A New Kind Of Christian (Brian McLaren)

from an email July 5, 2006

One of my goals this summer was to read some books that aren't necessarily inside my "comfort zone". I wanted to read stuff by people who don't hold to the same philosophy of ministry as I do or the same theological positions.

I just finished a book by Brian McLaren. His book entitled "A New Kind of Christian" is … um… let me say… "interesting". There was stuff I totally agreed with him on, there was stuff I totally disagreed with him on. He brought up some great points about what its like to be a pastor, what his ideal seminary (training grounds) for pastors would be, and he touched on missions and evangelism.

All in all, the purpose of his book was to challenge us to engage our culture today where it's at and to go to it, not expect it to come to us! He also said that we should not to get stuck in a rut thinking "oh this is the way church was always run" or "this is the way we also did it". He writes:

I think of Paul in 1 Corinthians 9, saying that he'll become whatever he has to – Jewish or Gentile, educated or simple – in order to effectively convey the good news. Today maybe he'd say, "To the moderns I became modern, and to the postmoderns I became postmodern, so that by all appropriate means I could help people find Christ." (pg 22)

Here some more quotes in my different categories.

Stuff I agree with McLaren on:

Christianity too often is the enemy of the gospel (pg 63)

I somewhat agree. Hypocritical 'christians' often give true Christians a bad name.

I look back over my years in ministry and ask what has really helped people change and deepen spiritually: (1) youth retreats (2) short-term mission trips (3) some small groups (I say some – others were a waste of time) (4) many one-to-one relationships (5) getting people involved leading something or serving somewhere (pg 122)

Let's say that the essence of our identity as people of God isn't that we're an elite, saved for privilege, but ordinary people saved for service, for responsibility (pg 131)

Stuff I disagree with McLaren on:

In the long run, I'd have to say that the world is better off for having these religions (Islam, Hinduism, etc) than having no religions at all, or just one, even if it were ours. (pg 63)

What he meant by that I'm not sure? At some points Brian McLaren says he believes Jesus is the only way. But then other points he says that people of other religions are not really lost. I was confused…. Then he wrote this… (that I totally disagreed with!)

Sometimes I wonder if we have it all wrong. Maybe it's not that there are two places beyond the door of death, heaven and hell. Sometimes I wonder if hell is just what heaven feels like for those who haven't learned in this life what this life is intended to teach. (pg 91)

Quotes about being a pastor:

I told him I was tired, tired of all the church politics, tired of the constant criticism, tired of having to fight for every little change, tired of working for so many people who think they could do what I do better than me, who just don't understand. (pg 11)

I found the pastorate a pretty hard place to be a growing, thinking, honest Christian. Too many people want you to spout the party line, never question, never think. (pg 59)

When did they call him, midnight last night? There's the downside of pastoral ministry. (pg 157)

I guess I didn't really think much before now about how tiring it is being as a pastor. God bless all of the godly men serving in local churches around the world!!

Quote about seminary:

My ideal seminary would be one part monastery, one part mission agency, and one part seminar. Here's what I mean.

(1) By monastery I would want the seminarians to live in community of some sort… more spiritual formation takes place in a weekend retreat than in six months of weekly meetings....

(2) The mission agency part is closely related. I would want my seminarians to spend a lot of time traveling and experiencing places where mission is happening…My seminarians would be sent out on several missionary journeys during their apprenticeship.

(3) The seminar part would be different from a traditional school, which assumes people learn best by listening... People learn more by having to teach it. (pg 151)

I loved this part when I read it… cause I've thought about going to seminary and pretty much at Mac I've been doing the first 2 parts he talks about… living in community, going on retreats and going on missionary journeys :) Now all I have to do is study the Old and New Testaments and "brush up" on my Greek and Hebrew… how cool would that be?!

Quote about missions:

I would say that 30-40% of your generation is modern, with the majority being postmodern. That's why it's so important – if you're going to have any impact at all on your generation for Christ – for you to deal with these issues. If you were a missionary going to Spain, you'd have to learn to think and speak Spanish. If you are a missionary going to any educated culture on earth today, I think you need to learn to think and speak postmodern. (pg 44)

May God grant us wisdom and discernment as we seek to be His ambassador in this day and age in which we live! (1 Cor 5:20)