertation on Christians who rescued Jews during the Holocaust. During that time I attended a most remarkable conference in New York on hidden children of the Holocaust. This gathering brought together the now-grown adults who had hidden from the Nazis to survive. Some of these children were saved by Christian families.The most memorable speaker for me was a hidden child, and now a sociologist, named Nechama Tec. A Polish Jew, she survived the war hiding with Christians. She was asked after her address whether it was Christianity that motivated her rescuers. Her unforgettable response went like this: “It wasn’t just any kind of Christianity that would motivate a rescuer. Only a certain kind of Christianity would lead someone to risk their lives for us.”
A certain kind of Christianity -- the phrase stayed with me. It is enormously helpful. From hard experience, young Nechama Tec learned the difference between versions of Christianity that teach hatred of the religious/ethnic other and versions that teach sacrificial and inclusive love. Her very survival depended on being able to tell the difference between these competing Christianities and the people who embodied them.
Of course, this is what was in my mind when I wrote A New Kind of Christian and A New Kind of Christianity. It's also at the heart of my upcoming book, the title of which will be released soon.
Gushee adds this important note, reflecting on recent tensions among Christians of competing Christianities and Islaams:
So the Christianity of “International Burn a Koran Day” exists. It is a sorry version of Christianity, but it exists. It must be defeated by better versions of Christianity. Maybe some progress has been made on that over the last week.Could it also be that there is no such thing as “Islam,” but only competing versions of Islam? Could it be that those who are casually declaring that al Qaeda’s Islam just is Islam are about as accurate as those who would say that Terry Jones’ Christianity just is Christianity? Could it be that we need a moratorium on people who know nothing about the competing Muslim traditions making blanket declarations about the eternal nature of that religion?
Here's the Q:
I have read The Secret Message of Christ twice now and it has been one of the most challenging books I have ever read. It has allowed me to understand the message of Jesus better and see Him more clearly for who He really is. My question is this. If the people that Jesus was teaching the message of the kingdom of God to, would have understood it and embraced it, would the Kingdom of God have been established on the earth at that time? And what about different parts of the world at that time that had not yet heard the teachings of Jesus, would the Kingdom of God have been on the whole earth at the same time or in a more gradual way?
Continue reading Q & R: Kingdom ... could it have been received?...
I've been hanging out with some wonderful students, faculty, and friends at Belmont University in Nashville this week. Tomorrow I'll zip up to Bristol to give one of the Buechner lectures at Kings College.
There's a lengthy interview with me that some will find interesting - at The Other Journal here.
Emergent Village has an important article I wrote on postcolonial theology here.
Here's the Q:
Just finished A New Kind of Christianity and I must say it moved me deeply. It opened me to a variety of different ways of seeing how I can remain a determined Christ-follower but perhaps not a Christian as most understand that term.
My quick question is the three narrative patterns that you outline… I totally agree with them and have used them in my preaching, etc… but it made me curious when you seemed to suggest that these were written into the Bible chronologically as people’s perspectives of God changed.
Wouldn’t Biblical scholarship say that Exodus was written slightly before Genesis and Genesis was written around the same time as the Exile narratives (prophets)? Just curious as I know that people will pick at that as I engage with them in small groups.
BTW, I plan on gathering a couple of small groups together this fall to discuss your book. I’m a pastor of a church in Canada and have found my faith invigorated by the opportunity to talk freely about the very concepts you outline in your book with a few small pockets of folks in my congregation over the years. You are totally right, these kind of conversations are not ready for ‘prime time’ (Sunday morning worship) as of yet but maybe someday.
Thank you for your courage.
Continue reading Q & R: Timing of 3 Biblical Narratives...
A reader writes ...
Brian, I'm sure you are busy making disciples and fending off critics, but I just wanted to drop you a note. Your books have fundamentally changed the way I think and feel about what it means to be a Christian. They have opened my eyes to a path to walking with Christ that allows God to get bigger and more majestic with every step, not smaller and more predictable.
I gave my life to Jesus a year ago. Having grown up in the Catholic faith but seeking a new way, I thought what you would call "Big E" evangelicalism was the only other alternative. I was quickly turned off by so much of the line-drawing, who's-in/who's out talk, pressure on me to immediately complete a "salvation transaction" with my wife and children, and other behavior - all of which deprived many of these people of the right to hear my story, walk with me, and be my friend.
These are the same people who warned me not to read your books, and expressed deep concern when I did..
I am so glad I've been reading them. You obviously "get" something very deep and profound about the God who loves is in a way that we cannot possibly fathom. Thank you for opening my eyes to this new way of loving the things Christ loves and meeting people smack dab in the middle of where they are.
In any case, I read and hear the attacks on you and the questions you are asking. And I am sure you are getting encouragement from those your words are reaching.
I just wanted to encourage you as well. I am so much more in awe of God thanks to your work. Questions are good. Keep asking the hardest ones you can! Bless you, brother.
Thanks for this encouragement, brother - and keep on this good path!
So the Florida group planning to burn the Quran has backed down. That's good. But does anybody doubt some other group will soon realize how gullible the media is to grant free publicity for irresponsibility and extremism, and try it again?
It's not enough to stop burning one another's holy texts: we need to start learning about them and learning from them.
I'm embarrassed to say that it wasn't until a decade or so ago that I actually read the Quran. Sure, I had read selections extracted by anti-Muslim critics - all intended to cast Islam in a negative light. And sure, I had read selections extracted by others, intended to cast Islam in a wholly positive light.
Christians and Jews know that a hostile critic could do the same - extract Bible verses to make their religions seem truly barbaric, just as they know that a sympathetic kind of extraction could hide some of the discomforting bits that our best theologians find ways of sequestering so they aren't abused.
When I read the Quran itself in its entirety, I got a more holistic impression than either the hostile or sympathetic digests could offer. And the same would happen if a Muslim or Jew were to read all four gospels, or better yet the whole New Testament, just as it would if a Muslim or Christian read the Law and Prophets from start to finish - not seeking to find faults to pounce on and extract, but seeking to learn. (Thankfully, the recent media frenzy has prompted many people to do just that.)
But even so, it's not enough to learn about and from one another's holy texts. A note from a Muslim friend in the Middle East made this clearer than ever to me this week. He was trying to calm some of his Muslim brothers about the threats of Quran-burning here in the US, and he said something like this to them:
Where does the holy Quran really exist? If someone burns a copy, do your beliefs suddenly disappear from your mind and heart? Isn't the place where the holy Quran truly resides in the minds and hearts of believers - not simply in words on a page?Yes, the words on a page are important and should be respected - but what will happen when most of us read the holy Quran in digital form on our laptops: will it be an outrage for someone to hit delete? Couldn't this whole episode remind us that what matters most is not the words on paper, but the message alive in our hearts? Could this be what God wants us to learn?
Whatever the holy Quran says on paper about peace, if we are violent in the name of the Quran, doesn't that speak more loudly to the world about what we believe? And whatever the Bible says on paper about loving neighbors, strangers, and enemies, if Christians burn the Quran, doesn't that speak more loudly to the world than anything else?
My friend's wisdom explains why I say that beyond learning about and learning from one another's sacred texts, we need to learn how those texts are embodied in real people. We need to learn from people. And when we do, we will see that for every Christian who wants to burn Qurans, there are millions who would never do so, and for every Muslim who ... you get the point.
The most important translation of our texts is the translation into daily life ... in acts of kindness, generosity, courage, humility, justice, self-control, respect, reverence, fidelity, and compassion. If we stop burning texts and comparing "our best" with "their worst," we can start learning not only about each other - but with each other. And by God's grace, perhaps we can translate the best of our texts into our lives, communities, and world. That is my hope, my plea, my prayer.
I'm with about 30 Christian leaders having some deep and needed conversation about Christian identity/ethos, mission, involvement in public policy, theology, history, and future possibilities. A rich time, a good spirit, and lots of laughter too. I'm blessed indeed. I was wondering if I'd have to change my travel plans to be in Gainesville, FL, tomorrow to protest the Quran burning in whatever ways I could. But thankfully that seems to be over with. God bless the peacemakers!
A reader writes ..
Just watched the video clip "Conversations on being a heretic" and when it got to the part where you said something to the effect "when you have moved to the new paradigm some of the old questions don't make sense anymore", I was nodding my head up and down so much others around me must've thought I was jamming to some cool hip hop tune in my head.Growing up a PK (preacher's kid) in a Southern Baptist home and as an ex-Campus Crusade staff member hasn't left me without several questions of theology and faith, as you may imagine! To the point, primarily about the meaning of salvation as it is used throughout all scripture - just as you briefly mentioned at the end of the video. Much too often, (always?) that term is used and thrown around, within and across paradigms, as if everyone knew what it meant. But rarely, never?, is there a stop to define the term. There is just this assumed understanding of the meaning and then the conversation, or sermon, or paragraph goes on... As you mentioned it is only when we see how the term is used in the Old Testament, how those people experienced salvation, that we can understand what it means, and doesn't mean, in the N.T.
If people realized that the will of God IS, indeed, our salvation, but as understood in O.T. terms, as it were, then maybe this understanding would inform how we lived out our salvation and help turn our attention to priorities of the kingdom. I encourage you because of your position in the conversation and your skill in communication, to lead this conversation to discovering again, for the first time!, the meaning of salvation.
Thanks - I first explored the word salvation in Adventures in Missing the Point, but gave it a more thorough treatment throughout A New Kind of Christianity.
A transcript of my interview with Scot McKnight, along with some thoughtful response - here. The book under discussion - A New Kind of Christianity.
If you've got a long commute, I think you'll enjoy using my Bible overview podcast ... a fresh vision of the Bible in 20 minute segments. It's just $20 - easy to download here.
If you're looking for a good book to read on the train, subway, or airplane ... I hope you'll enjoy A New Kind of Christianity. Here's what one reader recently said ...
You've been getting a lot of bad press lately. Just wanted to be one grain of sand on the other pile, to let you know that your books are life-giving to me and mine. I'm formerly a Southern Baptist pastor; my wife is now an Elder in the United Methodist Church, a pastoral counselor. She is using your book A New Kind of Christianity with colleagues at work, all Ph.D. D.Min. folks with multiple degrees and certifications in psychotherapy. They want to be Christians, but find the usual fare unthinkable. In the secret places of my heart, I am so profoundly grateful to you as well. I believe you and others like you are the hope of Christianity's future.
Here's an impassioned response from a Christian musician to yesterday's post "from a Muslim friend," followed by what another Christian is doing to provide an alternative to the immoral insanity of Quran burning and prejudice ... "small pebbles" that can make a big difference.
Continue reading Two impassioned responses ...
Read his story about D. L. Moody and the Plymouth Brethren (my original tribe) here.
On good dialogue with "the other" - check this out, happening this month in Fairfax, VA.
A reader asks a really important question ...
Q: The first mention of your name I heard was in an NPR story where many Christian leaders were deeming your words 'heresy'. This claim made
me want to read your work :)
I was raised mostly in Nashville, TN, the so-called "buckle" of the
bible belt. Since I left for college in nearby Chattanooga, TN, my
spirit has been awakened to, as you aptly put it, a new kind of
Christianity. I've just read your latest book, as well as A Generous
Orthodoxy. I wish I had written both books---you articulate perfectly
much of what I already feel and provide me with new questions to ask
which I had not yet contemplated. Your work is brilliant and I honor
your for it.
But I must admit that, with your help, I've become quite the radical
among my conservative community in Nashville. For example, i posted
something recently on Facebook which criticized Israel's probable plan
to bomb Iran. You would not believe the torrent of response it
received among people who are extremely close to me. I wondered how
if this small comment could give rise to such dispute among my friends
and family, how would they react to the wealth of "deviant" thoughts
which dwell in my ever-pondering head.
This has been a long preamble to my question which is: How do I
continue to ask big questions about God, Christianity, and life in
general, while coming up with potentially divisive answers, without
harming my relationships which I value so dearly? When do I publicize
my ideas and when do I keep them shut up in order not to offend?
Thank you for reading my question and for encouraging me with all of
your work.
Continue reading Q & R: Differing without dividing...
Here's an encouraging note I received from a Muslim friend recently. I share it because so many of my Christian friends have never been in an authentic friendship with a Muslim ... and I think this gives a window into the heart of a good man, a man of peace.
Continue reading From a Muslim friend ......
Here's what some Afghan children did ...
... seeking to make a connection with you and me. Have some tissues handy, and please pass this on to everyone you can. And then ask ... if you were an adult (or whatever) living where you live, what would you do in response?
I'll be part of the Big Tent Christianity gathering this week in Raleigh, NC ... A friend sent this note relating the big tent approach to CS Lewis:
I was thinking this morning about CS Lewis. On the one hand Marcus Borg has identified the progression of 'conservative' to 'liberal' ideas in Lewis's thought. But that is not what I feel drawn to. Even if Lewis is the uber conservative armchair theologian that so many love and admire - his personal practice is what I am drawn to.We tend to prop Lewis up as some sort of modern day St. Paul - dramatic conversion, prolific writer on faith etc. We also tout that he was in a writing group with JRR Tolkien. Both these men - Tolkien and Lewis -were defenders of Orthodox faith in their own way. BUT....we forget to take a look at the larger conversation they were a part of. The Inklings had more than just Lewis an Tolkien. It also consisted of people like Dorothy Sayers known for challenging Lewis on his thinking in women, Charles Williams who was influenced by sorcery and secret societies as much as he was by the Christian mystics and Owen Barfield - whose daughter Lucy was the inspiration for Lucy in the 'Narnia' books - was a lay philosopher whose work has greatly influenced many in the 'emerging cosmology' conversation and who himself was influenced by mystic and philosopher Rudolph Steiner.
My point is not that Lewis agreed with all these men or that they did not have sometimes severe disagreements of perspective, theology and application. My point is that Lewis participated in a space of feast and drink in which he and his friends gathered to hear each other, debate each other and...in the end....love each other.
It was a big tent approach.
Another "big tent" question ... A reader writes:
Continue reading Big Tent and C. S. Lewis (and more)...
A lot of contemporary movies picture American suburban life as banal, hypocritical, and morally bankrupt - a deceitful place where manicured landscapes and plastic surgery cover up empty, desperate realities. But in Rob Reiner's newly-released Flipped, the American 'burbs provide the environment in which fragile, honest goodness is repeatedly tested and quietly grows.
Completely devoid of special effects, violence, or sex - and without a single chase scene or exploding car, Flipped relies on old-fashioned storytelling and great acting to tell the story of a boy and girl coming of age in the suburbs.
The story begins with young Juli developing a massive childhood crush on Bryce, the new kid in the neighborhood with dreamy eyes. In spite of those eyes of his, Bryce is completely blind to her beauty, and when he finally begins to flip for her as she has for him, it's almost too late.
The families of the two protagonists are essential to the film's richness. I asked producer Rob Reiner about some of these secondary characters.
"Really, the pivotal role in the film, aside from the two kids, is the grandfather. He's the moral compass in the movie," Rob explained. "Bryce is fortunate that his grandfather comes to live with him at such a critical time, when he's twelve or thirteen. The old man teaches his grandson something that Bryce's own father doesn't understand - that you can swim out so far from the shore in terms of character that you can't make it back."
Bryce's father, along with a few of his schoolmates, represents the negative polarity in the movie - outwardly successful but inwardly empty. Juli's father, in contrast, has "kept his soul" in Reiner's words, keeping his creativity alive and holding on to his love for his family, even though his lawn is full of weeds.
"The most important scene in the film, in many ways," Rob continued, "is the scene where Juli's dad takes Juli to visit his brother, her uncle, who is mentally handicapped." It's in that visit - climaxing in an embarrassing outburst in a public place - that we see the gritty courage and tough commitment that real families require.
The two mothers, each struggling with the complexities of marriage and parenthood, create one of the film's most redemptive moments - a meal where the two families come together and begin to overcome their longstanding alienation. (As many suburban families know, it can be a long walk to cross the street and meet a neighbor.)
I told Rob that I sensed a kind of understated spirituality in that dinner: it felt like a kind of communion, evoking in its humble way the epic meal in Babette's Feast. In it, people must face their false impressions of one another, and a kind of repentance begins for several of the characters.
"It really is a spiritual movie," Rob replied. "Juli has this pure love for God's creation, seen in her love for that old sycamore tree." And it shows as well in her care for some chickens - "my girls" she calls them, beloved byproducts of a science fair project.
Bryce discovers that the only way to love Juli is to love what she loves, and so he is brought into Juli's spirituality through her. It's a kind of reverse Eden story: Eve tempts Adam back into the garden he has wandered away from.
"Flipped" succeeds in doing something few films do without seeming schmaltzy: it captures moments of goodness. "You don't set out trying to convey goodness," Rob said. "You try to capture honesty. Because people aren't cartoons. We're all a mix. So you try to convey who a character really is with honesty. And when you do that, some goodness always shines through."
If you've been losing faith lately, wondering if all the eggs have gotten salmonella and all the beaches tarballs, take somebody you love (or would like to love) and see Flipped. And better still, make it a double or triple date, and plan to go out after seeing the movie. You'll have lots to talk about - honest moments where goodness shines through - which is probably the best kind of special effect anywhere.
A reader writes ...
I am a Korean Christian.
I read your book, A generous orthodoxy.
I agree with your thought. Especially, I don’t like systematic theology, even though I know it is also necessary.
And I majored in religious studies in University, so my mind is widely open, and flexible.
Now I am a seminarian to follow God’s will. (I got M-div, Th-m ana preparing for the doctorate course.)
But I don’t know which major in theology department I will choose.
What major do you want to recommend?
In what major can I learn more about what you wrote in A Generous Orthodoxy?
Systematic theology? New Testament? Something about spirituality? Church History?
Give me some advice.
I want to be a Christian writer, and a pastor.
Continue reading Which seminary?...
Lynne Hybels gets it right ... here.
I've seen the film she refers to - it really is worth seeing.
Also worth seeing - Bob Roberts and Prince Turqi model Christian-Muslim dialogue:
Prince Turqi of Saudi Arabia from Glocalnetblog on Vimeo.
I've had a quiet summer - good for writing (and recuperating from 2 tick-borne diseases). Next week a full travel schedule ramps up again. Between now and Christmas I'll be ...
In North Carolina
In Tennessee
In Minnesota
In Baltimore
In Edmonton, AB, Canada
In Hong Kong
In Cambodia
In Boston, MA
In Houston, TX
In Toronto, Canada
In Boston, MA
In Philadelphia, PA
In Shreveport, LA
In VA Beach, VA
In Louisville, KY
In Dallas, TX
In Philadelphia, PA
Philip Clayton gives one of the best overviews of "what's emerging" that I've seen anywhere ... right here.
A reader writes ...
Continue reading The Cross and the Greco-Roman narrative...
A reader writes ...
Continue reading Q & R: A great question about prayer ... and a hint about my next book...
A reader writes ...
Hi Brian,
I am an avid follower of your blog and am reading one of your books right now for the first time. You're different way of thinking has truly helped me re-frame my traditional evangelical upbringing. I had never heard of "Big Tent Christianity" until your recent post about it as part of the synchroblog. From your post, I gathered it was a pretty cool concept. Then I read another post from a blog I follow "Ethnic Space and Faith" where the writer talked about an injustice done to him from White Christians...in relation to being asked to contribute to the Big Tent synchroblog. I am continually trying to broaden my perspective and be more vigilant against the subtle kind of discrimination and racism that is (some would say) inherent in dominant culture. So I wanted to ask someone I respected, what is this blog writer referring to? Is there something about Big Tent Christianity that only serves dominant white Christians at the expense of others?the blog post I'm referring to:
http://ethnicspace.wordpress.com/2010/08/13/honest-hatred-under-the-big-tent/
Continue reading Big Tent ......
I'm really pleased that the Emergent Village council has chosen "Creating Liberated Spaces in a Post-Colonial World" as the theme for their theological conversation this year, Nov. 1 - 3.
You can register here.
There are a number of folks blogging about the theme this week ...
