Questions and the Quest

Brian McLaren
Minneapolis 2010.04.15

I attended the Twin Cities Emergent Cohort meeting this month for the first time. Brian McLaren was in town to speak at the Westminster Town Hall Forum the next day, and he was good enough to spend a few hours with the cohort on Wednesday night, speaking and fielding questions. I'm guessing there were about fifty people in attendance. I enjoyed bumping into some old friends and meeting some new ones.

McLaren got things started by giving a thumbnail overview of his new book, A New Kind of Christianity. The book is organized along ten critical questions he believes it is important to ask as we consider the future of the Christian enterprise. The first five are more theological in nature, and relate to: the overall message of Scripture; Biblical authority; the character of God; Christology; and the Good News of the Kingdom. The last five are more practical in nature, and relate to: the Church; personhood and sexuality; the theology of future; Christianity in relationship to other religions; and practical ways to turn questions and conversation into constructive action.

After this quick overview, McLaren spent the rest of the evening entertaining questions. The questions were very thoughtful. In most cases, they revealed the questioner's desire to find ways to experience authentic Christianity and live it out in the world. There was a real sense that the people gathered really wanted to find a Christianity that could change the world.

While McLaren's answers to these questions may be controversial, it is clear that every one of the questions resonated with his audience. My own pastoral experience over the last 20 years confirms the importance of these questions. They are questions the world is asking, and with good reason. Christians may not all arrive at the same answers, but we must wrestle with the questions. We must be willing to think and talk about these questions with each other, even those with whom we may not agree.