Interview with Brian McLaren: Generous Orthodoxy…

publisher — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 14:54:07 +0000

Next-Wave: Tell us a little about your background?
McLaren: I grew up in a Christian family, wonderful parents, but a pretty narrow church experience among a small group called the Plymouth Brethren — which is also the background of Garrison Keillor and Jim Wallis, by the way. It was a restorationist, fundamentalist group — giving me a lot of priceless exposure to the Bible, along with many wonderful examples and heroes, plus exposure to some eccentricities that have turned out to be helpful and instructive for my work in the larger church community.
Next-Wave: What is a generous orthodoxy?
McLaren: Well, I took a whole book to try to answer that, and still didn’t do it justice, but in a sentence, a generous orthodoxy is an attempt to remarry two things that never should have been divorced — truth and love, orthodoxy and orthopraxy, doctrine and ethics/mission. The phrase comes from Hans Frei, a leading postliberal theologian. I think it represents the hopeful possibility of a convergence of postliberal and postconservative Christians.
Next-Wave: Why did you feel compelled to write this book?
McLaren: Because of my earlier books, I receive invitations to speak to a wide variety of Christians, from across the spectrum between liberal and fundamentalist, with all the moderate and evangelical stops along the way. I see encouraging signs of God at work among all of these groups—fresh winds blowing, people breaking out of old, constricting boxes. I sense a bubble of discontent hidden beneath the surface … and I hoped, and hope, that we can acknowledge that discontent with the status quo and channel it toward constructive and fruitful ends. In many ways, this book has been gestating in me from way back in the days of the Jesus Movement, when many of us were coming together focused on Christ and his peace and joy, not being distracted or divided by other things, lesser things.
Next-Wave: You go to great lengths to warn readers of the content in the book—why did you do this?
McLaren: Since my goal was bringing people together, it would be completely counterproductive to make people mad. Yet I needed to deconstruct some of their categories. So, I decided to use some humor, irony, self-effacement, and oddness at the beginning of the book to help readers lighten up, become less serious, and read a bit more playfully, since many spiritual blessings only come to those who are childlike.
Next-Wave: Who is this book written to?
McLaren: I had three groups in mind – disillusioned Christians, Christians interested in exploring faith in new territory beyond modern constraints, and people exploring Christian faith from the outside.
Next-Wave: Do you think Jesus would be a Christian today?
McLaren: I think he would love Christians, as he would love Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, new agers, and even atheists. But I’m not sure he would be well-received among Christians. In fact, I’m pretty sure most of us, maybe all of us, would call him a heretic and excommunicate him, or at least keep him under close surveillance.
Next-Wave: In the book you talk about being surrounded by Christians who like the idea of the American God, and the middle-class Republican Jesus. How do you think this culture has distorted the view of lordship?
McLaren: Don’t get me started on this, or I’ll lapse into rant. Let me just say that I’m very very afraid of what’s happening in the church in America. I’m afraid we’re falling into a warrior trance, where the church baptizes the state or seeks to reclaim a kind of Constantinian power in the American empire. We’re not listening to our brothers and sisters across the globe who are shocked and disappointed in our uncritical support of our government. We say we trust in the Lord, but it seems to me that our trust is pretty enmeshed with “horses and chariots” as the Psalmist said. We’re succumbing to the politics of fear. We think that because we’re pious—because we pray and sing and use lots of highly religious language – that we’re immune to this kind of seduction, but it’s happened a thousand times in history, and I think we’re no less vulnerable. In fact, our wealth and power should make us more vulnerable to these seductions. As I said … don’t get me started.
Next-Wave: Describe what it means to be missional.
McLaren: The term missional asks this question: what is the purpose of the church? To enfold and warehouse Christians for heaven, protecting them from damage and spoilage until they reach their destination? Or to recruit and train people to be transforming agents of the kingdom of God in our culture? The missional church understands itself to be blessed not to the exclusion of the world, but for the benefit of the world. It is a church that seeks to bring benefits to its nonadherents through its adherents.
Next-Wave: In your book, you describe the term “evangelical” as being sectarian and restrictive. What do you mean by this?
McLaren: Actually, I distinguish between “E”vangelical, and “e”vangelical, and the latter, I believe, is one of the most nonsectarian and inviting terms we have, meaning focused not on doctrinal distinctives and sectarian squabbles, but on the gospel which brings hope to us all.
Next-Wave: Talk about the role poetry plays in a generous orthodoxy.
McLaren: There’s a kind of ungenerous orthodoxy that is like spiritual accounting – adding up debits and credits in a kind of merciless, heartless judgment. It uses the language of law and engineering; it likes exact sciences so that it can draw neat lines to make clear who’s in (us) and who’s out (them). A generous orthodoxy sees this and heads in the other direction. It sees the language of poetry as essential in the Bible – it’s not only the language of the Psalms, but also of the prophets, and of Jesus. Poetry conveys mystery, and mystery humbles, and humility doesn’t judge, but sees others as better than oneself.
Next-Wave: How does a generous orthodoxy regard the Bible?
McLaren: It tries to say about the Bible what the Bible says about itself. For example, it believes that the Bible is inspired by God, is useful for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in just living. It believes the Bible is intended to prepare us to do good works, and to encourage us and give us hope.
Next-Wave: What do you hope to accomplish by writing this book?
McLaren: I hope to give hope to people who have lost, or almost lost, hope. I hope to encourage a convergence of people who feel the status quo isn’t good … people from across the spectrum of the Christian community – people who want to love God and love their neighbors above all. I see many Christians constricting in a kind of harsh, nationalistic neo-fundamentalism. I hope to imagine a better alternative and stimulate others to imagine it too, and pursue it, live it.
Next-Wave: What is your definition of orthodoxy?
McLaren: I like Chestertons’ definition. Orthodoxy is, he said, “a whirling adventure.” Rather than being something we possess like a membership card in our wallet, it’s something we seek – like a dream, like an ambition, like a calling.

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Interview with Brian McLaren: Generous Orthodoxy…