Christian

Identityin a

Multi-Faith

World

CLENCHING

FIST

OR

OPEN HAND

We know how to have

a STRONG-HOSTILE CHRISTIAN IDENTITY.

STRONG-HOSTILE

We have the only way.

You are going to hell.

We are God’s chosen.

You worship false gods.

resistance if futile.

you will be assimilated - or eliminated.

We know how to have

a weak-benignCHRISTIAN IDENTITY.

weak-benign

it doesn’t matter what you believe.

all religions are the same.

all roads lead to god.

only sincerity matters.

doctrines divide.

keep religion private.

strong-hostile

OR

weak-benign?

Or???

IDENTITIES ARE

FORMED BY Stories.

SOME promote

violence.

SOME PROMOTE PEACE.

WHICH KIND DO WE LIVE BY?

Ivan Illich (Austrian former priest,

philosopher, social critic, 1926-2002)

Neither revolution nor reformation can ultimately change a society, rather you must tell a new powerful tale, one so persuasive that it sweeps away the old myths and becomes the preferred story …

… one so inclusive that it gathers all the bits of our past and our present into a coherent whole, one that even shines some light into the future so that we can take the next step…. If you want to change a society, then you have to tell an alternative story.

- attributed to Ivan Illich (Austrian former priest, philosopher, social critic, 1926-2002)

What kind of story did Jesus tell?

Jesus entered a world like ours - running on stories of

DominationRevolutionPurification/ScapegoatingIsolationCompetitionVictimization/Self-preservation

This is remarkably similar to the religious situation in Jesus’ day.

-Domination - Sadducees, Herodians, Romans-Revolution - Zealots-Purification/Scapegoating - Pharisees -Isolation - Essenes-Competition - Wealthy Judeans-Victimization/Self-preservation - Poor Galileans, sinners, lepers, outcasts

We could call these the stories of the clenching fist ...

Warrior narrativesConflict narrativesSword narratives

SIX CLENCHING-FIST NARRATIVES TYPICALLY DIRECT HUMAN SOCIETIES:

1.THE DOMINATION STORY: PEACE AND SECURITY THROUGH BEING IN CONTROL

“If only we were in charge!” (Empire)

2. THE REVOLUTION STORY: PEACE AND SECURITY THROUGH VIOLENT OVERTHROW OF OPPRESSORS.

“If only THEY weren’t in control!” (Revenge)

3. THE PURIFICATION STORY: PEACE AND SECURITY THROUGH NAMING, BLAMING, SHAMING, AND EXCLUDING A DANGEROUS MINORITY.

“If only THOSE PEOPLE would change - or disappear.”(If only a minority would change.) (Scapegoating/Genocide)

4. THE VICTIMIZATION/SELF-PRESERVATION STORY: PRESERVING OURSELVES AT ALL COSTS THROUGH PRESERVING THE MEMORY OF A PAST INJUSTICE.

“If only our oppressors would be brought to justice.” (If only the

majority would change.)

5. THE ISOLATION STORY: PEACE AND SECURITY THROUGH SEPARATING FROM THE CORRUPT, DOOMED MAJORITY.

“If only we could be left alone to be ourselves by

ourselves.” (Elite/elect remnant)

6. THE COMPETITION STORY: PEACE AND SECURITY THROUGH MONEY POWER IN A COMPETITIVE ECONOMY.

“If only we could buy, enjoy, and stockpile what we

desire.” (Economic Advantage)

Domination: Us over them

Revolution: Us versus them

Purification: Us versus some of us

Victimization: Us in spite of them

Isolation: Us away from them

Competition: Us competing with them.

DOMINATION PURIFICATION

COMPETITIONSELF-PRESERVATION

REVOLUTIONISOLATION

DOMINATION PURIFICATION

COMPETITIONSELF-PRESERVATION

REVOLUTIONISOLATION

CONFLICT!

We could call these the stories of the clenched fist ...

Warrior narrativesConflict narrativesSword narratives

Jesus came with an alternative story:

the good news

of the kingdom* of God.[*reign, commonwealth, dream, dance,

economy, ecosystem, movement, beloved community, network, etc]

A story of the open hand ...

Gardener narrativePeacemaking narrativePlowshare/Pruning hook narrative

The good news of the kingdom of God

-called people to repentance (paradigm shift/ radical

rethinking),

- a new way of life,

-a new identity “in Christ”

TANGENT ALERT!

