Critique of Brian McLaren

I recently was made aware of a website that offered free books to anyone who would read them and post a 200 word review on their blog and on a retail website. As I am always on the lookout for ways to build my library at little to no cost I jumped on the opportunity. The site lets you browse 10-15 different books and lets you choose the one that you want to receive and review. When I first signed up the selection of books was relatively uninteresting, but I did find a book that was the opener for a series on the "Ancient Practices." This book was authored by Brian McLaren. At the time I did not know much about him. I had heard his name associated with the Emergent Church Movement, but other than that knew nothing about him.

Some are of the opinion that a Conservative Christian should not be reading books that come from such a radically liberal camp, but I disagree on that point. I feel that it is good to be exposed to what they have to offer and to what they are teaching. My reason for this opinion is that there will be people in our churches and communities that find the insights provided by the Emergent camp to be very "helpful" and "beneficial" to their Christian life. Not all believers are discerning readers so it is necessary for Pastors and leaders in the church to be at least acquainted with what these people are reading when they pick up a book that comes from these circles. There are some things that we can learn from them (though it is typically very little) and some teachings that we need to be quite wary of because they sound ever so close to biblical truth but in reality undermine the authority of scripture.

I say all this to say that I was fairly optimistic when I picked up the book Finding Our Way Again: A Return to the Ancient Practices, by McLaren. The first chapter didn’t seem to present or indicate that there was any kind of problem with his theology. In that first chapter he introduced the problem that he desired to address. His claim was basically that Christianity had become a system of belief that had little or no effect on the personal everyday lives of those who claimed to adhere to it. I cannot disagree with his assessment of the problem. I am sad to say that many of those who claim to be Christians do not live like it; they bear no fruit; and they are miserable in their sin. McLarens solution, though, is where his true colors start flying. He claims that we ought to utilize the practices of ancient Christian’s (he uses the term “Christian” loosely so as to include those from Eastern Orthodoxy, Judaism, as well as Muslims) as a “footpath toward a life that is truly alive.” This pathway is not one specific “way,” but could be any number of different ways or paths to the one end of living “a life that is truly alive.” He says nothing about biblically living a life that is pleasing to God. He says nothing about the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian. He says nothing about the grace of God that brings men into a right relationship with God. McLaren apparently does not think too highly of scripture.

After reading the book I did a little research on McLaren and found that he could be considered to be anything, but a biblical Christian. He denies the truth that Christ is the only way, truth, and life and believes that people can come to the Father by means other than through Jesus Christ alone. Therefore, I don’t think that McLaren is even saved. He claims that men like Ghandi (a Hindu) sought to follow the way of Christ without identifying themselves with Christ. Last I checked that was completely unbiblical. One that does not “take up his cross and follow after Me (Christ) is not worthy of Me,” (Matt. 10:38). McLaren says that it is “advisable in many circumstances to help people become followers of Jesus and remain within their Buddhist, Hindu, or Jewish contexts.” How can one truly be a follower of Christ and not forsake those beliefs that are contrary to Christ?

My Conclusion:

McLaren is essentially a “postmodern Christian,” which is no Christian at all. He holds that we cannot objectively and absolutely know truth and that there is not absolute and exclusive way to God. He is NOT a Christian and should NOT be considered to be an authority on any topic relating to Christian/Biblical Theology or Christian living. He knows nothing of what it means to be a true follower of Christ. I think it is safe to say that Brian McLaren is what Paul calls a "false-teacher."

I am not saying that you ought never to read anything written by him. I wouldn’t suggest it unless you are able and willing to read with a biblically discerning spirit. His books are great places to develop your critical thinking skills, but are terrible if you are looking for something to help you grow in Christ.

