Product Description

A Leadership Network Publication

A New Kind of Christian's conversation between a pastor and his daughter's high school science teacher reveals that wisdom for life's most pressing spiritual questions can come from the most unlikely sources. This stirring fable captures a new spirit of Christianity--where personal, daily interaction with God is more important than institutional church structures, where faith is more about a way of life than a system of belief, where being authentically good is more important than being doctrinally "right," and where one's direction is more important than one's present location. Brian McLaren's delightful account offers a wise and wondrous approach for revitalizing Christian spiritual life and Christian congregations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #73275 in Books
• Published on: 2001-03-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

From Library Journal
McLaren, pastor and author of The Church on the Other Side, proposes that postmodernism is the road to take in order to move on from the current stalemate between conservative evangelical and liberal Christians. His books are part of his activist work to promote "innovation, entrepreneurial leadership and a desire to be on the leading edge of ministry." Here he has adopted the fictional tale of an earnest, very conservative pastor who has become so burned out in his church life that he is planning to quit the pastorate. Instead, he makes friends with his daughter's science teacher, who leads him to an enthusiastic embracing of postmodernism as applied to the Christian message. In this fictional conversation, McLaren describes this process as a journey of Holy Spirit-guided faith "through the winds and currents of change." His conservative pastor character comes to accept the Bible as a premodern text that presents its message in story and does not have to conform to our modern expectations. The book's attention-grabbing format is an effective mode of presenting McLaren's ideas. Recommended for all public libraries. Eugene O. Bowser, Univ. of Northern Colorado, Greeley
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
“…This book is, quite simply, brilliant…” (Faith for Life, 21/12/04)

"This is a book that heightens the depths and deepens the peaks. Like all the best things in life, it is not to be entered into lightly, but reverently and in the fear of a God who is waiting for the church to stop asking 'What would Jesus do?' and start asking 'What is Jesus doing?'" (Dr. Leonard Sweet, E. Stanley Jones Chair in Evangelism, Drew University, and bestselling author of Post-Modern Pilgrims, SoulSalsa, SoulTsunami, and AquaChurch; coauthor of A Cup of Coffee at the Soul Cafe)

"Get ready to wake up your spirit and breath deep. McLaren's A New Kind of Christian is a street-level, lived excursion into this present millennium-a world where ministry by control, condescension, and smug certainty gives way to incarnational faith." (Sally Morgenthaler, president, SJM Management Co. and author of Worship Evangelism)

"McLaren's courageous and honest reassessment of our cherished customs and cliches stimulates creative thinking on these vital issues. A New Kind of Christian is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in preparing the church to be vital force in the next generation." (Chuck Smith, Jr., senior pastor, Capo Beach Valvary Chapel and author, The End of the World As We Know It)

"...an engaging tale..." (Christianity & Renewal, July 2002)

Review
"Finally, an approach to Christianity that walks its walk by presenting Jesus' message of unconditional love in an open and non-threatening way. A New Kind of Christian offers tremendous tools for breaking down walls built from previous experiences with judgmental and fear-based religion." —Kim Corbin, Skipping activist and founder of iskip.com

Customer Reviews

Great Observations...Not So Great Historical Analysis
A New Kind of Christian: Thoughts on Brian McClaren's Book

Brian McClaren has written a new and fascinating book entitled A New Kind of Christian. I have a deep affinity with what Brian has both attempted and accomplished here. Brian has stood upon the ramparts, seen the battle around him and is pointing to a new way of being Christian in the 21st century. He is motivated by nothing but love for Christ and his kingdom. He understands that the old wineskins have burst, and that the long-suffering Spirit of God is now pointing out a new way forward. Yet, for all of that - Brian's work is not all of one piece. It is both a thoughtful investigation of evangelicalism's failure to recognize the transition from Modernism to Post-modernism, and also an unsatisfying solution to the problems posed by that shift.

