David Crumm Interviews Brian McLaren on 'We Make the Road by Walking'
For years, Brian McLaren has been writing best-selling books about renewing our faith. He wrote about becoming A New Kind of Christian
He wasn't abandoning the long-held traditions of Christianity, he argued. He was embracing what he called, in a 2004 book, A Generous Orthodoxy, which he defined (in one of the longest sub-titles ever published) as "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." He refused to capitalize any of the terms in that subtitle except the final word: CHRISTIAN.
Still in his 40s, McLaren was listed by TIME magazine as one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in America. TIME called him a leader in a worldwide movement to establish "a kinder and gentler brand of religion" and "yet remain true to Scripture." TIME called him "an elder statesman ... of the emerging church."
Like Dorothy, McLaren found himself riding a tornado. Many friends saw great hope in his message and he logged countless miles to appear before appreciative audiences. Many foes claimed he was abandoning truly evangelical Christianity and he shouldered countless attacks in news media and social media.
Now, in his late 50s, McLaren is retired from parish ministry and is more firmly in control of his own life's journey once again. He now seems far less interested in playing with labels-or battling his foes-than he is in the core message of his ministry: "The Living God is with us! And with all creation!"
Those are two lines you'll learn to proclaim if you read his new book, _ We Make the Road by Walking : A Year-Long Quest for Spiritual Formation, Reorientation, and Activation_ 
While a year-long Bible study may seem like a heavy-duty return to McLaren's evangelical roots, readers quickly discover that he remains steadfastly committed to his original message all those years ago: The Christian journey is always about change.
The book's opening lines are a challenge: "You are not finished yet. You are 'in the making.' You have the capacity to learn, mature, think, change and grow. You also have the freedom to stagnate, regress, constrict and lose your way. Which road will you take?"
ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm interviewed Brian McLaren about his new book. Here are ...
HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR INTERVIEW
WITH BRIAN McLAREN ABOUT
'WE MAKE THE ROAD BY WALKING'
DAVID: Readers could begin this year-long journey through the Bible at any point. You don't have specific dates attached to the 52 chapters. But the book is designed so that, if readers start in early September, they'll roughly reach the Christmas story in the appropriate season and so on. Can you explain that overall plan?
BRIAN: I'm a big fan of the church year, but as the church year is experienced in most congregations, the entire biblical story isn't connected very well. People hear little snippets from the Bible read aloud and it's hard to understand the big connections. So, I wanted to create some way to guide people through the biblical story as if these chapters might be sermons people would hear in church, week by week. In fact, I'm happy if groups want to use this book that way: as a series of sermons.
You're right, I decided to start this year with the North American school year, which begins each September. So, if readers do start in September and follow the book week by week, it will take them into the season of Advent during the winter and we will follow Jesus's life to Holy Week in the spring.
DAVID: This was smart. Most of the country's thousands of congregations scatter during the summer and gear up again around Labor Day.
BRIAN: I was a pastor for 24 years and I know a lot about how resources are used in congregations. Most of us organize ourselves around quarters, so one way to think of this book is: We look at the Hebrew scriptures in the first quarter, starting with Labor Day. Then, the second quarter is the life of Jesus. Then, we take the teachings of Jesus up through the Passion and Holy Week in the third quarter. And we look at what flows from the life of Jesus in the early church in the fourth quarter.
A SPECIAL ROLE FOR CHILDREN
DAVID: Here's another big selling point for congregations to get this book now-and start using it in the fall: You've included things for children throughout the book. If families are reading your book around the table, this is a terrific way to bring children into Bible study. And, nearly all of the growing churches I've visited have some kind of vibrant children's ministry. Your book includes something for children at each stop.
BRIAN: The idea of this book is to spark questions. And if we assume that people will be able to spend time regularly talking about these issues, then we should include all ages. Many gatherings include children. Can we involve our children in this process? I think we should.
My dream is that families will use this book and small groups will use it, too. And I hope that any families or groups with children can include them in the group. I'm not interested in cute little comments for kids on the side. We can do better than that. I've actually engaged with children using some of these questions and they can really add to the discussion, if you take this invitation seriously.
PRAYERS FOR THOSE WHO'VE LEFT THE CHURCH
DAVID: Obviously, I'm a big fan of this book. So let me raise another selling point: At the end of the book you give readers 12 pages of resources to use either in small-group worship or to use in church services. You've got prayers and other pieces of liturgy that people could use throughout the year.
BRIAN: I had two groups in mind when I wrote that part of the book. First, I meet a lot of people who have dropped out of church. Some who have dropped out are gay or they have family members who are gay-and, in many parts of the country, there's literally no church in their town where they can go without hearing gay people insulted.
