Brian D. McLaren

I’ve been digging into some books by Christian thinkers who have generally been frowned upon in the stream of Evangelicalism that I’ve grown up in. I’ve found it to be a very enlightening and convicting experience on many levels. That’s certainly that case again with A Generous Orthodoxy by Brian McLaren. Unlike Rob Bell, whose book Love Wins I also read this year, Brian was always a no-no author. Rob was #farewelled from my old evangelical circles, but McLaren was never even show more welcome. I expected that I would find him relativistic and full of fun, but ultimately thin platitudes, but was I pleasantly surprised.

I think Brian is definitely one of the most forward thinking Christians I’ve encountered and one who will not be pigeonholed with one label — which the subtitle of this book (Why I am a missional + evangelical + post/protestant + liberal/conservative + mystical/poetic + biblical + charismatic/contemplative + fundamentalist/calvinist + anabaptist/anglican + methodist + catholic + green + incarnational + depressed-yet-hopeful + emergent + unfinished Christian) expresses very well.

The book is separated into two broad sections including an introduction/warning called Chapter 0.

You can tell that the introduction was probably written last and (I think) reveals Brian’s introverted nature and also a great deal of his discomfort/uncertainty in sharing the ideas he expresses in the book. It warns the reader multiple times that they must be open minded and not looking for a list of rules or a closed case on orthodoxy. I think he was acutely aware of how this book would upset and challenge those with a black and white, “small view” of God and McLaren uses “Chapter 0” to give them ample opportunity to return the book. There is also with a humility that permeates this chapter (as with all of this book) that reminds them that he is not offering up any new ideas of his own. Quoting G.K. Chesterton, McLaren says

“I am the man who with utmost daring discovered what had been discovered before…I did try to found a heresy of my own and when I had put the last touches to it, I discovered it was orthodoxy.”

The first section of the book begins by chronicling the movements of Brian’s spiritual life from fundamentalism, through the Jesus movement, to the charismatic church, into evangelicalism, and finally to where he was at the time of writing the book (2004). He let’s the reader in on the good things he has learned at each stop and also what things were stifling, uncomfortable, or troubling. He spends a good deal discussing the “Seven Jesuses” that he encountered through those spiritual rest stops and how each one revealed an important truth about Christ. Brian is clearly thankful and gracious towards each vision of Jesus he received stating that without each of the different revelations, his view of God would be incomplete. He then guides the reader into some more spiritual questioning based on the “Seven Jesus” he just described. Some questions focus on the nature of God as revealed in Jesus v.s. the nature many of us have been presented by the church. He also asks questions about what the church is, what salvation means, what atonement stories exist, etc…, letting the reader come to their own conclusions about how “full” their view of God is.

The second section of the book digs into each label listed in the book’s subtitle (Why I am a …) and takes the reader through the good, bad, and ugly of each one, encouraging them to see it from a new perspective and integrate it into their own spirituality. This section is the real meat of the book and the section I found the most healing, soothing, and challenge. I won’t go into detail about each section here as I plan on writing more in depth about each one in future posts, but suffice to say they were excellent.

I found Brian to be full of grace, generosity, and thoughtfulness. He never attacked any person or was flippant towards any theological stance or belief system. His perspective on many of the labels challenged the straw men that readers may consciously or unconsciously hold against them and encourages them to humbly reconsider their biases and false pretenses.

There was a quote from Roman Catholic missiologist Vincent Donovan that was used multiple times in the book and it truly captures the heart of Brain’s Message in A Generous Orthodoxy.

“Never accept and be content with unanalyzed assumptions, assumptions about work, about the people, about the church or Christianity. Never be afraid to ask questions about the work we have inherited or the work we are doing. There is no question that should not be asked or that is outlawed. The day we are completely satisfied with what we have been doing; that day we have found the perfect, unchangeable system of work, the perfect answer, never in need of being corrected again, on that day we will know that we are wrong, that we have made the greatest mistake of all”

This book came at a wonderful time for me. I am struggling with my spiritual past and future. Wondering if I’m questioning certain things too much or moving too far from the beliefs I used to hold. I often alternate between anger at the past “me” and the institutions I was involved in and fear at the new me and new “me” I’m moving towards. The words and ideas of this book calmed the storm in many ways and let me know that this path has been walked before. It didn’t blithely confirm or smooth over my current attitudes, but challenged me to face up to my own failures and often hateful, unfair attitudes. It didn’t didn’t stand in firm condemnation of me either, but reminded me that my spiritual life is a journey and unfinished one….this is just a moment in time. I look forward to sharing some more of about those things in my future posts about this book, but I hope that you will be encouraged to pick a copy of A Generous Orthodoxy, read it, and experience the good things Brian McLaren has to offer those seeking better ways of following Jesus. show less

McLaren's view of Jesus is as a do-er, not a thinker of theological argument designed to make everyone else wrong. The author identifies himself as "a follower of God in the way of Jesus," thus acknowledging there are other paths to God. I needed to know that to continue reading. I'm one of the many who flinch at the word Jesus. Like any other word that is used repeatedly to exploit, derogate, or condemn, a lot of thinking people have gone on to another vocabulary of spirituality in place of show more the abused Christian lexicon. McLaren is a good writer, and in several of the chapters on the history of society's problems with environment and social justice, he made little reference to the J word or to the Christian Church, and I became lost in his thoughtful, well-documented analyses. He has covered the issues and offered solutions as good as the best among social-conscience writers. McLaren believes that the great teacher's words have been misunderstood and misused by many Christians. His Jesus is a tree-hugging liberal who preaches and practices social justice (except for a bad moment with a poor fig tree). McLaren does not assert that the worship of Jesus is the answer to the world's problems, but he does assert that Jesus's teachings, as he interprets the scriptures, are the answer. Whereas I and others may squirm a bit at the J word, this book is needed by the Christian community, and I hope it gains a wide and open-minded readership there. From a Christian standpoint, I should think, this is very exciting reading. show less