From the very beginning of the book, Brian's observations are unassailable. Post-modernism is a new era - one that has dawned with force in Western culture. Christians aboard the cultural ship of state today watch wide-eyed as the moral machinery of their worldview is getting heaved overboard - piece by piece. They find themselves on a cruise they never imagined. Brian argues effectively that the comprehensiveness of this change is frightening. And yet, like any new era, although the transition is filled with painful changes, it is also filled with unimagined opportunities.

To best make his point, Brian casts his views in the form of a fictional narrative (the lingua franca of Post-modernism!). The protagonist of the narrative is a wizened person of color, appropriately named Neo. Neo is a "new kind of Christian", stuffed full of fresh insights in how to navigate the waters of Post-modernism. In the seminal central chapters of the book, Brian has Neo lay out his central argument to a hypothetical campus Christian audience. It is an argument from history. The sum of the argument is this: just as the transition from medieval Catholicism to the Reformation created a new kind of Christian, so now in the shift from Modernism to Post Modernism we need A New Kind of Christian.

So far so good.

But if we tease apart the analogy, how far can it go? It is the aptness of Brian's analogy that is at issue here. The very real question we must ask ourselves is whether Brian is flushing out the doctrinal baby with the cultural bathwater.

Underlying Brian's argument is an unspoken assumption, namely, that every new major epoch in history is not merely evolutionary - it is revolutionary. Each new era creates by necessity a new paradigm, and that paradigm sweeps away the preceding era. Hence, he argues that just as the Reformation and scientific Modernism swept away medievalism in the 1500's , now Post-modernism is sweeping away Modernism - along with its quaint tools of analysis and logic.

After all, nothing is quite as dated as yesterday's insights. Right?

But wait a second.

Is it really true that ALL the constructs that Modernism affirms must be superceded? When Jesus said, "I am the way the truth and the life", we can be confident that his statement was both timeless and transcultural. It was not intended to be shelved when the next intellectual purge rolled through history. Jesus' truth claims, both relational and logical, made it past the shift from Pre-modernism to Modernism, at least among orthodox Modernists in the church. Likewise, when Jesus said, "I tell you that not one jot or tittle shall pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." - He meant it. The truth of this statement is not diminished because once upon a time Christian Modernists believed it. For Brian, then, there seems to be a curious inconsistency of indebtedness to the prior era. If the content of a former era speaks to spiritual formation, it seems, Brian adopts it. If it uses analysis and logic, he drops it. Even an Hegelian view of history grants to any new era (the synthesis) more indebtedness to its prior era (thesis) than Brian does.

We are left with an unsatisfied feeling after closing the book. We want to celebrate Brian's brilliant observations and teach them to a sleeping Modernist church - but we feel we cannot - at least not in their original form.

Why?

In sum, two problems dog Brian's view of history. First, there is a naïve optimism apparent here. Historical progression, does not necessarily lead to progress. A synthesis (even an Hegelian one!) may lead downward rather than upward. Consequently, we can't agree with Brian's inference that Postmodernism is necessarily better than Modernism because it has superceded it. Postmodernism, we would argue, is doubtless a better way to live - but just as certainly - it is a poorer way to think.

Second, liberal theologies throughout history have spent their energies dichotomizing truth. That is, they separate spiritual truth from the world of verification and analysis. The well-intentioned thinking behind this, is that this kind of surgery is necessary. It saves both the text and faith itself from methods neither was designed to withstand. The end result is that two realms of truth are created. Spiritual truth dwells in the realm of the unverifiable, while physical truth lies in the realm of verification. For those that adopt this dichotomy, matters of faith live and breathe only in the heart - and there they stay. Years ago, Francis Schaeffer called this "upper story" versus "lower story" thinking. And this, unwittingly is where we are lead by Brian's treatment of history. After reading A New Kind of Christian, we are left with the impression that the spiritual truths of Scripture and the factual/logical statements of Scripture are not woven seamlessly into a single cloth.

