A New Kind of Christianity...deep questions of faith at the intersection of main street in the global village

I first casually met Brian McLaren in 2003 at the " Shifting Realities Conference ", at Lambrick Park Church.( Yikes, was it that long ago ) I had a great vantage point, I spent most of my time behind the counter in the Cafe Suburbia brewing and serving coffee. It was the ideal space for some great conversations. What captured me then, and still does is Brian's humility, his grace and his hospitality of engaging others, drawing people in to conversation. Just when the conversation seems to be sputtering like a car running out of gas, Brian has that imagination to see something else...to ask that question that brings it back to life.

I'm not ashamed, call me a " McLarenite ", Brian has always stretched me, he has encouraged me...to stretch my limits of what it means to follow Jesus.  I wasn’t alone in finding his musings engaging. Many people occupying the virtual spaces of blogs, coffee shops, the fringe of the church were asking similar questions. The conversations that followed have stretched our understanding of orthodoxy and orthopraxy. From The Church On The Other Side , New Kind of Christian ,  A Generous Orthodoxy and Everything Must Change, Brian's journey has been one of profound re-imagination of what it means to faithfully follow Jesus across the threshold of a new decade and beyond.

Brian over the years has been caught in the cross fire by his critics, feeling he's gone to far in stretching the limits of faith conversation. But, in spite of it, he always responds with gracious humility. One wonders why he keeps going. Is it the money, being a high profile author, speaking and conference tours...I really don't think so. If you've ever talked to Brian you can't miss his passion for the " Church " and for living out faith in the wide open spaces of the world, it's contagious...that's what drives him.

Brian isn’t finished dreaming, imagitating and asking deeper questions. Whether you've never read any of his work, or whether you've read it all , his latest book may be his most important and inspiring yet: A New Kind of Christianity. Brian is sage, a pilgrim who has traveled the globe in search of faith, watching, listening and listening. Out of this lengthy season of exploration and reflection comes not answers, but profound questions. In the book, Brian asks ten questions that attempt to merge our everyday living with our faith, to live faithfully in the intersection of the global communities main street.

• The Narrative Question: What Is the Overarching Storyline of the Bible?
• The Authority Question: How Should the Bible Be Understood?
• The God Question: Is God Violent?
• The Jesus Question: Who is Jesus and Why is He Important?
• The Gospel Question: What Is the Gospel?
• The Church Question: What Do We Do About the Church?
• The Sex Question: Can We Find a Way to Address Sexuality Without Fighting About It?
• The Future Question: Can We Find a Better Way of View the Future?
• The Pluralism Question: How Should Followers of Jesus Relate to People of Other Religions?
• The What Do We Do Now Question: How Can We Translate Our Quest into Action?

The OOZE are teaming up with Brian to bring these questions into your churches, coffee shops, pubs and living rooms. In addition to the Think:FWD episode here (go here for show notes BTW), They are going to be launching an entire Brian McLaren channel devoted to exploring these questions starting in February. Stay tuned! A huge huge thanks to Spencer Burke, the busiest man around, always out there in the world measuring, and listening for the pulse of what's going on at the intersection of faith, culture and technology. He seems to be interviewing everyone. I'd love it if someone sat down to interview him. ( hint, hint...Bill Dahl, or Mike Morrell )

Over at Brian McLaren's website, he has been doing a countdown to the release of the book and give us small glimpses in the way of quotes...a clever way of baiting the hook.

I'm hoping to review the book here in a couple of weeks, so stay tuned. And I'm also looking at the possibility of exploring the book in a local coffee shop with a few folks who might be interested. It would have to be an afternoon gathering likely 2:00 til 4:00, because of my work schedule. If you think you might be interested shoot me an e-mail at ( labmanster at gmail dot com )

Comments

[Luke]

excellent post! i too greatly enjoy McLaren.

good to meet a fellow pilgrim on the journey!

[Randy Hein]

Did you know he was coming to town (Victoria) in the Spring?

[ron cole]

Hey Randy, yes I've heard rumours, but have seen no dates yet. Man, as I was reflecting back, that was such an awesome time, " Shifting Realities."I think at that time, Brian only had two books out. Brian, and Dan stretched everyone that weekend. It would be nice to see it happen again, I shiver to think what a two day event would cost with Brian. Anyways, it was a couple of days of great memories...to which really sparked my imagination.

[Al]

I hope you get some nibbles on another member or two of a reading group. I'm quite up for adding some more DNA to our gene pool!