- Jonathan Brink at http://jonathanbrink.com/blog/
- Annie Bullock at Marginal Theology http://marginaltheology.wordpress.com
- Julie Clawson at onehandclapping http://julieclawson.com/
- Nelson Costa (in Portuguese) http://www.nelsoncostajr.com/
- Natanael Disla (in Spanish) http://karmatarsis.wordpress.com/
- Carol Howard Merritt at TribalChurch.org http://tribalchurch.org/
- Dave Ingland at http://www.daveingland.com/
- Mihee Kim-Kort at first day walking http://miheekimkort.com/
- Crystal Lewis at Jesus Was A Heretic, Too. http://jesuswasaheretictoo.blogspot.com/
- Katie Mulligan at The Adventures of Tiny Church http://tinychurchnj.blogspot.com/
- Ann Pittman www.anncpittman.blogspot.com
- Danielle Shroyer at http://danielleshroyer.com/
Emergent Village will be releasing a short piece I wrote on the subject soon.
Be there November 1-3 if you can - and if you can't, educate yourself on this important theme. These blogs are a good start ...
Then I hope you'll consider being part of a gathering there in just over a week. You can read about it here.
And even if you can't be there, stay tuned ... hopefully lots of good things will unfold in the months to come from this time together.
The college years often play a pivotal role in faith development. Some young adults are given a faith that "works" well for them when they leave home and enter university.
Others discover they can't in good conscience make the faith they inherited their own - they face realities of science, history, psychology, philosophy, or even their own psyche that can't coexist honestly with their inherited faith. Some who find themselves in that situation simply put faith aside entirely. Others have to go through a painful but essential and tremendously creative process of adapting their inherited faith (instead of adopting it without adaptations). I'm always glad to hear when my books help young adults do the latter.
Many of us have wondered how to facilitate that process of helping young adults adapt their inherited faith so they can have a faith they truly and wholeheartedly celebrate. And we've wondered how to teach the faith to children in such a way that it will support rather than hinder their intellectual, interpersonal, ethical, and personal growth later on ... which is why I'm enthusiastic about the event that just was announced last week.
Here's a note from a recent college graduate ...
Continue reading BACK TO SCHOOL (cont'd): Especially for College Students...
Wise words from Jim Wallis and Dr. King ...
Continue reading Regarding Glenn Beck's Washington, DC gathering yesterday ......
I think he gets it right:
Here (Part 1) and
Here (Part 2)
Becky Garrison has a series of free podcasts available - interviews with some interesting people, plus yours truly ... They're related to her new book, Jesus Died for This? - a title that keeps coming to mind these days as I watch the news!
I haven't posted anything on youtube in a while, but here's a 1 minute reflection on the news ...
Rose Swetman is leading a group to Rwanda to engage with the genocide and issues of reconciliation there. Here's some info:
Travel with Dr. Rose Madrid Swetman; meet expert Rwandan practitioners and thinkers in the field of Reconciliation, as well as a 3-day Reconciliation workshop with victims and perpetrators of Genocide. Rwandans witnessed one of the most horrific and devastating genocides of all time in 1994, where upwards of 800,000 people were slaughtered in 100 days. Join Bakke students in a 10 day experience of an indepth study of reconciliation through lectures from expert field practitioners, to visiting genocide sites, to a three day reconciliation workshop involving perpetrators and victims of the genocide.
Speaking of Rwanda and reconciliation, and with all the wild animosity flying about the Manhattan mosque, here's some encouraging news from a Baptist church in Washington, DC, led by one of my favorite pastors, Amy Butler.
A number of us have been talking for years about the need for an international conference to talk about the spiritual formation of children and youth in the emerging context. I'm pleased to announced that it is on the calendar!
Children, Youth, and a New Kind of Christianity
- May 7-10, 2012
- at Calvary Baptist Church, Washington, DC
- keynote speakers include Brian McLaren and Ivy Beckwith
- presentations by several key leaders/thinkers in children’s and youth ministry and emerging faith communities
- Will include opportunities for tours around DC
- Topics include sexuality, technology, religious diversity, and violence in the Bible.
Save the dates, and stay tuned for more information - especially via:
http://suchasthese.wordpress.com
Also - don't miss this beautiful reflection on ministry with children and (yes) America's Got Talent ...
http://suchasthese.wordpress.com/2010/08/27/back-to-school-day-5-connor-doran/
You can be two of my books for $6 each ...
Secret Message of Jesus
Everything Must Change
And Finding Our Way Again is also on sale for just $7.20.
Three books for less than $20 ... not bad!
If you've been posting this week about spiritual formation of kids and youth (or want to do so in the coming days), please let Dave Csinos know here ASAP ... He'll compile links so they can easily be cross-listed. Thanks!
Here's an honest and important email from a student. I'll insert my responses in the text.
Continue reading BACK TO SCHOOL WEEK: High School and Doubts...
Here's the Q:
Our congregation has just transitioned to the Carver Model for governance. Our new council is currently defining the END (or ENDs) which is/are to articulate ‘our reason for being a faith community at this time and in this place’.
Having completed a careful reading of your book ‘A New Kind of Christianity’ (and agreeing with your response to the sixth question … and also the tenth), I’m proposing a start-up effort that in time (if successful) would transform the congregation into ‘a school of love’.
Can you suggest any resources? Do you have any suggestions? Is there anyone for me to dialogue with?
Thank you for writing the book, and for any response you can make to this request.
Continue reading BACK TO SCHOOL WEEK: School of Love...
Dave Csinos newest posting is really worth reading - and commenting on at his site. His starting point - that children are born with spirituality as they are with creativity - should not be put in tension with dearly-held doctrines (of some) like original sin or total depravity. Dave remembers that Genesis 1 (God created us good, and in God's image, walking with God "in the cool of the day") shouldn't be eclipsed by Genesis 3 (we disobey God and sometimes try to play God - instead of playing/living with God).
All this resonates with me in a special way because of a new friendship with Jerome Berryman, founder of Godly Play. If you don't know about this tremendous organization and this brilliant Christian educator ... today's a good day to begin remedying that. Here's a 6:33 video ...
Here's the Q:
Recently, you spoke at our xxx Diocesan Convention and it was wonderful. (I was the one in the back asking a question about “Empire.”) I’m a parish priest in yyy and I want to have an intergenerational class where we discuss your book. I know the high school age kids will be fine – but I also want to include middle schoolers. They are extremely bright and I know will have much to give to the conversation.
Do you have any ideas, or handouts that might distill or bring into focus the topic of your chapters so they would be easier for them to read – I’m thinking of vocabulary, and/or a framework of the questions explained and phrased in a way that would be more on their level.
Maybe you know some pastors who have done this kind of intergenerational experience with your book and you could put me in touch with them?
As you know, Christians need to include everyone in these ‘emerging church’ conversations – so I’m just trying to find a way to do that and would be extremely appreciative of any help you can provide.
Continue reading BACK TO SCHOOL WEEK: Intergenerational classes...
1. A reader writes:
I am puzzled by your recent post "Why I Support the Mosque in Manhattan." It seems strangely at odds with your attitudes expressed in "A Generous Orthodoxy":"I once saw a small, old synagogue in the shadow of a big, new church. A huge cross towered above the church entrance, which abutted the synagogue entrance. It pained me that the good Jewish people of that synagogue had to enter it under the sign of that huge cross every Sabbath, a symbol that has carried horrible associations for Jewish people. 'Jesus wouldn't have done that,' I thought" (fn. 31, p. 78).In your view, is the relevant difference that the mosque will be located further away from ground zero than the church to the synagogue in your example? But its not feet and inches that carry moral weight here, it's the distressing impact on those who feel the offense. (New Yorkers have clearly expressed their feeling on the issue.) Or in your view, is it the respective religions that make the difference? It's difficult to see, however, why the Christians of your example ought to be sensitive to the feelings of their neighbors (even when exercising a Constitutional right) but Muslims ought not do the same.
There are other distinctions you might draw, I suppose, to block the charge of inconsistency, but none seem very promising. Thus, I echo the closing thoughts of your post on the mosque: knowing that you respect reason and consistency, I think if you give it a second and prayerful thought, you couldn't help but change your mind.
Continue reading Q & R: On the Manhattan Mosque (two queries)...
A reader writes:
I tried to friend you on facebook, but understandably I got a message saying that you had too many friend requests. I would love to follow you on facebook if you have room for one more "friend." Somehow my brother xxx snuck in as your friend (probably because you also met him in person and talked before) so I thought I would give it a shot. ;-). If that would be cool with you my facebook link is xxx:
Sorry for the confusion on this. Just fyi - there are several Brian McLarens out there with facebook accounts. Recently, there was a "fake" one posing as me and using the site to promote his own slant on things under my name ... sheesh.
Here's the facebook page to use to keep up with me. All my blog posts immediately go up there ... and you can make comments. It's an open site, so you don't have to be approved. I can't keep up with personal messages on facebook - I'm sorry, I wish I could - but I do try to keep up with comments posted on the wall. So here's the site:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brian-D-McLaren/65814657989?ref=ts
People are going to be buying Christmas presents this fall - why not help them buy fair trade products? For more information - check out Trade as One.
See Mike Todd's excellent reflections on Jeremy Rifkin's proposal here ... all highly relevant to the spiritual formation of children.
It's especially disconcerting to think that some religious education - Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, whatever - teaches children who belong to "us" not to have empathy for "them." So much of Jesus' teaching, it seems to me, was seeking to overcome that religious us-them thinking in his day and engender empathy (love) for stranger and enemy as well as brother/sister and neighbor. See especially the idea of extending empathy beginning at about 7:00 in the video ...
One of Rifkin's final conclusions - we have to rethink the human narrative (about 9:55) - certainly resonates with my most recent book. When you see things in this light - and what's at stake (evidenced in the growing Islamophobia in the US), you can see why I have been willing to take a good amount of critique from defenders of the old narratives.
Check in over at http://suchasthese.wordpress.com/ to see what others are saying about the spiritual formation of children ...
A reader captures one important dimension of this subject here:
I'm reading "A New Kind of Christianity" for the second time -- really "chewing" on it this time. You've helped me articulate things that have been formulating in my heart and mind for a while now... and, there's a sense of relief: I'm not crazy! (Well, maybe a little.) My wife and I have had lots of good conversations lately, trying to work out the implications of all this. If there's one word I could use to describe how we feel these days, it's HOPEFUL. Thanks for all you've done to encourage/inspire.We have two kids, ages 5 and 3, and we want to do a good job of laying a strong spiritual foundation. In the emergent context, do you have any suggestions on how to "raise them up in the way they should go"? How and what to pray for them? How to talk to them about Jesus? Answer questions they have about hell (especially when they hear about it from others)? Questions about sexuality? Sin? Heaven? Basically, do you have any thoughts on how to communicate everything you wrote about in ANKC to kids?
For some time, we've got the impression from our faith community that the MOST IMPORTANT thing to push our kids to "pray the prayer" and "get baptized"... But there's so much more than that!
Two responses - first, these are exactly the kinds of questions we need to grapple with. Stay tuned for information about an international gathering about kids' ministry and a new kind of Christianity ... May 7-10, 2012, in Washington, DC.
Second, I hope many people will offer their responses over at Dave Csinos' site - This is an important topic about which we all need to have a say.
Another reader asked this valid question ...
Continue reading Why No Comments, cont'd...
Several of us - I hope more will join over the coming days - are blogging about the spiritual formation of children and youth this week (and perhaps the coming weeks too). With the new school year beginning, it seems like a great time to invite people to grapple with what I think is one of our most unacknowledged and important issues (crises? opportunities?) in the church.
If you want to phrase it as an issue - it's the fact that even among churches that are doing innovative things for adults and young adults, many are implementing off-the-shelf curricula in unexamined programs for kids. Does this mean that the current generation of kids will have to re-boot their faith when they come of age as many of their parents have had to do - unlearning much of what they've been taught, and relearning it in a new paradigm or narrative?
If you want to phrase it as a crisis - it's the retention crisis: the drop off of emerging generations from active church involvement.
If you want to phrase it as an opportunity - it's the opportunity to rethink the spiritual formation of children from "this side" of the post-modern/post-colonial transition.
Here's an article (to which I contributed) to get the conversation rolling (also included after the jump - and here in pdf format with photos, etc.)
Dave Csinos will be participating in the synchro-blog this week, and he'll be hosting dialogue on this article and related subjects. Here's his blog.
If you blog on this subject, please send your link to Dave's blog, and he'll aggregate the links. As always, you can comment on my facebook page as well.
Also - stay tuned for information later this week about an international gathering on spiritual formation for kids and youth to be held in Washington, DC, May 2012.
Continue reading BACK TO SCHOOL WEEK: Introduction...
Jay Bakker is a good friend, one of the biggest-hearted people you'll ever meet. Here's a wonderful profile on Jay and Revolution NYC.
David Gushee talks about the denialosphere regarding global climate change in a worthwhile article here.
Another friend, Logan Laituri, offers a good summary of our time at the Peace Among the Peoples conference. Here's the hosts' - AMBS - report. Here's a picture showing my better side with Jarrod McKenna at the conference ...
Romal Tune gets it right on scapegoating teachers ... here.
For anyone who thinks that politics is dirty and good or "spiritual" people should avoid it, see this from CPJ ...
An interesting blog on agnosticism ...
A blogger writes:
I read your comments about Anne Rice and couldn't agree more. I have been on a worshipful journey now for 30 weeks, attending a different faith group every week and writing about it on my blog. I have come to the same conclusion. We are all flawed, and while it might discourage me to see all the various and unending variations of defects I am developing a deep love for Jesus Christ and how much he loves me with all my own imperfections. Thanks for your good words!
Finally, I've already spoken up on behalf of the mosque in Manhattan. Here are some additional responses I think are worth reading:
This one from Will Bunch ...
In 2010, a large swath of the American public -- led by ratings-mad media mavens and immoral politicians like Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin -- had declared out all-out war on "the Other" in America in all its alleged forms, from immigrants to Muslims to non-white aides working in the West Wing of the White House and of course the president himself.And it is threatening to rip America apart in a way that we have not seen in 145 years. Over the last year, I traveled across the country seeking the sources of right-wing outrage and anger in the Obama era as I researched my new book that will be published at the end of the month. What I discovered was fear -- some of it innate and much of it whipped up by high-def hucksters on TV and in talk radio and even in the corridors of political power in America. Much of that fear centered on one simple fact: That America is increasingly becoming a non-white-dominated country. While many Americans take no issue with that, the prospect of an America with an increasingly non-Caucasian face is a deeply disturbing one to millions of people -- people for whom a unified and traditional culture is a source of solidarity and comfort, even -- according to some sociologists -- a bulkhead of immortality.
And this one from Eboo Patel ...
President Obama caused a stir with his speech at a White House iftar stating that Muslims had the same religious freedom as every other community in America. President Bush used to host White House iftars too. I believe, if he were President today, Bush would have given the same speech. I wish he would emerge from his ranch in Texas to give it now.
This is worth reading, especially for my many Evangelical friends.
A reader is disappointed that I don't include comments here on the site.
In your recent blog post you write about converting those who do not accept the clean energy agenda. And, yet, there is no place for comments so that you might learn what it is specifically that turns people away from that agenda. Without that knowledge, and without addressing real concerns, it seems you are talking to yourself. And that you are not interested in a productive, collaborative approach. Did I miss the comments section and the dialogue?
Continue reading Q & R: Why no comments?...
I met Doug in Brisbane, Australia, last year. He recently sent me this poem by Australian poet Drew Gillies (posted with Drew's permission).
Uncautious
[a repentance from mindless dogma]
I used to say a person
went off the rails.
As if life were about rails.
I used to say a person
lost the plot.
As if life were about a plot.
A blinkered slave worker,
swinging my hammer and driving the spikes
and singin' mah spirit-chuls,
it was me laying the rails.
Across the plots of others.
+++++
For more on Drew, here's his site.
Here's the Q:
I am a gay Christian with a quick question. Some other believers say that being in a committed relationship as I am is "fornication" which I am sure you know is "porneia" in Greek. What does that word specifically mean? Is it related at all to my relationship (we had a church commitment ceremony before God years ago)?
Continue reading Q & R: From a Christian who is gay...
I'm a Youth Pastor in South Africa. Just wanted to write a quick note and say that I am ever so greatful for your writing, your guts to go public with concepts that are difficult for many people to deal with. On the other hand there are so many people who are so relieved to find some alternative ways to think about the Christianity that has been sold to us for so long. And to find that your theology is actually incredibly biblically faithful. I mean that in the way of respecting the Bible more for what it is meant to be. In my humble opinion. ; )I found your book "A new kind of Christianity" a very useful resource and am suggesting it to many people who seem to be on the same kind of journey, asking the same kind of questions. God seems to be bringing many of them across my way. I am even going to suggest the book to a very good friend of mine who doesn't believe in God, but in "Good". Not to 'convert' her, but to comfort her to know that not all Christians are fundamentalistic and narrow minded. This friend of mine is a professor in journalism and conclusively is very critical and questioning about everything about life. I find this a positive attribute, but it is unfortunate that she found that she had to leave the church because she was prohibited to ask her questions. I have also suggested it to one of the Confirmees in my church, since he is battling with the traditional (though very Greek philosophical) answers which has been forced onto him. Also I have found that you have helped me to phrase so well what I have been intuitively feeling might be true. For that I am ever grateful.
Gosh, this letter is turning out to be not a quick note after all. Sorry!
Thanks so much for writing. And thanks for sharing the books. An author has no way of getting his/her message out apart from readers who are helped by the books and spread the word. Baie Danke!
Jane Redmont has written a beautiful response to Anne Rice. (I wrote a less beautiful one myself.) I just finished Jane's delightful book "When in Doubt, Sing" - and loved every page, both in content and style.
(cont'd after the jump)
Continue reading Jane Redmont gets it right ......
Here's the Q:
I have been on a journey for a while now. I am in my mid-30s, a couple of years ago I was on the staff of a large pentecostal church in xxx. After reading some of your books, among others, and having the opportunity to hear you speak I realized I simply could not align myself any longer with the teachings I had been brought up to believe.Over many months, and hopefully with some wisdom, I spoke to my leaders and as time went on found myself slowly exiting, first leadership, and then the church. I am now very happily meeting with a small group of friends. I guess I could call it a faith community. And to be honest, there is very little I miss from being part of a larger church.
But I keep coming back in my heart to question of accountability. I am accountable to the community I meet with, but they are all peers. The men I used to be accountable to while a member of a larger church were men of integrity, years and wisdom. Unfortunately, they simply view the world differently to me, and do not consider me to accountable to them if I no longer attend a large congregation, preferably theirs. So I am left feeling slightly disconnected, and wondering where I can find men with more wisdom and age than me, that I can be accountable to. I am sure there are others in the same situation and wondered if you would have any advice.
Continue reading Q & R: Accountability...
Here's the Q:
First let me tell you how much I enjoyed reading A New Kind of Christianity. For the past couple of years I've made sure to read one book each year, Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis. It's been good to remind myself of many of the things he talks about in that; it's good for my soul. Now I have a second book to add that I'll be reading each year: A New Kind of Christianity. Thanks for such a great work!
I've been blessed to be asked to lead a book group at my church on A New Kind of Christianity, and I was wondering if you were planning on developing any kind of study guide/discussion questions to go along with it. If you are, I'd love to pilot it for you and report potential issues, concerns, etc. raised from my group.
For now, here's what I was planning on doing: I was thinking of giving the group members some some questions about how they view things now (i.e. "What is the gospel?") before they read the chapters. Then, as they read, I'll have them write what you say about those things, and what they think about what you say. Hopefully that will lead to some good dialogue, which, as you say, is really the point, right?
Blessings on you, your work, and your family. Peace,
I mentioned Southern Baptists the other day. Southern Baptists are the largest Protestant denomination in the US, and they have enormous influence and do a lot of good in the world. (Like all of us, they have some embarrassments too.) Although I'm not a Southern Baptist, I have a lot of affection and respect for SBC folks, so I'm especially glad when I receive a note like this one ... [after the jump]
Continue reading More from Southern Baptists ......
A reader writes ...
I am part of a group of xxx lawyers who have recently formed xxx Lawyers for Sustainability. We are interested in using our skills as lawyers to promote ecological, social and economic sustainability.I am also just finishing your marvelous "Everything Must Change." I've attempted to attend church in the past, but found them slack and passive, implicit apologists for the status quo. Your book shows a different way.
Thanks for your note ... I have so much hope when I hear from folks like you. First, it's thrilling to hear about lawyers, engineers, and others seeing how their professional lives are essential to the change we need. Second, I do believe that more and more churches are becoming hopeful, active agents for change - for a clean energy conversion, for environmental stewardship, and for the development of the kind of regenerative economy you stand for ... ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable. For example, I spent this last weekend with a group Presbyterians who "get it" and are forging ahead in creative ways.
