Download - Greenbelt christian identity
Christian
Identityin a
Multi-Faith
World
CLENCHING
FIST
OR
OPEN HAND
We know how to have
a STRONG-HOSTILE CHRISTIAN IDENTITY.
STRONG-HOSTILE
We have the only way.
You are going to hell.
We are God’s chosen.
You worship false gods.
resistance if futile.
you will be assimilated - or eliminated.
We know how to have
a weak-benignCHRISTIAN IDENTITY.
weak-benign
it doesn’t matter what you believe.
all religions are the same.
all roads lead to god.
only sincerity matters.
doctrines divide.
keep religion private.
strong-hostile
OR
weak-benign?
Or???
IDENTITIES ARE
FORMED BY Stories.
SOME promote
violence.
SOME PROMOTE PEACE.
WHICH KIND DO WE LIVE BY?
Ivan Illich (Austrian former priest,
philosopher, social critic, 1926-2002)
Neither revolution nor reformation can ultimately change a society, rather you must tell a new powerful tale, one so persuasive that it sweeps away the old myths and becomes the preferred story …
… one so inclusive that it gathers all the bits of our past and our present into a coherent whole, one that even shines some light into the future so that we can take the next step…. If you want to change a society, then you have to tell an alternative story.
- attributed to Ivan Illich (Austrian former priest, philosopher, social critic, 1926-2002)
What kind of story did Jesus tell?
Jesus entered a world like ours - running on stories of
DominationRevolutionPurification/ScapegoatingIsolationCompetitionVictimization/Self-preservation
This is remarkably similar to the religious situation in Jesus’ day.
-Domination - Sadducees, Herodians, Romans-Revolution - Zealots-Purification/Scapegoating - Pharisees -Isolation - Essenes-Competition - Wealthy Judeans-Victimization/Self-preservation - Poor Galileans, sinners, lepers, outcasts
We could call these the stories of the clenching fist ...
Warrior narrativesConflict narrativesSword narratives
SIX CLENCHING-FIST NARRATIVES TYPICALLY DIRECT HUMAN SOCIETIES:
1.THE DOMINATION STORY: PEACE AND SECURITY THROUGH BEING IN CONTROL
“If only we were in charge!” (Empire)
2. THE REVOLUTION STORY: PEACE AND SECURITY THROUGH VIOLENT OVERTHROW OF OPPRESSORS.
“If only THEY weren’t in control!” (Revenge)
3. THE PURIFICATION STORY: PEACE AND SECURITY THROUGH NAMING, BLAMING, SHAMING, AND EXCLUDING A DANGEROUS MINORITY.
“If only THOSE PEOPLE would change - or disappear.”(If only a minority would change.) (Scapegoating/Genocide)
4. THE VICTIMIZATION/SELF-PRESERVATION STORY: PRESERVING OURSELVES AT ALL COSTS THROUGH PRESERVING THE MEMORY OF A PAST INJUSTICE.
“If only our oppressors would be brought to justice.” (If only the
majority would change.)
5. THE ISOLATION STORY: PEACE AND SECURITY THROUGH SEPARATING FROM THE CORRUPT, DOOMED MAJORITY.
“If only we could be left alone to be ourselves by
ourselves.” (Elite/elect remnant)
6. THE COMPETITION STORY: PEACE AND SECURITY THROUGH MONEY POWER IN A COMPETITIVE ECONOMY.
“If only we could buy, enjoy, and stockpile what we
desire.” (Economic Advantage)
Domination: Us over them
Revolution: Us versus them
Purification: Us versus some of us
Victimization: Us in spite of them
Isolation: Us away from them
Competition: Us competing with them.
DOMINATION PURIFICATION
COMPETITIONSELF-PRESERVATION
REVOLUTIONISOLATION
DOMINATION PURIFICATION
COMPETITIONSELF-PRESERVATION
REVOLUTIONISOLATION
CONFLICT!
We could call these the stories of the clenched fist ...
Warrior narrativesConflict narrativesSword narratives
Jesus came with an alternative story:
the good news
of the kingdom* of God.[*reign, commonwealth, dream, dance,
economy, ecosystem, movement, beloved community, network, etc]
A story of the open hand ...
Gardener narrativePeacemaking narrativePlowshare/Pruning hook narrative
The good news of the kingdom of God
-called people to repentance (paradigm shift/ radical
rethinking),
- a new way of life,
-a new identity “in Christ”
TANGENT ALERT!
