Brian McLaren

Questions from December 2005 - Part II

Here are the Questions from December - Part II

Subject: Be encouraged

Hi Brian

I met you a few years ago at a early Emergent conference in Houston.

I wanted to let you know that your writings and example have been a great encouragement to me and to several people in our little house church.

It is rare to meet such humility within church leadership and even rarer to mix that with the courage to swim against the tide of our Christian culture. (Generous Orthodoxy is one of only a few books I have ever read and not found reason to disagree with it.... Thank you.)

Please keep writing, please keep promoting a God of incredible love, please keep your life free of anger and rejecting the many temptations that I am sure find their way to your door.

You have no idea what great change you and the people of emergent are creating around the world.. Yes even here in little old England.

A: Thanks for your kind words. And keep up the good work in England! I look forward to being in your beautiful country in a few months.

Subject: A Recovering Fundamentalist

Hi Brian WOW! WOW! is the main response of my mind and my heart over the ?last 3 months as I have read a New kind of Christian and The last word- . I ?want to thank you for the courage that is conveyed in your work and more ?than that the constant since of Gods love for me and all his people. I ?attend a life church as part of an Anglican church in England. While I have ?been reading your work this group has been going through a formation that ?can only have come out of Gods love for them and his work in them . We have ?had discussions about salvation!! {dangerous, delicate, work] We have ?survived and as I read your book at home so it was that the conversations ?were being played out before me in the group. How brave and loving they were ?and are. I understand now so much more about the word emergent because god ?is at work in his people in his kingdom. I read two books this summer which ?prepared me for the Wow that I would find in yours they were by John ?Eldredge and Larry Crabb I am so encouraged and hopeful for the future of ?church and the emergence of people who are known and can know God in a ?transforming way. Have you read any of Julian Of Norwich's work she was with ?you in the 14th centaury! I hope to meet you in may when you come to England ?hopefully I will still be recovering and more understanding of the true ?nature of my ingrained addiction to Fundamentalism. praying more for you

A: Thanks so much for this encouragement. It’s great to know that John and Larry’s work and my work can synergize. You’re right – good things are happening in so many ways. And thanks for your prayers. I need them!

Subject: Suggestion

Hi Brian, read "A New Kind of Christian", "The Story We Find Ourselves In" and "Generous Orthodoxy" and they all have enhanced my personal ministry and expanded my understanding of Jesus. Thanks. One thought: I would suggest Commencement as a more effective word than Consummation for the last "C", 'cause as you say it continues.....

A: Thanks – I like that. Commencement suggests a beginning … I wish I had heard your good idea before writing the book. Brilliant!

Subject: God is dead!?

Dear Brian D. McLaren

Have read and enjoyed several of you most enlightening books and the need for a New Kind of Christian. Recently I found myself expressing similar views in an essay entitled 'God is Dead!?

I'm really not sure why I am sending you this but perhaps you will find it interesting.


GOD IS DEAD!?

God is dead! A popular slogan in the sixties has surfaced once again this century, but this time in a completely different context!

‘God is dead!’ Almost fifty years ago this statement came as a tremendous shock to many orthodox Christian believers. It was of course intended to mobilize people to rebel against all kinds or forms of cripling social structures. Many of the social reformers demanded greater religious freedom, which was found in their self proclaimed attitude of independence. Perhaps some experienced that indepence to a point that they actually believed that God was dead or was no longer required. While it is doubtful that anyone really believed that God was dead it was more likely a revolt against the confinements of the 'establishment' and in particular any powerful institutions such as the church. The call for religious independence nevertheless had its effects. Church attendance and vocations dropped alarmingly especially in Europe and North America. These conditions still prevail today. However, the slogan ‘God is dead!’ seems to have disappeared. Why?