Whether it's the practice of law or ministry, there are encouraging signs afoot.
By the way, March 1 - 3, 2011, in the San Francisco area, there's going to be a conference on this subject. I'll be participating - so if you're interested, check back on my schedule page for details which should be available soon.
My recent six-part series on Clean Energy Conversion (I hope you'll read it ...) began with the bold assertion
Dirty energy is cheap and that's a problem.
An important CBS News editorial estimates the actual cost of gasoline ... $11 to $15 per gallon. Why doesn't gas cost that much at the pump? Because we subsidize it with our taxes, with the lives of young soldiers, and with our health and ecological well-being. I hope you'll take a few minutes to understand our need for a clean energy conversion - both from CBS News, and my series:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
This note just came in from a college student ...
Hi Brian, I am an 18 year old who will be leaving for college in about a week. I am currently reading "A New Kind of Christianity," and must say that I have a flood of emotions regarding the book. I feel happy at times, knowing that you feel the message of Jesus as paramount in the development of the Biblical narrative; frustrated at times, because your interpretation is so different than anything I have ever learned; angry at times, because the church has watered things down to where Jesus is a "get out of Hell free" pass; questioning at times, wondering how these questions can affect the church and how many more people may see that Christianity (if actually following Jesus) and social justice can (and actually should) work together. That being said, I still see myself interpreting things in Greco-Roman manner. I feel as if I have been brainwashed. How can I see the Bible through a different lens? Is there a different way of reading things, or am I just missing something?
Continue reading Q & R: College student heading off into 2010-2011 ......
A reader writes ...
My name is YYY and I hope you can give me a little bit of advice about my quest for God. I believed in God since I was a little kid (my parents were agnostics/atheists) but I went to a Christian School. But since a few years a go I have had doubts about God. First it was about the fact if Jesus had lived, then it was about the Bible and then it became so strong that I doubted the fact if God exists at all. In your book "Finding faith" it is said that doubt isn't bad at all (if it's not against but with God). But my doubts are so strong now, that I see myself more as an agnostic than a believer. And that's not what I want. It's egocentric to say (although I think that for more people this is a strong motive for beginning/restarting to believe in God) but I don't want to feel the anxiety and depressed feelings I have felt lately. The idea of no God or no afterlife makes me very sad, panicked and anxious. I don't think that's a good motive for wanting to believe, but I'm desperate and I don't know what else to try. Although this seems not to work out as I want to.(cont'd)
Continue reading Q & R: Doubting God in Netherlands...
... into a personal conversation with a friend ... He wrote:
hey brian
how are you healing btw?
i was wondering if you could help me understand this in terms of whether jesus was being exclusive?
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+10&version=NIV
i mean in my hebrew studies the sheep were israel, and also the word mean 'to journey' (rachel) and it seems if he ever was exclusive it was toward the 'religious elite'; would you say thats going on here? is there space for pluralism?
would love to get your thoughts?? a HUGE thanks bro!
I responded ...
Here's a twenty-minute interview with Scot McKnight from the Q Conference.
Q | Conversations on Being a Heretic from Q Ideas on Vimeo.
If you're interested in learning more, check out
A New Kind of Christian
Everything Must Change
I had the privilege of speaking at a conference for Christian peacemakers recently. Here's a good summary:
http://www.consistent-life.org/news.html#peacepeoples
Here's my piece on "the future of Christianity" over at Patheos. There are several fascinating contributions ... Scot McKnight's is especially good, as is Philip Clayton's as is ... well, actually they're all great.
Thanks to all who volunteered to help with Friends Without Borders. (Hopefully you'll hear from some of the organizers soon, if you haven't already.) This is a collaborative venture among Christians, Muslims, and others to be peacemakers. Please take a couple of minutes and catch the sincerity, emotion, and dignity of these friends in Afghanistan.
A reader writes ...
Brian, thanks for your books. I've been a conventional AOG contemporary pentecostal in Australia for xx yrs, xx years of that a staffed lead pastor running a reasonably large multisite church until I burned out and was slowly debilitated by anxiety and depression.Since then I've been rethinking everything.
More after the jump -
Continue reading Q & R from a "Contemporary Pentecostal" - what's sufficient?...
Here's the Q:
Hello Brian. I’m sure you don’t remember me, but we met many years ago at Glorietta, GA. I was the first guy in the first class you led after writing your first book. You told me how you really disliked the cover but, as a first time writer, you weren’t given a choice.
Well, I continue to read your books. You are one of the voices that I listen to and that’s why I’m writing. I am a pastor at the ??? Mission. I’ve been here for x years. Recently, (OK it’s been a while but I’ve been denying it) God has been calling me to evangelism. It is what I do here at the Mission. Every Sunday I give a salvation message and literally hundreds have responded. I then have them for about a year or so. Then we encourage them to get involved in an outside church. That, to me, is absolutely the work of an evangelist. I’ve shied away from the term evangelist because of what it means in our culture.
That brings me to the question: What do you think the role of an evangelist should be today? The Bible clearly uses the term, “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,… (Eph 4:11)” Where do you see the ministry in a culture today that defines evangelist as a weird guy you see on TBN with blow-dried hair and a white suit who is of questionable character? Maybe even deeper, since evangelists have played a role in so many movements of the Spirit over the centuries, where should this go? I have already accepted that it is to go out and preach, but how would you characterize the ministry?
Continue reading Q & R: Evangelism and evangelists...
Sivin is a committed Christian (a Lutheran pastor) living in a Muslim country, working for peace and promoting honest dialogue. He's an example to me ... and I hope to you as well.
A thoughtful Q & R after the jump in response to my recent posts on Clean Energy Conversion
Continue reading Clean Energy Conversion Response: "We" = Who?...
I'll be part of the Big Tent Christianity gathering coming up in a few weeks in North Carolina. I hope you'll consider being part of it. The line-up of speakers is tremendous, and the term "big tent" is evocative.
A lot of bloggers are responding this week to this prompt:
What does “big tent Christianity” mean to you? What does it look like in your context? What are your hopes and dreams for the Church?
It’s our hope that this Synchroblog will jumpstart a new national conversation about what a “big tent Christianity” might look like and how we can build a roadmap together to get there. We hope you’ll be a part of this invigorating conversation!
There's a lot I could say about the term "big tent," but I'll boil it down to one brief comment ... (after the jump)
Continue reading BIG TENT CHRISTIANITY SYNCHROBLOG...
A reader offers a thoughtful response on the issue of homosexuality after the jump. My comments follow his.
Continue reading Q & R: A third alternative?...
To all the Muslim friends who read this blog - Ramadan Mubarak!
Last year at this time, I was beginning the fast, in partnership with a number of Muslim and Christian friends, including Eboo Patel (of Interfaith Youth Core) and Nadyne and Soraya - the Peace Moms..
The fast was far more rigorous than I imagined (especially going without water), and more rewarding as well. It helped me as a Christian to draw closer in friendship and understanding with my Muslim friends. And it helped me enter more deeply into the Christian practice of fasting too. Its positive effects have stayed with me through this whole year.
Just as I think it would be meaningful for a Muslim or Jew to participate in Advent or Holy Week with a committed Christian, or for a Christian or Muslim to share Passover with a committed Jew, it was meaningful for me to share in Ramadan with my Muslim friends. Thanks to those who were so hospitable to me!
This year I was considering participating again, but the decision was made for me earlier this summer when I got sick and had some liver damage as a result. Since I'm still on the mend, it doesn't seem wise to stress my system, although I may join in the last week or so.
Throughout Ramadan, I'm going to be doing all I can to speak up about the growing Islamaphobia in the US. Many sectors of the Christian community are squandering whatever moral authority they have left by failing to stand up to this anti-Christian spirit of fear and exclusion. It violates Jesus' core teaching and betrays his example. I got a taste of what it must feel like to be Muslim in "Christian" America last year when I shared in Ramadan. It wasn't pleasant. If that's what popular American Christianity is becoming - just another tribal religion that incites "us" against "them" - no wonder so many people don't want to be part of it.
Of course, as the Taliban's horrible murders of Christian mission workers in Afghanistan make clear, religion-inspired fear and supremacy show up in every religion. So my prayer is that during Ramadan, a desire for peace and reconciliation will flow like a refreshing wind through Islam as never before. May such a wind blow everywhere and among us all!
Thank God, many of us are doing what we can to model a better way. Muslims, Jews, Christians, and others are realizing that Jesus was right - those who live by the sword (or mockery, fear, exclusion, hatred, etc.) will die by it. The "way, truth, and life" embodied in Jesus wasn't about fearing and marginalizing the other: it was about identifying with the other, befriending the other, loving neighbor and stranger and even enemy as brother or sister. Most Christians don't know that you can't be a good Muslim without believing that Jesus was from God and that his teaching should be followed. That is an important starting point for common ground and growing friendship from which everyone can benefit. Ramadan mubarak!
Wow, I just found out that Amazon is selling Everything Must Change for $6.00. That's cheap!
Speaking of bargains, you can purchase my Bible overview podcast series for $20 here...
And you can purchase Songs for a Revolution of Hope (a soundtrack to Everything Must Change), an album of original music here for $10.
We need a clean energy conversion.
If civil rights was the key issue of the previous generation, I think clean energy is one of the two or three most important issues of our generation. For that conversion to take place, as we've seen, we need to help people see four truths:
1. Dirty energy is cheap, and that's a problem.
2. We must re-price dirty energy.
3. We must wisely invest the dividends of re-pricing dirty energy.
4. People who currently oppose clean energy conversion need to be respectfully listened to, genuinely understood, consistently and kindly responded to, and humbly invited to join in a journey towards a more sustainable way of life.
Now these four truths aren't simply matters of scientific data or secular policy. Each of them flows from values of a deeply spiritual nature.
For example, to say that money isn't the most important consideration in life - that's a spiritual matter. To think long-term, not just in terms of winning the next election but in terms of our moral duty to generations yet unborn - that's a spiritual matter. To seek the common good - not just self-interest - that's also a spiritual matter. And to determine in advance that people who oppose our ideas are not enemies or obstacles but neighbors who deserve respectful dialogue ... that's a spiritual matter too.
To speak in terms of clean and dirty ... that language evokes deeply held values that go far back in religious history. Although "cleanliness is next to godliness" isn't in the Bible, the idea that clean is good and dirty is bad - that is.
Having served as an evangelical Christian pastor for twenty-four years, I know that calling people to conversion is spiritual work. Conversion means turning around. It involves a turning away - from wrong, foolish, and destructive behaviors, and a turning to - to God and neighbor and all creation in love. It involves a radical transformation of beliefs, values, and daily life.
Conversion changes everything. It means having an epiphany or spiritual awakening that changes us, makes us "new creatures" in a new creation. No wonder it requires repentance - deep rethinking, a profound reinterpretation of things, including regret for past and present wrongs.
Scientists can give us data that tells us we're in trouble. Politicians can channel a desire for change into policy. But it will take a genuine spiritual movement to translate scientific data into a desire for change.
Sadly, some religious communities are currently playing on the wrong side. Some are actively on the side of dirty energy and others are on the sidelines, complacent about the whole matter. But there's good news for these religious communities - they can change like everybody else! Religious communities can be converted to a better way too! (Just look at a tremendously significant step taken recently by Southern Baptists, for example.)
It's interesting to note: in the Gospels, Jesus constantly confronts "unclean spirits" - spirits which drag people down into moral filth and social decay. He does so by the power of the Holy Spirit - who could perhaps also be named (in contrast to unclean spirits) the Clean Spirit, or the Spirit of Healing, Health, and Wholeness. In Jesus' Nazareth manifesto, at the very beginning of his ministry, he quoted the prophet Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me." The Spirit would proclaim, he said, good news to the poor; the Spirit would help blind people see; the Spirit would liberate people who were captives.
Today, I believe the Spirit of God similarly wants to bring good news to people who are suffering the worst consequences of cheap, dirty energy. The Spirit today wants to help people who have been blinded by greed, apathy, convenience, and lack of vision to see a new and better way of life. The Spirit today wants to liberate people from captivity within a self-destructive and dirty economy to vitality in a sustainable and regenerative one.
I'm a committed Christian, and you may be too. Or you may follow Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Indigenous religion, humanism, agnosticism, atheism, or whatever. I wonder what could happen if we, from our many traditions, opened our hearts to a spiritual movement toward a better way of life - including a clean energy conversion. We wouldn't be trying to convert one another to join us where we are now. Instead, we would be willing to go with one another to a place none of us have never been before. That involves a journey; it involves moving; it involves growth. It is a call to conversion from which nobody need be exempt.
I am so fortunate to receive emails like this one ...
I felt compelled to send you a word of encouragement. I’ve been on my own journey of spiritual transformation as I’ve followed your journey. Thanks for having the courage to publicly ask hard questions. Thanks for the courage to share your thoughts with the rest of us, especially when you know they will be controversial. Thanks for your humility and grace. I can only imagine how hard it’s been. Please be encouraged – we need you! Many are being helped by your example and by your writings. You are making a tremendous difference.
You might not be receiving much encouragement these days. You may be doing good work - but all you're getting is criticism. I've been there too, so I'd like to pay this encouragement forward and pass on my own encouragement to you. Please know that we all need you ... that you're making a difference, and that you, in your unique way, are helping many. God notices every act of kindness, every choice for goodness and truth, every cup of cold water given in love. Please don't give up.
Let's all keep paying encouragement forward. It's in short supply sometimes!
Here's the Q:
I just finished "A New Kind of Christianity". I really enjoyed it and so did my wife. We both have been on a spiritual search for sometime, and your ideas struck a responsive chord in us.As I reflect on the difference between a more traditional view of Christianity and your ideas, there is one aspect that I can't seem to get past. As you know, "faith" or "believing" plays a huge role in both the gospels and the epistles, and is also there in the Old Testament, although in less obvious a fashion.
Just to quote the obvious passages..."believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved"..."your faith has saved you"... "for by grace are you saved, through faith"...and you know all the rest. But in reading your book, although I agree with so much, I'm not seeing the role of faith in this new paradigm. Unless you addressed it and I just missed it.
In your opinion, what is the role of faith? Faith in what or who? Why is faith such a key concept in the New Testament? (Now abide faith, hope, and love...) What is the consequence of a lack of faith? If you could give me a few thought-starters on this, I'd really appreciate it.
BTW, you and I are the same age. I saw on your website that you were born in 1956, as was I (Jan. 8th). I've always thought those of us in the same age cohort need to stick together! (Tom Hanks is also a '56'er).
Continue reading Q & R: Faith...
I know that at Southern Seminary and similar places, I'm not on the list of favorite Christian authors. But as the encouraging note below suggests, Southern Baptists could consider me, not an enemy, but a kind of "Plan B." If their approach to faith and practice doesn't work for some of their folks, perhaps I can be of help. Here's the note:
I just finished reading A New Kind of Christianity and felt compelled to
drop a quick line and say "thank you" for writing it! Your book perfectly
captures the struggle that I and a close friend have had over the past
several years with traditional Southern Baptist theology. While I maintain
many wonderful memories of my childhood church and still hold most of it's
members in very high regard, I am no longer able to support many of the
doctrines they espouse.I have searched for years for an alternative view that explores new
possibilities without completely discounting belief altogether. Your work
has provided a framework from which I can begin to look at faith in a whole
new way! Since I began reading with your most recent book, I now will go
back and read your earlier works to get a more complete idea of your
viewpoints. I am sure that this will lead to many wonderful conversations
and explorations between friends and family and I thank you again for
having the courage and faith to write!I wish you much peace, happiness and success as you carry out this vitally
important ministry!!!
I don't have to tell anyone that we are polarized and paralyzed in our political life. We think we're getting fair and balanced news, when in reality we're getting some degree of spin wherever we get our information. Truly important issues drop off the table, while secondary issues that can win elections get center stage. It's in that context that we seek a clean energy conversion.
Our job isn't easy. It's not easy to convince a teenager that there's a downside to premarital sex or underage drinking. It's not easy to convince a conflicted married couple that working through their problems might be wiser - and less painful - than getting a quick divorce. It's not easy convincing a child that taking piano lessons and practicing will actually bring a lifetime of rewards that more than compensate for short-term sacrifice. And it's not easy helping people understand three important truths:
- Dirty energy is cheap, and that's a problem.
- We must re-price dirty energy.
- We must wisely reinvest the dividends that come from re-pricing dirty energy.
But that's our challenge, and in order to pursue it, we'll need to develop three virtues. First, we'll need gentle, persistent firmness, or firm, persistent gentleness. We'll need to speak up, and do so firmly, and do so again and again, but without inflammatory rhetoric. It's easy to talk about clean energy in a way that will rouse the choir of the already converted to shout amen - but in so doing, turn off or turn away the not-yet convinced. We need to focus our attention on the not-yet convinced and to seek to avoid needless offense.
Second, we'll need to listen - to listen to objections and concerns. We'll have to take those objectives and concerns into consideration as we move forward. We'll have to answer questions and endure harsh reactions without reacting harshly ourselves, even though the objections we hear may seem weak, ill-informed, rudely put, and old hat. To the person making those objections, they make sense, so we must listen with true interest and respect, seek true understanding, and only then respond with true grace and patience.
Which brings us to our third needed virtue. We'll need patience. Patience isn't easy when we're dealing with such an important and urgent matter as the planet on which we live and which we are damaging for future generations. True virtue generally involves holding strengths in tension - gentleness and firmness, listening and nonreactivity, and urgency and patience. If we fail in the area of virtue, we will fail, even though our cause is just and wise.
My friends in Washington tell me that due to political realities, clean energy legislation probably won't get on the agenda until early 2013. That seems like a long way away when you think about how important a clean energy conversion is. But that seems like a short time when you think about how much work we have to do educating people and recruiting them to join us in a movement for clean energy conversion, based on these four truths:
- Dirty energy is cheap, and that's a problem.
- We must re-price dirty energy.
- We must wisely reinvest the dividends that come from re-pricing dirty energy.
- We must seek to understand and educate people who oppose clean energy conversion.
On Park51, the Muslim center in Manhattan ... here.
Also - several Christians - including yours truly - blogged on the subject at Eboo Patel's blog, here. This is an important dialogue to have!
As you can imagine, it's deeply encouraging to know my books are helping people. But it's also concerning to think that many people are reaching a point of no return - either they find a "new kind of Christianity," or they're out entirely (as Anne Rice's recent announcement makes clear). So along with encouragement, I feel a growing sense of urgency: we need to continue to articulate and embody a viable, vital alternative.
I’ve just read “A New Kind of Christianity”. Thank you so much for being courageous and for speaking out with the things so many of us are feeling and thinking. It’s given me fresh hope and a feeling of anticipation that I haven’t felt for a very long time. I live in the UK and am meeting more and more Christians who are reaching a point of no return. Your work is like the light shining and showing a new way so I’m so grateful.
So far we've focused on two realities: dirty energy is is cheap, and that's a problem. And the best way to deal with this problem is through re-pricing dirty energy.
The idea of re-pricing dirty energy can be summed up in this either-or statement:
A. Either energy-extracting corporations keep all their profits for themselves, leaving the public at large to deal with the negative and costly consequences of dirty energy...
B. Or energy-extracting corporations repay the public for having to deal with those consequences. (Another way to say this is to say these corporations pay rent to the public - they rent the right to pollute their air, dismantle the Appalachians, or put the Gulf of Mexico at risk, for example.)
Four important questions come to mind when we imagine re-pricing dirty energy:
1. Where do we re-price dirty energy - at the point of extraction, or the point of pollution? It makes the most sense to add a surcharge on dirty energy at its point of extraction. After all, there are only a few hundred major extractors, but their are hundreds of millions of users.
2. When and how would the surcharge be added? The surcharge would be phased in gradually over time so as not to shock the economic system - especially at a fragile time when the economy is still recovering from a near-meltdown. The re-pricing would have to happen gradually enough so that everyone could adjust, but quickly enough that people wouldn't simply stick with business as usual. By announcing a firm, clear plan, businesses would be able to project impacts accurately, and entrepreneurial creativity would be unleashed.