2 Timothy 2:15

            “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

Book Review

Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices, by Brian McLaren

                In his book Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices, Brian McLaren intended to address Christians and encourage them to “rediscover the Christian faith as a transforming way of life.” His goal was (and is) noble, his assessment of the problem was clear, but his solution was vague and far from Biblical. McLaren claims the Christian faith as his own, but throughout the book makes it clear that he considers the Christian faith to be anything but exclusive in its truth claims. He says that “the way – Jewish torah, Christian gospel, or Muslim deen – leads us toward the peace, wisdom, and joy that we seek.” By this he essentially says that each of these ways, which are drastically different from each other, are equally valid ways of reaching that “peace, wisdom, and joy that we seek.”

                McLaren claims that the problem with Christianity (by “Christianity” he means Muslims, Catholics, and any other religion that is remotely similar) is that it has become nothing more than a “system of belief” and that it needs to be more or a “way of life.” I couldn’t agree more, but he offers little to no Biblical support for his methods of change which are basically doing simplistic rituals to help yourself do better. The book is basically a self-help book with the façade of being Christian in nature. McLaren is a modern-day false-teacher and his teaching should not be taken seriously.

What about Worship?

Over the Christmas break I had two main goals that I wanted to accomplish.

First, I wanted to seek the Lord's will for the next step in ministry for my wife and I. The goal of seeking was successfully accomplished! Now we are continuing to wait on the Lord for guidance. We were presented with a few different options and now we are searching each one out in faith that God will point us to the right one.

My second goal over the break was to conduct a personal study on worship as it pertains to the individual as well as to the corporate worship setting. Going into the study I had a general theology of worship in my head, but most of that theology had come from the way that I had been taught growing up. I had never taken the time to do a personal, specific study in the area of worship. My study is ongoing, as it will be for some time, but I have learned much in just the few weeks of digging.

The first thing that I learned is that worship is more about the heart than it is anything else. One can go through the motions of worship and have all their externals looking good and have their heart far from God. This is the type of worship that Christ condemns in Matthew 15 when he says "this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." Their outward actions and words proclaimed the praises of God, but they had no love for him in their hearts. True, biblical worship stems from a heart that has a passion for and is devoted to God and God alone.

The second thing I learned is that worship is no confined to any specific time or place. This is a "no brainer" for most on the intellectual level, but on the practical level most of us do confine our worship to a specific time and place. The Sunday Morning Worship Service is where we typically confine our worship to. Either that or the musical portion of each service. It is where we "sing our worship and praise to God." While it is true that the Sunday morning service is a time of worship and it is also true that the musical portion of any service is also worship, worship cannot and should not be confined to these times. In John 4 Christ tells the Samaritan woman that neither of the two mountains that she had mentioned would be the "place of worship," but rather worshipers would worship in "spirit." That is to say that worship will not be tied down to any specific time or place. Worship comes out of a heart that rejoices in who God is and that worship can flow at any time. Actually it should flow all the time.When we realize this truth we are confonted with the question, "why corporate worship?" If worship is not confined to those times when the church body meets together then why do we meet together at all? That's a good question and one that I wrestled with. Corporate worship is a display of the unity that the church body has in Christ. We gather as one body to celebrate Christ and worship God through both the singing and the preaching.

Thirdly, I learned that worship must be done in truth. This also come from John 4 and Christ's discussion with the woman at the well. Christ said that the Father is seeking true worshipers who would worship him in spirit and in truth. The fact that the Father is seeking such worshipers gives us an idea as to how important these two principles (worshiping in spirit and in truth) are. When Christ says that we must worship the Father in truth he is saying that we must worship him in light of who he really is. We must have an accurate view of God  if we are to worship him correctly. It would do us no good and it would bring God no honor to worship him for his holiness if he were not holy. The same goes for his justice, mercy, grace, and love; or any other attribute. If we worship him for something that he is not then he receives no glory from it. We must worship God according to the true revelation of himself.

There is much more that I have learned and I'm sure there is much more that I will learn, but these are just some beginning thoughts.

Questions

Recently someone commented on one of my blog posts under the name “Anonymous” with the following question: “I was wondering why you are a regular endorser of calvinism and reformed theology?” Since my post was simply relaying a free Kindle book offer which only lasted for a couple of days I deleted the post within two or three days of posting it. Therefore, I did not see this question on my blog dashboard until I had already deleted the post from the regular message board which prohibited me from replying to this person directly in the post. Since I am unable to do that, I will take this post to briefly answer the question that was posed.

