Brian McLaren (photo by Britt Bradley)
By Kathryn Witte, Nebraska Area communications director
“Think garden, not tree,” began Brian McLaren’s third presentation at the Joint Called Clergy Session Jan. 17-19 in Topeka, Kan.
Drawing upon the content of his book titled “Everything Must Change,” McLaren said we have to recalibrate more like spiritual directors and chaplains meeting diverse people who are seekers and who do not fit into the same slot as a parishioner.
“None of us our owners we are sojourners,” he said. He again said we need to think like a gardener… where it is normative to have diversity “in order to make a lot of things grow.”
He said, “I’m worried about the future of the future.”
He told about being a counselor for a summer camp, in 1979. One day of camp, he suffered from a time management issue which in his words led him to be “led by the spirit” to lead a small group.
His group of students met in a barn using old-fashioned newsprint paper and magic marker to make two lists. One list was of the issues being debated in their churches. The other list was made up of things talked about as the participants hang out in school.
He and the small group participants were struck by how its list of church issues was completely different from the list the group developed naming world issues.
This experience informed him as he left the pulpit in 2006 and was inspiration for some of his research and writing. McLaren went on to explore what Christ would say about the biggest problems of the day, not the church issues.
McLaren pointed to what he sees as today’s four global root crises:
Planet
The first crisis of the planet raises the question, “How big is the human system in its relation to the ecosystem?”
“We have an unsustainable system,” he said. We can argue about how soon we go over the cliff but we can’t bring ourselves to face what the demands for oil, gas, carbon fuels and climate change will bring. He said if discounted, fish, seafood, topsoil and fresh water are all big issues. He said we’re looking at the loss of rain forests and the extinction of species.
“The prosperity system has its foot on the gas, with the brakes taken out,” he said. “We are plunging towards frightening emergencies.”
McLaren presented the story of Joseph from the Book of Genesis. Joseph, warned of seven lean years coming, took pre-emptive action. There are other bible stories that point toward the need for action around environmental threats.
Poverty
The prosperity system is working for one-third of the global population and super-well for about 1 percent. “Globally, if you make more than $34,000-per-year you are in the one percent,” McLaren said.
McLaren paints a picture that the gap creates a whole series of problems. People are talking about the elite few and the many. It is an environment where resentment grows among the poor and fear develops among the rich. The rich start being afraid of the poor. The rich don’t want to support the poor and the poor say you’ve got the system rigged.
“Since 2008, the gap has increased more around the world,” said McLaren.
The gap exists between countries and within countries. India’s economy is growing among the rich and the poor getting poorer. The country’s economy is growing but misery is growing faster, McLaren explained.
“All this creates more immigration,” he said.
He used Honduras as an example and the horrific flooding that has occurred there. “Flooded Honduran babies are born,” McLaren said. “Do [Honduran parents] love babies any less? It’s a fact, if you could get that baby across the border to the U.S., life expectancy increases by 35 years.”
Peace
Mass migration and organized crime increase when exponential prosperity is placed next to the poor.
“If you are part of the rich 1 percent, the only way you can maintain position is to acquire weapons,” said McLaren.
Rich people send weapons to the poor, not bread. The rich arm the poor in fights against each other rather than give up their position of power.
“The top-selling weapons countries are on the National Security Council, led by the U.S.,” McLaren noted.
Religion
The heart of civilization is programmed by stories that drive us, McLaren said.
“What we need is a story that deals with our crisis. That’s what our world’s religions should be doing. What happens when our religions are sucking up our energy worrying about church issues? What happens when our religions are giving us data that make the first three problems worse?” McLaren questioned.
“We are in the deep weeds,” he said.
What’s next
McLaren is intrigued by what makes change happen and compared issues to periods in the Bible.
McLaren said to draw on the stories of the Bible and the good news they offer. Many people assume “kingdom of God” means “going to heaven when you die.”
But the Lord’s Prayer doesn’t say “may we come to your kingdom when we die. May we all go to heaven where, unlike earth, your will is done,” said McLaren.
He said the Lord’s Prayer teaches us, “Your kingdom come, your will be done.”
“What does Jesus say about the care of the planet, the poor, peace, and religious structures?” McLaren asked.
McLaren invited attendees to realize that the most radical thing to do is to be a part of a movement to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world – mission that really matters in our world.
“We need a fresh, radical response,” he said, “We cannot continue to be embarrassed about the ‘e’ (evangelism) word.”
He closed with the analogy of a cleansing fire.
“Fire is an essential way of keeping the resources of the ecosystem in great diversity,” he said.
Fire releases nutrients that give birth to new life. Fire ends something, but also makes possible the beginning of something, he said.
“Brothers and sisters we know there are fires passing through,” McLaren said. Change can feel like a destructive and dangerous fire. Fire is an irreplaceable gift. Lift our eyes and view the challenges of change right at the beginning of a new ecosystem and the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
“So many things in the gospel are true whether you believe them or not. Will you dare to believe that this is the moment? McLaren asked.
Like the apostle Paul, he said, “The trials we go through now are light and temporary compared to the coming glory.”