3. How would we invest the dividend from re-pricing dirty energy?
The income from this surcharge should be used for three main purposes:
A. As a dividend paid back to taxpayers, helping them cope with the rise in dirty energy prices. This, by the way, is what the State of Alaska does: every taxpayer gets an annual rebate - a check in the mail - representing their share in the rent of the Alaskan ecosystem by oil companies.
B. As support for research and development of clean energy. The goal is to bring the cost of clean energy down as the cost of dirty energy goes up. When clean energy is as affordable as dirty energy, we will reach a historic tipping point, and everyone will be better off.
C. As aid for those who suffer the most from dirty energy's unintended consequences. For example, the poorest people in the world - in Africa and Asia - are suffering the most from changes in the global climate. As sea levels rise and deserts spread, hundreds of thousands of people will be displaced.
4. How do we prioritize these three possible uses for the dividend?
That's an argument worth having, because if we foolishly squander the dividend, it will be what its critics fear: a tax without a benefit.
Various proposals are out there. My personal sense is that fifty to sixty percent of the dividend should go back to taxpayers, twenty to thirty percent should go to clean energy research and development, and ten to twenty percent to aid. A 60-20-20 split would make a lot of sense to me, or a 60-25-15 split.
Knowing how politics works, politicians will probably race to promise one-hundred percent to taxpayers, thus shortchanging our children and grandchildren (who would benefit most from our investment in clean energy) and the poorest among us (who are already suffering disproportionately). It will take people like you and me to resist this cynical possibility.
Sadly, right now, many people are still arguing whether we need to deal with dirty energy at all, when the real debate should be about the wisest way to invest a dirty-energy dividend. Let's all try to move this conversation forward!
It's important to point out that a huge investment in clean energy development will create millions of needed jobs. If human beings made trillions of dollars plundering the planet, we have to imagine making hundreds of trillions of dollars through good stewardship. Destruction may make a killing short-term, but long-term it's foolish. Wise stewardship is the best long-term investment, as we'll see in more depth in our next installment.
To review:
Dirty energy is cheap, and that's a problem.
We must re-price dirty energy.
We must wisely invest the dividends of re-pricing dirty energy.
Here's the Q:
As I am reading New Kind of Christianity, you ascribe the "good" events (redemptive, reconciling, freeing, delivering) works to Elohim & all of the "bad" that happens to "nature" (the Nile River, tides, the land, etc). This seems to reinforce a kind of dualism that you speak of as being Greco/Roman. How can you ascribe the source of all of the "good" that happens to the "hand of God" and all of the "bad" to "natural forces"? Seems like a convenient way to save-face for Elohim.I have read nearly all of your other books and works, you have been a helpful spiritual mentor from a distance. So, I ask as an advocate rather than a protagonist.
R after the jump ...
Continue reading Q & R: literary dualism?...
hey friends - I need your help with a special project. a group of us are developing something called "friends without borders." the idea is to help people in "the west" to develop friendships with "the other" online. so we'd like to help a southern baptist teenager in alabama become friends online with a muslim teenager in afghanistan, or we'll help a jewish mother in canada become online friends with a christian palestinian mom in gaza. that's the big idea. what we need is a team of web-skilled persons willing to devote (i.e. donate) some serious time and skill to developing the website, and then another team to provide tech support once it's running. this isn't a small request ... but it could have a big impact. if you're willing to help in either way, would you send your info to info@brianmclaren.net? we'll select a small team of volunteers to join the larger team of volunteers around the world who are getting this idea off the ground. thanks!
Melvin Bray does some amazing storytelling and reflecting on the Genesis story over at his excellent site. Well worth browsing!
You can hear my recent interview with Ian Mobsby here and here.
Here's my response to a question about the future of Christianity ...
For folks interested in organizations and the power of narrative, check out this fascinating series of diagrams ... here. (Thanks, BC!)
A thoughtful proposal on nuclear policy here.
Burns Strider takes Newt Gingrich to task here. Newt wouldn't be happy with my recent post on the subject, unless it convinced him to change his mind. One can always hope!
[This post was a guest blog at The Faith Divide yesterday.]
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I don't really like proof-texting - pulling a verse out of context to try to prove a point. I'm not even a big fan of the fact that the Bible is divided up into chapters and verses. It wasn't always that way - our modern schema of chapters and verses is a relatively late addition to the Bible, having evolved since the 13th Century. Chapter-and-versification allows people to kidnap a quote out of its context in a longer narrative and apply it in potentially irresponsible and harmful ways, as if the Bible were a legal constitution and its verses were articles, sections, subsections, and amendments in a legal code.
But I'm about to engage in chapter-and-versing, consciously and intentionally - and with regard to context, because in this case, the ancient text applies powerfully to our own situation in America today. Consider Exodus 23:9:
"Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt."
The command was originally for ancient Jewish people. After a famine, they became refugees in Egypt and eventually were enslaved for generations by Pharoah's regime. But according to the Bible, God isn't on the side of the oppressors; God sides with the oppressed, and so God liberated them from slavery. God then led them through the wilderness and ultimately provided them a place to live. The oppressed became the blessed. (continued after the jump)
Continue reading Why I Support the Mosque in Manhattan...
If the first important truth of clean energy conversion is that dirty energy is cheap, and that's a problem, the second is equally challenging and important: we must re-price dirty energy.
It's as if we bought a really cheap used car and bragged to everyone about the great bargain we got. But over time, our "bargain" is turning out to be a lemon: it needs so many repairs that in the end, it will cost us a lot more than a more moderately priced, well-built car would have cost. Cheap dirty energy feels like a bargain, but hits us with so many hidden costs that we now need to gradually raise the current price so that it approaches the actual price. We need to do so gradually and according to a clear, agreed-upon plan so that we all - individuals and businesses - can gradually adjust to the more accurate cost.
We do something similar with nicotine and alcohol; because of their harmful impacts on health, we make sure that cigarette and alcohol corporations don't make a killing at our expense. By re-pricing these substances, people who smoke and drink the most pay their fair share of the cost. In a way, using cheap, dirty energy is like our whole nation smoking or drinking too much. That's why we need to take steps, gradually and carefully, to make it less profitable for dirty energy producers and less cheap for dirty energy consumers to maintain the status quo. As we do so, we'll all move toward a more healthy economy together.
This might seem very obvious and common-sensical; but some people immediately write this truth off by using the "t" word - "tax." "You're just raising taxes!" they say.
But I think that response misses the point. The point is that we're already accumulating the hidden costs for dirty energy, but we're doing so in hidden ways that are unfair to many people.
For example, everyone on the Gulf Coast paid an unfair share of the cost of dirty energy this summer. People in Appalachia pay an unfair share of the cost of dirty energy by living in an environment toxified by mountaintop removal. People with asthma and other diseases pay an unfair share of the cost. Poor people who use less dirty energy experience the same consequences as those who use a lot of dirty energy, and that's not fair. And our children who will live with the accumulating consequences of burning cheap, dirty energy ... they will pay the biggest share of the cost, as the full consequences our dirty energy use crash upon them like an economic meltdown that was decades in the making. That's not fair!
Again, who reaps the profit for these hidden costs? The dirty energy extractors - and that's not fair, nor is it smart.
So instead of thinking of re-pricing dirty energy as a tax, we need to think of it as turning an unfair hidden tax into a public dividend, and then letting everyone share in that dividend - not just a few dirty energy extractors. The dividend raised by re-pricing dirty energy can be used for three purposes - three purposes which benefit us all, rather than hurt us all. (More on that in our next installment.)
So, to review: dirty energy is cheap, and that's a problem. That's why we need to re-price dirty energy.
We’re excited to announce the Big Tent Christianity Synchroblog, taking place the week of August 9-13 across the Web.
Philip Clayton, one of the main organizers of the Big Tent Christianity conference (coming up September 8-9 in Raleigh, NC), has written about “big tent Christianity” before and said this: “[It is] urgent ... to reclaim a Big Tent Christianity, a centrist return to ‘just Christian’ in word and action. The two poles are driving each other ever further apart, spawning ever deeper hostilities. The solution — in American society as in the church — certainly is not to let the other’s anger fuel my own. As leaders it’s our task to help break the cycle of anger, of rejection leading to rejection, and to foster a radically different understanding of the heart of Christian faith.”
What does “big tent Christianity” mean to you? What does it look like in your context? What are your hopes and dreams for the Church?
Please consider participating in this week-long Synchroblog by posting an update on your blog/website the week of August 9-13. We’ll be compiling a list of all the participants and linking to them and all of the “big tent Christianity” blog posts from the Big Tent Christianity conference website (http://www.bigtentchristianity.com/). Just leave a comment on http://www.bigtentchristianity.com, send an @ reply to @bigtentx on Twitter, or email Steve Knight at knightopia@gmail.com. Please also support other synchrobloggers by reposting those links, reading the posts, and commenting.
It’s our hope that this Synchroblog (and the conference in September) will jumpstart a new national conversation about what a “big tent Christianity” might look like and how we can build a roadmap together to get there. We hope you’ll be a part of this invigorating conversation!
As an added bonus incentive, 15 bloggers who participate will be chosen at random to receive free copies of “Transforming Christian Theology” by Philip Clayton and “A New Kind of Christianity” by Brian McLaren...
This is Part 2 of a six-part series
Coal, oil, and natural gas have brought us a long way. We owe a lot to them. But their day has passed. They are dirty energy sources. They cause harm in various ways when we extract them - as the Massey coal and BP oil disasters this year make clear. They cause additional harm when we use them, because they produce gases that are subtle but real forms of pollution - from fish-killing acid rain, to asthma-producing smog, to climate-changing greenhouse gases.
It's time for a conversion to clean energy, but one big obstacle stands in the way: dirty energy is cheap, and that's a problem.
There are two reasons dirty energy is cheap. First, we like it that way. We depend on cheap dirty energy to heat and cool our homes, fuel our vehicles, and produce most of our electricity. Second, energy extractors don't have to pay the full cost of producing dirty energy. Who pays the full cost? We all do - we just don't realize it.
Consider this little parable. Let's say we started a company that sold apples. Our apples were really cheap and really delicious, and everybody started eating them- at least one per day.
But our apples had one problem that nobody knew about: each one had tiny, microscopic worms. The worms were too small to see, and they caused no harm if you only ate an apple or two a month. But once people consumed enough of our apples over time, the tiny worms began to make them very sick. They would have to miss work and go to the hospital, which was very expensive. Some people even died - something you can't put a price on.
Recently, a few people have realized that the hidden cause of their illness is the tiny worms in our apples. Now they are threatening to sue us for damages. As a result, our apple company is weighing three strategic options:
1. we can prevent our apples from having worms - but that will cost us a lot of money - either reducing our profits or increasing the price of our apples;
2. we can raise the price of our apples to absorb the costs of lawsuits for damages caused by our apples;
3. we can convince people that since you can't see the worms in our apples, they don't really exist.
Obviously, Option 3 is the cheapest option - economists call this "externalizing costs," since the public has to pay the hidden costs instead of our apple company. And since everyone loves the excellent taste and rock-bottom price of our apples, many consumers are easily convinced: we're telling them what they want to hear. You can see why our apple company would lean toward Option 3.
In terms of dirty energy, we're at the point in the story where some people are just beginning to learn about the worms in the apples, and the energy extraction companies are choosing Option 3, and it's working. Most consumers are easily persuaded to ignore the hidden costs of dirty energy. And many politicians are easily persuaded as well, especially since energy extraction companies make big contributions to both political parties. Not only that, but if the government were to make dirty energy companies pay for the hidden costs, the companies would pass those costs on to consumers, and no politician wants to be blamed for higher energy prices, especially during an election cycle. (And we're always in an election cycle.)
That's why more and more of us have to learn about the worms in the apple.
We have to learn, for example, what cheap coal mining is doing to the people and ecosystems of Appalachia - how it causes asthma, how it puts toxins in the groundwater, how it contributes to rising rates of cancer and heart, lung, and kidney disease along with birth defects.
We have to learn what happens to the fumes that come out of our exhaust pipes and smokestacks - how they affect the climate, how they create acid rain, how they contribute to disease.
We have to learn about the concept of peak oil - the economic reality that the less oil there is left, the harder it will be to extract and the more it will cost. Many experts think we have already passed the peak oil point, and others think we will do so soon.
We have to try to understand some of the other easily overlooked but high costs of cheap energy too - like the fact that it involves us in wars and other foreign entanglements, some of which put money in the pockets of terrorists and others who aren't fond of us but are happy to make a lot of money selling dirty energy to us.
We should even learn about the missed opportunity costs of cheap dirty energy: while we depend on cheap dirty energy, other countries are becoming the pioneers in clean, sustainable energy - which will fuel the economy of the future.
Put it all together, and you can see why we all need to understand - and communicate - this essential fact: dirty energy is cheap, and that's a problem.
Wednesday, July 28th marked Day 100 of the oil spill. It marked the 13th day since a cap was successfully installed, and the newly-announced president of BP promised that within days, the capped well will be "killed." So ... crisis averted, and we can resume our regularly scheduled program of consumption, right?
No doubt, many of us will do exactly that. But many of us won't. For many of us, the Gulf catastrophe has become an epiphany. As a result, we don't want to fall into the typical amnesia of the news cycle: shallow outrage followed by blame, lasting until the next outrage arises. We want this summer of gushing oil to result in a life-long awakening, a conversion if you will.
And if we experience this kind of conversion, we'll need to become examples, teachers, we might even say evangelists of a new way of life - a sustainable, regenerative way of life based on clean energy, not a consumptive, toxic way of life based on dirty energy. What will our basic message be - the message we need to learn, internalize, embody, and share?
I'd like to suggest four simple but essential teaching points, the first of which is the most difficult to communicate:
1. Dirty energy is cheap, and that's a problem.
2. We must re-price dirty energy.
3. We must wisely invest the dividends of re-pricing.
4. We must seek to understand and educate people who oppose clean-energy conversion.
I'll do my best to flesh out four points in upcoming installments in this series.
I was invited to write up a response to Anne Rice's recent announcement about quitting Christianity ... here's a link to the piece on the CNN site. I've included the post after the jump ... I think this story brings up some worthwhile subjects for conversation.
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Continue reading My Take: Why I support Anne Rice but am still a Christian...
Here's the Q:
I have read your book "A generous orthodoxy" in swedish translation, 2 times. I am thrilled, and I really like your writings, and your way of neutralizing negative statements about "the others" by mentioning parallel phenomena within the christian world.
I guess one of the things about the emergent church is that we really do not know how it is going to develop. Looking at some video clips about some of the groups now operating does not help, and in fact, I would feel very uncomfortable sitting in a sofa just asking questions in a never ending discussion. Isn`t there any place for an orderly service??? Not everybody is a postmodern "non-committer" who enjoys questioning everything. Furthermore, I do not think that we have to invent more and more userfriendly things. Sooner or later our inventiveness ends.
Reply after the jump ...
Continue reading Q & R from Sweden: Isn't there any place for an orderly service?...
This question reminded me how we need to remember that each day, new people are for the first time realizing that some sort of paradigm shift is possible, happening, and needed in their faith. Every day, new people are ready to start on the journey and get involved. A number of friends from the emergent village community have talked about this for years ... we need to keep extending the new road farther and farther into new territory, while maintaining onramps for people from many different communities to start the journey from wherever they are, whenever they're ready. It's too easy to do one without the other ... but both are essential. I've inserted a few replies into the email below:
Hi Brian, Thank God for you, and for other men & women like you! I realise that you must get 1000's of emails just like this one, from people just like me, saying that they feel just like Dan Poole! I also realise how incredibly busy you are so I'll keep to the point and dispense with the need to provide you with my entire story!First, thanks for your kind words. And please know that I appreciate every email like yours that I get. It's so encouraging to see how Dan Poole's fictional story continues to strike a resonant chord with so many people.
For a number of years, I have felt called by God to church planting; the church I attend has also recognised this so I have attended their seminary and 'qualified'(!) as a pastor, and the church has tried for a long time to help me bring to fruition the call to church planting. The problem being that I cannot - in good conscience - move forward with a plant, keeping to the 'party line', whilst knowing that there is so much more to real (a new kind of-) Christianity than what we currently practice. My question is this: I feel like a new kind of Christian but I need to know what a new kind of church looks like... what post-modern worship looks like... what post-modern preaching looks like... the actual day-to-day practicalities of a new kind of church. I really need to network with other like-minded people; I just need to find them. How did you ever start this journey?
First, you're fortunate in that fifteen years ago, when this journey was beginning for me, it was really hard to find anyone "safe" to talk to ... there was a lot of talk about innovative methodology, but to raise theological questions was somewhat risky. Of course, it's still risky - but thankfully more and more networks are forming where it's safe to ask questions, think together, and explore. Let me mention three resources based in the US:
1. As you've already discovered, Emergentvillage.com is a great resource. They put together and promote excellent conferences which always build in time for conversation - not just a lecture-listen format. The site can also help you find or form a cohort - a group of people who connect regionally for mutual support, encouragement, exchange of ideas, and development of relationships.
2. A great place for online dialogue is theooze.com. So many people have been helped by the "safe space" and virtual community available there. There are other helpful online communities too ... like Questians, for example.
3. When it comes to networking with other church planters, the good news is that a number of denominations are moving forward in supporting church planters like yourself. And some trans-denominational networks are beginning to form to encourage both affiliated and unaffiliated faith communities that are forming. One excellent new network to look into is TransForm.
I have only recently 'discovered' your books and feel a sense of elation; I feel like I have come up for air after a long time holding my breath at the bottom of a pool. I have read A new kind of Christian this weekend, and have started on The story we find ourselves in. Next to be read (this week) will be The last word and the word after that and A new kind of Christianity. But are there any other resources you can recommend? I'm looking at the Emergent Village website and Leadership Network's site, but would really appreciate some pointers... Many thanks in anticipation.
Again, I'm so glad you've found the "onramp" to some very encouraging developments. The good news is that there are so many resources - books, blogs, podcasts, etc. If you follow the links above and others on this site through emergent village, questians, transform, etc., you'll find lots of bloggers who are engaging in the emergent conversation. And soon, you'll see that you're not just an observer, but a vital participant with much to offer - as you've already done through this email. Thanks!
One last thing ... We need thousands of leaders to help lead existing churches through the current paradigm shift. AND we need thousands of leaders to help plant new faith communities. Both are essential, and progress in one helps the other. Among church planters, we need folks who will start churches to help alienated churchgoers ... people who will drop out of church unless somebody forms a more open space where they can survive and thrive spiritually. But no less important - more important, in my opinion - we need church planters who will go much farther than most alienated churchgoers would want to go - to meet the "spiritual but not religious" where they are and form faith communities among them, forming authentic disciples or followers of Jesus without needless religious baggage. So I just wanted to say to you and anyone else feeling this call ... you're needed. Fan the flame. Go for it. Don't let anyone discourage you!
Here's the Q:
I have been following you on Facebook and I've been reading your newest book, "A New Kind of Christianity," which has brought me to joyful tears throughout. After re-reading Chapter 19, I was wondering if you could suggest some Bible studies that are outside of the Greco-Roman narrative? I grew up in the Greco-Roman Christianity of the 80's and 90's. After getting married and moving to a new state, we tried to find a new church home which was a disaster. For the last 12 years I have been questioning and fighting and giving up and taking back my faith and last year I started considering church again.What I have not yet done again is pick up my Bible. The Bible, when read from the Greco-Roman point of view, is scary. I think about reading the Bible and my hands get sweaty and my heart races and so of course, I skip it. I feel like a Pavlovian dog. When reading Borg, McColman, Newell and now your books, I cherish the parts that are like mini-bible studies because that's pretty much all I'm getting unless I'm following the liturgy on Sunday mornings (on the mornings I attend, which are few as I am very slowly getting reacquainted with churchgoing.) I just don't know how to approach it again in a healthy way and I know guidance would be helpful in the way of a workbook or study guide. However, I don't know who to trust so I thought I might ask you.
I know you're extremely busy and I appreciate that you take the time to answer your reader's questions - those that applaud and those that question (sometimes harshly) with such grace.
Reply after the jump:
Continue reading Q & R: Sweaty palms, joyful tears, and the Bible...