I believe the Christian faith is in the midst of a struggle to rediscover and re-inhabit the

gospel of the kingdom of God.

With imperialism/colonialism, we lost sight of Jesus’ original

message.

I call the conventional story of Western Christianity the Six-Line (or Greco-Roman) Narrative:

5. Perfect Heaven1. Perfect Creation

2. Fall into Original Sin4. Atonement/Salvation

3. Fallen History

6. Eternal Hell

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Wherever the willingness to rethink has been squelched, wherever that

sense of quest has been buried under convention and complacency, the Christian faith in all its forms is in trouble. But even there, something is trying to be born. Even now, right here, among us, inside you, inside me. You may feel it as a curiosity, a desire for better answers than you inherited so far. You may experience it as frustra-tion, knowing that there must be more to faith than you currently know. You may know it as hope, hope that God is seeking humble people whose hearts and lives can be the womb of a better future. . . . In you, your family, your faith community, and circles of friends, among people of peace and faith every-where, something is trying to be born.”

—from A New Kind of Christianity

We are in the midst of a paradigm shift in the church. Not since the Reformation five centuries ago have so many Christians come together to ask whether the church is in sync with their deepest beliefs and commitments. These believers range from evangelicals to mainline Protestants to Catholics, and the person who best represents them is author and pastor Brian McLaren. In this much anticipated book, McLaren examines ten questions facing today’s church—questions about how to articulate the faith itself, the nature of its authority, who God is, whether we have to understand

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.

0210

Jesus through only an ancient Greco-Roman lens, what exactly the good news is that the gospel proclaims, how we understand the church and all its varieties, why we are so pre-occupied with sex, how we should think of the future and people from other faiths, and the most intimidating question of all: what do we do next? Here you will find a provocative and enticing introduction to the Christian faith of tomorrow.

BRIAN D. MCLAREN is an author, speaker,

pastor, and networker among innovative

Christian leaders, thinkers, and activists. His

groundbreaking books include A New Kind of

Christian, A Generous Orthodoxy, The Secret

Message of Jesus, and Everything Must

Change. Named by Time magazine as one

of America’s top twenty-five evangelicals,

McLaren has appeared on Nightline, and

Larry King Live, and has been covered by

The Washington Post and the New York Times.

Visit the author online at www.brianmclaren.net.

The Author of the Groundbreaking A New Kind of Christian

Faces the Questions That Will Determine the Shape of the Faith

for the Next 500 Years

“In every way, a dispatch from the front, it is also a love letter of sorts—a love letter from an affectionate, but seasoned pastor to those who would

dare to believe, worship, and serve not only now, but also beyond now, into the roiling, churning decades ahead.”

—Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence

“Now and then gifted people emerge who see the situation from a higher and more helpful level. Brian McLaren is one of those seers.”

—Richard Rohr, author of Everything Belongs

“Brave and honest, vulnerable and courageous, disturbing and unsettling, reassuring and hopeful: Every now and then you come across a

book you’ve been waiting for. A New Kind of Christianity is that book.”—Steve Chalke, founder of Oasis Global and UN special advisor on human trafficking

“A new reformation is taking place in Christianity. Brian McLaren is one of its leading voices. This is a very important book.”

—Adam Hamilton, author of Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White

“Brian McLaren has a talent for asking the kind of questions that take people out of their comfort zones to expand the horizons of faith. In A New Kind of Christianity, he challenges his readers to leave behind a ‘steady state’

Christianity in favor of a faith that engages dynamically with the unfolding culture of the twenty-first century.”

—Maggi Dawn, University of CambridgeAvailable from HarperCollins e-books

Jacket design: The Design Works Group

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continued from the front flap

McL

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Brian D. McLaren

I suspect that this story is not actually from the Bible itself, but arises from Greek philosophy:

5. Return to Platonic Ideal

1. Platonic Ideal/Being

2. Fall into Aristotelian Real/Becoming

4. Atonement/Salvation

3. Aristotelian Becoming

6. Greek Hades

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Wherever the willingness to rethink has been squelched, wherever that

sense of quest has been buried under convention and complacency, the Christian faith in all its forms is in trouble. But even there, something is trying to be born. Even now, right here, among us, inside you, inside me. You may feel it as a curiosity, a desire for better answers than you inherited so far. You may experience it as frustra-tion, knowing that there must be more to faith than you currently know. You may know it as hope, hope that God is seeking humble people whose hearts and lives can be the womb of a better future. . . . In you, your family, your faith community, and circles of friends, among people of peace and faith every-where, something is trying to be born.”

