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McLaren Beckons the "�Spiritual but Not Religious'Mikhail BellJune 9, 2011
Last Thursday, emergent Guru Brian McLaren appeared at a Washington, DC hot spot for at least the second time in less than six months. This time organizers opted for a quiet backroom at the raucous Buffalo Billiards. However the unassuming setting did not subdue the enthusiasm of his fans.
Egged on by the emcee Glenn Zuber, attendees welcomed the speaker with a robotic slow chant. "Brian, Brian, Brian,"� the crowd beckoned. McLaren, a pastor for 24 years, is promoting a revealing new book Naked Spirituality: A Life With God In 12 Simple Words, an attempt to guide spiritual readers toward the divine.
Zuber, head of the hosting DC Theology Pub, described McLaren's writing as "holistic and conversational."� The ensuing conversation reflected the latter quality but struggled to fulfill the former.
"I'm Spiritual but Not Religious"�
According to McLaren, many spiritual people are disillusioned with "organized religion."� The idea of obscure rituals, historic traditions, and regularly attending service can make the average curious person head for the hills. In practice, it has led many college-educated individuals to forgo formal affiliation with one religion, much less a denomination.
In fact, some people fabricate religious membership to avoid conversations about faith, particularly with Christians. McLaren told the story a woman who said she called herself a Buddhist "to keep Christians off my back."�
Those seeking a higher connection, McLaren asserts, have come to three realizations. First, secularism, science and economics "don't have all the answers."� Second, organized religion does not sufficiently respond to challenging social questions. Third, real religion creates an inner sensitivity to the sacred.
As a result, sincere seekers settle. They often "lack community"� and traditions even though they may have a greater appreciation for the beauty of nature than their Christian counterparts. McLaren, citing his Buddhist acquaintance, pointed out that some people are rapt by the vibrant color of trees. Ultimately this group seeks a "vital spirituality"� and sees Christians as people who are "sleepwalking"� through their relationship with God.
Conversely, McLaren saw clergy as a group that can become too enmeshed in running a church they can neglect the development of their relationship with God. In his travels he spoke of preachers who "feel spirituality has slipped through their fingers."�
Finding True Religion
The crux of McLaren's conversation deflected most of the attention away from him and shone the spotlight on true religion. He was particularly focused on making spiritual disciplines mesh with human sensitivity to a deity.
The author sought to create a new system that restructured religious understanding into 12 categories. Based on education and psychological development theories, McLaren evenly divided the steps into to four subgroups: simplicity, complexity, perplexity, and harmony. Increasingly, Generations X and Y falter at the third stage. College-educated and gainfully employed, these young professionals struggle to view complex social issues through the presumably simplistic lens of faith. Here church communities pacify questioners with Christian terms that "massages our brain to sleep."� In response to a combination of poor apologetics and the enticement of self-styled faith, youth seek the answers elsewhere.
McLaren claimed that much of the current spiritual stagnation is steeped in centuries of a deleterious alliance between church and state. When asked about post-modern Christianity, the Cedar Ridge Community Church pastor tweaked the query. He framed the issue as one of "colonial"� and "post-colonial"� theology.
Post-colonial Christianity must answer the question "what are we organized for?"� in order to affect a rapidly changing world, McLaren opined. Instead of "rushing to do the right thing"� the church must examine what is means to be right in world with so many claims on truth.
Like the pacifist theologian Stanley Hauerwas, McLaren believes it is the church's duty to "unsettle the status quo."� McLaren's brand of faith is his umpteenth attempt to dissect Christianity and devise a spirituality that is palatable to unchurched "spiritual"� people.
The Emergent church purveyor brought his new kind of Christianity to DC and his crowd lapped up his message with aplomb. It remains to be seen whether McLaren's naked spirituality will catch fire with those firmly grounded in their faith.
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