Brian's Blog
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June 14, 2011
New Hope for Southern Baptists
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.
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Enjoying grandparenthood ...
A picture my wife took (obviously) without my knowledge ... which she captioned, "grandpa on baby duty."
Ah, life is good.
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Great stuff over at Read the Spirit -
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
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Alfred North Whitehead and A New Kind of Christianity
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.
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June 13, 2011
Greening Eritrea ...
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
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Q & R: Pre-emptive Peace, Developmental Economics
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..
Here's the R:Continue reading Q & R: Pre-emptive Peace, Developmental Economics...
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In Vancouver
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.
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June 11, 2011
Two important pieces on Israel and Palestine ...
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 ......
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June 10, 2011
More great summer reading ...
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?
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June 9, 2011
Chords for With Kindness
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.)
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A happy guy ...
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.
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June 8, 2011
great summer reading ...
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!
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Q & R: War Memorials
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
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June 7, 2011
