In this book, McLaren examines ten questions facing today's church--questions about how to articulate the faith itself, the nature of its authority, who God is, whether we have to understand Jesus through only an ancient Greco-Roman lens, what exactly the good news is that the gospel proclaims and other provocative and enticing questions reshaping the Christian faith of tomorrow. How should the Bible be understood? Is God violent? Can we find a way to address human sexuality without fighting about it? How should followers of Jesus relate to people of other religions? Can we find a better way of viewing the future?
Just as Rob Bell's "Love Wins" pushed me off the dock and into a quest I have yet to see the end of, "A New Kind of Christianity" by Brian McLaren provided some much needed perspective/wind for my curiosity/sail as I sought to take my wandering faith to a different part of the ocean. If you are hungry for an informed, relevant and strategic way to understand the point of the Bible, Brian McLaren (and Rob Bell) have got you covered. For the first time in a long time it was McLaren who made me think about faith from an entirely different set of questions. As long as I can remember being invested in ministry it felt like my job was to provide acceptable answers for people living with uncertainty, fear and loss. Over the last few years I've learned that those answers don't really exist. Jesus might've been the answer for a good chunk of time, but now I'm more interested in the *questions.
"Gradually, this reservoir of questions and unsatisfying answers overflowed and I experienced a kind of spiritual crisis that started me on a quest: a quest for honesty, for authenticity, and for a faith that made more sense to me and to others...morning after morning I woke up in the brutal tension between something real and something wrong in Christian faith...I felt I was standing in a deepening welter of theological fragments. Little by little, though, a new coherence began to emerge. That coherence was more a new way of believing, less a rebuilt system of beliefs, not simply new answers to the same old questions, but a new set of questions."
But it was his writing on the controversial subject of human sexuality from a faith perspective that truly captured my attention and respect. His chapter on question #7 "Can We Find a Way to Address Human Sexuality Without Fighting About It?" delivers, in my opinion, what was a walk-off game winner of an opening paragraph:
"I don't want to be closed-minded or judgmental, but in good conscience I simply can't approve of the lifestyle. I believe it's a choice, although upbringing and genetics may have a role. Freedom has limits--one limit being where others are hurt by a chosen lifestyle. And this lifestyle, there can be no mistake, is hurting a lot of people. Families are being torn apart by it, and churches too. There is absolutely no question about God's opinion on this lifestyle if we begin with the Bible...The lifestyle I'm speaking of is fundasexuality (not, as you may have assumed, homosexuality), a neologism that describes a reactive, combative brand of religious fundamentalism that preoccupies itself with sexuality...Fundasexuality is rooted not in faith, but in an orientation of fear. Its proponents fear new ideas, people who are different, criticism or rejection from their own community, etc."
McLaren is pretty direct when it comes to his animosity towards fundamentalist Christianity, and if that's your cup of tea, you will love this book. At times his critique of fundamentalism can get a little too repetitive, but I think the overall aim of his writing is headed in a really helpful direction for invested and open-minded people of faith: to ask questions, to think and discern their role and to share dialogue with others (regardless of their religious preferences). If you're new or a seasoned veteran to all of this spiritual questing, you won't regret adding this book to your list. The Sex question (chapter 17) and Pluralism question (chapter 19) are worth the sticker price alone.
"...the term "Christianity" has too often camouflaged something quite foreign to Christ and his message, something that is more the problem than the solution---a fusion of Greek philosophy and Roman power, alloyed or adorned with elements drawn from the Bible, which is interpreted and applied in ways that often betray Jesus's life and teaching...
"As part of our inheritance from the past, we have been entrusted with an ongoing mission, and that mission requires us to be loyal...out of love for the truth, we must dare to precipitate a change, to foment a kind of gentle and hopeful revolution, to give birth to a new generation of Christian faith."
*I started this blog as a way to catalogue and reflect on the great many books I've consumed over the years and as an avenue to explore the deep questions that have taken up residence as a result. I appreciate your willingness to read and think about and share my words with others. I am curious who you are and what questions/feedback/recommendations you might have. If you're willing to oblige, leave a comment on this blog, email or private message me on Facebook, or if you're really feeling bold, post a comment to my Facebook wall. Thanks for reading, I look forward to hearing from you!
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