Brian McLaren’s Everything Must Change Tour visits LPAC, Bronx

119 Photos, including Brian McLaren, Ray Rivera, Jay Bakker, Becky Garrison, Lisa Sharon Harper, Alexie Torres-Fleming, Gabriel Salguerro, Jose Humphreys, Liz Rios, David Ramos, Luis Alvarez, Latino Leadership Circle, and LPAC.

If your browser cannot display the Photo Viewer, you can view the pics at Flickr.

For a content summary, check out my notes: Part 1 and Part 2.

Everything Must Change: The Radical Meaning of the Kingdom of God for Today’s World

Brian McLaren


An interview exploring the emerging church, post-modernity, post-colonialism, global crises, Generous Orthodoxy, and Everything Must Change. Recorded at the National Cathedral on February 17th, 2008.







Courtesy National Cathedral

SESSION 2: Which Jesus?

If hope is easy, then we aren’t appreciating the desperation of the system. (See Part 1 for the Four Global Crises)

If Christ is the answer to the world’s problems, which Jesus fits the bill? Our culture posits many perceptions of Christ:

+ The Will Ferrell Baby Jesus

+ The “Limp wrist hippie Jesus with product in his hair”

“Some emergent types [want] to recast Jesus as a limp-wrist hippie in a dress with a lot of product in His hair, who drank decaf and made pithy Zen statements about life while shopping for the perfect pair of shoes.”

+ The “Prize fighter Jesus with a commitment to make someone bleed”

“In Revelation, Jesus is a prize fighter with a tattoo down His leg, a sword in His hand and the commitment to make someone bleed. That is a guy I can worship. I cannot worship the hippie, diaper, halo Christ because I cannot worship a guy I can beat up. I fear some are becoming more cultural than Christian, and without a big Jesus who has authority and hates sin as revealed in the Bible, we will have less and less Christians, and more and more confused, spiritually self-righteous blogger critics of Christianity.”

+ Second coming killer Jesus: The Left Behind Warrior Jesus surrounded by his enemies blood (The Glorious Appearing)

+ The Jesus who only cares about escape from hell without a social agenda

+ Many other perceptions and opinions

“Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

Matthew 16:13-17
The story takes place in Caesarea Philippi. Most of Jesus’ ministry was in Galilee (like the Bronx) not Jerusalem (Wall Street). Rome heavily controlled the region via taxation because it was the bread basket for the empire. Stewards from Jerusalem would scheme farmers out of their land deeds in return for paying taxes, turning land owners into tenant farmers.

Only twice does Jesus go further north than Galilee. Once to Tyre and Sidon (Gentile). And once to Caesarea Philipi, the regional capital and seat of Roman authority. Named for the Emperor (Caesar) and the Regional Governor (Philip). Also, this region (in today’s Golan Heights) was center of idol worship, including Bail (OT) and Pan (Greece)

So when Jesus asks who the “Son of Man” is in CP, it’s a profound political statement. Son of Man was a phrase that referred to a political liberator.

Peter’s answer: “You are the Christ, Son of the living God.” “Christ” means anointed, or smeared with oil. The inauguration of a king back then was to anoint the King with oil. To be in CP and say you are the liberating king is a big deal. “Son of the living God” said in context of Caesar Augustus, who was called divine, the son of a God. Augustus means worthy of worship. He had united Rome after a time of unrest and division, and began it’s greatest expansion. So Peter says you’re not just the son of Apollo, but you’re the son of the living God.

Peter sets up a choice.

Do you follow Caesar or Christ? Which king do you follow? This is why Christians were persecuted. He denied lordship to Caesar and gave it to Jesus. Jesus says, “You’re right, Peter.”

Then Jesus tells them he’s going to be killed in Jerusalem (v 21-28). Peter is shocked. Says you can’t be killed there. You need to do the killing if you’re the Lord. Jesus rebuked him as Satan, a stumbling block. Peter, you don’t get it. Peter, the rock is now the stumbling block. Why can’t Catholics and Protestants get the joke?

Peter can’t understand how a king doesn’t make people believe by force and instead allows the other king to crucify him. We try to do like Peter and downplay the crucifixion. We contend that the real point is not that because we want to believe that Jesus is going to come back and kill everyone.

Revelation 19:11-21 is the passage that evangelicals use to describe the violent, bloodthirsty king Jesus. But read it in context: “Out of his mouth comes the sword.” Which sword — one to kill by violence or the sword of his word?

God’s method is not to rule by killing opponents, but the opposite.

+ Crown of thorns
+ basin and towel
+ donkey
+ loves enemies
+ undergoes torture
+ Crucified and rises again.

Do we believe in a Jesus remade in the image of Caesar, or this other Jesus of the gospels? The one who heals the sick and feeds the hungry and died on Caesar’s cross. The Jesus who came is the Jesus who is the word of Christ. He hung on cross and said, “Forgive them,” and “It is finished” (not, I’ll be back to kill you all). God is like Jesus, not Caesar. (Elton Trueblood)

Brian McLaren visits LPAC this weekend for the New York leg of his Everything Must Change tour. I’ll be there tonight and tomorrow morning and will blog as much of my notes as possible. Stay tuned for pictures as well.