Here's the Q:
My name is X, and I'm the new minister of spiritual formation at Y Baptist Church in Z. I had the opportunity to hear you preach last Sunday night at BB and have also read some of your books. As a young pastor and writer, I have an interesting background-- grew up Catholic, a M.S. in marine and environmental science from CC, licensed in the Church of the Nazarene, attending Wesley
Theological Seminary, and having helped launch a new church ... that had over 200 people show up for Easter-- before I moved here a month ago for my new position and seminary. I might be only 2 years in ministry, but have experienced a lot. I am passionate about preaching the gospel in a real life, relevant, out-of-the-box way, and communicating to the people of today.Anyway, I have a question for you about the whole model you showed, using the world-church-you series of circles as a model. I realize that many pastors and churches, especially in conservative circles (literally) reject what you are saying because what they fear is the arrows going the opposite way- meaning, that the world will infiltrate into the church, which will infiltrate into 'you,' corrupting the true gospel. I know many (and have been friends with) who are afraid of 'the world.' My question is: what do we do? I've had friends hide behind the theory of following 'false teachers' and shrink further into their walled circles. What do we do?
Thanks for being an influence on me and for sharing a new way to look at
things. I hope God will someday use me to plant a church where people are
unafraid of the real world. God bless!
Reply after the jump
Continue reading Q & R: Who influences whom?...
How about a number of us connected with the emergent/emerging church conversation set aside the week of August 23 as BACK TO SCHOOL WEEK. And how about we blog on Christian education/spiritual formation for kids and youth that week?
Some good friends have started a blog on ethnicity, ethics, and faith ... called Ethnic Space and Faith. It's worth getting familiar with now, and checking back in on often. I hope to be a regular contributor.
Here's the Q:
After reading several of your books, I get the impression you primarily vote Democratic. While I agree with the Democrats on many issues, especially those focused on personal freedoms and social justice, I have never been able to support a candidate who is "pro-choice." I understand that there will never be a candidate who matches my own political mindset exactly, but the potential of human life is too important for compromise. How do you deal with this issue in your own voting choices?
R: I think you'll find this post - which I wrote during the last presidential election - to be helpful in answering your good and important question. I'm like you - I agree with Democrats on many issues, but I agree with Republicans on some issues too, and in both cases, my agreement is often partial, not complete. I may agree with the conclusion, but not the arguments made for it, for example. Sadly, both parties play some unhelpful games.
This email has several questions which I'll address one by one ... Here's the Q:
Thanks so much for the continued effort you put into all of your books. I finished chapter 18 of your new one yesterday. Dr. King's quote at the end really moved me--what a wonderful world it would be if we lived out those words!! There was one other thing with that chapter that really struck me--I thought that you might actually touch on it in the chapter. You discussed in depth the meaning of the second coming and how it could be viewed as already occurred with the destruction of the Temple in 70AD. This view that you present creates a stark irony regarding christians following a dispensationalist paradigm who sometimes persecute Jews for not realizing that Jesus is the messiah. Just as the Jews are waiting for a messiah that has already arrived, so are dispensationalist christians waiting for a second coming that has already occurred.
Thanks for the encouragement. One slight tweak - in Chapter 18, I talk about the meaning of the word "parousia." I explain that the term "second coming" isn't found in the biblical text. It's a term like "the Fall" - developed in extra-biblical theological literature, and then read back into the text (and sometimes put there by "translators" who are actually interpreters). That doesn't mean it's wrong - just that the term itself is subject to questioning. When Jesus speaks of coming back or again, sometimes he's referring to the resurrection ... sometimes he may be referring to his coming to be with us via the Holy Spirit at Pentecost ... and sometimes he may be referring to the coming of a new era and "the end of the (current) age" centered in holy city, temple, priesthood, and sacrifice. He may also be referring to some ultimate judgment day ... but the more I read the New Testament, the fewer of those references I think there are. More and more, it seems, Jesus was referring to things that were very close at hand, and so in that way, it turns out both Jesus and Paul were right: the cataclysm they predicted would happen "before this generation passes."
Q (cont'd):
Your chapter on whether God is violent or not was helpful. However, this is something that I really continue to struggle with.
Continue reading Q & R: 2nd Coming, God's violence, selectivity ......
I received an encouraging email recently (after the jump). Along the way, the writer asked if I could recommend a study Bible. There are lots of good ones, and probably the one I would recommend most will be released in the next year or two. But in the meantime, regarding understanding the Bible, I'd recommend Walter Brueggemann's work on the Hebrew Bible, and on the New Testament, N.T. Wright's growing body of work. There are so many others, of course, but I'm trying to keep things simple. And of course, I hope my podcasts on the Bible would be helpful too.
Continue reading Q & R: Study Bible?...
I couldn't be at last year's emergent theological conversation with Jurgen Moltmann, but I'm savoring the podcasts, available here.
The last few minutes of episode 1 - on the mutual indwelling of the trinity, and making space for the other - are absolutely beautiful.
BTW - speaking of podcasts, just a reminder: my bible overview podcasts are available here. You can sample the first three for free, or buy them singly for a buck a piece, or $19.95 for all 51.
Here's the Q:
My name is YZ and I am doing a study on the "New Perspective on Paul" and was wondering what an emergent like yourself thinks about this exegetical movement in our interpretation of the Pauline Epistles? I would love to hear your opinion and view point on this crucial movement away from the traditional approach.
Continue reading Q & R: On Paul...
Here's a review of my friend Sharon Baker's new book on hell.
And here's information on Doug Frank's equally helpful new book, A Gentler God.
Here's the Q:
There's been one question that I've been dying to ask you ever since I met you so I figured I had just get it out. When I interviewed you I asked you "What one thing do you want to come out of the emergent movement?" You gave a great answer but I had a sub-question that I was going to ask you and I didn't. That question relates to a fear I have with the emergent movement, and that is "Is the emergent movement going to throw it's weight behind one key issue or is it going to adopt a hodge-podge of issues?" I realize this may seem like an odd question but I believe it's of fundamental importance. One of the problems with modern social justice ethics is that there are so many voices screaming to have their voice heard (which is great) and all end up having to compete for the same resources. The problem is that people get capitulated by so many choices that they can feel overwhelmed or powerless or that there resources end up getting divide up so narrowly that little change can take place in one particular field.
I look at the early evangelical movement in which it was a powerful force against slavery (though i'm quite aware that the motivations for some was a moral crusade rather than a humanitarian issue) but this act of changing one thing gained the early evangelical church a great deal of respect and influence (the contemporary affection for William Wilberforce comes to mind). The emergent movement seems to be quite powerful and yet it is one voice amongst many. My fear is that if the voice is not united against a single issue that it will get lost in the cacophony of voices in the public sphere. Is there one issue that you would like to see the emergent movement address? My heart is for sex-trafficked women but their are a plethora of other causes that one could address. Yet I feel conflicted in writing this because all the issues are worth addressing.
I realize you don't represent the whole emergent movement and yet you are generally regarded as champion of this movement. As well, I know you are a remarkably busy man and have a lot of people ask you a great many of questions (and likely you often feel lost in the cacophony of voices!) so I apologize for asking you this question already, but I simply had to get it out there.
Continue reading Q & R: What will the emergent conversation DO?...
Here's part of a longer note from a reader of Everything Must Change ... I'll insert a couple of comments ...
I am still working on making tangible changes in my life. I recently made a commitment to longer do grocery shopping without taking re-usable bags with me and something that simple and easy, believe it or not, can be a challenge.
That's great. All of these seemingly small "lifestyle" changes add up, and they also strengthen your long-term commitment to change. Let me mention two of the biggest next steps you could take:
1. It turns out that about 40% of all greenhouse gases are emitted in the process of heating and cooling buildings. So - if you increase the energy efficiency of your home, you're going to the biggest single leverage point. Here's a good place to start researching ... a simple search on "home energy efficiency" will give you lots of info.
2. The biggest single thing you can do on this subject is support legislation that will re-price carbon. I have a short but really important post I'm working on regarding this subject at the moment - so stay tuned. We need to support every energy bill that takes us even a baby step in the right direction - but the key one will be the one that wisely reprices carbon. Here's a way to say it:
Dirty energy is cheap, and that's not a good thing.
One final note:
I was somewhat saddened the other day to see a bumper sticker that read "Jesus, don't leave earth without him". Of course I have seen this saying in the past and usually in the form of a bumper sticker. Seeing it the other day though irked me because it represented a certain shallowness to thought or maybe even arrogance. In the same vein I was thinking today of the old "Uncle Sam Wants You" posters that you would see in the Late 70s early 80s, at least I think that is the time frame. Maybe a "Jesus wants you to:" poster would be a little over the top. Still, I would love to see believers and non-believers for that matter called to action. I have never been a fan of bumper stickers but would perhaps place one on my car that said "Jesus wants me and you to: Learn to do good; seek justice, rescure the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow." (Isaiah 1:17--taken from Gary Haugen's books.)It could also more succinctly read, and this would be great for us Americans, "Consume Less and give more!"
Yes, there is so much downright stupidity being purveyed by bumper-sticker theology. Perhaps bad-theology-bumper-stickers will start irking more and more of us - and so fill a useful function!
P.S. I have a very poor grasp on the situation between Palestine and Israel--if you have any book recommendations to help me better understand the history and current situation there please pass them along.
Thanks for asking about this. Here are some books I recommend ... I also hope to do some posting and maybe a youtube video on this subject in the next month or so.
On a related note to your "consume less, give more" bumper sticker idea ... here's a powerful short video about hunger ...
So you're planning to pack up the minvan or mini cooper in the next couple weeks and head to the beach, lake, river, mountains, big city, or elsewhere. And you're thinking, "Maybe I'll read one of Brian McLaren's books. Which one?" Here are some suggestions.
___If you want to read my newest and perhaps most significant (and controversial) book, try
A New Kind of Christianity.
___If you want to read a book that relates faith to contemporary global issues, it would be ...
Everything Must Change
___If you'd like to read a novel (it's either educational fiction or creative nonfiction, you pick), try one of my trilogy:
A New Kind of Christian
The Story We Find Ourselves In
The Last Word and the Word After That
If you're a fast reader, you might pick up all three.
___If you want a pretty fast read, try
The Secret Message of Jesus
More Ready Than You Realize
___If you're looking for something of a more spiritual-formation nature, it would be
Finding Our Way Again
(Next summer, my yet-to-be-titled book on spiritual practices for the pre-, post-, non-, or minimally religious should be available.)
___If you're just searching for faith and a spiritual life, not sure where to begin ...
Finding Faith, part 1 (A search for what makes sense)
Finding Faith, part 2 (A search for what is real)
And finally, if you've got a long drive ahead of you, or if you're planning the legendary cross-country road trip, you can download 51 podcasts, about twenty-minutes long each, that give an overview of the Bible ...
here.
Hope that helps!
What Larry Jacobson, Executive Director of the National Society of Professional Engineers, says about his profession could be said about almost any profession.
The problem, he suggests, is a design flaw in corporate structure: Employees are loyal to their employers, who are in turn loyal to owners or shareholders, who demand rising share prices and corresponding short-term profits, quarter after quarter. Long-term ethical responsibilities to the community and the environment can too easily be left out of this cycle of loyalty.
Now consider the engineer's position. Almost all industrial processes and construction begin with the engineer who does the design. The engineer is under enormous pressure to help create profit for management, and those severe pressures influence choices—choices between the safest and most prudent design and the design that sacrifices safety in the name of cost. Lower cost usually means higher short-term profit for the company.
It's easy to see how this constricted cycle of loyalty lies behind recent engineering failures like BP in Louisiana and Massey in West Virginia. In view of the BP disaster, Jacobson says,
[I]t's critical to reflect on how to avoid a repeat, not only in the oil industry, but in any industry that can cause serious harm to people, their livelihoods, and the environment.
Jacobson argues for requiring the signature of a licensed professional engineer to approve engineering plans "whenever a project involves safeguarding life, health, or property." Such an engineer would have "taken an oath to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public" and to "place their professional practice ahead of profit." Only about ten percent of professional engineers currently have taken such an oath, he says.
Constricted cycles of loyalty can be seen in any number of current or recent crises - from Wall Street's meltdown to destructively partisan politics to our ongoing addiction to dirty energy. Apart from government regulatory oversight of the kind that obviously failed in the Gulf, and in the absence of the kind of professional ethical commitments Jacobson and others argue for, what social movements or structures in our culture push against constricting loyalty cycles to expand our concern for the common good - not only of current generations, but of generations yet unborn?
I think we all know who should be urging our circles of concern to expand rather than contract: our faith communities. But too often, they simply fall into their own constricting circles, seeking institutional survival above all else and evidencing the same design flaws that exist in Massey and BP. Shouldn't every gathering of a community of faith either explicitly or implicitly strengthen our expanding ethical commitment to the common good? Shouldn't our faith communities strengthen non-conformity to the design flaws that undermine our corporate culture? Shouldn't good faith work against the bad-faith constriction of loyalty?
What's true of engineers is true of us all: we need to expand, not shrink, our circle of loyalty and ethical concern. That we are all connected in one creation is one of the prime lessons of the Massey and BP disasters, and it is a shared conviction of the fields of ecology and theology. Whatever our faith tradition, whatever our profession, we need that message now more than ever.
Here's the Q:
I am currently a college student who is studying to be a minister, and have recently heard a lot about this movement that you have started. I was just wondering about how it started and what are some of the things that are different views from the New Testament Church, and where you get these new ideas from? If you could respond that would be greatly appreciated. I know you are most likely very busy, but this would help me out a lot in my studies.
Continue reading Q & R: The Emerging Church...
Ah, David, you've done it again.
(BTW - check out musical medicine on David's site, or let Wilcox radio play while you surf.)
As many friends know, I was hospitalized earlier this month with irregular heartbeat and elevated liver functions, and have been waiting for a final diagnosis. My symptoms suggested hepatitis or Lyme disease. But additional tests just came in, and it turns out I don't have hepatitis or Lyme disease. I have a dual infection - ehrlichia (a tick-born disease similar to Lyme) and bartonella (can also be carried by ticks). I'm on appropriate antibiotics and within a couple weeks should be back to 100%. It's a relief to finally know what the problem is ... and I'm grateful for great medical care.
In response to my posting last Friday, a friend wrote:
As I was reading your blog on Allies this morning I thought, I wonder if people agree but are unsure where to start. For me, it began when one of my friends (who is a lesbian) had a dear friend (who was also a lesbian) die in a car accident. She asked if I would go with her to the funeral. When I arrived at the church I slipped into the pew next to her. I noticed that she and twelve other young women were sitting in the back two pews in the church. In front of them were two empty rows and then the rest of the church pews were somewhat full. I noticed that people kept staring back at us. I didn't know if it was because of the "lesbian group" in the back two pews, or if it was because I, a guy was sitting with them. After the service a number of the women were quite surprised when my friend introduced me as her pastor. That one decision on my part of where to sit at a funeral has lead to a number of conversations, and some of those women have joined us for dinner and bible study on Sunday nights. I think the idea of allies is about taking that first step, of being willing. You might be surprised where it will lead.
If you use a cell phone or computer, you're probably connected - whether you know it or not - to the long-standing conflict in Eastern Congo. Minerals mined there - from tin, tungsten, and tantalum to gold - find their way into many of devices we use every day (including at this moment, if you're reading this online). Many of the mines in Eastern Congo are run by outlaw militias that are destabilizing the region - killing countless people, mass-raping women and girls, terrorizing and displacing populations, perpetuating the world's most deadly but least publicized war. Just as buying foreign oil and dirty diamonds can unintentionally aid and abet terrorist organizations, almost every high-tech purchase has, until now, helped fund some of the most vicious, lawless, violent people and organizations on earth in the Congo.
But this week, the President will sign into law the Financial Reform Bill, passed by Congress last week. And thanks to the good work of thousands of activist citizens - many of them mobilized by the Enough Campaign - that bill not only seeks to reform Wall Street, but it contains a Congo-minerals related provision. An Enough Campaign posting explains:
The conflict minerals language requires companies that use tin, tungsten, tantalum, or gold in their products to file a disclosure report with the Securities and Exchange Commission detailing whether these materials originated in Congo or its adjoining countries. And ... the bill requires companies to audit these reports to actually prove whether they are sourcing from conflict mines or not.
Many of us are disappointed that the reform bill didn't go farther in strengthening accountability for powerful financial entities. But whether we're dealing with the development of our own character or with the improvement of our nation's economic policy, we need to celebrate small, incremental steps in the right direction as well as major conversions and breakthroughs. The same goes for ending the horrible conflict in Congo, as the Enough article explains:
While passage of the conflict minerals provision is not a cure-all for completely ending the war in Congo, it is a huge step forward. This new law – once it is signed by President Obama – begins to eliminate the source of funding that allows armed militias to continue to terrorize and humiliate communities, cause countless deaths, and commit widespread sexual violence and rape.
In the future, because of incremental steps like these, achieved through lots of people and organizations working slow-but-persistent political processes, you won't have to wonder who was forced into slavery, driven from their land, or raped, killed, or terrorized in order for your cell phone to function. So this is a good day, a good thing to celebrate, another step forward in our journey to justice. There's more work to be done on so many fronts, but first, it's a good time to pause and appreciate the people who worked on all our behalf for this important moment.
I mentioned in passing on Friday that we in central Maryland were awakened at 5:04 a.m. by a 3.6 magnitude earthquake. My sister-in-law sent this photograph that accurately and fully conveys the unimaginable trauma and immeasurable devastation all residents of our region have been living with ever since. Pity us accordingly.
I'm a big fan of Noble Exchange on Halogen TV. They recently featured some friends of mine in Burundi ...
If you'd like to learn more about Halogen's idea of "empowering entertainment," inquire here.
Also - see David Beckman on the silent malnutrition epidemic on PBS - here.
Here's the Q:
I’ve just finished reading the above mentioned book. For the first few chapters I thought I’d missed something somewhere, and kept re-reading to make sure I hadn’t. I understand some of what you are trying to tell us, but I’m confounded by the fact that you grew up in a Christian church that didn’t do it’s job. I’ve attended many different denominational churches and some non-denominational, and have always learned that Jesus came to destroy the sin that began with Adam and Eve, and because He died on the cross, we now can go to live with Him forever. However, that’s not all that these churches taught. We as Christians have a duty, also, and that duty is to transform the world into a better place to live by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, healing the sick, sheltering the homeless, etc, etc. In other words, bringing Heaven to Earth. By showing our love, just as you say Jesus taught, we can transform our world to be a peaceful place. When we, as Christians have done our job, then we most definitely are participating in the Kingdom of God. I’d hardly call this a secret. Not only does Jesus teach it in the Gospels, but we hear it from all the others who wrote the books of the New Testament.
The church I belong to now reaches out in love to feed on the average of 1200 people every month from our food pantry. No questions asked, and many of those who have been fed, are now part of our other worship programs. Our young people go out into the community in the summer, along with members of the local police department to help the elderly and poor with repairs and cleanup around their homes. And at least once a month, we have a flea market for local crafters to sell their wares and the people of our community to buy quality products at low prices. We are a small congregation, with big ideas, and our motto is Building Bridges to the Kingdom. Isn’t this what Jesus’ message was all about?
I agree that we don’t have to fight wars to conquer the world. Love conquers all. I’ve seen it happen in my life, one person at a time.
Continue reading Confounded...
Greetings from Maryland, site of this morning's 3.6 magnitude earthquake. Californians would hardly have noticed it, but for us it was quite a surprise. Most of us awoke at 5:04 a.m. feeling our houses shake for about ten seconds.
I've been thinking lately about the importance of allies - people of advantage who stand in solidarity with others in need:
Straight allies of gay people: Folks like my friend Jay Bakker, and informative websites like this one.
Christian allies of Jewish and Muslim people: Like the good people of Sabeel. (See a recent report from Sabeel after the jump)
Jewish allies of Palestinian people: Like ICAHD and Birthright Unplugged.
Immigrant/Colonial-descendant allies of Indigenous People: We need a lot more of these!
Citizen allies of immigrants: We need a lot more of these too!
Human allies of environments, ecosystems, and endangered species: thankfully, more and more of us are joining this group.
At the heart of my faith is the good news that God is an ally of all creation, including sinners, failures, losers, washouts, weaklings, and bumblers like me. To whom can we embody God's gracious solidarity today? Living as gracious allies will shake up the world in the most positive ways possible.
AOL News carried this editorial I wrote ...
+++++
(July 12) -- The Gulf of Mexico oil catastrophe has become the first defining moment of Barack Obama's presidency -- and not just because of the disaster's enormity or his administration's response. Rather, this has been the first real test of whether Obama is simply a very accomplished politician -- or something greater.