I believe the Christian faith is in the midst of a struggle to rediscover and re-inhabit the
gospel of the kingdom of God.
With imperialism/colonialism, we lost sight of Jesus’ original
message.
I call the conventional story of Western Christianity the Six-Line (or Greco-Roman) Narrative:
5. Perfect Heaven1. Perfect Creation
2. Fall into Original Sin4. Atonement/Salvation
3. Fallen History
6. Eternal Hell
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Wherever the willingness to rethink has been squelched, wherever that
sense of quest has been buried under convention and complacency, the Christian faith in all its forms is in trouble. But even there, something is trying to be born. Even now, right here, among us, inside you, inside me. You may feel it as a curiosity, a desire for better answers than you inherited so far. You may experience it as frustra-tion, knowing that there must be more to faith than you currently know. You may know it as hope, hope that God is seeking humble people whose hearts and lives can be the womb of a better future. . . . In you, your family, your faith community, and circles of friends, among people of peace and faith every-where, something is trying to be born.”
—from A New Kind of Christianity
We are in the midst of a paradigm shift in the church. Not since the Reformation five centuries ago have so many Christians come together to ask whether the church is in sync with their deepest beliefs and commitments. These believers range from evangelicals to mainline Protestants to Catholics, and the person who best represents them is author and pastor Brian McLaren. In this much anticipated book, McLaren examines ten questions facing today’s church—questions about how to articulate the faith itself, the nature of its authority, who God is, whether we have to understand
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.
0210
Jesus through only an ancient Greco-Roman lens, what exactly the good news is that the gospel proclaims, how we understand the church and all its varieties, why we are so pre-occupied with sex, how we should think of the future and people from other faiths, and the most intimidating question of all: what do we do next? Here you will find a provocative and enticing introduction to the Christian faith of tomorrow.
BRIAN D. MCLAREN is an author, speaker,
pastor, and networker among innovative
Christian leaders, thinkers, and activists. His
groundbreaking books include A New Kind of
Christian, A Generous Orthodoxy, The Secret
Message of Jesus, and Everything Must
Change. Named by Time magazine as one
of America’s top twenty-five evangelicals,
McLaren has appeared on Nightline, and
Larry King Live, and has been covered by
The Washington Post and the New York Times.
Visit the author online at www.brianmclaren.net.
The Author of the Groundbreaking A New Kind of Christian
Faces the Questions That Will Determine the Shape of the Faith
for the Next 500 Years
“In every way, a dispatch from the front, it is also a love letter of sorts—a love letter from an affectionate, but seasoned pastor to those who would
dare to believe, worship, and serve not only now, but also beyond now, into the roiling, churning decades ahead.”
—Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence
“Now and then gifted people emerge who see the situation from a higher and more helpful level. Brian McLaren is one of those seers.”
—Richard Rohr, author of Everything Belongs
“Brave and honest, vulnerable and courageous, disturbing and unsettling, reassuring and hopeful: Every now and then you come across a
book you’ve been waiting for. A New Kind of Christianity is that book.”—Steve Chalke, founder of Oasis Global and UN special advisor on human trafficking
“A new reformation is taking place in Christianity. Brian McLaren is one of its leading voices. This is a very important book.”
—Adam Hamilton, author of Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White
“Brian McLaren has a talent for asking the kind of questions that take people out of their comfort zones to expand the horizons of faith. In A New Kind of Christianity, he challenges his readers to leave behind a ‘steady state’
Christianity in favor of a faith that engages dynamically with the unfolding culture of the twenty-first century.”
—Maggi Dawn, University of CambridgeAvailable from HarperCollins e-books
Jacket design: The Design Works Group
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continued on the back flap
continued from the front flap
McL
aren s A
New
Kin
d o
f Ch
ristianity
Brian D. McLaren
I suspect that this story is not actually from the Bible itself, but arises from Greek philosophy:
5. Return to Platonic Ideal
1. Platonic Ideal/Being
2. Fall into Aristotelian Real/Becoming
4. Atonement/Salvation
3. Aristotelian Becoming
6. Greek Hades
Back Jacket
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Back Flap
3 3/4 "
9 1/4 "
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Turn
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Front Flap
3 3/4 in
USA $24.99
D Cloth - Jacket
6 1/8 "
Spine
1- 1/8"
Turn
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Wherever the willingness to rethink has been squelched, wherever that
sense of quest has been buried under convention and complacency, the Christian faith in all its forms is in trouble. But even there, something is trying to be born. Even now, right here, among us, inside you, inside me. You may feel it as a curiosity, a desire for better answers than you inherited so far. You may experience it as frustra-tion, knowing that there must be more to faith than you currently know. You may know it as hope, hope that God is seeking humble people whose hearts and lives can be the womb of a better future. . . . In you, your family, your faith community, and circles of friends, among people of peace and faith every-where, something is trying to be born.”