Refreshing, as always, to see McLaren’s take on things. This book, he claims, was aimed toward “a broad, nonscholarly, and in many cases nonreligious audience”, and he did a very good job of writing something that can easily be understood and appreciated by Christians and non-Christians alike, something that people at any level of theological interest can reflect upon.

Written in a way that is easy to read and digest, this book shows us another way of looking at the message of Jesus - show more one that’s not as wrapped up in the more traditional way of understanding, one that shows us more than what we find in the traditional explanation. He goes into the political issues of the time, the different responses to the Roman occupation, showing us how Jesus’ response compares and differs from the other Jewish responses at the time. He also goes into the idea of “the kingdom” being attainable and achievable here and now, if only we would strive to see it be in our lives and in the world. Most of the Christians we hear try to tell us, or at least leave the impression, that the point is gaining our ticket to some sort of exclusive club after this life is over, and it’s nice to see someone saying that such thinking misses at least some of the point of Jesus and his message, which is meant to be applied to *this* life. Not that he seems to be denying an afterlife – but that seems to be beside the point of his main focus, which is to show us how the message of Jesus is meant to be understood and applied in our lives and our faiths in each and every moment, instead of seeing faith as merely a looking forward to a future moment or time.

Whether one is a Christian or not, this side of Jesus and his message is something I would recommend everyone take the time to consider. McLaren is an author I highly recommend to Christians and non-Christians alike. He offers a fresh perspective, and I’m constantly pleased in my exploration of his books. :) show less

I won't deny that I am a fan, so to speak, of Brian McLaren, that I constantly find him refreshing, offering fresh perspectives that I thoroughly enjoy time after time, especially since I, myself, tend to not believe in the more literal, doctrinal, typical representations of Christianity. So I really do enjoy the way he explains concepts and terms in a way that I find much more relate-able for those of us who do understand the message of Jesus differently.

The approach of this book, as we are show more told on page 22, "seeks to find a way to embrace the good in many traditions and historic streams of Christian faith, and to integrate them, yielding a new, generous, emergent approach that is greater than the sum of its parts." Starting with a chapter focused on an overview of the seven main examples of Jesus the author has encountered, the Conservative Protestant, Pentecostal/Charismatic, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Liberal Protestant, Anabaptist, and Jesus of the Oppressed representations, the book then goes on to look at different ideas when it comes to concepts such as "Son of God," what we mean when we call Jesus "Lord/Master," and what we mean when we speak of the idea of salvation or being saved, before going on in Part Two to the different kinds of Christianity (Missional, evangelical, Post/Protestant, Liberal/Conservative, Mystical/Poetic, Biblical, Charismatic/Contemplative, Fundamentalist/Calvinist, (Ana)baptist/Angelican, Methodist, catholic, Green, Incarnational, Depressed-Yet-Hopeful, Emergent, and Unfinished), explaining in each chapter what aspects of each strain of Christianity resonates with him and which parts perhaps could be improved upon, looking into the different histories and doctrinal distinctives of each, continuing to offer throughout his refreshing perspective and understanding.

I do understand that the intended audience, as we are told, are those in the fray, so to speak, those "who are about to leave (or have just left) the whole business because of the kinds of issues I raise in this book" as well as those who may be "spiritual seekers who are attracted to Jesus, but they don't feel there is room for them in what is commonly called Christianity unless they swallow a lot of additional stuff" (page 44), but I do think that this is a book (as are so many of his others) that offers ideas and perceptions that would benefit any Christian open enough to discussion and new ideas, and any non-Christian open to seeing Christianity through a different kind of lens, regardless of what one ultimately concludes upon completing the book. I really did enjoy the glimpses into the various traditions of faith, and I love his explanations of what a generous orthodoxy is/entails:

"To be a Christian in a generously orthodox way is not to claim to have the truth captured, stuffed, and mounted on the wall. It is rather to be in a loving (ethical) community of people who are seeking the truth (doctrine) on the road of missions (witness, as McClendon said), who have been launched on the quest by Jesus, who, with us, guides us still. Do we have it? Have we taken hold of it? Not fully, not yet, of course not. But we keep seeking. We're finding enough to keep us going. But we're not finished. That, to me, is orthodoxy - a way of seeing and seeking, a way of living, a way of thinking and loving and learning that helps what we believe become more true over time, more resonant with the infinite glory that is God."
(pages 333-334)

And:

"So perhaps orthodoxy will mean not merely correct conclusions but right processes to keep on reaching new and better conclusions, not just correct ends but right means and attitudes to keep on discovering them, not just straight answers but a straight path to the next question that will keep on leading to better answers. This kind of orthodoxy will welcome others into the passionate pursuit of truth, not exclude them for failing to posses it already."
(page 335)

I must say that though I have always strongly considered myself to be unorthodox, I could gladly find myself embracing this kind of orthodoxy. :) show less