First, why do I regularly endorse Calvinism? That is an interesting question because my regular endorsement of it goes only as far as the free Kindle book offers that I post. The same goes for Reformed Theology. Yes, I do believe in the Doctrines of Grace because they are in the Bible and if calling me a Calvinist helps you to identify me with that then so be it. Why do I support the Doctrines of Grace (Calvinism)? Because it is biblical and it is vital to our understanding of salvation and sanctification.

Second, why do I regularly endorse Reformed Theology? My primary endorsement of Reformed Theology comes, as with Calvinism, from the free Kindle book offers. In addition to those offers I do have a post endorsing Tabletalk Magazine which is published by Ligonier Ministries. Ligonier Ministries was founded by R.C. Sproul who is of the Reformed Tradition. My recommendation of R.C. Sproul himself and the magazine come from my interaction with both. I have read multiple books by Sproul and am a subscriber to Tabletalk Magazine and have been both greatly edified and challenged by each book and magazine. They are both firmly rooted in Bible teaching. The magazine, specifically, deals with the issues of Christianity in today’s culture better than any other magazine that I have come across. It deals with the issues in a biblical manner which means that it is both true to God’s Word and is relevant to our world and culture today.

I hope that answers the questions of “Anonymous.” If you would like to discuss this issue to a deeper level please email me at stephen.green@ni.edu.

PS. I also wouldn't mind knowing the identity of "Anonymous." You know who I am and it would be nice to know who I am interacting with.

Christmas 2010

This Christmas has been a wonderful season! It was my first Christmas with a family of my own. My wife, Sarah, and I spent our first Christmas as a married couple in South Carolina with her parents. Not only was it our first as a married couple, but it was also my wife's first "white Christmas." Yes, South Carolina had a white Christmas. The first one since 1964. It was a wonderful time with family and friends celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Throughout this Christmas season, I have constantly been reminded of what really makes Christmas so special. Over the past month I have asked various people what makes Christmas special to them. Far too often I heard the response of, "It's the time spent with family and friends," or "It's the rest and relaxation of time off of work." These are both good things, but neither of these come anywhere close to the real reason that Christmas is so special. Christmas is the celebration of a birth. Not an ordinary birth, but the birth of the God-man, Jesus Christ. The simple fact that God was born in human form makes the occasion extraordinary, but the most extraordinary part of it is what he came to do. He came to die. What makes Christmas special to the believer? In a word...the cross. The cross is what adds significance to Christ's birth. Christ was born in order that he would live a perfect life as a man, suffer and die for the sins of man, and then resurrect from the dead to give man victory over sin. There is little significance in celebrating the birth of Christ apart from the cross of Christ. The two are inseparable.

So when asked, "What makes Christmas special to you?" my answer will be "The cross."

Zealous for Good Works

Recently, my wife and I have been reading through John Piper’s book Fifty Reasons Jesus Came to Die. It goes through Scripture and highlights what the death of Christ on the cross accomplished for us. So far it has been very beneficial to both of us in reminding us of a lot of the meaning behind the cross that we sometimes skim over without realizing it.

Since beginning this book it has changed my personal Bible reading. It seems now that as I read my mind is naturally drawn to those different reasons that Christ came to die. Today, while sitting in the morning service at my church, was no different. Our pastor was preaching from Titus 2:11-14, highlighting for us the work of grace as it came to earth from God. The sermon was used to direct our minds toward the cross as we would later be partaking in the Lord’s Supper, but as he read through the passage, verse 14 stuck out to me. Speaking of Jesus Christ, verse 14 reads, “who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

In this verse we see two specific reasons that Jesus came to die. Those reasons were (1) “to redeem us from all lawlessness and (2) to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