—from A New Kind of Christianity
We are in the midst of a paradigm shift in the church. Not since the Reformation five centuries ago have so many Christians come together to ask whether the church is in sync with their deepest beliefs and commitments. These believers range from evangelicals to mainline Protestants to Catholics, and the person who best represents them is author and pastor Brian McLaren. In this much anticipated book, McLaren examines ten questions facing today’s church—questions about how to articulate the faith itself, the nature of its authority, who God is, whether we have to understand
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.
0210
Jesus through only an ancient Greco-Roman lens, what exactly the good news is that the gospel proclaims, how we understand the church and all its varieties, why we are so pre-occupied with sex, how we should think of the future and people from other faiths, and the most intimidating question of all: what do we do next? Here you will find a provocative and enticing introduction to the Christian faith of tomorrow.
BRIAN D. MCLAREN is an author, speaker,
pastor, and networker among innovative
Christian leaders, thinkers, and activists. His
groundbreaking books include A New Kind of
Christian, A Generous Orthodoxy, The Secret
Message of Jesus, and Everything Must
Change. Named by Time magazine as one
of America’s top twenty-five evangelicals,
McLaren has appeared on Nightline, and
Larry King Live, and has been covered by
The Washington Post and the New York Times.
Visit the author online at www.brianmclaren.net.
The Author of the Groundbreaking A New Kind of Christian
Faces the Questions That Will Determine the Shape of the Faith
for the Next 500 Years
“In every way, a dispatch from the front, it is also a love letter of sorts—a love letter from an affectionate, but seasoned pastor to those who would
dare to believe, worship, and serve not only now, but also beyond now, into the roiling, churning decades ahead.”
—Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence
“Now and then gifted people emerge who see the situation from a higher and more helpful level. Brian McLaren is one of those seers.”
—Richard Rohr, author of Everything Belongs
“Brave and honest, vulnerable and courageous, disturbing and unsettling, reassuring and hopeful: Every now and then you come across a
book you’ve been waiting for. A New Kind of Christianity is that book.”—Steve Chalke, founder of Oasis Global and UN special advisor on human trafficking
“A new reformation is taking place in Christianity. Brian McLaren is one of its leading voices. This is a very important book.”
—Adam Hamilton, author of Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White
“Brian McLaren has a talent for asking the kind of questions that take people out of their comfort zones to expand the horizons of faith. In A New Kind of Christianity, he challenges his readers to leave behind a ‘steady state’
Christianity in favor of a faith that engages dynamically with the unfolding culture of the twenty-first century.”
—Maggi Dawn, University of CambridgeAvailable from HarperCollins e-books
Jacket design: The Design Works Group
RE
LIGIO
N
continued on the back flap
continued from the front flap
McL
aren s A
New
Kin
d o
f Ch
ristianity
Brian D. McLaren
I believe the Bible presents a 3-D narrative space instead of a flat, 6-line narrative:
Back Jacket
6 1/8 "
Back Flap
3 3/4 "
9 1/4 "
1/8" Bleed
1/8" Bleed
Turn
1/4"
Front Flap
3 3/4 in
USA $24.99
D Cloth - Jacket
6 1/8 "
Spine
1- 1/8"
Turn
1/4"
Wherever the willingness to rethink has been squelched, wherever that
sense of quest has been buried under convention and complacency, the Christian faith in all its forms is in trouble. But even there, something is trying to be born. Even now, right here, among us, inside you, inside me. You may feel it as a curiosity, a desire for better answers than you inherited so far. You may experience it as frustra-tion, knowing that there must be more to faith than you currently know. You may know it as hope, hope that God is seeking humble people whose hearts and lives can be the womb of a better future. . . . In you, your family, your faith community, and circles of friends, among people of peace and faith every-where, something is trying to be born.”
