A New Kind Of Christian
In 1999-2000, I was on STINT in Russia. I was very new to Christian Culture and Crusade Culture for that matter. It has taken me a while to learn the language.
From my team and the team that followed developed a family. We still keep in touch. Around 2003 we began to pass around a book called, "A New Kind of Christian" by Brian McLaren.
This book really rocked the worlds of these former Campus Crusade student leaders.
Many within the evanglical community have feared and resisted the "Emerging Church Movement" Many have not had time to truly read or listen to the questions they ask or issues they address. Many have heard people in "their camp" speak poorly of the "emergent camp" and thus distance themselves without knowledge of what its all about.
Brian McLaren is one of the articulates of a post-modern expression of Christ's church. He has written many books in which have resonated with me and my experience. Of course I do not agree with all that he ever says....but he isnt asking me to. The Emergent Movement (of course not all within it...you always have the wheat and the tares) seeks to reopen dialogue.
Here are some quotes from some of McLaren's writings that have encouraged me"
"So salvation is joining God's mission instead of trying to live by our own selfish, personal agenda. The issus isnt being saved, born again, or crossing the live...it is following Jesus, joining in his adventure and mission of saving the world and expressing God's love" pg 131 of " A New Kind of Christian"
"Has He (Jesus) become ( I shudder to ask this) less out Lord and more our mascot? Lord means "master" (the very opposite of mascot...." from : pg 83 of " A Generous Orthodoxy"
"The gospel as he has understood it was about saving individual souls. He had begun having some problems with it. 1) It smacked of selfishness...would God want a heaven full of people who wanted to be "saved" but didnt necesarilly want to be good? If we pitch the whole story as, "Do you want to go to heaven or hell?, he said, we run the risk of attracting people who want salvation from hell without necessarily salvation from sin." : pg 82 "A New Kind of Christian"
" Sure it has answers, but I dont think that is the point. Think of a math book, Dan. Is it valuable because it has the answers in the back? No, its valuable because by working through it, by doing the problems, by struggling with it, you become a wiser person, a person capable of solving problems....The whole answer book approach is what modern people want the Bible to be": pg 52 "A New Kind of Christian"
"Then I added six words: "To be and make disciples of Jesus Christ in authentic community for the good of the world." That last phrase brings the essence of missional into the equation. It says that Christians are not the end users of the gospel. It says that the gospel of Jesus is not "all about me". pg. 119 " A Generous Orthodoxy"
" Missional faith asserts that Jesus came to preach the good news of the kingdom of God to everyone, especially the poor. He came to seek and save the lost. He came on behalf of the sick. He came to save the world. His gospel and therefore the Christian message , is good news for the whole world. The idea that the Christian message is universally good news for Christians and non Christians alike is , to some, unheard of, strange, and perhaps heretical.......Jesus was a Jew and so saw Himself as one of Abraham's descendants. Abraham's original contact with God involved a kind of mission statement: I will bless you, God said, and I will make you a blessing to others. I will make your name and nation great, God said, and through you, all nations will be blessed. " pg 120 " A Generous Orthodoxy"
Brian McLaren encourages me through his writings to bring people into the Kingdom of God not to buy a ticket out of hell and learn all the right answers...but to receive salvation from the living God, through Jesus Christ, so that we can be a blessing to the world....salvation is about more than me and you consuming. He encourages to seek more truth than ever and to believe in a God bigger than our modern era can hold.
From my team and the team that followed developed a family. We still keep in touch. Around 2003 we began to pass around a book called, "A New Kind of Christian" by Brian McLaren.
This book really rocked the worlds of these former Campus Crusade student leaders.
Many within the evanglical community have feared and resisted the "Emerging Church Movement" Many have not had time to truly read or listen to the questions they ask or issues they address. Many have heard people in "their camp" speak poorly of the "emergent camp" and thus distance themselves without knowledge of what its all about.
Brian McLaren is one of the articulates of a post-modern expression of Christ's church. He has written many books in which have resonated with me and my experience. Of course I do not agree with all that he ever says....but he isnt asking me to. The Emergent Movement (of course not all within it...you always have the wheat and the tares) seeks to reopen dialogue.
Here are some quotes from some of McLaren's writings that have encouraged me"
"So salvation is joining God's mission instead of trying to live by our own selfish, personal agenda. The issus isnt being saved, born again, or crossing the live...it is following Jesus, joining in his adventure and mission of saving the world and expressing God's love" pg 131 of " A New Kind of Christian"
"Has He (Jesus) become ( I shudder to ask this) less out Lord and more our mascot? Lord means "master" (the very opposite of mascot...." from : pg 83 of " A Generous Orthodoxy"
"The gospel as he has understood it was about saving individual souls. He had begun having some problems with it. 1) It smacked of selfishness...would God want a heaven full of people who wanted to be "saved" but didnt necesarilly want to be good? If we pitch the whole story as, "Do you want to go to heaven or hell?, he said, we run the risk of attracting people who want salvation from hell without necessarily salvation from sin." : pg 82 "A New Kind of Christian"
" Sure it has answers, but I dont think that is the point. Think of a math book, Dan. Is it valuable because it has the answers in the back? No, its valuable because by working through it, by doing the problems, by struggling with it, you become a wiser person, a person capable of solving problems....The whole answer book approach is what modern people want the Bible to be": pg 52 "A New Kind of Christian"
"Then I added six words: "To be and make disciples of Jesus Christ in authentic community for the good of the world." That last phrase brings the essence of missional into the equation. It says that Christians are not the end users of the gospel. It says that the gospel of Jesus is not "all about me". pg. 119 " A Generous Orthodoxy"
" Missional faith asserts that Jesus came to preach the good news of the kingdom of God to everyone, especially the poor. He came to seek and save the lost. He came on behalf of the sick. He came to save the world. His gospel and therefore the Christian message , is good news for the whole world. The idea that the Christian message is universally good news for Christians and non Christians alike is , to some, unheard of, strange, and perhaps heretical.......Jesus was a Jew and so saw Himself as one of Abraham's descendants. Abraham's original contact with God involved a kind of mission statement: I will bless you, God said, and I will make you a blessing to others. I will make your name and nation great, God said, and through you, all nations will be blessed. " pg 120 " A Generous Orthodoxy"
Brian McLaren encourages me through his writings to bring people into the Kingdom of God not to buy a ticket out of hell and learn all the right answers...but to receive salvation from the living God, through Jesus Christ, so that we can be a blessing to the world....salvation is about more than me and you consuming. He encourages to seek more truth than ever and to believe in a God bigger than our modern era can hold.
posted by Melinda at
6:03 PM
1 Comments:
this post makes me think of sitting on the heater
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