The book of Titus as a whole is essentially a call to holiness based on the work and authority of Christ. Paul in verses 11-14 outlines the gospel basis for this call to holiness and provides for his readers one of the purposes for which Christ died (“gave himself”). The first of these two reasons closely parallels Ephesians 1:4 where Paul says, “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” That is to say that God chose us in Christ before creation and the purpose of that choosing was that we should be holy and blameless before him. It was this purpose that the death of Christ was to fulfill by redeeming us from lawlessness (or sinfulness). I find it necessary to note that it does not say that it was to redeem us from the punishment of lawlessness but to redeem us from lawlessness itself. Some claim that one can be saved from the punishment of sin by believing in Christ, but that there does not necessarily need to be a change in behavior. I believe that to be a false claim and I believe that this passage clearly indicates the opposite. If Christ died to save us from lawlessness itself then it does not make sense that we, being saved from it, should remain in a state of continual lawlessness. If we have truly been saved then we have been saved from it and saved to the opposite of it. The opposite, in this case, is godliness (2:12).

The second of the purposes of the cross listed in verse 14 is “to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” This was part of the purpose of the cross and as such it was fulfilled on the cross. In the translation from Greek into English, the first part of that phrase loses some of its emphasis.  The phrase “a people for his own possession” indicates that this people were to be his (God’s) treasured possession. This idea goes back to OT times when God told Israel that they would be a peculiar or special people. Now, the same idea is made in reference to the Church. Those who are in Christ are being purified as a special, treasured people set apart for God himself. This setting apart is accompanied by a descriptive phrase referring to those who are set apart. Paul says that they are a people “who are zealous for good works.” The ESV Study Bible adds this note; “[S]o again redemption is tied specifically to living in a godly manner. There is no room for claiming to be redeemed while providing no evidence of practical transformation.” Some would take offense to this saying that it is adding works to salvation. Can I say that this objection is the farthest thing from the truth? It is not that works are done in order to gain salvation, but that works are done as evidence of true salvation. Let me ask a question. Can the purpose of God be frustrated? If the almighty God designs something to be a certain way, can finite man thwart his plan? Absolutely not! If God says, as he does here in Titus, that Christ died (gave himself) to “purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” does it not necessarily follow that he will accomplish that? Some try to separate the “people for his own possession” from the “zealous for good works”, but it is impossible to do so without compromising the integrity of Scripture. God’s purpose in the death of Christ will be fulfilled in those who are in Christ.

Can I exhort you with the words of Paul as he writes to Titus in chapter 3 verse 8? “The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.”

Because of the death of Christ, seek to live in a godly manner being zealous for good works!

Pray, Meet People, Tell Them About Christ

I just heard a sermon today from a man who is passionate about missions. He has been in Albania since the country rid itself of communist rule and has been faithfully and prayerfully spreading the gospel of the grace of God. He preached from John 4 encouraging us as believers to be passionate about missions. John 4 is a passage that is used a lot in missions conferences across America. It is the story of the meeting that Christ had with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. The portion we all know so well is at the close of that account when Christ tells his disciples that "the fields are white for harvest" (vs. 35) indicating that the time was upon them that they should be fervently sharing the gospel. However, this was not the focus of the sermon we heard today. The speaker chose to focus on vs.31-34. When Christ, passing through Samaria with his disciples, chose to sit and rest by Jacob's well his disciples went down into the city to buy food. While they were gone, Christ had his encounter with the Samaritan woman. It was just as the disciples were returning that Christ had ended his conversation with the woman and she went back to the city. The disciples then brought the food that they had purchased to Christ and entreated him to eat. At that point Christ told them that he had food that they did not know of and that food was "to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work." The main point of the message today was focussed on this phrase. Is our passion to do the will of God? Is our passion to accomplish his work? This was the attitude of Christ. He was so passionate about doing the will of his father that he considered it to be his food. The preacher today encouraged us to build that passion within us so that we are not dutifully driven into missions, but rather passionately driven into missions.

This is not at all to imply that everyone is called into foreign missions. The speaker defined missions as "doing globally what all Christians should be doing locally." Simply put, it is praying, meeting people, and telling them about Christ (the title of the post). May we all have the same passion that Christ had in doing the will of the father.