—from A New Kind of Christianity
We are in the midst of a paradigm shift in the church. Not since the Reformation five centuries ago have so many Christians come together to ask whether the church is in sync with their deepest beliefs and commitments. These believers range from evangelicals to mainline Protestants to Catholics, and the person who best represents them is author and pastor Brian McLaren. In this much anticipated book, McLaren examines ten questions facing today’s church—questions about how to articulate the faith itself, the nature of its authority, who God is, whether we have to understand
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.
0210
Jesus through only an ancient Greco-Roman lens, what exactly the good news is that the gospel proclaims, how we understand the church and all its varieties, why we are so pre-occupied with sex, how we should think of the future and people from other faiths, and the most intimidating question of all: what do we do next? Here you will find a provocative and enticing introduction to the Christian faith of tomorrow.
BRIAN D. MCLAREN is an author, speaker,
pastor, and networker among innovative
Christian leaders, thinkers, and activists. His
groundbreaking books include A New Kind of
Christian, A Generous Orthodoxy, The Secret
Message of Jesus, and Everything Must
Change. Named by Time magazine as one
of America’s top twenty-five evangelicals,
McLaren has appeared on Nightline, and
Larry King Live, and has been covered by
The Washington Post and the New York Times.
Visit the author online at www.brianmclaren.net.
The Author of the Groundbreaking A New Kind of Christian
Faces the Questions That Will Determine the Shape of the Faith
for the Next 500 Years
“In every way, a dispatch from the front, it is also a love letter of sorts—a love letter from an affectionate, but seasoned pastor to those who would
dare to believe, worship, and serve not only now, but also beyond now, into the roiling, churning decades ahead.”
—Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence
“Now and then gifted people emerge who see the situation from a higher and more helpful level. Brian McLaren is one of those seers.”
—Richard Rohr, author of Everything Belongs
“Brave and honest, vulnerable and courageous, disturbing and unsettling, reassuring and hopeful: Every now and then you come across a
book you’ve been waiting for. A New Kind of Christianity is that book.”—Steve Chalke, founder of Oasis Global and UN special advisor on human trafficking
“A new reformation is taking place in Christianity. Brian McLaren is one of its leading voices. This is a very important book.”
—Adam Hamilton, author of Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White
“Brian McLaren has a talent for asking the kind of questions that take people out of their comfort zones to expand the horizons of faith. In A New Kind of Christianity, he challenges his readers to leave behind a ‘steady state’
Christianity in favor of a faith that engages dynamically with the unfolding culture of the twenty-first century.”
—Maggi Dawn, University of CambridgeAvailable from HarperCollins e-books
Jacket design: The Design Works Group
RE
LIGIO
N
continued on the back flap
continued from the front flap
McL
aren s A
New
Kin
d o
f Ch
ristianity
Brian D. McLaren
Liberation
Reconciliation
Creation
End of
TANGENT ALERT.
Clenching Fist StoriesDomination: Us over them
Revolution: Us versus them
Purification: Us versus some of us
Self-preservation: Us in spite of them
Isolation: Us away from them
Competition: Us competing with them.
Jesus’ Open-Hand Narrative of Creation/Liberation/Reconciliation
NOT Domination: Service, Neighborliness
NOT Revolution: Reconciliation
NOT Purification: Welcome/Hospitality/Inclusion
NOT Self-preservation: Pursuit of common good
NOT Isolation: Incarnation ... Penetration ... Identification
NOT Competition: Generosity, Self-Giving
DOMINATION PURIFICATION
COMPETITIONSELF-PRESERVATION
REVOLUTIONISOLATION
NEW CREATION/ RECONCILIATION
DOMINATION PURIFICATION
COMPETITIONSELF-PRESERVATION
REVOLUTIONISOLATION
NEW CREATION/ RECONCILIATION
DOMINATION PURIFICATION
COMPETITIONSELF-PRESERVATION
REVOLUTIONISOLATION
A STRONG BENEVOLENT IDENTITY
Hypocrisy:Religions can intentionally or
accidentally baptize, support, legitimize, and camouflage the six clenched-fist stories.
They can cover up a wolf-ish message in sheep’s language.
Misconception:Our religious differences
keep us apart.
Actuality:It is not our religious
differences that keep us apart, but rather a haunting religious similarity ... that we preserve hostile stories which produce hostile identities.