—from A New Kind of Christianity

We are in the midst of a paradigm shift in the church. Not since the Reformation five centuries ago have so many Christians come together to ask whether the church is in sync with their deepest beliefs and commitments. These believers range from evangelicals to mainline Protestants to Catholics, and the person who best represents them is author and pastor Brian McLaren. In this much anticipated book, McLaren examines ten questions facing today’s church—questions about how to articulate the faith itself, the nature of its authority, who God is, whether we have to understand

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.

0210

Jesus through only an ancient Greco-Roman lens, what exactly the good news is that the gospel proclaims, how we understand the church and all its varieties, why we are so pre-occupied with sex, how we should think of the future and people from other faiths, and the most intimidating question of all: what do we do next? Here you will find a provocative and enticing introduction to the Christian faith of tomorrow.

BRIAN D. MCLAREN is an author, speaker,

pastor, and networker among innovative

Christian leaders, thinkers, and activists. His

groundbreaking books include A New Kind of

Christian, A Generous Orthodoxy, The Secret

Message of Jesus, and Everything Must

Change. Named by Time magazine as one

of America’s top twenty-five evangelicals,

McLaren has appeared on Nightline, and

Larry King Live, and has been covered by

The Washington Post and the New York Times.

Visit the author online at www.brianmclaren.net.

The Author of the Groundbreaking A New Kind of Christian

Faces the Questions That Will Determine the Shape of the Faith

for the Next 500 Years

“In every way, a dispatch from the front, it is also a love letter of sorts—a love letter from an affectionate, but seasoned pastor to those who would

dare to believe, worship, and serve not only now, but also beyond now, into the roiling, churning decades ahead.”

—Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence

“Now and then gifted people emerge who see the situation from a higher and more helpful level. Brian McLaren is one of those seers.”

—Richard Rohr, author of Everything Belongs

“Brave and honest, vulnerable and courageous, disturbing and unsettling, reassuring and hopeful: Every now and then you come across a

book you’ve been waiting for. A New Kind of Christianity is that book.”—Steve Chalke, founder of Oasis Global and UN special advisor on human trafficking

“A new reformation is taking place in Christianity. Brian McLaren is one of its leading voices. This is a very important book.”

—Adam Hamilton, author of Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White

“Brian McLaren has a talent for asking the kind of questions that take people out of their comfort zones to expand the horizons of faith. In A New Kind of Christianity, he challenges his readers to leave behind a ‘steady state’

Christianity in favor of a faith that engages dynamically with the unfolding culture of the twenty-first century.”

—Maggi Dawn, University of CambridgeAvailable from HarperCollins e-books

Jacket design: The Design Works Group

RE

LIGIO

N

continued on the back flap

continued from the front flap

McL

aren s A

New

Kin

d o

f Ch

ristianity

Brian D. McLaren

I believe the Bible presents a 3-D narrative space instead of a flat, 6-line narrative:

Back Jacket

6 1/8 "

Back Flap

3 3/4 "

9 1/4 "

1/8" Bleed

1/8" Bleed

Turn

1/4"

Front Flap

3 3/4 in

USA $24.99

D Cloth - Jacket

6 1/8 "

Spine

1- 1/8"

Turn

1/4"

Wherever the willingness to rethink has been squelched, wherever that

sense of quest has been buried under convention and complacency, the Christian faith in all its forms is in trouble. But even there, something is trying to be born. Even now, right here, among us, inside you, inside me. You may feel it as a curiosity, a desire for better answers than you inherited so far. You may experience it as frustra-tion, knowing that there must be more to faith than you currently know. You may know it as hope, hope that God is seeking humble people whose hearts and lives can be the womb of a better future. . . . In you, your family, your faith community, and circles of friends, among people of peace and faith every-where, something is trying to be born.”