DAVID: There's research to back up what you just said. The Public Religion Research Institute studied this pattern nationwide. Among the millennial generation, roughly 18 to 33 year olds, about 1 in 3 people who've left the church say that's one of the main reasons for leaving.
BRIAN: That's right. And, it's not the only reason people are leaving. Many people who work in the sciences are offended by churches that try to cram creationism down their throats. There are a lot of people of faith who just are not comfortable going into the churches near their homes. So if people do want to engage with liturgical resources themselves, then they will find them right in this book. People who may not feel comfortable walking into their local churches can use some of these ideas in that section of the book to actually enjoy some worship and prayer and liturgy on their own.
We should also point out that readers don't have to commit a full 52 weeks to this. I've got a bunch of ideas in the book about how to adapt this material. For example, I tell you how to do this in 13 weeks, if you prefer that length of time. I even explain how the book could be used in a weekend retreat. I put a lot of thought into the design of this book so that it can engage people in as many ways as possible.
A RADICAL IDEA:
IN CHRISTIANITY, CHANGE IS GOOD
DAVID: One of the major themes in this new book is: Change is not only possible-it's at the core of Christianity. That's a radical idea. You're not alone in this, of course. We just published an interview with Barbara Brown Taylor about her new book, Learning to Walk in the Dark, which preaches this same message: Change is good-so, as people of faith, we should be out there exploring new ideas all the time.
This also is a point raised by Philip Jenkins, the historian, who argues that we all should thank God that Christianity can change, because some earlier chapters of Christian history were pretty horrible. And, recently, I asked Marcus Borg about this point in our latest interview with him about his book, Convictions. Part of his answer was: "We grew up in an insular world with a limited view of reality in which we took the conventions around us for granted. ... I grew up in a pre-civil-rights-movement era with all kinds of false assumptions about the relationships between Christianity and the church and the world."
BRIAN: I completely agree with what Marcus said in that interview. Part of this happens when we live long enough to have experienced some regret about things that we once were quite dogmatic about. If you live long enough, most of us discover this on a personal level.
I also think our entire civilization is grappling with the pace of change right now. Our world is passing through such rapid change that a whole lot of people now are trying to turn back the clock to some moment in the past when they like to think "things were right."
In one of my earlier books, A New Kind of Christianity, I quote Gregory of Nyssa who believed in the idea of eternal progression. He defined sin as a refusal to grow.
DAVID: I know that you're deeply engaged with the global challenges of our day. You made that clear in the Preface you wrote for the new book, United America. Tell me in plain language, though: Are you afraid right now? There are so many terrible things happening around the world.
BRIAN: Well, we have reached a point in history where the future can be absolutely terrifying if you think about what we're doing to our climate, or you think about all of the nuclear weapons in the world. These weapons now can fit into suitcases that can be carried around the world! The Fundamentalists may be right: The End might be near. So, as I look at the world, I don't necessarily see a future full of liberation.
As I said in that Preface I wrote for United America, the truth is: Liberals and conservatives need something from each other. We can find a common ground-and we need to realize that is possible. There needs to be dialogue about the kind of a world we are building. And in this new book, We Make the Road by Walking, I am showing readers that the Bible is full of these points in history when there were dialogues about this same question: What kind of a world are we building?
DAVID: Our publishing house is about to publish a book, later this year, written by eight Christian bishops (six in the U.S., one from Europe and one from Africa) and collectively they have chosen the theme: Be Not Afraid. I think the point you are making in your book, and the resources you are providing, are so timely in that regard.
BRIAN: My testimony is this: If you are not tempted to despair then I don't think you've taken the problems we face seriously enough. But, until you are tempted by despair, the value of faith never becomes clear.
Jim Wallis says, "Faith is believing against the evidence and then watching the evidence change." I say this: It is in honestly facing our despair that our faith does begin to matter. I often think of Dr. King saying that the moral arc of the universe bends toward justice. Now, I can't prove the truth of King's claim through the laws of physics. But, I am willing to spend the rest of my life working from King's belief.
Care to read more about Brian McLaren?
- _ VISIT HIS WEBSITE _-Brian regularly writes for many publications in print and online, and the wide range of his work usually is reflected at his personal website.
- _ VISIT OUR BRIAN McLAREN RESOURCE PAGE- _For years, ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm has been interviewing Brian McLaren and we have collected this in-depth resource page, linking to various fascinating columns about Brian's work.
- _ BUY HIS BOOKS- _Click on the linked titles or the book cover, at top today, to visit Amazon.
(Originally published at www.ReadTheSpirit.com, an on line magazine covering religion, spirituality, values and interfaith and cross-cultural issues.)
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