To be an effective president, you must, of course, be a very good politician. But to be a great president -- the kind they erect monuments to (or at least name an airport after) -- requires something more than counting votes and working the phones. It requires an ability to challenge and inspire others to see possibilities that they otherwise could not. You might say it requires the ability to kindle faith.
Continue reading Can we undergo an energy conversion?...
I often say that one of my favorite parts of being a pastor for twenty-four years was pronouncing the benediction each week at the end of gathered worship. It wasn't that I was glad for our gatherings to be over; rather, I was thrilled to be deploying people into the world to live out their faith between Sundays. In my understanding, it is in the daily life of family, neighborhood, market, and workplace that a functional, vital faith makes its greatest contribution and bears its most important fruit.
And it is in those arenas of daily life where a dysfunctional, unhealthful faith also shows its true colors.
Could I suggest that the West Virginia Massey coal mining disaster and the Louisiana BP oil are a reflection, not just of the dysfunctionalities of extractive industries, but also of the dysfunctionalities of popular American Christianity?
Both disasters represent failures on multiple levels. Political leaders failed to provide adequate regulatory oversight. News directors and journalists failed to investigate corporate threats to public safety and health. Boards of directors and accountants failed to provide due diligence in risk management. Chief executives failed to create a culture of safety and responsibility in their organizations. Mid-level managers failed to stand up as whistle-blowers when they saw corners being cut and risks being taken. And engineers failed to build in sufficient structural strength and fail-safe back-ups for emergencies.
Many, perhaps most, of the politicians, news directors, journalists, directors, accountants, executives, managers, and engineers in question attend church on a regular basis. Whether they go to a traditional Catholic mass, a high-intensity Charismatic megachurch, a staid Evangelical chapel, or a quaint Protestant high-steeple congregation, they apparently did not hear a challenge to integrate their faith with their professional lives. If the spiritual leaders of their faith community sent them out with a missional benediction - such as "Go forth to love and serve the Lord in your home, neighborhood, and workplace" - the message wasn't conveyed with sufficient fervency to get their attention.
Take engineers, for example. At first glance, it's hard to imagine any career more removed from moral matters than engineering. Designing the tensile strength of a bolt or projecting heat transfer rates or perfecting a detonation device -- these seem like matters of pure mathematics and physics - not ethics and morality. But think again: if a bridge fails or a shut-down valve won't shut down or a bomb misfires (or fires), people die. If a mine shaft doesn't ventilate properly, or if a deep-water oil rig fails -- we've seen on the news what unfolds. On the other side of those seemingly amoral engineering equations are orphaned children, burn victims, families thrust into unemployment and poverty, dying ecosystems, depressed public health, ruined livelihoods, and incalculable suffering.
So a message to pastors and priests this Sunday: you share in the ethical responsibility of every decision made by your parishioners. If you inspire them to deepen their sense of ethical responsibility, if you give them courage to stand up for what's right even if it means losing their job, if you sharpen their moral vision to see something beyond the morally-bankrupt single bottom line of profit, you are doing God's work. But if you don't, no matter how big the attendance and offering numbers are, you are selling out. You are part of the same dirty economy as BP and Massey, thinking of your organization's well-being and not of your responsibility to the community. You are part of a religious extraction industry, making a living by extracting time, energy, and money for the benefit of your enterprise rather than mobilizing and deploying agents of ethical responsibility and goodwill in the community and for the common good.
And a message to engineers - and politicians, news managers, journalists, executives, managers, accountants, and others: if you are a person of faith, make sure you live it out in your profession. Singing, kneeling, tithing, praying, and listening to sermons on Sunday (or whenever) aren't worth much if they don't affect the way you do your work on Monday. Think of BP and Massey, Enron and Bear Stearns ... and realize that your work reflects your values, your ethical character, and your vision of God and God's character. To paraphrase the apostle James, faith that doesn't affect your work is dead.
Sojo.net posted my recommendations ... Of course, there are so many others who deserve to be added as well.
Here's the Q:
I'm not sure that this is the right email address to be reaching you. Hopefully, through the magic of the internet this will somehow get onto your computer screen.Today, or rather this evening, I am writing simply for advice—some sort of guidance in response to a few of your FAQs at the end of a NKOCy.
First, let me introduce myself. I'm XXX ... I'm 20-something and from Los Angeles, California by way of [the midwest]. I'll also begin this by saying that I'm a friend of Brian Murphy's, who you just profiled in your blog re: his organization, Sanctuary Collective. I'm so excited that you are promoting what he's doing. I love his mission and vision, and it's incredible to see folk like yourself making his vision grow.
Secondly, I'd like to apologize for my rambling. I will try to make this poignant but concise, though I think I'm already anticipating my failure at being concise.
I digress. The past few months have been so strange—a new little bump on the road on a journey that's been 3 years in the making now. Let me explain. I started attending a church in [so-cal] in 2007, right after I graduated from college. I had been off and on attending a very very pentecostal church for a few months, but my new roommate invited me to her church. Long story short, I fell in love with this church. The music. The people. The messages. It seemed as though every word was tailored to me. It was the perfect place for me, and so I started getting involved—really as much as I could. I joined a men's small group. I started volunteering on the prayer team. I became a cabin leader for our retreats. This was all new to me, so I kind of just dived in. Three years later, I'm doing much of the same things. I'm singing on our music team. I'm helping put together promotional videos to invite people to serve across the city. I'm planning our outreach events. And now I'm leading a small group.
I'm sure you've heard this story before, so I won't bore you with excessive details.
But that's where I am now. At a great place. With great people. Who are doing, by and large, great things.
However, I'm finding I just don't believe the same things that every one else does. And it's driving me crazy (perhaps not literally, though sometimes).
In my journey, I've spanned the gamut of doctrinal beliefs. For a minute, I was very fundamentalist. Then, my friend introduced me to Catholicism. My family is more or less some flavor of Christian. I've, of course, had my fair share of Evangelical land, which is where I am now. I jumped over to Pentecostalism for awhile since music seems to speak to me more than anything else.
So that brings us to now. I'm at a place where my beliefs are in a very strange place. I've read. I've studied. I've prayed and (I think) been open to answers. I'm by no means a scholar, but I try. I took one class at [a local] seminary, but found it to be far too stuffy for my liking. And after those years of searching, I've arrived at a place that's very different from friends of mine. I don't know that I believe in a physical hell. I don't know that I believe in the devil because the idea just doesn't make sense. I have a wide-open, universalist view of salvation because I feel like I see God's beauty in all sorts of different folks. I believe in the resurrection of Jesus, but I don't know how I feel about the idea of atonement.
I could go on and on.
So my question arises: how do I take this into my church? I'm faced with a church who has very staunch beliefs on certain things, and I'm called to lead people in those beliefs. I don't feel like I can in my right mind or right conscience lead a group or even be involved with a church who believes a lot of these things. I know you have said be a good servant of the church and do your best there...and I'm doing that, but I feel like I don't know that I can anymore. With each day, I disagree more and more. With each new sermon on generosity, I see the church buying new HD projectors. With each question that I ask, I get told to worry more about how I can serve my local church rather than understand these big questions better.
Again, I could go on and on.
Then, at the same time, I'm faced with the situation of burning a lot of bridges should I decide to leave. I have a lot of friends who I've made at this church. Pastors have, in some way, mentored me and helped me understand this world a little bit better. It really is one of my core foundations. They've been such a blessing to me in my life (I think) that it would be hard for me to say goodbye. Though I might not ever have to say "goodbye," I sometimes worry that that's the case.
There is obviously a lot of my story that I'm leaving out, and much of it probably informs where I am at now. But for time's sake, I'm omitting it for now. I have great respect for you and your ideas. And right now, I'm asking and inviting you for your advice. Please help.
Continue reading Q & R: Stay or Go?...
This is an email that doesn't need a reply - it's just to ask if you know about the wonderful ecumenical monastery/ retreat centre/ youth gatherings at Taize in France. I have just returned from an amazing week there and during that time it struck me how much you would love the place: spirituality - plenty of ancient practices! - inclusive, life-affirming theology, concern for the poor and marginalised of all kinds, simple but deeply moving music, peace, natural beauty, friendships across denominations and nations, (their passion is to see reconciliation between Christians in particular and the peoples of the world in general). So if you don't know about it but might like somewhere to go and rest for a bit, I suggest you check it out at www.taize.fr. Probably best to avoid school holiday times, when I imagine the queues for the showers might take up a lot of the day! And don't expect haute cuisine! If your French isn't too hot, don't worry - the main language is English, though if you are keen on languages you will be pleased to get an opportunity to hear a lot of different ones and to sing in them. Thank you so much for everything you have written. You have been a tremendous help to me and to many others I know.
Yes - I've been following the important work of Taize for many years. US-based fans of Taize will be glad to know that a group of us are pulling together a gathering here that will have a lot of resonance with Taize ... It's called the Wild Goose Festival. It's maiden voyage - June 23-26, 2011.
You've provided some excellent resources here ...
Especially relevant for readers of Everything Must Change.
Here's the Q:
Thank you for sharing the "conflict of narratives" piece over Israel/Palestine! How inspiring to hear about folks doing this difficult work!As I've been praying about this, I often hear about members of the armed forces putting their lives on the line, defending their country. They go to the place of conflict, and they fight. They get into the mess.
I am thinking that if I believe in peace-- if I reject violence as a means of "salvation," then I should be willing to go to the place of conflict and fast and pray and listen. I should be willing to put my life on the line. I should be willing to enter the mess, especially if I believe that this is what Christ calls us to do!
Do you know of any groups like "Witness for Peace" (in the Central American conflicts) that are doing this work in Israel/Palestine? It seems like if we can make progress in this one central conflict, then we can make a lot of headway towards a wider peace in the world. What if we raised up a non-violent "army" that waged peace? What if we had a "tipping point" number of people who laid it on the line? There are no guarantees. But what if a sizable group took this step of faith?
Stay in One Peace (Christ's)
R: There are a number of excellent groups doing this sort of work ... One of the best is
Christian Peacemaker Teams
By the way, here's a wonderful group of Muslims in Iraq doing parallel work: Muslim Peacemaker Teams.
A reader writes:
I have been reading some book on Open Theism by Clark Pinnock and Gregory Boyd. I was wondering if the Emergent Church has doctrinal sympathies with Open Theism such as the following: 1. God does not determine the future in detail because He cannot know the future…the future simply cannot be known by anyone 2. Biblical prophecy cannot be interpreted literally but only can be interpreted on what God intends to do and also on a very conditional basis 3. People who are sincere in other major world religions will be saved by Christ because of the attitude of their hearts…not what they believe 4. Hell is not eternal conscious punishment but is either a place of restoration for persons to eventually enter heaven or it is just annihilation 5. God does not elect any persons to heaven nor does God reprobate any persons to hell 6. God does not even know in advance which persons are going to heaven or going to hell Thank you.
Reply after the jump.
Continue reading Q & R: Open Theism...
A reader writes:
There are so many things I'd like to say about your new book. I've been a Christian most if not all of my life - definitely under the Greco-Roman thought construct. Your book started out so tough and emotional for me. If your view on God changes - everything changes! My husband and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary last week and after a couple of glasses of wine I started to cry. He asked why and I said, "Brian McLaren is messing me up!" :) I am so glad I temporarily shelved my greco-roman thoughts to think through these questions. My world has been blown apart, in such a great way. I feel like (and I'm not even done the book yet) I am better able to really love God - the way I always thought I should love him - without reservation! I also feel like I am able to love others better. For example, that comment from a reader on Amazon you quoted on your blog caused me to feel sadness for the individual rather than anger. I am so thankful for your writing and for putting to voice so many things I didn't even know were going on inside me. Thank you.
Eric Allaby shared the following beautiful analogy with photographs he took 35 years ago.
You probably do not remember meeting me at your two-day seminar in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in September, 2009. Three of us Baptists, a pastor, his daughter (children's pastor) and myself, from a small, rural island church, eagerly savored every moment of discussion.
In thinking about how you helped us to expand our notion of "truth", I pass along what I believe to be a helpful illustration.
I worked as a diver for many years and thought this analogy might help us see truth in all its colors. Under the sea, most of the spectrum of light is soon scattered or absorbed, green light penetrates the deepest into the ocean. The first picture shows sea anemones on the sternpost of a shipwreck 85 feet below the surface, where only green light penetrates. Everything looks green. The second picture, of the same sea anemones, is taken with flash, which has the full spectrum of light. The same sea anemones now have bright pastel colors. Which is truth?
Both are true. When you look at truth with only the spectrum of objectivity, as moderns have been taught to do, we see truth in just that color. If we add the colors of creativity, imagination, beauty, awe, relationships, love, and perhaps other colors that you can think of, then truth can become much brighter, richer and more colorful.
Can we learn to look at truth with more colors than objectivity alone? Will truth be more beautiful and powerful if we do?
Thanks, Eric. Beautiful!
Here's the Q:
I recently finished reading "A New Kind of Christianity." I want to thank you for giving voice to what so many of us have been thinking (but are often too afraid to say!). I have been mulling it over ever since, and I have two questions.First, how can we avoid feeling overwhelmed and discouraged? I look around me and I see an ocean of need--poverty, hunger, illness, broken relationships, prejudice, the oil spill--and I have no idea where to start. It all seems important, but there is only one of me. I only have so much time, energy and financial resources. Do we just focus on the one or two things where we really feel the Spirit's leading? Are some things more important than others?
Second, how can we avoid creating a new list of what we believe are "God's do's and don'ts," much like some have interpreted the letters of Paul? What starts off as a desire to bless others and do the right thing ends in self-righteousness or extremism. For example, I know some Christians who equate being vegan with being Godly. But I grew up in a family with two parents both of whom had eating disorders. Any form of very strict eating is not possible for me, but I feel the sting of judgment every time. At the same time, I am passionate about sharing all the wonderful financial blessings I've been given, and I tend toward being judgmental of others who don't feel the same way. How do we handle our differences?
Reply after the jump.
Continue reading Q & R: Overwhelmed? Judgmental?...
You need to care about nuclear weapons abolition. After the jump, read Tyler Wigg-Stevenson's sane and wise assessment. It will just take a few minutes, and will bring you up to speed on the big picture.
On a side note - I wonder if what we need most is a multifaceted new abolition movement:
Abolish the contemporary slave trade
Abolish nuclear weapons
Abolish dirty energy
Should there be more?
Continue reading If you have children or grandchildren ......
Thanks to all who have sent expressions of concern, prayer, and encouragement. Although some of my test results still haven't come in, the best diagnosis at this point is that I picked up viral hepatitis in my travels somewhere. All my symptoms fit in with that basic diagnosis. My liver functions are still off, but not as bad as when I was in the hospital last week. I had to go back to the hospital for a few hours on Tuesday when I broke out in a rash all over my body with unbearable itching. Three minutes after receiving two shots, I felt fine. Viral hepatitis is generally self-limiting, meaning it runs its course. That means I'll have to take it easy, deal with symptoms, and keep having my blood monitored for the next few weeks. If anything significant changes, I'll let you all know. Again, thanks for your concern ... and my apologies to the good people I had to cancel events with over these days.
A reader writes, in reference to my blog a few weeks back:
Prophetic words, Brian, bless you. Last week I was in Bavaria, southern Germany. Almost every south-facing roof was fully covered in solar panels, which I was told will pay for themselves in 5 years, and then more. There has been a government tax incentive to install them, but apparently the German government is removing that soon (is it costing the federal govt too much?). The panels may not look too beautiful in the lovely Bavarian countryside, but after the initial surprise, I got quite used to seeing them, and then began to ask 'why does that roof NOT have solar panels on it?'! Why can't we do the same? The UK is at least 10 years behind mainland Europe in all these areas, including recycling. Almost every litter bin we saw was already colour-coded for either paper only, or metal only, or plastic only etc, ie ready-sorted for recycling. One of the very few 'mixed' garbage bins I saw was being re-sorted (by hand!) by the garbage man, who was separating the contents into paper, metal, plastic etc! HOWEVER. . there is no speed limit on the Autobahns, and as we drove at over 100 mph, we were continually being overtaken by cars which must have been doing 150 (yes, I do mean MILES per hopur, not kms!). We can be selectively environmentally friendly when we wish.
If the mills and railroads "built" the 19th century, and if the automobile and highways and computer built the 20th century, what else will build the 21st century but solar, wind, and other renewable energy, along with the retrofitting of existing homes, transport, and buildings for greater energy efficiency? But this kind of growth is inherently different - because it is pre-engineered for sustainability - for a regenerative economy, not an extractive-consumptive one. Thanks for helping us envision this with you in Bavaria. We have to see it everywhere.
Bruce Cockburn fans will recognize this line from his song "Down Where the Death Squad Lives."
Like some kind of never-ending Easter passion,
from every agony a hero`s fashioned.
around every evil there gathers love --
bombs aren`t the only things that fall from above
down where the dead squad lives
down where the dead squad lives
I was walking along the beach recently and found this old sandwich container, obviously discarded by a boater offshore some months ago.
The outside had already been coated by a few kinds of barnacles and other univalves.
I counted 8 different kinds of organisms that had made the piece of plastic their home, gathering like love around an evil. May God's creative grace once again surround and overcome our stupidity and evil ... and may we yearn for a conversion from dirty energy and a consumptive economy to clean energy and a regenerative economy.
(PS - If you want to see the oil from space, there's a good photo here.)
My recent post on the Holy Spirit has attracted a lot of attention. It's great to see this post from my friend Samuel Lee in Amsterdam offering his preliminary proposals for a new kind of Pentecostalism.
I grow more and more convinced that the way forward is a grass-roots alliance among emerging Pentecostals, progressive and post-Evangelicals, Missional Mainline Protestants, Progressive Catholics and Orthodox, and indigenous Christians ... across global north and global south ... who share the kind of ethos Samuel articulates and seeks to embody there in Amsterdam. (I'm so sorry I missed being there last weekend due to health issues - about which hopefully I'll have an update to offer tomorrow.)
A reader writes ...
Q: Thank you for writing this book A New Kind of Christianity. You are fortunate that you did not lose your faith--I lost mine and have struggled to recreate some sort of faith. Life is a real drag without faith. . .
Anyway, I am interested in the questions you pose on p. 35 about whether the Bible explicitly teaches the diagram of the Christian story you show on p. 34. Maybe the operative words are "explicitly teaches." Genesis does tell a story that sounds like a "fall" and "condemnation." Also the Hebrew Bible discusses "Sheol." I am curious why you think otherwise.
However, I agree that ... the [six-line] diagram view of Christianity [you critique] a pretty worthless endeavor.
R: I remember a friend of mine who lost his faith in grad school once said to me, "How are you keeping your faith? You're reading all the same philosophy that I'm reading." I said, "Sometimes it's not easy," to which he replied, "Well, it's not easy losing your faith either." So many people are caught in this tension ...
A lot of people who suffer the most are those who let fundamentalists define the faith, and then find that fundamentalist faith unacceptable. That definition generally begins with the biblical narrative as an imperialist/colonizing soul-sort affair. I wish I had succeeded better in convincing you in those first few chapters of the book that this reading is actually very weak in the text itself; true, it has been deeply ingrained in us ... but I think if we approached Genesis as somewhat "innocent readers" (meaning not previously ingrained in the imperialist/colonizing reading of the text), the kind of reading I propose would make so much more sense than the dominant alternative. You might try giving the Narrative Question chapters a re-read or two, plus the Future Question - where I propose an alternative diagram.
Here's a song I wrote a while back on losing faith ... I think there's a kind of loss of faith that can clear the way for a new and richer kind of faith. That's my prayer for you.
I find it amusing when I hear people talk about the end of the emergent conversation. My sense is that it has just begun, and that the most interesting times are ahead - especially as it becomes more ecumenical and more global. This fall's theological conversation is a case in point ... Here's the link and vital information:
Theological Conversation - Creating Liberated Spaces in a Postcolonial World
When: November 01, 2010 at 02:00 PM - November 03, 2010 at 12:30 PM
Where: First Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, 1328 Peachtree St NE, Atlanta, GA 30309
Greetings! We're thrilled to invite you to the 11th Annual Emergent Village Theological Conversation, scheduled for early November in Atlanta.