—from A New Kind of Christianity

We are in the midst of a paradigm shift in the church. Not since the Reformation five centuries ago have so many Christians come together to ask whether the church is in sync with their deepest beliefs and commitments. These believers range from evangelicals to mainline Protestants to Catholics, and the person who best represents them is author and pastor Brian McLaren. In this much anticipated book, McLaren examines ten questions facing today’s church—questions about how to articulate the faith itself, the nature of its authority, who God is, whether we have to understand

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.

0210

Jesus through only an ancient Greco-Roman lens, what exactly the good news is that the gospel proclaims, how we understand the church and all its varieties, why we are so pre-occupied with sex, how we should think of the future and people from other faiths, and the most intimidating question of all: what do we do next? Here you will find a provocative and enticing introduction to the Christian faith of tomorrow.

BRIAN D. MCLAREN is an author, speaker,

pastor, and networker among innovative

Christian leaders, thinkers, and activists. His

groundbreaking books include A New Kind of

Christian, A Generous Orthodoxy, The Secret

Message of Jesus, and Everything Must

Change. Named by Time magazine as one

of America’s top twenty-five evangelicals,

McLaren has appeared on Nightline, and

Larry King Live, and has been covered by

The Washington Post and the New York Times.

Visit the author online at www.brianmclaren.net.

The Author of the Groundbreaking A New Kind of Christian

Faces the Questions That Will Determine the Shape of the Faith

for the Next 500 Years

“In every way, a dispatch from the front, it is also a love letter of sorts—a love letter from an affectionate, but seasoned pastor to those who would

dare to believe, worship, and serve not only now, but also beyond now, into the roiling, churning decades ahead.”

—Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence

“Now and then gifted people emerge who see the situation from a higher and more helpful level. Brian McLaren is one of those seers.”

—Richard Rohr, author of Everything Belongs

“Brave and honest, vulnerable and courageous, disturbing and unsettling, reassuring and hopeful: Every now and then you come across a

book you’ve been waiting for. A New Kind of Christianity is that book.”—Steve Chalke, founder of Oasis Global and UN special advisor on human trafficking

“A new reformation is taking place in Christianity. Brian McLaren is one of its leading voices. This is a very important book.”

—Adam Hamilton, author of Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White

“Brian McLaren has a talent for asking the kind of questions that take people out of their comfort zones to expand the horizons of faith. In A New Kind of Christianity, he challenges his readers to leave behind a ‘steady state’

Christianity in favor of a faith that engages dynamically with the unfolding culture of the twenty-first century.”

—Maggi Dawn, University of CambridgeAvailable from HarperCollins e-books

Jacket design: The Design Works Group

RE

LIGIO

N

continued on the back flap

continued from the front flap

McL

aren s A

New

Kin

d o

f Ch

ristianity

Brian D. McLaren

Liberation

Reconciliation

Creation

End of

TANGENT ALERT.

Clenching Fist StoriesDomination: Us over them

Revolution: Us versus them

Purification: Us versus some of us

Self-preservation: Us in spite of them

Isolation: Us away from them

Competition: Us competing with them.

Jesus’ Open-Hand Narrative of Creation/Liberation/Reconciliation

NOT Domination: Service, Neighborliness

NOT Revolution: Reconciliation

NOT Purification: Welcome/Hospitality/Inclusion

NOT Self-preservation: Pursuit of common good

NOT Isolation: Incarnation ... Penetration ... Identification

NOT Competition: Generosity, Self-Giving

DOMINATION PURIFICATION

COMPETITIONSELF-PRESERVATION

REVOLUTIONISOLATION

NEW CREATION/ RECONCILIATION

DOMINATION PURIFICATION

COMPETITIONSELF-PRESERVATION

REVOLUTIONISOLATION

NEW CREATION/ RECONCILIATION

DOMINATION PURIFICATION

COMPETITIONSELF-PRESERVATION

REVOLUTIONISOLATION

A STRONG BENEVOLENT IDENTITY

Hypocrisy:Religions can intentionally or

accidentally baptize, support, legitimize, and camouflage the six clenched-fist stories.

They can cover up a wolf-ish message in sheep’s language.

Misconception:Our religious differences

keep us apart.

Actuality:It is not our religious

differences that keep us apart, but rather a haunting religious similarity ... that we preserve hostile stories which produce hostile identities.

RELIGIOUS DOMINATION

RELIGIOUS

PURIFICATIONRELIGIOUS

COMPETITIONRELIGIOUS SELF-PRESERVATION

RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION

RELIGIOUS ISOLATION

We may be discipling people into the wrong story … or helping them

become “christians” without challenging their stories.