EMC Session 1

The book’s story begins with … a youth pastor and a flip chart …

Brian McLaren’s early 20s – “winging it” at a youth camp. (Shout-out to youth pastors. Being “somewhat unprepared” leads to creativity.) He asked: “What are the biggest issues that are upsetting people at the church?” The teens’ answers:

+ Speaking in tongues
+ Guitars or no guitars
+ Drums
+ Dress code
+ Predestination or free will

Then: What issues bother you (the youth)?

+ Overpopulation
+ Nuclear war / nuclear winter
+ Communism
+ Racism
+ Poverty
+ Disease
+ Pollution

There was absolutely no overlap between the two lists. Something is wrong with those two lists having nothing in common.

2 Big Questions

1) What are the top global problems?
2) What does the teaching of Jesus have to do with these issues?

Research found many lists:
+ UN University: “Fifteen Global Challenges”
+ Copenhagen Consensus Top Ten
+ 8 Millennium Development Goals — even the National Association of Evangelicals is officially committed to these goals, but most evangelicals have never even heard of them. (Homage to Bono: “If the church isn’t involved then the rock stars will cry out”)
+ Rick Warren’s PEACE Plan

Synthesized the lists into …

Four Global Crises

Imagine a societal machine (because humans make machines and can change them) with 3 interlocking circles: Prosperity (healthy and thriving); security (protect the prosperity); and equity (how do you pay for everything to keep the machine going fairly; courts and legal structures). Think about the problems in relation to each other.

The machine exists within the ecosystem (environment). Solar energy comes in; generates resources with the machine converts to waste which produces heat that leaves our ecosystem

Crisis 1: The crisis of the Planet.

We have a prosperity system that can’t stop growing beyond environmental limits, resulting in multi-faceted environmental crises. We are the first generation that is using environmental resources beyond a sustainable limit. Growing beyond environmental limits. → Instability

Crisis 2: The crisis of Poverty.

The Equity System can’t keep pace with the growing gap between the rich minority and the poor majority, resulting in suffering, resentment and fear. It works well for 1/3 of the world’s population. We have longer lives, taller height, more food, etc. Almost everyone in the world had worms, lesions, rotting teeth, unhealed bones, etc. Another 1/3 is increasing, but very slowly. And 1/3 is stagnant or declining. How are the poor to respond? Passively waiting to die, or doing whatever it takes to live longer, better?

6.7 Billion People …
+ Top 1 billion consume 32x the resources of the bottom billion
+ Top 1% owns 40% of wealth
+ Top 5% owns 70% of wealth
+ Top 20% earns 83x the bottom 20%
(More Global Poverty Facts and Stats)

Crisis 3: The crisis of Peace.

Security System can’t keep pace. The majority engage in whatever means possible to survive and improve. The rich minority sees the poor majority getting restless, and they build weapons and walls to keep people out. It makes the majority madder. Top weapons dealers are the nations of the UN Security Council (US is #1 dealer; sells weapons to one or both sides of 90% of the world’s conflicts)

That’s the nightmare we woke up in.

Reflection Q: 1) How are you involved with each crisis as part of the problem?
2) Where are you – or would you – most likely be part of the solution?

Crisis 4: Crisis of Purpose / Spirituality.

Why do the three crises work together in a destructive way? We lack an appropriate framing story.

The Framing Story

What keeps the machine going is a framing story: Who we are, Where we’re going, and Why we’re there.

4 major stories:

+ The Domination Narrative: “If only we were in charge!” The problem with the world is we’re not in charge. Us/them
+ The Revolution Narrative: “If only they weren’t in charge!” The world’s problem is they’re in charge (terrorism: it’s only terror for the people who are in charge)
+ The Scapegoating Narrative: Hitler: Jews, gypsies, Jehovah’s witness – If only they would change!
+ The Isolation Narrative: There’s no hope; let’s retreat into the bubble (holy huddle)

In the New Testament:
+ Dominators: (Romans, Sadducees, Herodians, Tax Collectors (Political appeasers)
+ Revolutionaries: Zealots
+ Scapegoaters: Pharisees
+ Isolationists: Essenes

The Kingdom of God as a Framing Story

Jesus proclaimed a radically different framing story: Good news of the Kingdom of God. He preached, “The Kingdom of God is like.” The message of the kingdom is a story, and offers a counterpoint to each framework:

+ Don’t dominate. Serve
+ Don’t revolt. Reconcile
+ Don’t blame. Embrace
+ Don’t isolate. Draw near and heal

Our radical choice

+ Wake up from the bad dream and realize it’s not working. There’s no “them.” We are all in this together.

The parable of the boat. Two survivors in the lifeboat after the shipwreck. No more rations. One man gives up hope; drills hole in the boat. The man in the front says we haven’t given up hope. “Don’t worry, I’m just drilling a hole in the back of the boat.”

+ Disbelieve the other narratives, even when people misuse scripture to support them.

+ Believe that the Kingdom of God is near.

Reflection Q

When the crises are framed as the minority oppressing the majority, but the solution is, “There’s no them,” how should the majority work for healing and hope without casting blame?

Jesus speaks as much about the means as the end. “There is no way to peace, because peace itself is the way.”

Closed in an Alter/Altar Call

+ The only hope is the Good News of Jesus Christ. Not democrats or republicans.