Is Brian McLaren really...?
While reading a post on another blogpost I read something that sparked these thoughts:
It was stated that Brian M is a false prophet! Oh my goodness...
Well, the first book, A New Kind of Christian, I may have felt like some of you; upset, angry, challenged and so much more! But the more I opened my mind and my heart for God to speak something to me- the more I realized He was only trying to stretch me and maybe deprogram and reprogram some of the stuff I always taught and believed and practiced as truth.
As I processed his stuff as shocking as it sometimes is, the more I am led to deeper processing and a deepened search for Truth aside from what I have always been taught and preached for years. Many of us don't like to think or be challenged for what we think as truth and the faith and practices we hold dear..
Please don't rule him out and label him a false prophet or worse. At the same time he will admit that he is not a biblical scholar so don't accept everything he says -but please allow God to help us filter Brian's thoughts in a way for God to teach us new things. I believe that Brian M is a great teacher and believe it or not He is advancing the kingdom and causing us to think outside (the box) and way beyond what we have always known as truth and practice. One will also understand more fully how to engage milleniums (young twenty something's) with renewed understanding and we are challenged by them to speak only the Truth and not what we sometimes call Truth and I know you know what I mean.
The most profound Truth I have gleaned from Brian M is simply this. "The reason young adults are leaving the church is because (we, they) put God in a box that is too small to hold the God they serve or want to serve."
Please don't shoot me or label me as a liberal or un-Biblical freak! Brian is a fellow believer and once again as the church let's try not to shoot the wounded. Brian M is being attacked by none other than those "holy ones". While they attack I buy all of his books, I read them, I sift through them and I PRAY FOR HIM to have wisdom and protection from the evil one.
Now it's your turn to weigh in.
posted by Bob Carder @ 10:56 AM
11 comments
11 Comments:
I've read a lot of Brian's stuff and for the most part I have enjoyed being challenged by his thoughts; most of which I agree with.
The only thing that bugs me about him is that he doesn't take a definitive stand on the hard issues. He seems to dance around the issue and never say, "This is what I believe about this issue and this is why I believe it."
But, I guess that's what makes Brian Brian. I get the impression from him that he wants people to think for themselves rather than simply parrot what someone else says. That's cool.
Sometimes he scares me. Most of the time he moves me to deeper places of contemplation.
I will never understand our (collective our) need to denigrate someone who doesn't speak, think, or live out "the truth" the same way we speak, think, and live it out.
Do I agree with everything McLaren says? No. Neither do I disagree with everything.
But let's remember, that it is an individual grace we receive -- not a one size fits all. It is custom made grace, not assembly line. McLaren needs grace no less than does Bobert -- or me.
Does that sound like the dreaded tolerance of the world?
I have a favorite piece of writing that someone painted on a picture for me. It's from AW Tozer and it says, "If God can be understood and comprehended by any of our human means...then I cannot worship Him. I will never bend my knees and say "Holy, Holy, Holy" to that which I have been able to decipher and figure out in my own mind! That which I can explain will never bring me to a place of awe. It can never fill me with astonishment or wonder or admiration."
Many have drifted into my office over the years. It's interesting to watch people's reaction as they read it. Some nod in agreement, and others show definite signs of an uncomfortable nature. Why is it that we just can't seem to live with tension? It seems that the place of tension is where God most makes Himself known to us (so my life experience has been...as well as many other young adults and teenagers in today's world), yet we often find ourselves on a regular basis trying to resolve tension and bring about answers. I believe the same is true in our study of God. We try and do whatever we can to relieve the tension, yet it's in the tension...when we become o.k. with it...the mystery of it all...that God most clearly begins to speak to us.
Do we have enough answers? I say YES...and praise God! Do we need more questions and people to ask questions?...to lead us to a new place of awe?...YES!
one more thought...and I hate saying things without knowing the source...but I once read someone who did a study on Jesus in the gospels. Anyway, I think I'm going to check this out. The study dealt with Jesus and the fact he was asked hundreds of direct questions...yet he only gave a direct answer to very few. Seems Jesus was ambiguous, too. Just a thought.
Curt: Love that Tozer quote! Can you point to where it comes from? Post here.
bob,
i read this today on a blog of a friend of mine. thought you might like to see it. she's 25 or so.
http://www.xanga.com/barefoot47/539181328/item.html
adam
Bobert must be on vacation!
Bobert must be on vacation!
I should say! He writes and writes and writes and chides us for not writing back...and yet...??? :)
I haven't had a vacation all year. Now that you have caught up with me I'll take off again!
Mike E.
I'm working on finding the quote. My mother-in-law tells me she got it from a card...and it marked AW Tozer as the author. Not sure of the exact source of his...but I'll see what I can find. I guess we only have Dayspring or Hallmark to thank for now.
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