This year's Conversation will feature a global panel of three theologians from diverse theological backgrounds , each of whom will share stories, processes and theological reflections to engage our imaginations as we attempt to create liberated spaces in a postcolonial world. New Testament Professor and Christian feminist scholar Musa Dube joins us from Botswana, Richard Twiss shares what it means to walk the way of Jesus among First Nations peoples, and U.K.-based Colin Greene, Director of Metavista Consultancy (www.meta-vista.org) and Visiting Fellow of Bible, Theology and Culture at St John's College, Durham University, presents his reflections on theology and cultural engagement. Following on the heels of the American Academy of Religion's annual conference, the Conversation offers a unique opportunity to engage with leading theologians in a highly interpersonal context. As in years past, this gathering is intentionally designed to foster relational interaction with both speakers and fellow participants. You won't want to miss what promises to be a landmark year in Emergent Village's signature event. For additional information, please visit the 2010 Theological Conversation website. If you find you still have questions, feel free to e-mail us at events.ev@gmail.com. Space is limited, so register promptly if you want to reserve your space. This is an opportunity you won't want to miss.
It evokes my recent book ... and also David Dark's beautiful book, The Sacredness of Questioning Everything.
Tony Jones - whose blog is on my must-read list - quotes a Jewish scholar on the meaning of the word abomination, a term which comes up a lot in debates about homosexuality. Our common understanding of the word - something that is absolutely morally reprehensible to God and to all good people - doesn't match the meaning of the ancient Hebrew word it is supposed to translate, the scholar says: in his assessment, the contemporary word "taboo" would be a better translation.
Over the last dozen years, I've come upon word after word like this ...
Salvation/Save/Savior
Kingdom of God
Repent/Repentance
Authority
Inspiration
Justification
Holy
Sin
Son of Man
Son of God
Coming (Parousia)
Fall
The issue is not simply that stupid, selfish contemporary people are trying to redefine words to suit our contemporary tastes or world views, as some folks infer. It's that our ancestors were just as likely to define words to suit their contemporary tastes and world views as we are ... which requires us to realize that the meanings of words are constantly under negotiation. That complicates life, I know. But life is that way, and that's why the Scriptures emphasize the need for wisdom and understanding - requiring us to dig beneath the surface.
The narrative question in my most recent book, A New Kind of Christianity, is interwoven with the related question, "What does salvation really mean?" If we draw the definition of salvation from theological debates in the 5th or 16th centuries, we will see our whole narrative differently than if we define salvation based on the primal Exodus narrative in the Bible.
Similarly, Secret Message of Jesus grapples with the meaning of Kingdom of God, and Everything Must Change with Son of God and Son of Man. This isn't simply weasel-y word play; this is part of the search for truth, wisdom, and understanding.
Insights from Tony Blair, on a recent trip to Australia ... here. Quotable:
The Israel-Palestine dispute is not the cause of extremism. But its resolution can be an essential part of consigning that affliction to the oblivion it deserves. I believed this before I became the Quartet Representative. I believe it even more strongly now. Peace between Israelis and Palestinians would release forces of modernisation across the region. It would pin back the forces of reaction.Religious extremism cannot be beaten by military means alone. It is as much the force of ideas as the force of arms that will secure our future. And the principal idea is that people of different faiths, cultures and creeds can live together peacefully.
During my time in office I became so convinced of the importance of this issue that after stepping down as British prime minister I set up my faith foundation. In office, I became convinced that we need education as a major component, not a minor effort, of foreign policy. Peaceful coexistence cannot take root unless we have strong alliances not only across nations but across faiths, too.
It's great when a worthy book begins to get the attention it deserves. Too few people have known about my friend Ian's wonderful book, Chasing Francis, but now, perhaps more will know because of this ringing endorsement:
“
I’ve now read it twice and found it equally compelling both times. It’s challenging, disarming and delightful, and the vision behind it is a serious one. It's a remarkable book.”
The Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Rev. Dr. Rowan Williams
I'm sorry I've been absent from the blogosphere without any explanation ... Last Tuesday, while in SW Florida, I began feeling quite ill and extremely fatigued. I became especially concerned when I could tell my pulse was erratic - something I'd never experienced before. I went to a clinic and was sent directly to the emergency room. I ended up in the hospital the rest of the week. After four days of tests, I got some good news and some uncertain news.
The good news is that I didn't have a heart attack, and in fact, my heart is in great shape. (This last year I ate healthier than ever, got more exercise than I have in years, lost a lot of weight, etc., so it would have been a bummer to have a heart attack after all that lifestyle improvement!)
The uncertain news is that several of my blood levels are abnormal, which probably contributed to the irregular heartbeat and feeling of malaise. Test results aren't back yet to identify the cause - hepatitis, Lymes disease, or something else? Hopefully I'll know more by the end of the week.
All this has meant that I have to miss several speaking engagements - with the Metropolitan Community Church general conference (via skype) on Friday, with my friend Samuel Lee in Amsterdam, Netherlands, this weekend, and through the week ahead at the Slot Festival in Poland. I was looking forward to each of these connections - maybe we'll be able to reschedule another time in the future.
In the meantime, I'll be recuperating, awaiting test results, having follow-up appointments, and appreciating life, freedom, and health. Thanks for everyone's prayers. I am a blessed man, well-supported in every way.
BTW - if you want a great July 4 reflection, check out Shane Claiborne's beautiful piece here. It only takes a short time in a hospital to feel how interdependent we are ... and to cherish the skills, knowledge, kindness, and support of others.
Thanks to all who keep the Middle East in your thoughts and prayers. Let's keep praying for an outcome that is pro-peace, pro-justice, pro-Israeli, pro-Palestinian ... Here's an update from Palestine:
Ten families in the Jordan Valley region of the West Bank have received notices giving them 24 hours to evacuate their homes. In spite of documents proving their ownership of the land, the Israeli military claims that the homes of the Daraghmah and Al-Makahmreh families now sit in a “fire zone” that puts the residents “at risk.” If evicted, the families would join 600 other Palestinians made homeless in the past year by house demolitions in the West Bank. Lord, have mercy.
Municipal officials have announced their intentions to approve a “master plan” for East and West Jerusalem. Through zoning, taxation, and other legal measures, the plan will further stifle Palestinian development and expand existing Israeli settlements in occupied East Jerusalem. We pray that this far-reaching action will be stopped and that Jerusalem will one day be a city that is accessible to all people.
A reader writes:
I have to say that the evangelical world has really been doing a good job of dragging you through the mud. It seems the younger the evangelical, the more they are concerned about you. What I mean is... those fresh out of Bible School or the eager ones in their churches have been downloaded such incorrect information about you and emergent. It REALLY bothers me. And the worst part of it is that they read or listen to what you say with such STRONG presuppositions they don't even HEAR or READ what you are actually saying. Its maddening!But those that have never been to church, those who did not grow up in the segregated evangelical household, love what you have to say. They don't know you but they feel and experience what you are saying every day. And that is the hope. That they will discover a New Kind Of Christianity that will continue on for generations. It's just sad that those who seem so convinced can not see that change has always happened through history. And historicaly there have been people who have fought it. After all as Mark Twain once said, "the only one who likes change is a baby with a dirty diaper"!
This note prompts me to venture this humble request: If you're one of those Evangelicals - young or older - who have "been downloaded" negative information about me, but you've never read any of my books, how about opening your mind a bit this summer and picking up one of these:
If you want a gentle and short introduction to my work, try
More Ready Than You Realize or
Secret Message of Jesus
If you want a more challenging introduction, try
Everything Must Change or
A Generous Orthodoxy
If you prefer fiction for summer reading, then try this:
New Kind of Christian or one of its sequels
I don't recommend you try this one unless you like to jump in the deep end of the pool.
A New Kind of Christianity
And if you have a long drive, or like to jog or walk, or just hate to read - how about this podcast series - an overview of the Bible?
Jim Henderson and a few other friends are featured in this USA Today article on evangelism ...
The good people of Jesus Manifesto interviewed me for this podcast ... On peacemaking, nonviolence, the gospel, and related subjects.
Speaking of peace ... here's a site promoting the international day of prayer for peace- September 21, 2010.
Here's a song I wrote a while back - clenching fist, open hand.
This article points out some ways people's lives are affected by how we deal with the sex question. Here's a follow-up ... with a turn for the better, and a reminder about the source of the law in question.
And here's some recent data on changing attitudes to sexuality in the US.
The sex question isn't going away.
Here's the Q:
Can you point me to something you have written about the
Holy Spirit?
What role do you think the Holy Spirit should play in the church
and in the life of a Christian?
In what way and to what extent do you think you are being
led by the Holy Spirit?
R: As a trinitarian, anything I say about the character and work of God would have relevance to the Holy Spirit, of course. For specific places where I write about the Holy Spirit, here are a few places that quickly come to mind ...
A Generous Orthodoxy - Why I am Charismatic/Contemplative
Secret Message of Jesus - Chapter 13
A New Kind of Christianity - Chapter 20
Finding Our Way Again - throughout
The book I'm currently working on (title TBA) is about the spiritual life, and so it will emphasize our experience with and cooperation with the Spirit at every turn.
As for the role of the Holy Spirit in the church and the life of the individual Christian, where would I begin? The Holy Spirit is the breath and water of life, the wind in our sails, the presence of God in whom we live and move and have our being, the fire of purification and transformation, the Guide, the Comforter, the Convictor of sin, the unifier, the inspirer, the teacher ...
And as for the way and extent to which I think I'm being led by the Spirit, I address the tension and paradox of this in A New Kind of Christianity on pages 225-228. I conclude that section like this:
So although I've been shy about speaking of it, I must here emphasize that for me this quest has not simply been a result of thought and study, although I've done a lot of both. It has been equally a result of prayer, worship, devotional reading, fellowship, solitude, fasting, soul friendship, and other spiritual practices that render me porous and thirsty for the living, loving, holy, and present God. At various turns in this quest, I have stumbled into moments or even seasons of insight so moving that I can only use the word "ecstatic" to desribe them. I've felt my soul opening up, my mind being bathed in God's holy joy, my vision being transformed, so that everything looks fresh and new and rooted and ancient, all at the same time. "God, you are so wonderful!" I find myself praying again and again. "Your good news is even better than I've ever imagined! Why didn't I ever see it before!" Through many milestone experiences on this quest, then, I have become convinced that this quest is not simply an intellectual or theological one; it is also a personal and spiritual.
(The shyness I mention at the beginning of the quote refers to the problem of making claims about the Spirit's work ... see p. 225-226.)
More on this in response to the questions after the jump ...
Continue reading Q & R: Emerging Church and Signs and Wonders/Holy Spirit...
A reader responds:
Well Brian, I read one of your first books back when the "Post-Modern" Church was just starting and got along with it fairly well. It was certainly better then most books out there at the time. I am a little over half-way through your newest book (which I love!) and just wanted to write you a note that though you bring a little more academia to it (which is interesting) you boil it down to an understandable point.
My Father was a Fundamentalist "Non-denominational" Pastor (which looked and acted suspiciously like a Southern Baptist faith) and right around the time I started going to a local Community college (around 8 years or so ago) combined with some excellent reading from authors such as Hans Kung, Bonhoeffer, Akenson, Peterson, Tillich, and Matthew, more Matthew, even MORE Matthew, they really helped me to rethink the groundwork of everything to do with my faith. I ended up redefining many concepts starting from What prayer is, to Faith vs. Belief, to Am I actually saved?!, to Should I just pitch Christianity altogether? I have to say the hardest struggle for me was and IS STILL finding a church to call home. My resolution mostly has been that church for me has become wherever I am at that point in time there I am in church. In other words I am still free to be human and still continue to require God's love in my live. We both still have our role, God has his and I still have mine.
All THAT to say that after reading (most) of your book so far, it is a fresh breeze of contentment to know that I am not weird and out of place and alone in my reading of the Bible. I am glad God has given you the ability to think clearly and critically and with the ability to convey those thoughts in a way others can understand them.
Q;
I am a member of a small traditional church. I have the dubious distinction of being the sunday school teacher for the "youth," though at the moment we have no members under the age of about 30. I have been reading your "10 questions" book and have been slightly blown away by the essential eternal kindness in the biblical story when viewed in the way you suggest. If it should come to pass that we ever have another teenager pass through our doors, where do you suggest I begin to teach a wholesome theology?
R: Two things:
1. Stay tuned for information about a conference on children and youth that will address exactly this question.2. I wonder if we can get some other folks offering their responses to this important question. If you sign onto my facebook page, that's a good place for response ...
Companies like this one are springing up ... exploring alternatives to dirty energy in creative and needed ways.
http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/may/23/wind-turbine-novices-seek-toehold/
Here's a brief movie ...
http://www.impactmovie.com/skyron/
When we're overwhelmed with disgust about what's happening in the Gulf of Mexico, we have to imagine every roof of every home in America being a source of energy ... ... and consider not only the ecological benefits, but also the new business development, jobs, and other benefits that will come from this green revolution.
If you want to see what's being imagined for solar homes, check this out.
Here's a promising legislative option ... the best out there that I've found. It's simple, it gets the job done, it's bipartisan, and it's needed! It's well worth your two minutes to watch:
If we can properly price carbon, investment will flow into creative clean energy. Consider this for example.
If you don't know about the good work of Wiconi.org, you should. After the jump, a story worth reading ...
Continue reading Richard Twiss gets it right ... on a truth commission...
This Sunday, I'll be preaching a sermon at my home church in a series called God in the Movies, where we seek to draw theological insight at the intersection of contemporary cinema and biblical revelation. I'll be exploring themes in Avatar, and their eery imitation of today's news. Let me mention three connections.
First, all of us who fly in jets, use computers, and talk on cell phones are complicit in the plundering of one of earth's Pandoras - the Congo. My friend Tom Austin explains the connection on his blog. Quotable:
Of course the situation in Congo is not as simple as the theme in the wildly popular Avatar. But the similarities are striking. Congo has the second largest rain forest in the world, and in it live some exotic wildlife such as mountain gorillas.Congo also has its own little black rock called coltan. It's a critical ingredient in rockets, jet engines as well as as a wide array of consumer electronics -- from cell phones, to digital cameras and laptop computers. Congo possesses 80 percent of the world's coltan and also has abundant reserves of gold, copper and diamonds. The developed world, including the Chinese, want coltan.
What's more, foreign multi-national corporations have been deeply involved in the exploitation of Congo's coltan, gold and other minerals as has Congo's predatory neighbors Uganda and Rwanda. A witches' brew of outside interests, proxy militias, corrupt Congolese army, and ineffective UN peace keepers, have left villagers, particularly in the Eastern Congo vulnerable to attack and rape... More than 5 million Congolese are estimated dead because of the wars, related disease, and ongoing violence.
Second, closer to home, the extraction of unobtanium in Pandora mirrors our extraction of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. Pushed by greed, corporate elites repeatedly have transgressed legal, environmental, and moral limits, all the while shielded by their political protectors and apologists. Together they privatize profits but socialize costs - creating a big return for their big men and a big mess for the rest of us "small people."
And third, the machinery of the unobtanium industry evokes the deep structures of Wall Street - which remain largely unreformed even after Congress passed a so-called reform bill yesterday. An elite group of investors aided by supercomputers continues to privatize profits and socialize risk. They continue to build too-big-to fail entities that bulldoze and steamroll forward in their addictive quest for shareholder return. They trade in something more elusive than unobtanium: debt. And they extract not coltan and not oil, but fractions of a penny millions of times a day. In so doing, they seduce us all into in their clever Ponzi schemes, creating digital profit without adding real value, ultimately at the expense of the common good.
At the center of both Pandora and the biblical narrative, there is a tree - the tree of life. It tells us that what matters most is not profit, but a sacred connection ... connection to God, to one another, to all of creation. That's what I'll be exploring in my sermon this Sunday - our choice between an economy of extraction and an economy of connection.
Novelist Walker Percy suggested that descending into the darkness of a movie theater is like descending into Plato's cave, as on the wall, shadows trace the story of the world outside. I think he would agree that something similar happens in the sacred drama of worship week by week. Through the stories that unfold on the screen - and in the biblical narrative, we have a chance to see ourselves, come to ourselves, and turn in a new direction.
Through good art and good religion, our world's extractive, destructive, and violent economies can be exposed - for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. As the credits roll and as the benediction is pronounced, we must walk out into the world imagining what may seem impossible: the creation of a new kind of economy - an ecologically regenerative, financially sustainable, socially responsible, and morally defensible economy of connection. That kind of economy will steer us away from rather than into Gandhi's seven deadly sins:
Wealth without Work
Pleasure without Conscience
Science without Humanity
Knowledge without Character
Politics without Principle
Commerce without Morality
Worship without Sacrifice
From David Korten to Jim Wallis to Bill McKibben to many others, more and more of our most thoughtful leaders are challenging us to imagine, create, and participate in this new kind of economy - and a different way of life. In that pursuit, moviegoers and churchgoers can become unlikely colleagues. May it be so.
A New Kind of Christianity is available in Italian - published by Newton Compton Editori, under the title Le Dieci Domande Che Cambieranno La Chiesa (The Ten Questions That Will Change the Church).
Take a few minutes and do this on behalf of the people of Sudan. 4.9 million Sudanese – nearly 1 in 8 – don't have a home to call their own, having been displaced by violence. You can add your voice to the call for action. It's one of those small actions that can help make a difference when enough of us speak up.
I've been hearing quite a few stories like this lately: young adults reading A New Kind of Christianand then sharing it with their parents, leading to some good dialogue.
...I have been especially thrilled lately to see my own father challenged by "A New Kind of Christianity." He was in ministry ... for over 20 years, and after leaving it for a career in business, the questions about his faith really started to pile up. He remained very committed to his faith in the process, but with an increasing amount of uneasiness. I told him about your new book and he was immediately intrigued. He had just finished Harvey Cox's "The Future of Faith" (also on my recommendation) and really resonated with it on many levels. After reading your book though, it is all he can talk about when he and I talk - he is excited about his faith in a way I have not seen him be in years. He said you addressed all the questions he has been dealing with for a very long time - and best of all, your attempts to offer some humble answers to those questions made a lot of sense to him. He is refreshed, encouraged, and challenged. He is now re-reading it with my mother so they can talk about it together. Once again - thank you so much for your boldness and fresh way of talking about our faith! You have not only changed my life, but my father's as well....
Here's a review of A New Kind of Christianity from the Beatitudes Society, an organization you should know about.
And here is a note from a Jewish reader: (reply after the jump)
Hi Mr. McLaren,
I have always thought that Christians have misunderstood everything
that Jesus said. I'm a Jew, so I have always read the NT like a Jew.
I've tried to discuss my ideas with my Christian friends only to get
responses and reactions similar to what you got, except that I also
get people saying that I should come to see things their way and be
converted. I get that from my Jehova Witnesses friends, from my
Pentacostal friends, from my Mexican friends (I think they might be
Catholics), and at a Bible church that I visited one Sunday (I like to
go to churches), a pastor told me "I will pray for you, because you
are going to hell."
I don't know about hell (I don't believe in it--would you burn off your
hand if it dropped something?), but I never went back to that church
again.
I finally decided that Christianity is a lie. It isn't the religion of Jesus.
That was Judaism. It isn't a Judaism for non Jews. If I were a
Christian, I would have wanted long ago to start a new religion--
maybe I would have called it Jesusism.
Oh, yes, my question. I do have one.
When I think of the pogroms, the Inquisitions, the Crusades, and
the missionaries that try so hard to convert Jews (I think that is so
disrespectful), the destruction of the Native American populations
in North, Central and South America, and the abuse of black people
as part of having slaves, I have to wonder in what ways Christianity
has blessed the world.
I know that great work is done in America now. But is it Christianity
that blesses the world or just good people?
I wish you all the best and thank you so much for sharing your ideas
in your book.
Reply after the jump.
Continue reading NKOCy review, and comments from a Jewish reader ......
If you're in the Amsterdam, Netherlands area, I'd love to see you ...
Saturday 3 July, sponsored by Foundation University & Emerging Netwerk in Nederland
www.foundationuniversity & www.emergingnetwerk.nl
The venue is ...
www.jcfchurch.com
Address: Verrijn Stuartweg 31
1112 AW Diemen
http://web.me.com/slwe/kerk-jcf/Address.html
Sunday 4 July
14 hrs to 17 hrs (2-5 pm) also at JCF church.
www.jcfchurch.com
A series of 51 twenty-minute podcasts are available here on the site - an overview of the Bible. They're really inexpensive and a lot of people have told me they're the most helpful resource I've ever made available.