People and science are beginning to discover that God is very much alive. According to the most recent polls an overwhelming percentage of people are craving a ‘spiritual connection’. However, many seekers are beginning to discover 'a connection', away from the mainstream or traditional religious institutions. Witness the emergence of and interest in the differing forms of eastern faiths found in nearly every North Americancity these days. The reasons for this change are probably far more complex than was recognized in the sixties. For one thing people are considerably more educated and culturally integrated and the information age is expanding at an ever increasing or warp like speed. For another, people seem less bound to social norms and are demanding more input to the possibility of change. Particularly in the area of faith. If anyone should doubt a thriving interest in a living faith all you need to do is visit your local magazine, bookstore or video rental stores. Certainly the God that people knew in the sixties is not the same One people speak of today. It is a far more compassionate and loving God then the one who kept a record of all our sins and wrongdoings. Or, a God who kept the gates of heaven open to only a few chosen individuals of select faiths. That image has, thank God, hopefully died.
Today no single group or institution can realistically lay claim to have an exclusive 'corner on the faith market.' Firstly, such claims suggest that we must compete to receive God’s abundant grace and love. Secondly, these claims dangerously empower some fundamentalist groups to act ruthlessly and independently on His behalf. This has resulted in a relentless trail of pain and suffering throughout this planet and history. In this sense we too must speak of a God who must still die including the God of fundamentalism, dualism, relativism, and all other false isms’ or images we continue to hold true.

By simply letting go of such false images of God and adopting the Creator of all humankind bound in unconditional love we will move immeasurably closer to one another. This should not be so difficult. Witness a simple story told out of Jewish wisdom: “A rabbi was once trying to persuade a self-proclaimed atheist to perform a good deed. In explaining why he considered such deeds to be useless, the atheist said, “You know, rabbi, I do not believe in God.” The rabbi replied, “The God that you do not believe in. I do not believe in either.”

Today, people are beginning to recognise a God who is not only active in our collective lives but also one who dwells directly and permanently in our hearts and minds. A God who speaks directly to everyone. And, a God who desires only healing instead of punishment. We must speak of a universal God who exists within and for all ongoing creation . Science and religion are beginning to discover common ground in their search for the meaning of life. Recent books and films such as ‘What the Bleep Do we Know!?’ are splendid examples of the kind of spiritual blends that will eventually help to reveal the Truth to all humankind. Religions working together, in harmony with the people of God, will honour God’s ongoing creation by recognizing that only a change in their theological positions will bring humankind together. Silenced theologian Hans Kung has stated that ‘there cannot be world peace as long as peace does not exists among religions.’ Let this be a challenge to all religious institutions and become the starting point to act as guides rather than destinations. All faiths must express God as a verb not as a noun. A truly active and dynamic faith demands we take personal responsibility in a relationship with our God far beyond any ridged institutional demands. Faith is certainly not about membership or a belief that we have nothing to learn from the other religions.

When we so change our images of God we will no longer have the need to say God is dead because we shall all be truly alive as One!

A: Thanks for your well-expressed thoughts. I share your desire to work for peace in and among religions. Some people erroneously believe that if you are TRULY committed to your faith, you must always argue and never be at peace with someone of a different faith. But my commitment to Jesus Christ teaches me that I am to love my neighbor, to do to him or her what I would have done to me, and to be a peacemaker. It teaches me that since God is kind to good and evil people – watering their crops with rain, for example – I should be kind to everyone. That doesn’t mean I agree with everything they say or do, but it is an expression of my deep commitment to live in the way of Jesus.

Subject: Thanks

Dear Brian McLaren:

Let me add my voice to the many who are so grateful to you for saying what we were feeling but didn't know how to express it. Your A New Kind of Christian trilogy along with A Generous Orthodoxy and Adventures in Missing the Point all left me wanting to stand up and shout, "WHAT HE SAID!"

Tomorrow I will be meeting with the head of the denomination I have served for 35 years as a pastor, church planter, missionary and board member to explain why I will not be seeking to renew my ordination credential with that denomination. I can no longer with integrity affirm that I am in agreement with their Articles of Faith. Though I am saddened that it will probably mean the loss of long cherished relationships, I am excited to see what emerges in my future.

A: If you’ve read through many of the other postings here, you’ve probably seen that you’re not alone. Many of us are struggling with being faithful to Christ and being honest about some of the requirements in our ecclesiastical structures. May God guide you and give you strength. I hope that all who read your note, and this reply, will join me in praying for you and for all our spiritual leaders – who have a tough job and need both our support and prayers.