A New Kind of Christianity - Brian McLaren [1]
I left the pastorate just over three years ago to write, network, be a pastor to pastors, and speak about what I have learned along the way. I still find myself processing my experience of serving in a local church. I know I made a lot of mistakes as a pastor, and I know I had a lot of limitations. I wish I knew at the beginning half of what I had learned by the end. I also know I cared a lot and worked hard and poured out my heart. I feel about my tenure as a pastor the same way I feel about my experience as a father: I gave it my very best, but my kids—and my congregation—deserved much better, so I always feel like apologizing.
Even though I am no longer a local church pastor, I love church life. I love churches. I love singing good songs, praying rich prayers, sharing in the mystery of the Eucharist, and listening to sincere, passionate, and thoughtful sermons. (As a listener, I’ve noticed I like them shorter than I did back when I was a preacher!) Of course, I’ve seen churches at close range for long enough that I’m not naive about them, nor am I unaware of their serious problems and dysfunctions. But I believe in “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church,” as the old creed says, and in the holy faith with which that church is entrusted. And I believe that, as with Sarah and Elizabeth, just when you think the old girl is over the hill, she might take a pregnancy test and surprise us all.
This book is divided into two main sections. After some introduction, Book I addresses five profound and critical questions that are being raised by followers of Christ around the world. These questions, I believe, have the potential to unlock us from a prison in which we have been held hostage for a long time; once we unbolt long-held assumptions and raise these questions, new possibilities will open. Hence the title for Book I: “Unlocking and Opening.”
In Book II, we’ll consider five more questions. They are, perhaps, less profound or theologically radical, but they are equally important because of their down-to-earth practicality and the intensity of debate they engender. Once we begin to emerge from the first section’s constricting conventional paradigms, we will be able to explore these intense, practical questions in fresh and highly constructive ways. Hence the title to the second section: “Emerging and Exploring.”
These ten are by no means the only important questions being raised. In fact, stopping with these ten questions would qualify as an adventure in missing the point. But my sense is that we can’t get better answers to other urgent questions until we first unlock and open the first five and then emerge and explore the second five. I’ll identify some good candidates for the next round of questions in the book’s conclusion. Between here and there, I hope you’ll begin to feel the thrill of something trying to be born.
1
Between Something Real and Something Wrong
A small town in England, just before nine in the morning. Beautiful countryside, partly cloudy, an occasional shower, chilly, a little windy. I’m here to speak about the challenges and opportunities Christians face at this moment in history—in our theology, local church life, and mission in the world. A mixed group of clergy and lay people are taking their seats. As I move around the room, I meet Anglican priests, Baptist ministers, charismatic network leaders, Roman Catholics, and some who describe themselves as “de-churched,” or church dropouts. There are moms, dads, grandparents,