Also - you can download some music I've written here.
A reader writes in response to an important theme (the narrative question) in ANKOCy:
I'm sure that you're seen this link or watched this already (I'm sure somebody has posted it to you) about Chimamanda Adichie's talk on the danger of the single story... see: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.htmlIt's an excellent perspective - and she talks a lot about Africa's
"single story" in the eyes of the Western world... but I have to
shamefully admit that I have also had a "single story" about the
issues of Palestine... and reading your most recent posts (and
clicking on the links too) has made me realise (even more) the extent
of my ignorance.On the one hand, I abhor war and violence... and can't stand the
fighting that's going on between Israel and Palestine... but I have to
admit, it had always been "sold" to me - and particularly when I lived
in America and worked in Ohio at a church (as a worship leader)...
that Palestinians were evil and that America had some kind of God-
given mandate to defend, protect and fight against the Palestinians on
behalf of the jews. I was quoted numerous scriptures of how America
was blessed because it 'was on the side of God's people - on the side
of Israel'... and they believed that America would, in a sense, be
cursed if they ever 'aligned themselves with the enemy' (being the
devil - but also the Palestinians... or Muslims in general).Now although this didn't make much sense to me at the time, and I
brushed it off... I must admit - I did buy in to the "single story"
of Palestinians being blood-thirsty, jihad-frenzied Muslims - hell-
bent on destroying Israel and eliminating all Jews from the place of
the planet. I never imagined that there was another story... the
footage I watched in the news - or the stories I heard told - all
seemed to support this fact. There was much imagery of marching and
rioting... and even more imagery of Palestinians burning the US
flag... and certainly loads of images and stories of suicide
bombers... and... and .... and...I am SO ashamed to admit - that I hadn't even realised that there were
such groups as Palestinian Christians!!?? (and I'm not implying that
it was okay to annihilate the Muslims - but now we should think twice
because there's Christians in the mix too)... no, I'm just saying that
I had bought so strongly into the "single story" that Chimamanda
Adichie speaks about - that it DEFINED my understanding of what
Palestine was and who Palestinians were! #$%@! Tragic!Needless to say - I've been doing much more reading up on the topic
(thanks for all the links posted in your blogs)... and trying to
educate myself on the matter. On the one hand, I feel angry and
brainwashed... like everything fed to me by my previous churches and
the mainstream media was all a lie! On the other hand, I feel deeply
ashamed for falling in to this trap... especially since I, as a white
South African, has often felt boxed into the single story of "racist
minority" when it came to our issues of apartheid in South Africa. If
I so hate being boxed by a 'single story' - then I, especially, have
no excuse for boxing others.
Anyway - just wanted to share that with you. As always, your books,
your blogs, your voice - it matters HUGELY!
Thank-you for shedding some light on this rocky road we're trying to
journey down.
Reply after the jump ...
Continue reading On the danger of a single story ... from a white South African...
A reader writes ...
Up until recently, I held out no hope for the Church and wondered if my own faith would survive the stagnation of being boxed-in and chained to a system of thinking that was exclusivist, dogmatic, and fear-driven. Then I started reading your books ‘A Generous Orthodoxy’ and ‘The Secret Message of Jesus.’ I couldn’t believe what I read. It was such a joy to be able to step out of the box and loose the strangulating chains of what had been my old way of believing.
Since your latest book isn’t widely available in Australia yet, I ordered a few copies from Amazon. I’ve read it and have really appreciated your perspective and courage to challenge the status quo in the Christian Church. I also really enjoyed hearing you when you visited Adelaide and was blessed and encouraged by the loving and gentle way you engaged with those who were quite vocal in their opposition.
A small group of us from the same church have been meeting regularly to engage in conversation about ANKOC and I have found this so enriching and refreshing.... Unfortunately this gathering has brought some severe criticism and accusations from other church members and the pastor ... This has only made more evident what you say towards the end of your book when you write about the spectrum of Christians who all have their own systems of understanding—and this also has given us a better understanding of how to work with such people without disregarding, demeaning or devaluing them or their perspectives. Truly the rainbow that makes up our Faith makes life in the Church interesting!
So ‘Thank you’ for challenging our way of thinking, for confronting our fears and helping us have the courage to believe again. You have opened doors to us that we never knew were there. We are not backing down, but are continuing our fantastic journey together—not in fear or pride, but in love and hope, looking forward to where this new kind of Christianity will take us. Thank you again for the part you and the gift that is your writings have played in our lives.
How will we react to the BP oil spill?
Not just the oil industry, and not just the US government, but we - all of us?
If we react sanely, as John Robbins points out, amazing things are possible. He recalls what happened in the living memory of my parents' generation:
Prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. resisted becoming engaged in World War II. But after the attack ... the country immediately began a massive restructuring of the economy in order to mobilize for the war effort. Less than a month after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt announced the goals, which included immediately producing massive numbers of tanks, planes, and anti-aircraft guns. He met with automobile industry leaders, including the heads of Chrysler, Ford and General Motors, and told them the country would need them to totally redirect their production facilities in order for the nation to reach these arms production objectives. Soon, the sale of private automobiles was banned. For nearly three years, no cars were produced in the United States, other than those for the army, navy, coast guard, and other military services. In addition, highway and residential construction was halted.
What would a similar response to the current catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico look like today? What would happen if we conducted a massive redirection of production capacity towards solar panels, plug-in cars, wind generators, home energy efficiency, and research and development in the most promising green technologies? Robbins continues:
When Roosevelt originally announced that the U.S. would need 60,000 planes, experts said it would be impossible to come anywhere close to that number. But as a result of the massive redirection of the country's productivity, the nation's needs for planes, tanks, and other military requirements were fully met, and greatly ahead of schedule. In the three years beginning with 1942, the U.S. far exceeded the initial goal, turning out 230,000 aircraft.
The effect of this mobilization is, as the saying goes, history. We will write history based on our response in the coming months. Robbins concludes:
The mobilization of resources that took place within a matter of months is a compelling demonstration that we can restructure the economy swiftly and effectively, if we are convinced of the need to do so. But so far, the prevailing response to the BP oil disaster has been about using safer drilling methods. This strikes me as equivalent to heroin addicts using clean needles. It's an improvement that does absolutely nothing to challenge the addiction itself.But what if we were to respond to the tragedy taking place in the Gulf of Mexico and the many other disastrous consequences of our addiction to oil with the same level of urgency and commitment our nation displayed in restructuring the economy during World War II?
That's the question we should all be asking on day 64 of the oil spill.
(If you're interested in some of the theological basis for this kind of response to the spill, check out my book Everything Must Change.)
Pastors are fascinating people. They have one of the hardest jobs on the planet (if they seek to do it well), and they are hardly the cartoon characters people often think of (Reverend Lovejoy anyone?). These two emails give you some sense of the dynamic of the pastor's soul ...
This from a pastor in the midwest ...
Have been reading ANKOC following the recent discussion on it at Jesuscreed. Have read 97 pages, and I think you are right on. Thanks for your work, and for taking the heat so graciously. I was surprised at the somewhat negative overall tone in the Jesuscreed comments; I chalk it up to folks not having read it. And Scot focused on a narrow slice of the book out of context and, I think, spun it inappropriately. But I love him for all the good stuff he does.Anyway, I've bought copies of the book for each of our kids, who no longer consider themselves Christians. But you are their favorite "heretic," and your comment in a footnote about reaching our children and grandchildren struck a chord with me.
From a former pastor ...
I am not the kind of person who usually emails a respected author, so having said that I just wanted you to know that I am doing something atypical. I was a missionary for four years and a pastor for three. Currently, I am just trying to be Christian and not give up hope on it all. My open-mindedness and sickened stomach propelled me out of the ministry at a fundamentalist church in my hometown. I grew increasingly tired of the secrecy, arrogance, and immaturity in the leadership in which I participated. I am not pointing fingers at the church because I was as much of the problem as any.
Since leaving the ministry, I have made my way through a series of churches – two notable mega churches – and I am very weary. I fear for the future of the Church corporate and I have little hope in things changing. But then I stumbled upon your website and your work. I commend you for being a “sacrificial lamb” in the Evangelical world and stating what we have been feeling for decades. I was recently grieved to discover a prominent Pentecostal leader removed his signature from the covenant of civility on sojo.net just because you signed. I long for a Christianity where Christ’s overwhelming compassion and love is primary and these political maneuvers cease.
My point is that I, too, have been longing for a new kind of Christianity. Thank you for being a voice in the “post-Evangelical wilderness” (to borrow the late Michael Spencer’s term). May God bless your work, your writing, your speaking and your loved ones. I can only imagine the criticism you endure. Please continue being a soldier for the new kind of Christianity. We all need it. We need the grace of Christ to sort out this mess that we have made of the gospel.
Here's the Q:
I have been an avid reader of your work (although I have fallen behind on my reading lately, so I need to catch up with you and apologize if my question has already been answered in a book I haven't yet read). The freshness of your ideas give me hope for this world. I just wonder if you happen to be vegan? I have been since December, and it has opened me up to being a more compassionate person every day. The movie Earthlings (you can get it from Netflix) is difficult to watch, but changed the lives of me and my family. I understand that you care deeply for the planet and the creatures living on it - and I believe being vegan can make an incredible positive impact on our planet. If you're not already vegan, would you consider watching Earthlings? Your voice would be heard by so many if you spoke out about the abuse of factory-farmed animals. It is no way to treat God's precious creatures.
Thanks so much for your time and consideration!
Reply after the jump ...
Continue reading Q & R: Are you a vegan?...
I'll be speaking this morning, this evening, and tomorrow evening at Aldersgate UMC. More information here ...
Next Sunday morning, I'll be speaking at my home church in MD.
It would be great to see you either place if you're in the DC - Baltimore area.
Yesterday I did a radio interview by someone who asked me about John 14:6, which brought to mind this note I received recently.
I stumbled upon your website while preparing for my Sunday morning adult Bible class. We’re studying the Gospel of John and your paper, “A Reading of John 14:6,” really challenged me to think deeper about this passage. It prompted in me one of those “eureka” moments, as I have wrestled with this verse for many years when thinking about my friends of different faiths. Good stuff. It reminds me of how remarkable and alive scripture is, day after day, as we grow and mature in faith.
Just wanted to say thanks, and that I look forward to reading more of your material.
That article was expanded, edited, and further developed into Chapter 19 of NKOCy ...
You comment about Scripture being "remarkable and alive ... day after day, as we grow and mature in faith." I've been feeling that so much in recent days as I've been re-reading, in research for my next book, every reference in the Bible to the Holy Spirit. All I can say is amen!
An encouraging and interesting note about NKOCy:
I don't even know how to begin this letter, but I think it should begin with, "Thank you." A friend of mine happened upon an article about your book, "A New Kind of Christianity," and passed the article on to me. I was curious, and bought the book, prepared for the worst, I think. Goes to show that God works in mysterious ways, and you certainly can't (pardon the terrible cliche!) judge a book by it's cover. Strangely enough, it was your story of the small bible study that formed in your home, eventually growing into a nondenominational church that really hooked me into the book (I will admit, I'm guilty of getting so bored with introductions that I have put down many good books in the first few pages, something I'm trying to go back and remedy!) because it's not so different than how my denomination started. I grew up in Metropolitan Community Churches, a new and growing denomination of Christian churches that began in a living room.
Continue reading A New Kind of Christianity, more on sex question...
Sanctuary Collective, co-founded by Simple Wayer Brian Murphy, is a network of folks who are concerned about the well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, and queer folks in Christian communities. They're having their first Northeast Regional Conference July 24 at Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan. Whether you are doing organizing yourself, or just want to learn more about humane and just relationships with LGBTQ people, you can participate in a day full of workshops about LGBTQ issues, justice and the Bible, and finding your place in this unique and growing collective.
Cost is a sliding scale $5 - $50, with a suggestion of $25. Folks can register online at http://www.sanctuarycollective.org/conference/registration
Here's a window into the mind and heart of a young leader:
Since my last email I've been feeling much better. You were right; I wasn't losing faith in God per say, but in the god of anger and judgment and dogma. Instead of clinging onto my beliefs white-knuckled, I hold them with open hands. I approach faith now as a student willing to learn, rather than a professor with every doctrine perfectly defined in hundreds of volumes on my shelf.Which leads me to something I've been thinking about lately, and it has to do with what you call the Authority Question. There are a lot of Christians debating whether or not the Bible is really infallible and inerrant. For example, on one hand there are those who swear that Genesis chapters 1 through 3 accurately describe how the world was made and how it got so screwed up. On the other hand, you have people who say that was just a metaphor. But what if it doesn't really matter whether the story of Eden is true or not? What if Christians have debated its literalism so much that they missed the point of the story? To me, it doesn't really matter whether or not there really was a Garden of Eden, or a talking snake, or forbidden fruit. The message of that story--how mankind walked away from God's way, and how God's grace prevails over our sinfulness--is what matters the most to me. Know what I mean?
I also wanted to comment on that one guy's nasty Amazon.com review. You never said you didn't believe that Jesus is the Son of God. In fact, I've heard you say many times that you believe in what the Creeds say, and they say that Jesus is the Son of God. I guess some people see what they want to see.
Anyway, take care.
Continue reading From a young leader...
I've had a wide variety of interviews about A New Kind of Christianity and related matters recently ... Here's a sampling:
With Steve Maraboli on A Better Today/Empowered Living ...
With The Drew Marshall show ... a Canadian natural resource.
The Moot podcast with Ian Mobsby ... which you can subscribe to here.
And I enjoyed my time with the affable religious skeptics of Reasonable Doubts.
When I was in Palestine earlier this year, I reconnected with Musalaha, whose work I have followed through the years. After the jump, you can read an an encouraging account of a recent gathering of Israelis and Palestinians. It's a story of tears, anger, pain ... and increased understanding too.
(Meanwhile, stories like this one continue.)
Continue reading Israel and Palestine: a conflict of narratives...
I was glad the President emphasized the need to break our addiction to oil in his speech last night, and I thought he did a good job of demonstrating commitment to the people of the Gulf region. But if President Obama doesn't specify the way forward by offering a legislative path, who will? Congress? Politicians whose re-election campaigns are heavily subsidized by the fossil fuel industries, and who depend on voting blocs mis-educated by corporate media?
I hope that last night was simply the opening volley in what will be a focused, determined, well-planned, energetic agenda to make a new clean and sustainable economy the legacy not only of the President, but of the government, and not only of the government, but of our generation as a whole.
As I've thought about the current Gulf oil catastrophe and the longer-term issue of switching from a carbon to a solar economy, I think we need to make some bold commitments.
1. We have to envision a new and better way of life. We have to imagine that thirty years from now, virtually every roof of every home and building will be an energy producing station. We have to imagine every window and every wall being replaced or upgraded for improved efficiency. We have to imagine new generations of transport, heating, air-conditioning, and lighting technologies. This will mean we will retool our manufacturing and home-building industries so they contribute to this new green economy. Doing so will stimulate the economy in the right way - creating needed jobs and making a lot of good money (as opposed to dirty money) for wise entrepreneurs and investors. I believe that it will prove more profitable in the long run (in the best sense of the word profit - not measured in dollars alone) to be the planet's wise stewards than to continue on as its reckless, short-sighted, and greedy plunderers.
2. We need to divert creativity, entrepreneurial energy, and money away from building new oil rigs and coal mines and from fighting wars in oil-producing areas. We need to decrease expenditures on weapons - which are non-productive assets. And why invest in nuclear plants - which take decades to build and are ripe for their own kinds of disasters - when that money could produce better and longer-term results when invested in the research and development of solar, wind, tidal, and biofuel (algae- and grass-based, not corn-based) technology?
3. We need to direct creativity and money and education towards a new solar-based economy. It will take an innovative government-business partnership (the kind the Japanese and Koreans pioneered in jump-starting their auto industries) to turn this thing around. We have to imagine a different America - a new American economy. To get us there, again, we need to make an unprecedented investment in research and development and we need to open-source the most promising breakthroughs so as many companies as possible can work with them.
4. All this will surely require a change in tax strategy. To fund #2, how about a tax on the automated and derivative trading industries that contributed to the Wall Street collapse in 2008? How about a tax on too-big-to-fail corporations, shifting the advantage to small and medium-sized businesses that demonstrate ethical and socially responsible business practices? (See, for example, the kinds of businesses supported by Balle.) How about a rising tax on fossil fuels that steadily raises their cost to match the cost of renewable alternatives, so 100% of that tax revenue can be invested in research, development, and dissemination? This kind of tax reform would have a host of opponents, but it would increase the pressure on all of us to move in the direction we need to move in, and it would provide resources to the great endeavor in which we all have a vested interest: the conversion of a dirty economy to a clean one.
Speaking of taxes, perhaps its time to stop taxing income so much and start taxing pollution a lot more. Let's make it cheaper to earn "clean energy" money in a clean economy and more expensive to harm the environment in the dirty economy. Let's make it harder to privatize profits while externalizing costs and dangers by taxing the things we don't want instead of the things we do want.
5. This will also require a new kind of transparency - for government and for business. We can't afford to have only two choices - between an ideological left that holds business accountable but not government, and an ideological right that holds government accountable but not business. Where can the needed kind of transparency come from? I think it will require an enlivened democracy for starters, a democracy that takes more seriously not only its voting power, but also its spending power. That will require, among other things, a fair trade/ethical buying movement that is supported by a simple, clear, impartial rating system ... the kind of thing being recommended and explored in various ways. (See, for example, the ESRA and Goodguide.)
6. These kinds of changes require something deeper than a shift in policy. They require a deep shift in values and vision, in faith and hope, in commitment and priorities. That means the faith community in its many varied forms needs to "get saved" ... saved and sanctified from serving as obsequious chaplains to the old, polarized, paralyzed, incompetent politics of the old dirty economy. Our churches, synagogues, and mosques need to heed the altar call to become the vanguard in the prophetic and pastoral task of creating the new, clean and green economy needed by our children and grandchildren, not to mention every creature on our planet. Those of us who know something about the entrenchment and change-aversion in many of our religious communities know that this deep shift will take a miracle. But if politics is the art of the possible, isn't faith the art of the impossible?
If the current administration has become overwhelmed by the horrible hand of cards it was dealt, that would be understandable. Perhaps it's time for some courageous leaders from the faith community to move to the pulpit and say to all who are discouraged, "With faith, all things are possible." Perhaps it's time to tell political and economic leaders who are tempted by "realism" to start compromising on the needed vision even before it's been fully articulated, "Don't settle for less. Reach higher." Perhaps somebody needs to pull the President aside and encourage him with some good news to counteract all the bad news that's gushing in, and maybe even whisper in his ear every day or so, "Yes, we can!"
If political, economic, social, and faith community leaders start articulating a bold vision for a new economy, and start demonstrating determined leadership in achieving it, I think they'll find growing numbers of us are fired up and ready to go.
One response to NKOCy:
I've just finished reading A New Kind of Christianity, and want to thank you for your refreshing thoughts and ideas. I have a new enthusiasm and hope as a follower of Jesus; a new courage to live out my faith- because it doesn't sound 'corny' in this understanding; and a new sense of belonging to a community that is rethinking and rediscovering what our faith really means. The questions were ones I have been asking for years. I struggled as a teacher of junior high catechism when I questioned the very things I was supposed to be teaching.
Thank you, thank you, for opening a new understanding (and affirming some of my own thoughts), for me and many others.
A response with a very different tone after the jump ...
Continue reading Both sides ......
You're about to be encouraged.
Check out the video available here.
They are the kind of "change agents" I wrote about in EMC and they exemplify the "new kind" in NKOCy.
In my travels, I've seldom met more resilient, fascinating, and creative people than the folks I've met from the Congo. Just a few weeks ago, I was in a little fishing boat on Lake Tanganyika, looking east over the beautiful mountains of Eastern Congo, thinking about the terrible violence that's been happening in the region in recent years - and thinking about my friends who live and serve there. My friend Lynne Hybels is working with World Relief to educate and motivate people about the Congo. If you'd invest just five minutes right now, you could learn what's going on there, and even make a small investment in the lives of the Congolese people. Here's the link.
This encouraging note came in last week ...
I just finished "A New Kind of Christianity" and thank you. I have never read the Bible. I have gone to some sunday school classes when I was a
