Church On The Other Side Pb (Paperback)

On one hand, McLaren encourages us to view church structures and philosophies as fluid; he urges us to accept change as normal and not get obsessed with forms. He urges us to understand and adapt to the Post-modern world and emerge strongly on "The Other Side." The author is clearly quite intelligent.

He also emphasizes a call that needs to be heard, namely that Christians are not living Christian lifestyles: adultery/divorce and other behavior that shames the name of Christ is running rampant. We need to get our houses in order.

On the other hand, the type of church McLaren advocates is a church not worth surviving, in my view. He tells us we should not evangelize in Catholic areas and de-emphasizes the importance of solid doctrine (excepting the Trinity); he stands against Scientific Creationism, but advocates theistic evolution; he advocates faith, but not only Bible-oriented evangelical faith but the faith of Christendom at large; in short, he betrays the Reformation and seems to deny (by practice) the evangelical conviction that theology and methodology are best derived from "non-agenda" Bible exegesis.

McLaren's approach may help maintain the health of Christendom, but it will weaken the evangelical church and expedite further movement away from Biblical literacy. Christianity for the sake of Christianity (or for the betterment of society) can never replace a Christianity composed of obedient Christians attempting to discern the will of God from His Word.

"You and I happen to have been born at an "edge," at a time of high "tectonic activity" in history--the end of one age and the beginning of another. It is a time of shaking. Yesterday's maps are already outdated, and today's soon will be, too. . . .

Or on a slightly grander scale, there used to be a prehistoric world, an ancient world, a medieval world, and a modern world, but now all four are being swept up in a POSTMODERN world."

McLaren is not attempting to change the church or propose a new theological structure. He reports to recognize that the theological landscape is already changing, we are only witnesses to it. His book is an attempt to prepare us to navigate in this new world. He dedicates a chapter to the toll that this period of transition is taking upon the established church and church leaders.

It is absolutely true that this book could be seen as threatening to evangelicals. As can be seen in many reviews, the Protestant Reformation, is built heavily on solid Scriptural exegesis. We evangelicals are very head strong (in a good way). But how will that play out in a world that is driven by sensual (touch, taste, sight, smell, etc.) experiences? Evangelical strength lies in Sola Scriptura and sound doctrine, yet there are over 30,000 Protestant denominations and the average church attender has trouble discerning from one church to another.

McLaren also calls for the evangelical church to lay down specific traditions and get back into touch with the (big t) Tradition of Christendom. This is also threatening. However the Roman Catholic Church in the United States is now 4 times larger than the Southern Baptist Convention and growing more quickly. Taize is a major Protestant movement in Europe that is strongly rooted in historic church Tradition. Many younger people seem to gravitate back to liturgy and historic Tradition.

The value of this book will not be determined by whether it "rocks the boat" or fits our personal theological models. The value of this book (and an emerging number of books like it) will be determined on whether it correctly recognizes a major shift in society and opens an early dialogue concerning that shift. It is hard to predict the future. Is McLaren correct or is he blowing a small trend way out of proportion? Time will tell. In the mean time, this book will spawn some interesting discussion.