RELIGIOUS DOMINATION
RELIGIOUS
PURIFICATIONRELIGIOUS
COMPETITIONRELIGIOUS SELF-PRESERVATION
RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION
RELIGIOUS ISOLATION
We may be discipling people into the wrong story … or helping them
become “christians” without challenging their stories.
In such a way, the Christian religion can become the most dangerous story, not the most healing and liberating story.
1. The DOMINATION Jesus who dominates through cultural colonization, militarism, and economic hegemony.
2. The REVOLUTION/REVENGE Jesus who is planning revenge on his enemies.
We believe Jesus proclaims the power of love, not the love of power.
3. The PURIFICATION Jesus who excludes and shames the impure rather than graciously including and healing them.
4. The ISOLATION Jesus who invites people to withdraw into a “holy bubble” of a “nice christian subculture” awaiting evacuation.
We believe Jesus calls us to incarnation and transformation, not condemnation and
evacuation.
We’re tired of …
5. The SELF-PRESERVATION Jesus who complains about how badly “we Christians” are being treated (and ignores the atrocities we’ve committed).
6. The COMPETITION Jesus who promises blessings and prosperity without a mission or a cross.
We believe Jesus taught the joy of being a blessing, not the happiness of getting blessed,
the joy of giving over receiving.
A weak and benign Christian identity may be less dangerous than a strong and hostile identity ...
But there is a better alternative:
A strong and benevolent Christian identity centered
on Jesus and his story (good news) of the
kingdom/commonwealth of God.
STRONG-HOSTILE
We have the only way.
You are going to hell.
We are God’s chosen.
You worship false gods.
resistance if futile.
you will be assimilated - or eliminated.
weak-benign
it doesn’t matter what you believe.
all religions are the same.
all roads lead to god.
only sincerity matters.
doctrines divide.
keep religion private.
strong-benevolent
Because I Follow Jesus, I love you.
I move toward “the other.”
I break down walls of hostility.
i stand with you in solidarity.
you are made in God’s image.
i am your servant.
I practice human-kindness.
Will we defect from the stories of the clenching fist?
Domination: Us over them. Revolution: Us versus them. Purification: Us versus some of us. Self-preservation: Us in spite of them.Isolation: Us away from themCompetition: Us competing with them.
Will we embody the story of the open hand:
Service: Some of us for all of us.Reconciliation: Us reconciling with them.Inclusion: Us welcoming them to the tableEmpowerment: Us working for the common good
with them.Incarnation: Us as neighbors in solidarity with themSacrifice: Us risking and giving on behalf of them
What doctrinal rethinking will be required?
What liturgical reformulation will be necessary?
What missional renewal will be essential?
Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal."
"Through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can't murder murder. Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can't establish truth. Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can't murder hate. Darkness cannot put out darkness. Only light can do that..."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
"We will not build a peaceful world by following a negative path. It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war but the positive affirmation of peace. We must see that peace represents a sweeter music, a cosmic melody, that is far superior to the dis-chords of war.
Somehow, we must transform the dynamics of the world power struggle from the negative nuclear arms race, which no one can win, to a positive contest to harness humanity's creative genius for the purpose of making peace and prosperity a reality for all the nations of the world. In short, we must shift the arms race into a peace race. If we have a will- and determination- to mount such a peace offensive, we will unlock hitherto tightly sealed doors of hope and transform our imminent cosmic elegy into a psalm of creative fulfillment."
"I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become reality. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word."
ISA 2:2 In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. ISA 2:3 Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways,so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
ISA 2:4 He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
ISA 2:5 Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD.
Whatever emerging Christian faith will be - it begins with a fresh discovery
of Jesus,
the prince of peace.
Questions:Where do we see the clenching fist narratives at work within and outside our religious communities?How can we see mission, proclamation, conversion, liturgy, baptism, eucharist, catechism, etc., in relation to these narratives?How can we translate “kingdom of God” into contemporary language without losing its original subversive dynamism?
The Prayer of the Kingdom
Our Father, above us and all around us,
May your unspeakable Name be revered.
Here on earth may your kingdom come … on earth as in heaven may your will
be done.
Give us today our bread for today.
And forgive us our wrongs as we forgive.
Lead us away from the perilous trial,
Liberate us from the evil.
For the kingdom is yours and yours alone, the power is
yours and yours alone, and the glory is yours and yours alone,
now and forever. Amen. (Hallelujah … Amen)
Come.
Follow Me.
Let my story carry
on in your story.