Generous Orthodoxy vs. Stupid Crap


Abstract:
I just finished Brian McLaren's Generous Orthodoxy.

Body:
And after scouting the web a bit, I both can and cannot see why he has so many people in a tizzy. After closing the book, I said, "amen."

If people cannot attack him for his beliefs, they will attack him for his scholarship. If they cannot attack him for his scholarship, they will attack him for his personal life. If they cannot attack him for any of the above, they will simply snort and scoff, as though the argument has been settled long ago, and they will simply call his writing "fashionable" or a "fad."

And then they will wonder why so many people think the church is a bitter, cynical, sick and dying organism.

I mean, get this - Brian makes a case that a lot of what we argue about - how to do baptism, who to vote for, or even whether postmodernism or modernism is, I don't know, better - is crap. And then people defend the fact that we argue about crap. No, seriously. Okay, some of the arguments are about important ideas and ways of being the church, sure. But they aren't ultimate concerns. They aren't even penultimate concerns. They aren't even penpenpenultimate concerns.

I'm glad that my congregation is largely both ignorant and safe from these kinds of arguments. I'm glad that our concerns are of a more practical nature, like when to take the kids to miniature golf, or how much coffee to make for Bible study, or how best to help those affected by the hurricane. I think when we supply poor students with paper and pencils, we're following Jesus more than when we're defending the fact that we like to argue about stupid crap.

To any non-churchers who read this blog: I sincerely apologize. Probably 80% of the stuff I talk about falls into the stupid crap category. There's just these two things: 1) Love God. 2) Love your neighbor. If you aren't sure about the first one, focus on the second one. More than likely the next neighbor you love will be God in disguise, anyway. And don't worry about stupid crap.

Remember what Jesus said: "Consider the lillies. Do they worry about stupid crap?"

Posted: Sat - August 27, 2005 at 11:21 PM           |

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