In such a way, the Christian religion can become the most dangerous story, not the most healing and liberating story.

1. The DOMINATION Jesus who dominates through cultural colonization, militarism, and economic hegemony.

2. The REVOLUTION/REVENGE Jesus who is planning revenge on his enemies.

We believe Jesus proclaims the power of love, not the love of power.

3. The PURIFICATION Jesus who excludes and shames the impure rather than graciously including and healing them.

4. The ISOLATION Jesus who invites people to withdraw into a “holy bubble” of a “nice christian subculture” awaiting evacuation.

We believe Jesus calls us to incarnation and transformation, not condemnation and

evacuation.

We’re tired of …

5. The SELF-PRESERVATION Jesus who complains about how badly “we Christians” are being treated (and ignores the atrocities we’ve committed).

6. The COMPETITION Jesus who promises blessings and prosperity without a mission or a cross.

We believe Jesus taught the joy of being a blessing, not the happiness of getting blessed,

the joy of giving over receiving.

A weak and benign Christian identity may be less dangerous than a strong and hostile identity ...

But there is a better alternative:

A strong and benevolent Christian identity centered

on Jesus and his story (good news) of the

kingdom/commonwealth of God.

STRONG-HOSTILE

We have the only way.

You are going to hell.

We are God’s chosen.

You worship false gods.

resistance if futile.

you will be assimilated - or eliminated.

weak-benign

it doesn’t matter what you believe.

all religions are the same.

all roads lead to god.

only sincerity matters.

doctrines divide.

keep religion private.

strong-benevolent

Because I Follow Jesus, I love you.

I move toward “the other.”

I break down walls of hostility.

i stand with you in solidarity.

you are made in God’s image.

i am your servant.

I practice human-kindness.

Will we defect from the stories of the clenching fist?

Domination: Us over them. Revolution: Us versus them. Purification: Us versus some of us. Self-preservation: Us in spite of them.Isolation: Us away from themCompetition: Us competing with them.

Will we embody the story of the open hand:

Service: Some of us for all of us.Reconciliation: Us reconciling with them.Inclusion: Us welcoming them to the tableEmpowerment: Us working for the common good

with them.Incarnation: Us as neighbors in solidarity with themSacrifice: Us risking and giving on behalf of them

What doctrinal rethinking will be required?

What liturgical reformulation will be necessary?

What missional renewal will be essential?

Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal."

"Through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can't murder murder. Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can't establish truth. Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can't murder hate. Darkness cannot put out darkness. Only light can do that..."

Martin Luther King, Jr.

"We will not build a peaceful world by following a negative path. It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war but the positive affirmation of peace. We must see that peace represents a sweeter music, a cosmic melody, that is far superior to the dis-chords of war.

Somehow, we must transform the dynamics of the world power struggle from the negative nuclear arms race, which no one can win, to a positive contest to harness humanity's creative genius for the purpose of making peace and prosperity a reality for all the nations of the world. In short, we must shift the arms race into a peace race. If we have a will- and determination- to mount such a peace offensive, we will unlock hitherto tightly sealed doors of hope and transform our imminent cosmic elegy into a psalm of creative fulfillment."

"I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become reality. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word."

ISA 2:2 In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. ISA 2:3 Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways,so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

ISA 2:4 He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.

ISA 2:5 Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD.

Whatever emerging Christian faith will be - it begins with a fresh discovery

of Jesus,

the prince of peace.

Questions:Where do we see the clenching fist narratives at work within and outside our religious communities?How can we see mission, proclamation, conversion, liturgy, baptism, eucharist, catechism, etc., in relation to these narratives?How can we translate “kingdom of God” into contemporary language without losing its original subversive dynamism?

The Prayer of the Kingdom

Our Father, above us and all around us,

May your unspeakable Name be revered.

Here on earth may your kingdom come … on earth as in heaven may your will

be done.

Give us today our bread for today.

And forgive us our wrongs as we forgive.

Lead us away from the perilous trial,

Liberate us from the evil.

For the kingdom is yours and yours alone, the power is

yours and yours alone, and the glory is yours and yours alone,

now and forever. Amen. (Hallelujah … Amen)

Come.

Follow Me.

Let my story carry

on in your story.