This Protestant Mess

I read chapter seven of "A Generous Orthodoxy" last night. It's definitely getting better.

Part One is entitled "Why I Am A Christian." It didn't do much for me. That's probably just me. But now, in Part Two, he's finally getting down to the nitty gritty.

Just one comment about Chapter 5: "Why I Am Missional": It seems to me that in decrying all those who see salvation as just fire insurance McLaren has forgotten that the afterlife, heaven, etc. are, after all, important topics. The old saying, "You're so heavenly minded that you're no earthly good" is misinformed, in my opinion. I think we need to truly understand heaven...be so heavenly minded that we are earthly good. Don't get me wrong, I agree with a lot of what McLaren says in this chapter. It just sounds like he's decided the "after death" part of salvation doesn't matter.

Okay, that was my one comment about chapter 5. Sorry, my counting skills are not too great. Now for chapter seven. Chapter seven was an epiphany for me. It was one of those epiphanies that you wonder how you never had it before. McLaren talks about three negative effects of the Reformation:

1. "After protesting Catholic excesses, Protestants started protesting each other...the race was on: who could out-protest everyone else?" (p.125)

This is so true. It suddenly occured to me why we have so much division among protestants...why we have all of these denominations that won't talk to each other.

2. "This protest frenzy created a kind of market for religion, where religion was commodified...each group legitimized its own existence by downgrading others and proclaiming its superiority..." (p.125)

No wonder we have so much in-fighting. We have built our entire church culture around it.

3. "Protestants have paid more attention to the Bible than any other group, but sadly, much of their Bible study was undertaken to fuel their efforts to prove themselves right and others wrong (and therefore worthy of protest." (p.126)

This is totally the experience of my childhood faith. It is so much a part of my church, my family, and even my political party. I truthfully have not bothered with most of the Republican convention, but I'd be willing to bet a lot of what is being said is based on protesting what the other side is saying or doing. You can correct me if I'm wrong. This seems childish to me. Is that too self-righteous for me to say? Oh well.

It's not like any of this is new to me. It's been growing on me for awhile. This chapter just suddenly flipped on the light switch...created some synapses that hadn't quite been there before in my sometimes too-random brain. This book is important because McLaren is trying to suggest ways to move beyond protest mode. I commend him for his efforts.

And chapter eight is even better, by the way...

Comments

[Just Me]

It's true that we all take great delight (or I too often do) in proving others "wrong" but it is equally important that we "approve" what is "right," and one of the many reasons we were given Scripture is to do just that(II Tim. 3:16&17). In life (or in politics for that matter) we need to make decisions on how to act (or vote); we want to make the "right" decision. If I believe that I know what is "right," isn't it incumbent upon me to share that with you?

[Bill]

I agree that we need to make the right decisions, but the post was more about being all about the "protest." Not that protesting isn't sometimes needed, but it shouldn't define who we are as a church or as a political party. In the case of the Republican party, I was trying to suggest that they should take a positive stance on issues instead of a negative stance against other people's issues.

In my opinion, we as a country need to get away from the "us vs. them" mentality. I'm certainly not a political expert, but I wish we were not limited to two candidates. This only seems to encourage "us vs. them."

Getting back to the "Protestant mess," I really do think we've done a lot of damage by creating a culture "us vs. them" culture in the body of Christ. I'm learning that Fundamentalism was an effort, in part, to get beyond some of the non-fundamental details and create some unity. Of course it was also meant to be a stance against the dreaded Liberals. There's the "us vs. them" thing again. I think we all have a lot to learn from one another. And maybe, just maybe, a good bit of the damage can be undone in my lifetime.

"Incumbent" might be a strong word, by the way, but I appreciate you sharing. ;-)

[JJ]

I so agree with your thoughts on needing to be so heavenly minded that we are of some earthly good. It seems a rare opinion to find, but I very agree...