Let's look at two examples. We waste our time, according to Brian, if we argue against evolution. Second, we worry too much, Brian says, about using the (apparently anachronistic) tools of logic and analysis. Yet, is this split between the "Modernist" tools of logic and analysis (which, incidentally, predate Modernism) and the "spiritual" truths of Scripture really necessary? The Jesus of Scripture is both the one who wept over Jerusalem and outgunned the Pharisees in brilliant logical argumentation. The One who called all men to come to Him, is also the One who made logically exclusive truth statements 25 times in the gospel of John alone. He is the One who is both above all things (transcendent) and yet by Him all things hold together (immanent). The Jesus of Scripture, then is multifaceted. He is both perfectly and completely relational and also the Lord of all rational truth, including logic and analysis. For this reason, He can speak to both the relational Post-Modern and the analytical Modern.

Our challenge is to learn to do the same.

Not for the faint of heart!
I have a lot of respect for Brian and this book is a rare gift. I fear that some won't hear the essential message because they'll get bogged down criticizing some of the details. I walked away from it disturbed and refreshed - disturbed because Brian challenged me to a deeper understanding of faithfulness; refreshed because he takes the first steps toward clearing a path for those willing to set aside preconceived notions about what it means to be a Christian. Pastor Dan and his mentor Neo address some of the key issues concerning how we can be faithful followers of Jesus in a world that has largely rejected institution-propped faith as out of touch with both current reality and the original message of Jesus. This book made me rethink my own journey both as a disciple and a pastor trying to navigate new terrrain. Aspects of this book are guaranteed to distress Bible worshippers, denominational loyalists, and institutional addicts. With a firm but loving challenge, McLaren dares 20th Century evangelicalism to pack up and move out of the house of its introverted individualistic salvation and onto the front porch of a 21st Century faith where it can once again be engulfed in the fresh air of a world where God is at work and people are hungry for authentic faith.

Confusion Over Clarity
Reformation and revival are the two most cherished enterprises every aspiring leader aims at when setting forth his or her vision. Those who desire to merely maintain the status quo only amount to managers who, in the end, are satisfied if nothing changes for the worse. Brian McLaren wants nothing to do with the latter and everything do with the former when he calls ordinary Christians to become "new kinds of Christians" by engaging the emerging postmodern culture we find ourselves in.

A New Kind of Christian (from now on Christian) has been one of the most popular books delineating the new postmodern church culture. It has also been a catalyst for the emergent church that inspires its parishioners to abandon their failed traditionalism and reform worship, evangelism, discipleship, leadership, and theology.

The best parts of the book are the pictures of friendship McLaren creates where spiritual connections are made between two sojourning souls: Reverend Dan Poole and science teacher/former pastor Dr. Oliver who takes the rather banal nickname, "Neo."

Christian is a very creative and well-written apology of emergent values. It takes ordinary people stuck in a wasteland of stale Christianity and revives them through a sometimes agonizing, but necessary paradigm shift.

However, the problem with the book is that it portrays this spiritual metamorphosis through the rejection of one worldview in favor for another. Basically, if you want to become a "new kind of Christian" you have to throw off your modern way of thinking and become postmodern.

McLaren's character Dan Poole is a worn out pastor who is tired from the constant criticism of his church members, the church politics, and the fighting he has to endure for every little change. The story begins with his doubts about his ministry, even his faith, and he seeks counsel from a local high school teacher, Neo, on how to get into teaching. As it turns out, Neo was once a pastor who left the ministry because he went through the very same experience Dan is going through. Neo befriends Dan and immediately diagnosis the problem. He simplistically tells Dan that he has a modern faith in a postmodern world, and pushes Dan to think differently about his social context.

Although many of his conclusions are completely overdrawn, McLaren is correct in saying the way we read the Bible is colored by our environment. However, he awkwardly states that modernism isn't necessarily evil and postmodernism, good; however, little of the book supports this. The rest of the book is biased towards postmodernism being the saving grace that will resurrect a dying faith.

Every major doctrinal problem that has perplexed Christians for the last 100 years is read through this type of "modern = bad/change for better = Christian faith + postmodern view" paradigm. You will have many more times of confusion than clarity when reading this, otherwise creative and well-written book.